Wizard: Starting With Synthesized Gems

Chapter 667: The Revelation Witch Stone, Is It in Your Hands?

Wizard Forbes took the wizard shoe sample from his astral ring and put it on his feet.The scale-hair leaves of the Big Snow Crown Bromeliad adapted to the shape of his feet, conforming to his soles and undergoing a series of small adjustments in form.

Wizard Forbes was mildly surprised, because in his past experience testing wizard shoes, newly established wizard shoe brands always had this problem or that problem in the finer details. For the manufacturers and designers behind a newly founded brand, they lacked the relevant experience, and simply doing the main function well was already a considerable effort, let alone attending to every small detail on all sides.

But the production technique and design specifications of this newly established wizard shoe brand before him were remarkably sound and well-considered.

Wizard Forbes said, "This researcher must have engaged a mature manufacturer for production. Otherwise the details wouldn't be this refined. Look at this enchantment. It may not use any particularly high-end technique, but it's inscribed along the natural lines of the bromeliad's special leaves."

"The craftsmanship is mature."

Wizard Luca looked over the documentation and said, "The production line is from Arthas. The Arthas Shop Alliance has been investing in the production capacity of various colonial worlds recently, and it seems that effort has borne fruit."

"This Wizard Augustine has a deep cooperative relationship with the Arthas Shop Alliance. For him to leverage those connections and invite an excellent production team to manufacture for him is fairly natural."

"Forbes, how does it feel wearing these shoes?"

"Are they usable?"

Wizard Forbes gauged the sensation in his feet. Wearing these wizard shoes felt no different from wearing an ordinary pair of shoes.

But he had barely moved before the specialized fleshy roots of the Big Snow Crown Bromeliad, like the blades of ice skates, carved a trail of frost across the ground, and the earth was suffused with ice magical energy.

"Hmm?" Wizard Forbes let out a soft sound of surprise. He slid along the ground for a moment and found that a trail of frost appeared in his wake, and in an instant he had glided a thousand meters across the surface.

Wizard Forbes gave a slight push with his feet, and immediately a pair of ice tracks like a railway appeared beneath him. He himself glided along these ice rail tracks at tremendous speed, like a flowing waltz.

And it was not merely speed. Under the influence of these wizard shoes, his movement path was elegant and fluid, smooth and swift.

In the air above, one half-circle after another appeared.

Wizard Forbes's expression grew serious. "This is genuinely unexpected. It's not simply a matter of being usable. The performance of this magical plant wizard shoe is actually comparable to the latest First Circle products from Melechi Magic Step and Solas Light Foot (30K)."

Wizard Forbes shifted his right foot slightly, and immediately the ice tracks in the air formed a rapidly spinning circle, and he himself drifted swiftly along the spiral circular track.

He was a moon ring wizard, so even with these shoes on for the first time, he had already mastered the use of the Big Snow Crown Bromeliad completely.

All he needed was for his feet to deviate in a specific direction and he could automatically harness the characteristics of the Big Snow Crown Bromeliad to trace a spiral path through the sky, which made his entire movement extraordinarily graceful.

Wizard Forbes wore a look of disbelief. "It's hard to imagine that this is the work of a small personal brand that has only just been established. The performance is excellent, fully capable of standing alongside Melechi Magic Step and Solas Light Foot (30K)."

"Though after careful use, I noticed that in certain details the performance is adequate and the finer points are still relatively lacking, but none of that affects its usability as a war weapon. These are purely matters of comfort, and a minor learning curve."

Both Melechi Magic Step and Solas Light Foot (30K) had put considerable effort into fine-tuning the ease of use and learning curve across their wizard shoe lines.

So when wizards used shoes from either of those two brands, they felt very intuitive, at least when using the basic functions.

Both the Radiance Cruiser 01 and the Shadow Dancer 86 had this quality.

But when Wizard Forbes used this Big Snow Crown Bromeliad 02, which was the second version following the original ordinary tyrant-ization Big Snow Crown Bromeliad, he still noticed a certain unfamiliarity in operation.

Though that was a matter of little consequence.

