Chapter 587: The Council of Elders' Difficulties, Water Cloud Barrier and Falling Flowers Without Mercy |
In the living room, Williams raised her hand and spoke to Locke, "Teacher... my original goals were Golden Crown Mountain's traditional permanent defensive fields [Misty Rain Fog], or [Bamboo Sea Sword Formation] and [Water Cloud Barrier]!"
Locke nodded slightly. These three magics were all relatively common permanent defensive fields at Golden Crown Mountain, magics that botany witches were likely to choose.
Especially Water Cloud Barrier.
However, these three permanent defensive magics were considered relatively good spell models. Although they weren't unique to Golden Crown Mountain, only the seven major academies or some medium-scale wizard organizations had complete spell model inheritances.
Water Cloud Barrier was even a magic that only the seven top wizard academies possessed. The complexity of its spell model was very high. Without background, or unless one was a super genius wizard, obtaining it during the apprentice stage was quite difficult.
Locke beckoned with his hand, and a magic book from the living room bookshelf entered his hand. "This is the magic book for Water Cloud Barrier."
Locke explained, "For First Circle wizards, Water Cloud Barrier can be directly exchanged with contribution points. A Water Cloud Barrier book only costs 1500 contribution points. Although that's quite a lot, it's still Cloud Marsh Wetland's most famous permanent defensive field, so I previously purchased it and studied it."
Williams looked at the light blue magic book in Locke's hand and swallowed hard.
This was something she had once dreamed of.
Her original purpose for participating in the potion relay race was exactly this.
Because the reward pool for the sports festival potion relay race included the Water Cloud Barrier magic book in its reward list.
But she hadn't expected that what was a dream worth pursuing with all her might for a first-class wizard apprentice like her was just an ordinary magic book sitting on Locke's living room bookshelf.
Locke said, "According to the library's exchange agreement, I can lend you this book to read."
"Getting the Water Cloud Barrier materials isn't difficult for me, but its learning difficulty is very high, and it requires special casting materials, the magic plant Cloud Sky Grass unique to the shores of Cloud Marsh Lake and the special Fisherman's Song Curse, as well as a Water Cloud Porcelain piece."
"Let's not talk about the difficulty. But if your goal is Water Cloud Barrier, I can help you. However, Cloud Sky Grass is a First Circle magical plant and requires considerable money. The Fisherman's Song Curse and Water Cloud Porcelain also require substantial expenses."
Locke explained, "Water Cloud Barrier is a very famous permanent defensive field in your Cloud Marsh Wetland, and the cost isn't small."
"It combines the magic system of your Cloud Marsh Wetland's unique bards with the magic porcelain magic system, producing a permanent defensive field magic whose learning conditions can only be met in Cloud Marsh Wetland."
"Even assuming you can learn it, you would still need to spend at least 100,000 magic stones to gather the resources needed to learn Water Cloud Barrier."
One hundred thousand magic stones wasn't a small amount for wizard apprentices.
Of course, as Cloud Marsh Wetland's typical superior permanent defensive field, Water Cloud Barrier had powerful effects. Wizards who used it would be surrounded by a barrier realm where clouds and water reflected each other.
It could even borrow a trace of world power to form a flowing cloud-water barrier that could absorb and rebound opponents' spell attacks.
It was a very superior permanent defensive field.
It fully embodied the aesthetic of Cloud Marsh Wetland wizards, who liked to overcome strength with cleverness, overcome clumsiness with wisdom, and remain flexible without breaking.
Locke estimated that even his current self, without using Peach Bow Thorn Arrow or Flowing Gold Fern Spear, couldn't break the Water Cloud Barrier used by a First Circle crystallization stage wizard with normal magic.
He might even have his own spells rebounded by the opponent, suddenly suffering a major loss.
Williams bit her lip, then suddenly spoke, "Water Cloud Barrier is very good, but teacher, I heard from my best friends that you possess the special permanent defensive field magic Forest Sanctuary."
"Could I learn Forest Sanctuary from you?"
Locke was stunned and looked at Williams, "Your best friends' information network is quite well-informed."
However, thinking carefully, when he had exchanged magic knowledge with Daniel, Mason, and others, he had indeed mentioned Forest Sanctuary a few times.
So it wasn't surprising that students at Golden Crown Mountain had heard about Forest Sanctuary.
Gregor looked at Williams and asked in a low voice, "Williams, what is Forest Sanctuary? What are you and the teacher talking about? I don't understand at all."
Williams looked at Locke respectfully. Seeing that Locke had no intention of stopping her, she turned to Gregor and said in a low voice, "Forest Sanctuary is the teacher's permanent defensive field. A special magic that can simultaneously use multiple permanent defensive fields."
