Wizards: Starting with Synthetic Gems

Chapter 216 Recruiting Six Assistants
The first female second-class wizard apprentice to enter handed her information to Locke and the other two, appearing very nervous.

Locke glanced at her file and hadn't said anything yet, but Aisie had already spoken up, clearly dissatisfied with her.

"We are looking for second-class wizard apprentices with experience in clinical trials of potions. Your resume only shows experience working in two small potion shops. What use is that?"

"It's a complete waste of our time as potion masters."

Next, no matter how the female second-class wizard apprentice explained and articulated her confidence in doing a good job in the third phase of the experiment, Aisie did not give her that opportunity.

Locke and Anglu, on the other hand, didn't care.

Hiring some experienced second-class wizard apprentices would definitely make things much easier; otherwise, it would take a long time just to teach these apprentices.

They recruited assistants to save themselves time and energy, not to pay to teach these second-rate wizard apprentices.

Next, fifteen more second-class wizard apprentices came in for their interviews and self-introductions.

Anglu and Aisie, especially Aisie, were very picky when it came to choosing assistants.

Of these sixteen second-class wizard apprentices, she selected only three who had conducted clinical trials of potions and met their recruitment requirements.

She immediately kicked out all the other second-class wizard apprentices who wanted to learn or try their luck.

According to Aisie, their project is a typical popular one, attracting the attention of even the academy's higher-ups, so there's no need to worry about not being able to recruit qualified second-class wizard apprentices.

After all, for those second-class wizard apprentices, joining them was an honor and a qualification in itself.

Soon, someone else pushed the door open and entered. This time, Locke showed a look of surprise. The person who pushed the door open was none other than Pierre, his friend from when he was a third-class wizard apprentice.

Locke glanced at Anglu and Aisie, then spoke up, revealing his acquaintance with Pierre. "Pierre? What brings you here?"

Pierre's eyes lit up when he saw Locke, but when he looked up and saw Anglu and Aisie, he immediately lowered his head again, his heart filled with tension and pressure.

After all, there was not only Locke, whom he knew well, but also two first-class wizard apprentices whom he had never seen before, but who looked very serious and worked very diligently.

“Y-you…hello, Lord…Augustin, I’m here to apply for the assistant position.” Pierre said nervously and stammeringly, “Three great potion masters, I would like to apply for this position.”

"Although I don't have relevant work experience, I am very meticulous and conscientious in my work, and I will definitely do my job well."

Aisie and Anglu exchanged a glance, and Aisie glanced at Locke. Seeing that Locke didn't react, Aisie gave a rare, faint smile and said to Pierre, "Well, it's good that you have confidence."

"This is a rather rare quality. Confidence and a sense of responsibility are both important qualities for doing a good job. But can you take on the responsibility of collaborating with others to complete the animal experiments for the Xiongling Cuidan drug?"

Locke glanced at Aisie and understood why Aisie had made this arrangement. During the recruitment process, a very experienced second-class wizard apprentice had been selected to conduct the animal experiments for the Bear Spirit Gallbladder Potion.

If they hire Pierre, they can have the second-class wizard apprentice train Pierre, saving them the effort of repeatedly teaching Pierre.

Pierre was extremely nervous. "Yes...yes...I have that confidence."

Aisie smiled. "Great, you're accepted."

"Anglu, Locke, you don't have any objections, do you?"

Locke naturally had no objection, and Anglu nodded as well. Since they were going to hire six second-class wizard apprentices anyway, bringing along one less experienced second-class wizard apprentice wouldn't make a difference.

Moreover, this second-class wizard apprentice was quite familiar with Locke and was a reliable person. Just having him supervise the direction of animal experiments and prevent others from embezzling funds was a good choice.

Sometimes, among the assistants, there is also a need for someone who may not be very capable but is reliable enough to control certain details and monitor the progress.

After Pierre left, Locke and the others interviewed six more people, finally selecting the last two second-class wizard apprentices and signing contracts with them. Only then was today's recruitment activity officially over.

Locke distributed the documents to Angru and Aisie, saying, "I have some things to do recently, so you two will be keeping an eye on this project for me." "Remember to hold a group meeting every two weeks to discuss this with the six second-class wizard apprentices," Locke said. "Each of these second-class wizard apprentices will receive sixty magic stones from us every month, and I will cover that cost in full."

Anglu and Aishi quickly offered to share the monthly cost of 360 magic stones with Locke.

Locke refused, because he could only fully control the entire project team if he paid for it himself. Otherwise, Anglu and Aisi would be his partners. But in reality, they were no different from the six second-class wizard apprentices; they were just employees he had hired to complete the third phase of the Bear Spirit Gallbladder Potion experiment.

They're just of a higher rank.

Moreover, spending 360 magic stones a month and hiring six second-class wizard apprentices for half the day is not a loss.

For now, I can still afford this amount of money.

The Bear Spirit Jade Gallbladder Elixir has an exceptionally wide range of therapeutic applications. Completing its three phases of trials will indeed require a considerable number of people, and the current manpower may not be sufficient. However, once completed, the future benefits will be enormous, greatly aiding in obtaining the vast resources needed to break through to the level of a formal wizard.

Locke said, "As for the funds, I will leave five hundred magic stones with you first, and the two of you can help me distribute them to the six people."

"Five hundred magic stones should be enough to cover all the expenses for experiments on mortals and animals. The experiments during the wizard apprentice stage will be assisted by the Healing Hand, so this part will not cost much."

Anglu and Aisi nodded in agreement.

Now, Locke is essentially providing the funding, ideas, and research materials. He's speaking from a position similar to their mentor in the research group.

But neither of them had any objections, since Locke was the one who originally came up with the whole project.

Anglu assured Locke, "Don't worry, Locke. Aisie and I will keep an eye on the funds and allocate them reasonably."

He didn't ask Locke what he was going to do, as it was a sensitive question. First-class wizard apprentices all had their own things to do, so he didn't need to ask.

If Locke wanted to tell them, he would naturally do so.

Aisie also patted her chest and assured Locke.

After giving his instructions, Locke hurriedly left the office, leaving the follow-up work to Anglu and Aisie.

During this period, they each published a B-level article based on the Bear Spirit Gallbladder Potion, while Locke, due to being busy with biological bloodline modification, only published two B-level articles related to the Bear Spirit Gallbladder Potion.

As a result, he currently has a total of 13 B-level articles and 2 A-level articles.

He is currently almost at the middle level of a first-class wizard apprentice, and is even developing towards the top level of a first-class wizard apprentice.

After leaving the office he rented at the job market, Locke headed straight towards the direction of the sketching shops run by wizard apprentices of the Illusion School, where there were many sketch artists.

Locke walked into an art gallery, knocked on the open door, and called out into the gallery, "Is anyone there? I need to hire a sketch artist for a month."

The reason it takes a month is because the building to be surveyed by a sketch artist is the Curse Spell Research Institute.

To prevent the sketch artist from revealing their plans, Locke decided to hire him directly for a month.

After he completed his month-long mission, his undercover operation to assassinate his targets was also over.

In any case, his personal apothecary and plantation do require sketch artists to help him draw the appearance of the various magical plants and potions he cultivates.

This is one type of preservation measure.

When certain magical plants and potions are lost, this information can be used to re-cultivate or reconstitute them.

Although it's a job that you can choose to do or not, it's a good option to use it as a cover.

(End of this chapter)