Wizards: Starting with Synthetic Gems

Chapter 217 A First-Class Wizard Apprentice Who Failed to Break Through

On the two walls of the gallery, draped with exquisite red carpets, hung magical paintings created by wizards of the illusion school.

The figures or landscapes in these magical paintings are sometimes even moving.

For example, in a painting depicting an elegant and dignified witch, the serious gaze of the female wizard shifts as Locke changes his position.

Those eyes were always furrowed, as if they were troubled by something.

As Locke tried to step back and create some distance between himself and the painting, the wizard's wife in the painting's pupils dilated as well, as if she were still staring intently at Locke.

"I've heard that the magic paintings drawn by sketch artists have many unique functions. I hadn't encountered them much before, but now that I see them, I realize they're indeed true," Locke said in a low voice.

The Quick Painter is a wizard profession within the magic subfield of the Illusion School.

It is said that the magical paintings in the hands of powerful sketch artists can even imprison real souls and allow the figures in the paintings to attack enemies.

However, that requires a high level of skill in illusion magic, at least at the level of a formal wizard.

The owner of this gallery is probably far from reaching this level.

"Are there any guests? Excuse me, excuse me, please wait a moment. I have a custom-made magic painting that is in its final stages. All that's left is to lightly sweep the painting with a linseed oil fan brush to blend the scenery into the ambient light."

A young man's voice came from deep within the gallery.

About three minutes later, a young male wizard with long hair and bangs covering his eyes, and an artistic and gloomy appearance, hurriedly came out and stood beside Locke.

The sketch artist [Eragabalus] glanced at Locke, who was staring at the witch's painting, and smiled, saying, "This unfamiliar guest, you also think that painting is quite good, don't you?"

"This is one of my best works. It took a year and a month to complete. It is unparalleled from every angle and has no flaws."

A hint of nostalgia and sorrow flickered in Elagabalus's gloomy eyes. "This is a portrait of my first wife. After failing to advance to the rank of a formal wizard, she developed a terrible ailment where her whole body would occasionally flare up with fever. No matter what I tried, I couldn't cure her, and in the end, I could only watch her die."

"Before she passed away, she begged me to use magic to preserve her beauty and wisdom in this world forever, so I painted the most beautiful version of her."

"This is one of the uses of magic paintings: they can help others preserve their best image in this world forever. Even wizards have many things that cannot be recovered due to the passage of time."

Elagabalus snapped his fingers, and as he softly chanted a spell, a magical radiance fell upon the portrait. Instantly, the portrait of the witch was projected into the air, transforming from a two-dimensional image into a three-dimensional one.

Moreover, even as a three-dimensional portrait, it still appears as if it is looking at someone else, with those beautiful eyes still fixed on the two people in the gallery.

Locke knew this was a 0.5-level illusionary projection spell from the Illusion School.

The essence of the magic painting is still illusion.

As a wizard who had never encountered a magic painting before, Locke couldn't figure out how it was made or what the internal workings were.

After all, this isn't his major.

However, as the person who came to invite the speed painter, he only needed to know that the speed painter could indeed help him draw a map of the Curse Spell Research Institute, and even create a magic map.

Seeing that Locke still had his back to him, Eragabarus apologized slightly, saying, "I'm sorry, guest, I kept you waiting." "When I get busy, I tend to forget what's important."

"Excuse me, are you here because there's something I can help you with?"

Locke turned around and looked at Eragabalus.

The man had long hair and wore a specially made black wizard's robe. He was also adorned with many heavy metals, including a heavy gold necklace around his neck. The necklace was very elaborate, and in the center hung a fist-sized emerald.

He wore gold rings of various styles on all ten of his fingers, and the gold rings were set with various gemstones.

This guy was covered in accessories from head to toe. Although he was male, he had a more androgynous look, and he even wore eyeshadow.

Locke turned to Eragabarus and said, "Does your whole body get hot from time to time?"

"That's a classic case of an imbalance in the body's elemental structure!"

As a potion master's assistant and a staff member of the Healing Hand Clinic, Locke quickly offered his assessment. "It seems that during your forced breakthrough to become a formal wizard, for some unknown reason, your wife's physical and spiritual structure became unbalanced."

"This will cause your wife's body and soul to become unable to sustain themselves, eventually leading to a slow death."

"This is a rather rare phenomenon. It is also a very rare case in potion science. I have only seen one such case in the records of the Healing Hand Clinic at Lilith's Hut."

“Because it’s very difficult for ordinary magical experiments to cause the elemental structure of an object to become unbalanced,” Locke sighed. “This is a typical wizard’s disease. Except for extremely dangerous magical experiments, it is very difficult for extreme environments to occur in nature that would cause the elemental structure of a normal object to become unbalanced.”

Locke said, "This situation may require potions made by potion makers to treat. Alternatively, we could use [Volcanic Core], [Heart of Ice], and [Lung of Storm] to concoct a Tri-Force potion. Perhaps by infusing external elements, we could forcibly maintain the elemental structure of your wife's body."

"But it's hard to say. This is just my ideal assumption. The situation might be worse, and it could further reduce your wife's lifespan."

Locke said helplessly, "Under normal circumstances, it is very difficult to break the elemental composition of a living organism, even during the course of battle."

"The required energy level is simply too enormous."

"Your wife's condition is also rare."

Locke pondered deeply. If that were the case, then a wizard apprentice breaking through to become a full wizard was a very dangerous act.

Sophia the Witch often reminded herself that she should reach 800 in mental strength as soon as possible, as that would seem to reduce the risks she would have to take when breaking through to become a formal wizard.

The sketch artist, Eragabalus, was stunned.

Immediately, he looked at the badges worn on Locke's chest. Upon seeing that Locke's badges included the Medicine Master's Assistant Badge and the Excellent Apprentice Badge, Elagabalus smiled knowingly.

"So, you're a potion master, sir. No wonder you recognized me at a glance. I consulted many healers before I could diagnose your condition."

Elagabalus was somewhat surprised by Locke's keen observation. "You've only heard me describe my wife's illness once."

(End of this chapter)