Because the ones wearing wizard shoes were wizards, and for wizards, learning a set of controls was the lowest cost task imaginable.

There was no wizard who could fail to figure out a pair of wizard shoes.

Wizard Forbes landed on the ground. The Big Snow Crown Bromeliad transformed into two trails of firefly-like light and settled into his hands. He looked at Wizard Luca with a grave expression and said, "If I told you that this pair of wizard shoes doesn't look like the work of a beginner at all, but rather the work of a master, would you believe me?"

Wizard Luca raised an eyebrow. "Setting aside the fact that this is a new brand, the biggest difference between magical plant wizard shoes and magical item wizard shoes probably lies in energy and craftsmanship. The craftsmanship of magical item wizard shoes is mature, and most importantly, there's the energy question."

"Magical items can draw on all manner of energy-type alchemical devices, whereas magical plants need to rely on their roots, leaves, and other organs to absorb and convert specific magical tides and various forms of energy from the surrounding environment."

"Among moving objects, a magical plant of equal volume struggles to match the energy output power and endurance of a magical item wizard shoe."

"That is the key point."

"You and I are both botanical wizards and should be well aware of this. When it comes to small-scale high-speed moving objects, plants have always been the weaker side."

Wizard Forbes shook his head and said, "This magical plant wizard shoe has performance no inferior to the top First Circle magical item wizard shoes in the Cloud Marsh Wetlands."

Wizard Luca bowed his head in thought. "Then that is strange indeed. Look at the size of these bromeliads, so small, barely the size of a palm. For a magical plant of this volume to produce that kind of performance is beyond my understanding. How has he solved the energy conversion efficiency and energy absorption efficiency problems?"

"If that's the case, I believe there is very likely more than one special energy-locking structure within this magical plant."

Wizard Luca ran through all manner of energy-locking structures unique to magical plants in his mind, then tried to use his knowledge of breeding school magic to piece together a method that could have produced the magical plant wizard shoes before him.

But the result was a slight shake of his head.

Because his reason told him it was impossible.

Based on the First Circle magical plants he was familiar with, without virtual roots, there was absolutely no way to achieve this level of magical energy absorption and conversion efficiency. But if virtual roots were added to the magical plant, due to the nature of virtual roots, the plant would inevitably develop toward the Second Circle stage.

Both the cost and the magical power threshold required of the user would increase, and it would no longer be the First Circle wizard shoes they were meant to be testing.

And even with virtual roots added, the nature of virtual roots would prevent the magical plant from moving this quickly.

This had always been the fatal weakness of pure magical plant wizard shoes.

Wizard Luca looked at the pair of wizard shoes Wizard Forbes handed to him. As a breeder, his curiosity drove him irresistibly to want to investigate how Locke had managed this.

But his target was blocked by the Triple Phantom Leaf on these wizard shoes.

"A Triple Phantom Leaf? He even got hold of something like this. It seems he planned for all of this long in advance."

Wizard Forbes laughed and said, "This Wizard Augustine must have anticipated long ago that someone would try to decipher the secrets of his magical plant wizard shoes."

"Though I'd advise you not to dig too deep into this. Behind him stands the Academic Committee and the Throne Wizard Yekaterina."

"Would you dare to reverse-engineer his technique before Throne Lord's student has published his article?"

Wizard Luca coughed once. "The Triple Phantom Leaf is a mature and valuable plant factor used for reverse-engineering prevention. Since he has embedded such a precious plant factor into this bromeliad magical plant, it would be very difficult to crack it in the short to medium term, unless he voluntarily publishes the relevant plant essence and plant factor information."

"Still, I am very curious about how he was able to enhance this magical plant to this level."

Wizard Luca clasped his hands behind his back and said, "The young are truly formidable."

Wizard Luca put on the wizard shoes himself and ran a test, confirming that this pair of First Circle wizard shoes did indeed have the capability to rival top-tier First Circle wizard shoes.

Wizard Luca said, "Extraordinary. The air bromeliad wizard shoe concept wasn't originally his creation. The one who first pioneered the air bromeliad wizard shoe concept was a young First Circle breeder who ran afoul of the magical weavers and was calculated against, dying on a plane conquest. He never got to become a Second Circle wizard and continue developing that line of research."

