Wizards: Starting with Synthetic Gems

Chapter 159 Breeder Examination
Lilith's Hut, the site of the breeder assessment.

Locke discovered that there were five breeding assistants participating in the assessment this time. Only two of them, including himself, were breeding assistants from Lilith's Hut, while the remaining three were breeding assistants from other junior wizard organizations.

At the formal breeder assessment site, there were three formal wizards from Lilith's Hut. All three formal wizards had badges of advanced breeder certification on their white wizard robes, and they also wore badges of various award-winning magical plants they had developed in the Southeast Corner Region.

The most prominent among them was undoubtedly the person sitting in the middle, wearing a purple wizard's robe and a violet wizard's hat, with a deep blue arcane orb swirling around the hat.

This person was Lady Morgana, the teacher of the witch Sophia.

Locke withdrew his gaze from Lady Morgana and, along with the other four breeding assistants, bowed to the three formal wizards and senior breeders in charge of the assessment.

The three breeding assistants from small and medium-sized wizarding organizations outside were undoubtedly more nervous than the three formal wizards. Their behavior became very stiff due to their excessive nervousness, and even their voices were somewhat distorted when they bowed.

Because in small and medium-sized wizarding organizations, there are usually only one or two formal wizards, whose status is even higher than that of the formal wizards in Lilith's Hut. That wizarding organization is often a one-man show for them.

One of the formal wizards beside Morgana, the high-level breeder Jonas Cortez, is most famous for inventing a high-level magical plant called Boundary Moss, which can generate a first-ring level barrier on its own.

The barriers surrounding the various alchemy huts in Lilith's Hut are created using the seeds of this high-grade magical plant as a medium for casting spells.

That was a textbook-level advanced magical plant, said to possess characteristics completely incomparable to those of an apprentice-level magical plant.

Advanced magical plants are the domain of advanced breeders.

So far, the magical plants Locke has come into contact with are only those of medium to high level or lower.

Jonas Cortés, an elderly man with silver hair, coughed and said, "The Green Nursery, the Seven-Colored Star Garden, the Symbiotic Brigade, and our two breeding assistants from Lilith Cottage, are all here?"

"Then, we can begin the assessment."

Jonas Cortez nodded slightly to Lady Morgana and another senior breeder. Of course, he clearly respected Lady Morgana more, as she held a higher position among formal wizards.

Jonas Cortes then addressed the breeding assistants who were participating in the assessment, saying, "Breeders hold a very special place in the hearts of wizards specializing in plant magic in the southeastern corner of the region. We explore magical plants, study magical plants, record magical plants, and preserve magical plants..."

With a wave of his hand, the entire assessment site, which was originally an ordinary stone room, suddenly became a place filled with birdsong and fragrant flowers. Strands of green shoots grew out of the cracks in the walls, and bright flowers bloomed in the stone room.

The younger breeding assistant from the Symbiotic Brigade couldn't help but exclaim, "It's so beautiful."

Jonas Cortez affirmed, "Yes, it's just too beautiful."

"Breeding is an aesthetic field. Advanced breeders can even change the ecological environment of a place and recreate the magical plant ecosystem. Your aesthetic sense will be reflected in the magical plants you cultivate."

"Therefore, I have always believed that the hidden talent of breeders is... your aesthetic sense. Your aesthetic sense determines how far you can go."

"Young, junior breeders, as a senior breeder, I welcome you to officially enter the field of breeding today. Please be mentally prepared for today's exam."

"This exam represents the standard for recognizing the level of a qualified breeder at Lilith Cottage. The assessment begins."

Locke understood that among the first-class wizard apprentices, there were many who had taken the exam for more than ten years, or even decades, but still could not pass the formal breeder examination.

The gap between first-class wizard apprentices is enormous.

Some first-class wizard apprentices are almost debt slaves, unable to afford the costs of learning meditation techniques. Others have various projects in their hands, making them seem like mere shrimps in comparison.

Jonas Cortez was about to announce that the first round of the formal breeder exam would begin with a theoretical exam.

But at this moment, Mrs. Morgana, who had been silent all along, suddenly spoke. Mrs. Morgana was a plump middle-aged woman, but she had a dignified and noble appearance. She was wearing some jewelry, with three large gemstone rings on the fingers of her right hand and a deep-sea pearl necklace around her neck.

Each pearl on that necklace was probably obtained from the magical creature oysters in the deep sea; they were not ordinary pearls.

Suddenly, Lady Morgana spoke up, "Jonas, wait a moment." Locke lowered his head and felt Lady Morgana's gaze linger on him for a fleeting moment before quickly looking away.

All I want is to pass the breeder exam normally and get a formal breeder certificate.

I hope the feud between Mrs. Morgana and Teacher Sofia will not affect me.

Jonas Cortez turned to look at Lady Morgana, who seemed to be a different person from a formal wizard.

Lady Morgana is clearly more experienced and powerful. "Jonas, I feel that in previous years the tests only focused on the breeders' skills and theoretical knowledge, which is too narrow a scope."

"This year I'm the chief examiner, and I think I should add another round of testing—testing on the Breeder Industry Standards Manual..."

"The main purpose is to teach younger breeders to be respectful and to respect the rules, instead of being like some people who disregard the rules and can trample on them or modify them at will when needed."

"We must set a good example for the younger generation."

"Mr. Jonas, Mr. Malcolm, what do you two think?"

Jonas and Malcolm were both at a loss, because the exam items were relatively fixed over the years and had a framework.

But this year's examiner, Mrs. Morgana, actually changed the framework entirely.

Neither of them knew whether to agree or not.

After all, this would likely draw inquiries from senior advisors and academic supervisors.

However, Lady Morgana also had many students and was quite senior at Lilith Cottage. Apart from Harun Vera, she was one of the oldest formal wizards, so she held an extremely high position and was a top academic authority.

As ordinary, formal wizards, they couldn't very well refute Lady Morgana's earnest advice to her face.

We should at least give Mrs. Morgana some face.

After some thought, Jonas and Malcolm could only reluctantly agree, since Lady Morgana was the examiner and it was her right to set the scope and content of the exam.

However, Malcolm and Jonas still discussed with Mrs. Morgana that the newly added test item should only be used as a reference for overall performance and should not be used to eliminate candidates directly in this round.

Good performance earns bonus points, while poor performance deducts points.

In this way, they could minimize the impact of the suddenly added exam without offending Mrs. Morgana.

In fact, Malcolm and Jonas had anticipated this situation. After all, as a senior official wizard of Lilith Hut, Lady Morgana's actions were somewhat unrestricted, and few dared to refuse her requests to her face.

Moreover, the Breeder Industry Standard Manual was indeed published by the White Wizarding Association, requiring every breeder to study it to prevent a recurrence of events like the Abyssal Plant Cataclysm caused by the Blue Ring Society.

Therefore, the newly added exam content is actually quite reasonable.

However, the new test item added by Lady Morgana still made the candidates, apart from Locke, somewhat uneasy.

The breeder exam was already difficult, and now there have been sudden changes, so naturally they are somewhat at a loss.

Locke breathed a slight sigh of relief. 'No wonder the teacher made me memorize the Breeder's Code of Conduct several times before the exam.'

'It seems the teacher anticipated that Mrs. Morgana would do this.'

"Students really do understand teachers; they're practically family."

(End of this chapter)