Gregor said in surprise, "Simultaneously use multiple permanent defensive fields? Then wouldn't the teacher alone be equal to several people!"
Locke coughed and explained, "Forest Sanctuary can only switch between permanent defensive fields. It's just a platform. Among permanent defensive field type magics, it can only be considered relatively special. It's not invincible, nor does it have the ability to use multiple permanent defensive fields simultaneously."
"I just developed Hydra and Five-Headed Hydra, allowing myself to simultaneously use permanent defensive fields."
Gregor looked at Locke somewhat excitedly.
He was just relatively honest, not stupid. He could naturally recognize the powerful aspects of Locke's Forest Sanctuary system.
Gregor recalled his original two goals, [Falling Flowers Without Mercy] and [Metasequoia Turtle Shell], and suddenly felt their appeal weaken.
"Teacher, I also want to learn Forest Sanctuary."
Faced with requests from both Williams and Gregor, Locke was somewhat surprised.
Because unlike people from other wizard lands, wizards from Cloud Marsh Wetland generally wouldn't consider using defensive magic from other wizard lands to establish their permanent defensive fields. They generally preferred to choose common local defensive magic or defensive magic from the Star Domain Sea.
However, thinking carefully, Forest Sanctuary itself only provided a switching platform and could completely carry those local permanent defensive magics.
Moreover, Forest Sanctuary originated from Witch Myst, that mysterious ancient witch from the southeastern quadrant.
Thinking about it now, Lilith's Cottage probably had an extraordinary inheritance. Witch Myst was definitely not simple.
Perhaps other wizard organizations also had similar mysterious inheritances. He had just used a series of methods to perfectly replicate the power system of Lilith's Cottage's founding headmistress during the First Circle stage.
He was equivalent to possessing the power of ancient Lady Myst during the First Circle stage.
He possessed the same stats and spell pool as her.
This was also one of the reasons behind his current power.
Locke looked at them both, "Teaching you Forest Sanctuary isn't a problem. But there's one thing. Forest Sanctuary is very good. Its only flaw is that it costs money, and it's a growth-type permanent defensive field."
"This means the initial advantage won't be very great."
"If you want to learn Forest Sanctuary, you need to be prepared to invest at least 500,000 magic stones in the early stage. After you become First Circle stage wizards, obtaining the complete version of Forest Sanctuary will require investing approximately one million magic stones."
"Are you psychologically prepared for this?"
As soon as these words came out, Williams and Gregor calmed down.
After all, the money Locke mentioned was indeed a lot for two wizard apprentices, so both fell into weighing the pros and cons.
However, Williams quickly made her decision. She said to Locke, "Teacher, I've made up my mind. I want to learn Forest Sanctuary. If I'm going to learn, I'll learn the best. Because I want to become the most powerful wizard."
"It's my honor to learn from such an excellent wizard as you."
"Moreover, I'm confident I can earn that much money in the future." Williams said proudly, "My seventh-place work from the association-level breeder competition, the Big Green Leaf Dragon Sparrow Bromeliad, has already been approached by shop alliances for cooperation to produce several more."
"Also, my recently opened personal pharmacy has improved three apprentice-level potions. My current comprehensive income can reach about 7000 per month. As long as I'm a bit frugal with my spending, I can save 5000 magic stones per month."
"I can save 60,000 magic stones per year. 500,000 only needs five years to save up."
Williams blushed, "Anyway, I can get a loan. I can loan enough magic stones first to build Forest Sanctuary, then slowly repay the money after I become an official wizard."
Locke nodded slightly.
Just like what he had done during his apprentice stage, before coming to his side, Williams already had her own pharmacy and some cooperation with magical plant shops.
From every aspect, she was very much like himself during the apprentice stage.
During his apprentice stage, except for the last year, he could basically only earn about 10,000 magic stones per month.
In any case, Williams was relatively capable of making money during the apprentice stage.
Especially with the help of his large amount of flying magical plant materials, her Big Green Leaf Dragon Sparrow Bromeliad product might not be able to help her win first place in the competition, but it could help her earn substantial funds in magical plant shops.
After all, the Big Green Leaf Dragon Sparrow Bromeliad was essentially the apprentice version of his Large Green Leaf Dragon Sparrow.
Every aspect embodied his practical philosophy aesthetic.
From every angle, it was very practical.
It was truly the most beloved apprentice-level flying magical plant for those magical plant shops in the Dragon Blood Market Castle.
If his prediction wasn't wrong, Williams's future income should be able to increase from 7000 per month to 8000 per month, or even more.
Gregor at the side looked at Williams with some amazement.