"Before he could advance to the Second Circle and keep delving further down this path, he died under unexplained circumstances."

"But the only wizard who has managed to enhance the air bromeliad wizard shoe to this level is this one person. His research into the bromeliad magical plant field has gone exceptionally deep. I genuinely cannot fathom what energy-locking structure he has mastered to improve the energy absorption efficiency of this air bromeliad magical plant by so much."

Wizard Luca sighed with admiration. "Worthy indeed of a student under a Throne Wizard."

Wizard Forbes coughed once. "Luca, you and I are both people of a certain age. We should know that when it comes to sensitive matters, the less said the better. We don't have any evidence, after all."

"Would the magical weavers actually go so far as to kill a breeder who was on the verge of becoming a Second Circle wizard and had their main research focus set on air bromeliad magical plant wizard shoes? Without evidence, you simply cannot say things like that."

"Besides, before Locke Augustine, no one would have considered this to be a path worth pursuing."

Wizard Luca nodded. "That's true."

The two continued testing, and by the end they had tested approximately twenty-one wizard shoe shop alliances with recognized names in the Cloud Marsh Wetlands, all of which had submitted samples this time around.

After discussion, however, the two unanimously agreed that only three candidates would make the final cut, namely the Melechi Magic Step Shadow Dancer 86 edition, the Solas Light Foot (30K) Radiance Cruiser 01 edition, and the Augustus Wizard Shoes Big Snow Crown Bromeliad 02 edition.

The two began to deliberate. "Twenty-one submissions, including work from our own people, have all been tested and scored. As the field testers, we can still provide a relatively subjective final evaluation opinion."

"After testing, among the twenty-one wizard shoe brands, only the two established top-tier brands and Augustus Wizard Shoes, the dark horse, are products of the same caliber."

Wizard Forbes thought it over and said, "I think we should just go with the Augustus Wizard brand as our final evaluation recommendation."

"As for the final decision, that can be left to the War Committee to discuss in their meeting."

Though by convention, their final evaluation opinion was essentially what determined which design would ultimately be adopted.

Wizard Luca hesitated. "From a purely intuitive standpoint, Augustus Wizard Shoes is the better choice. But from a rational standpoint, I think we should still consider carefully."

"Does a newly established wizard shoe brand truly have that kind of production capacity?"

"This is only a sample. If anything goes wrong, we're the ones who get penalized."

Wizard Forbes said, "He's been able to partner with Arthas. Since he has a stable relationship with Arthas, we don't need to worry about his production capacity on his behalf."

Wizard Luca nodded. "That's fair. But there's still another issue. Selecting a wizard shoe brand that no one has ever heard of before carries a certain risk for the two of us."

"If it performs well in the war, we've shown good judgment."

"If it performs poorly in combat, we may find ourselves in some trouble."

Wizard Forbes suddenly spoke up. "By the way, what are the prices of the Radiance Cruiser and the Shadow Dancer? And the Big Snow Crown Bromeliad?"

Wizard Luca quickly flipped through the documentation. "Hmm... the Radiance Cruiser is priced at three hundred and fifty thousand per pair, and the Shadow Dancer is three hundred thousand per pair."

"Hmm? Melechi Magic Step's price is that low this year?"

Wizard Forbes let out a cold laugh. "A pair of wizard shoes at that price is nearly three times the cost of a magical item of equivalent grade. Custom magical items and luxury magical items can easily run to five hundred thousand, but these are mass-produced wizard shoes."

"And they still have the nerve to charge this much. They've only knocked off fifty thousand, and I'm supposed to be grateful? What is the price of the Augustus Wizard Shoes?"

Wizard Luca flipped through the documentation, then blinked, somewhat unable to believe what he was reading. "Fi... fifty thousand?"

"They've quoted only fifty thousand."

"No, that price is far too low."

Wizard Luca rubbed his eyes. "The average price of wizard shoes is two to five times the average price of a magical item at the same level. This is the first time I've ever seen wizard shoes priced lower than the average price of a magical item."

"Fifty thousand..."

Wizard Forbes looked over the first three products of the Augustus Wizard Shoes brand. "Their previous products were all priced at twenty thousand magic stones per pair. At fifty thousand magic stones per pair, they've already doubled their selling price by their own standards."

Wizard Forbes said, "In this Augustus Wizard Shoes brand, I see attentiveness, seriousness, and passion, as well as professionalism. It has both the professional standard of an established wizard shoe brand and the humility of a new one."

"I see a future in it. And since the unit price is this low, there's really no pressure in choosing it. Even if something does go wrong, no one can blame us afterward. After all, the price is very low."

Wizard Luca thought it over, hesitated, and then said, "That is true enough. Then in our final selection for the wizard shoe category, let us write down this Augustus Wizard Shoes."

As he said those words, Wizard Luca still felt a certain sense of unreality.

Even Golden Crown Mountain was not immune to a preference for established credentials, since old and established shop alliances or brands naturally performed more consistently, made for more mature partnerships, and had fewer opportunities for things to go wrong.

So in all of their past evaluations, they had very rarely selected the work of a completely new entrant.

If the cost-performance ratio of the magical weavers' submissions had been even slightly better than it currently was, even just half again as good as it was now, he would have immediately spoken up to reject Wizard Forbes's choice.

After all, for war equipment, the most important thing was stability across the board.

But the magical weavers had simply gone too far lately.

Perhaps it really was time to give a newcomer a chance.

After further deliberation, and once they had confirmed that Locke's wizard shoes also had solid anti-counterfeiting capabilities, the two finally dared to write their decision into the evaluation report.

That is, to recommend to the War Committee the purchase of the Augustus Wizard Shoes brand's Big Snow Crown Bromeliad 02 edition.

The Demon Realm War was a conflict between Golden Crown Mountain and the Twin Demon Realm conducted under certain constraints, so there were specific rules governing the equipment Golden Crown Mountain could procure.

It could not simply purchase at will.

During the war, tactical-level or above-tactical-level magical items could not be used.

Only individual-scale items were permitted.

If the intensity of the war were left unchecked, with Golden Crown Mountain and the Twin Demon Realm each continuously deploying strategic-level weapons, it would easily lead to a genuine all-out confrontation between the two major wizard powers, which would benefit neither side.

Once the scale of the war spiraled out of control, it could become something that spelled the destruction of everyone involved, potentially including both the Cloud Marsh Wetlands and the Twin Demon Realm.

Wizard Forbes finished writing the evaluation report, and laughed as he said, "I hope this gives those magical weavers a lesson and puts a little pressure on them to reflect on themselves. After all, Locke's identity is quite significant. He's not someone who can be made to disappear so easily."

Wizard Luca gave a slight shake of his head. "Do you know the phrase, too deeply entrenched to change? These two shop alliances are simply too large. And it's not just these two shop alliances, the entire magical weaver industry is rotten at the roots. Even if some wizards decide to draw a clear line from them, they are often persecuted by those who are complicit."

"But none of that is the most critical issue. The most critical issue is those few higher-circle magical weavers in the Rose Council."

"If the source of the water is itself foul, how can the river downstream be anything but foul?"

"Well, anyway. That young man should be able to earn a staggering sum of money all in one go now. I wonder whether his wizard shoe brand can truly be sustained going forward."

...

Golden Crown Mountain, Dragon Blood Market, Witch's Kitchen, Private Room No. 1.

Inside the private room, Wizard Smith was dressed in a white wizard robe adorned with three white bird feathers at the shoulders. He wore a mild smile as he looked toward Locke and said, "Brother Augustine, we finally meet. I've been to your Golden Crown Mountain several times on recent visits, under orders from a Third Circle wizard of Storm Tower."

"Oh, and this is the wizard leader of the Thunder Demon Society."

"You two should have met before, I believe." Wizard Smith rose to his feet, and appeared not the slightest bit arrogant or domineering. He was utterly unlike Antoine, composed and gentle in manner, like an ordinary young instructor, dressed without extravagance, looking rather unremarkable.