Both were apprentices. He was still looking everywhere for part-time work, working as an apprentice-level trader in the Golden Peach Garden shop at Dragon Blood Market, while Williams was already a small business owner.
The gap was really huge.
He worked as a trader at Golden Peach Garden for only 1000 in wages per month!
Comparing people really made one angry.
Williams said very definitely, "Teacher, I want to learn the most powerful magic. Obtaining the most powerful magic is my wish."
"So I want to learn Forest Sanctuary. Moreover, I heard that Forest Sanctuary can help wizards during the First Circle stage raise their upper limit, allowing First Circle wizards to grow better. My goal isn't just to be a First Circle wizard, so now that I have this opportunity, of course I must seize it."
"Please teach me Forest Sanctuary."
Gregor at the side heard this. He hesitated but was still scared by Forest Sanctuary's huge cost, so he said, "Teacher, I still won't learn Forest Sanctuary. That magic is really too expensive. Even if I take out a loan, I won't be able to repay it."
People in Cloud Marsh Wetland all had the concept of advanced consumption.
Gregor said, "I want to learn Falling Flowers Without Mercy."
Locke nodded slightly, respecting their own choices.
He beckoned with his hand, and a magic book flew from the bookshelf and landed in his hand. "Falling Flowers Without Mercy is also a relatively common superior permanent defensive field magic in Cloud Marsh Wetland. It requires the Phantom Flower to assist in learning, and also needs a bard's Sorrowful Song Curse."
"Falling Flowers Without Mercy can form a large number of pink petals around oneself, possessing certain direct defensive counterattack abilities. Countless petals exist only to protect the wizard alone. This is a good choice."
Gregor showed a delighted expression because Locke affirmed his choice.
Cloud Marsh Wetland had many types of permanent defensive field magic. When learning them, they required special song curses from bards for blessing to obtain special power.
In other words, the permanent defensive field magics here were different from other wizard lands. It was impossible for a wizard to take a book, find a corner, and study it alone to master it.
Instead, it required highly socialized cooperation.
It relied on mature social systems—potion studies, breeding, various song curses from bards, earth wonders discovered by earth wizards, and so on, as assistance.
Locke handed him the magic book. "You don't need to find a way to exchange for the Falling Flowers Without Mercy magic book. I've already exchanged for this. Borrow it to study, but you'll need to obtain the Phantom Flower and Sorrowful Song Curse yourself."
Gregor took the book from Locke, then thanked him, "Teacher, thank you so much. Then I'll take it back to study."
Locke nodded slightly. "I've exchanged an entry opportunity to the Four Seasons Valley secret realm for you. When you want to go in, come find me to sign your application form, and you can go."
"I hope you can apply for the wizard seed candidate title as soon as possible."
Gregor swallowed hard. "Yes, teacher, I'll work hard."
He clearly had doubts about whether he could obtain Golden Crown Mountain's highest apprentice-level title, wizard seed candidate.
After all, was he really that excellent?
After he left, Williams looked at Gregor's departing figure, frowned slightly, then said to Locke, "Teacher, I feel that Gregor doesn't have any goals."
"He seems different from us."
Locke didn't immediately answer her, but said, "Hmm? Can you explain specifically how he's different?"
Williams said to Locke, "Teacher, from the first moment I saw you, I saw you constantly reading magic books. You're busy every day. You treat learning knowledge and exploring the unknown as fun. You treat breaking conventions as everyday life."
"You're a wizard who was born to love exploring truth. Just like the ideal wizard I read about in books."
"I feel, teacher, that you're more like a Cloud Marsh Wetland wizard than we Cloud Marsh Wetland wizards are."
Locke smiled. "Williams, you have too much of a filter on me."
Williams said, "Compared to you, I just want to obtain the world's most powerful magic. I just want to gain power."
"This goal is much smaller compared to yours, but at least I know what I want. But Gregor doesn't seem to know..."
"As for becoming a First Circle wizard... that is indeed his near-term goal, and he's working toward it. But that's not what he wants."
Locke didn't casually interrupt his student's train of thought or make any accusations. He just continued asking her, "This isn't what he wants?"
After thinking, Williams seemed to have figured something out, so she said to Locke, "Yes, I'm very certain this isn't what he himself wants. This is what Golden Crown Mountain wants! He's just following the study plan Golden Crown Mountain set up and learning there."
"I feel Gregor is a very smart person and also a very energetic person. The reason he seems mediocre isn't because he's truly mediocre, but because he hasn't found what he wants yet."
Williams smiled embarrassedly at Locke. "Sorry, teacher. I talked too much again."
"Before, I offended my previous wizard mentor because I talked too much. He thought I was too foolish."