Locke sat down across from him and noticed that the wizard leader of the Thunder Demon Society was watching him with a gaze full of hatred.

A flash of cold amusement crossed Locke's eyes. He then sat down in front of the two of them as though nothing were amiss, reached over, and picked up the wizard wine that had been set in front of Wizard Smith, pouring it into the empty cup before him.

He raised the cup and sniffed it. "Peach Blossom Intoxicant?"

"Even a First Circle crystallization-stage wizard can get drunk on this stuff. It's not cheap either, if I recall correctly, one jug runs about five thousand magic stones."

"Smith, you're quite generous."

Locke drank it down without hesitation. As a potion master, he had no fear of anyone trying to poison him.

The pupils of Wizard Smith narrowed ever so slightly.

And the Thunder Demon Society wizard, who had been looking at Locke with undisguised hatred, now saw a flicker of fear enter his eyes.

For some reason, he felt a chill run down his back, and though he was still very much alive, he felt as though he had already walked into his own death.

Locke looked at Wizard Smith and said, "Speak. What do you want from me?"

Wizard Smith seemed caught somewhat off guard by Locke's directness, and smiled. "Locke. People of standing like you and I naturally find it easier to communicate."

"A few days ago, I sent this wizard here on a trip into the Abyssal River, hoping to obtain a particular special resource."

"Unfortunately, the Thunder Demon Society appears to have run into some kind of conflict with you, and was nearly wiped out to a man."

Locke said, "That has nothing to do with me. I didn't kill those people. If you feel there's an issue, you're welcome to take it to the Divine Master Court or the Ethics and Morality Review Committee."

Wizard Smith furrowed his brow. He had already tried that route, and if there were any chance of winning there, he wouldn't be wasting words here.

Wizard Smith smiled and said, "It's just that..."

Locke said, "If you want to make a trade, say so. If not, let's not waste each other's time. And the matter of the Thunder Demon Society has nothing whatsoever to do with me."

"The Thunder Demon Society would do better to think carefully about who it was that led them into this desperate situation. That person is your real enemy. Fewer words. If you have something you want to trade, say it. If not, I'm leaving."

The Thunder Demon Society's wizard leader immediately fell into thought and stole a glance at Wizard Smith, his expression complicated.

Wizard Smith furrowed his brow. He felt as though his soft approach had met an immovable nail. The wizard before him didn't seem to be taking the bait at all.

The feigned smile on Wizard Smith's face disappeared. "I see. Perhaps speaking plainly will make this easier. Let me ask you directly. Did you obtain the Revelation Witch Stone in the wizard ruins?"

Locke said, "What is that?"

Wizard Smith looked at Locke with a puzzled expression. "So you didn't go there for the Revelation Witch Stone. Then what did you go for?"

"It is a special natural witch stone that falls into the wizard world from beyond, through meteor showers. Storm Tower previously observed that a Revelation Witch Stone had landed in those ruins, and the agents sent by the Rose Council noticed the same thing."

A look of mockery for the Rose Council crossed Wizard Smith's face. "Those spineless weaklings of the Rose Council sent people directly into the ruins themselves this time, and still managed to be nearly wiped out to a man. One has to say, you don't hold back."

Locke said, "I'll say it again. None of this has anything to do with me."

Wizard Smith clearly did not believe him.

His expression was peculiar, and he seemed firmly convinced in his heart that the fact that Storm Tower's subordinate organization the Thunder Demon Society and a small research group from the Rose Council had been nearly annihilated in that tomb ruin was entirely due to Locke's scheming.

Or perhaps the scheming of the other female Divine Master.

But that female Divine Master had gone into seclusion immediately upon her return and had not been seen since. After discussion, they had also confirmed that the highest-ranking individual among the four was Locke Augustine.

The two small figures from the Jade Splendor Enclave were irrelevant.

The entire operation had looked more like three wizards accompanying the crown prince of Golden Crown Mountain on an expedition, much as Smith himself held a similar position within Storm Tower.

So Wizard Smith had formed the presumptive conclusion that the Revelation Witch Stone was very likely now in Locke's hands.