Locke shook his head slightly. "When we're all young, we're all foolish."
Locke recalled that he had also expressed some opinions in front of Witch Sophia. Looking back now, the way he spoke back then was indeed very immature.
Witch Sophia had never seemed to say anything about it.
Thinking of this, Locke looked at Williams, "However, you got one thing right. Gregor indeed hasn't found what he wants. But I can't remind him about this."
"Because it's useless."
"Unless he himself wants it, even if anyone reminds him, it's useless." Locke said, "In this world, the rarest things, besides talent, include the intrinsic motivation a wizard generates from wanting to obtain a certain goal themselves."
He and Witch Sophia were both very pure wizards who simply wanted to explore truth, while Williams was the type of wizard who wanted powerful strength.
Witch Yekaterina seemed different from all of them. Although Locke hadn't completely understood her, he always felt she seemed different from ordinary wizards.
What she sought was neither power nor truth, nor some kind of emotional thing.
Gregor was still just coasting along.
His potential hadn't been fully developed.
Locke looked at Williams and handed her the Forest Sanctuary magic book he had previously written for Albert.
"This is the Forest Sanctuary magic book. From now on, come to my place every day to read this book. If you want to learn Forest Sanctuary, you should start learning now."
"Moreover, you need to collect at least three First Circle level tree-type magical plants. There's also another problem—you need at least one acre of magical field. If possible, you'd best be able to purchase a Druid's Ring."
"If that's really not possible, you should also rent some magical fields in the market."
Locke recalled his very cheap acre of magical field on the Great Red Mountain Banyan. "I have an acre of magical field on the Great Red Mountain Banyan that only costs 4000 magic stones per acre. If you need it in the future, I can sublet it to you."
Williams joyfully took the spell book from Locke's hands. "Alright, teacher, thank you."
Immediately, she eagerly held the magic book and went to the side to study.
Locke saw his past self in her.
He then sat at the other side of the living room table, flipping through the potion studies materials he had borrowed from the library while glancing at Williams, who was studying seriously.
Locke looked at the materials in his hands while beginning to think about how to pass the fourth round of the ladder.
During this time, he would spend at least half an hour every day thinking about how to treat that necromancer from Southern Wizard Capital.
"The best method is to have him give up his abyss energy, or give up necromancy energy, or give up transformation energy." Locke provided a solution approach. "Like a tangled mess of rope, cut it directly and the knot resolves itself. It can save his life. But this solution approach definitely won't pass the fourth round ladder test."
Locke thought, "To pass the fourth round ladder, I need to further improve my understanding of potion studies, and I need to set up formulas from scratch, which means I need to have vision and knowledge that transcends First Circle potion studies."
"With my current self, trying to do this in a short time is really too difficult."
"One year... but it's not like there's no other way."
Locke stood up and left the living room, walking outside the dormitory castle. He summoned a white cloud cluster from the sky—that was a cloud whale.
Then he jumped onto the cloud whale and headed to the Feathered Serpent Pavilion.
At the same time, sitting on the cloud whale, Locke took out his Wish Lingzhi magical plant and discovered that a First Circle liquefaction wizard from the Student Affairs Office had contacted him, indicating that his two students, Gregor and Williams, both had records of skipping public classes.
They now wanted to handle them accordingly.
Out of protocol, they were asking for his opinion.
Locke frowned at this. "What madness has the Student Affairs Office caught? Isn't it normal for first-class wizard apprentices to sometimes not attend public classes?"
Locke sensed something abnormal from this.
He prudently didn't immediately choose to reply. Instead, he took a screenshot of the message and sent it to Wizard Kelt. Seeing no response, he estimated Kelt hadn't seen it for the moment, so he first headed to the Feathered Serpent Pavilion to search for materials needed to pass the fourth ladder test.
At the same time, in the Student Affairs Office inside the [Glazed Garden] castle controlled by Golden Crown Mountain's Council of Elders, several First Circle wizards were discussing.
A First Circle crystallization wizard from the Council of Elders said to the First Circle liquefaction wizard staff member who had sent the message, "How is it? Did that Augustine reply to you?"
The First Circle liquefaction stage staff member shook his head. "Vice Director, not yet."
"He probably hasn't seen it. But why did you have me focus on the absence records of two students and make a big deal out of it? Although not attending class violates school rules, generally speaking, we wouldn't care too much about this kind of thing."
The Student Affairs deputy director sneered. "You really want to ask? But I'm afraid you'll regret asking."
"This person is a candidate from the Academic Committee. The Council of Elders is very dissatisfied with his participation in the spell combat competition."
"The Academic Committee already has one researcher participating. Now there's another one."
"So they're having us give him some trouble."