Wizards: Starting with Synthetic Gems

Chapter 229 Special Research Project
That night, the mortal nobles in the caravan gathered firewood and built a huge campfire in the wilderness. Then, under the direction of the witches Sophia and Gabriel, they created a makeshift camp around the fire.

The whole night was shrouded in darkness, without moonlight or starlight, the earth was dim and without light, except for the campfire in the center of their camp.

The carriage convoy set off again early the next morning.

After a long journey, they finally crossed the wilderness and arrived at a city-state before dusk.

The houses in this city-state are mostly stone buildings, and it appears to be the largest human settlement in the vicinity.

The human political organization in the Black Wizard Lands is not a nation-state, but rather a series of city-states.

Behind these city-states are wizarding factions within the Blood Curse Courts, and these city-states collect unprocessed magical resources for these factions.

The witch Sophia seemed to have influence within this city-state, so she easily passed through the city wall entrance of this city-state called "Corinth".

The Corinthian slave soldiers guarding the city walls all made a fist-to-chest salute to the witch Sophia, seemingly as a collective expression of respect.

Locke walked beside the witch Sophia, somewhat surprised that she could wield so much power in the enemy's stronghold deep within their territory.

Locke whispered, "Teacher, how did you do that? They treated you like they were welcoming their master home."

Sophia the Witch smiled slightly. "You'll soon find out why."

Soon, the lord of the Corinthian slave city-state ordered his slave soldiers to invite them to the fortress in the heart of the Corinthian city-state.

Locke and his four companions separated themselves from the mortal nobles.

The main purpose of the mortals they brought was to cover them; now that they have arrived, they are no longer needed.

Moreover, continuing to lead this group of mortal nobles will only harm them.

Therefore, these mortal nobles had no idea from beginning to end that they had followed five wizards from Lilith's Hut through the enemy camp and into the enemy's rear, where they had been in extreme danger at all times.

Inside Corinth Castle, after the banquet, in the office of the city-state's lord.

The wizard lord of Collins, a first-class wizard apprentice and a dark wizard apprentice, knelt before the witch Sophia in front of Locke, Albert, and Andy.

“Master Sophia, thank you for helping me improve my status in the Blood Curse Court. As per your request, I have inquired about the Curse Spell Research Institute within the city-state of Corinth. There is indeed a Curse Spell Research Institute here, and as far as I know, its level of secrecy is extremely high.”

"This place is suspected to be a top-level research project of the Blood Curse Tribunal."

"The one in charge is none other than the high-ranking curse master: Rashid Taril."

Gabriel and the others glanced at them in surprise.

Locke also knew that the research projects of the Blood Curse Tribunal were generally divided into special, first, second, third and ordinary grades. Most projects at the level of wizard apprentices could not exceed the second grade. Only those large-scale experiments of wizard sequence might be barely rated as second grade.

The fact that it is a top-tier research project means that it is a project that is very important to the Blood Curse Court and could even influence its development direction for the next thirty years.

Sophia the Witch never imagined that her target, Rashid Tahrir, was actually in charge of such an important project.

Sophia the Witch chuckled. "The academy's higher-ups have quite the plan."

The witch Sophia looked at the first-class wizard apprentice, the dark wizard, and asked, "Do you know the specifics of that top-tier research project?"

"And the way to enter that cursed spell research institute."

The first-class wizard apprentice, a hint of guilt flashing in his eyes, said, "Master Sophia, I'm sorry, I don't know the specifics of that special project. I'm just an ordinary first-class wizard apprentice with 210 magic power."

"Only senior first-class wizard apprentices with a magic power of 400 or above can enter that curse spell research institute."

"Moreover, I haven't yet figured out how to get into that cursed spell research institute. No, the key point is that I don't even know the exact location of that cursed spell research institute."

A look of confusion flashed in the eyes of the dark wizard Nils. “Every day I see a large amount of magical resources being transported to the city-state of Corinth, but I have no idea where those magical resources end up.” “I am in charge of security, but I can’t find the entrance to that cursed spell research institute at all.”

Albert comforted him, saying, "That's normal. After all, it's a top-tier research institute, and the entrance might be sealed off by magic."

Andy glanced coldly at the dark wizard, his eyes filled with disgust and murderous intent. "I don't quite believe you. You're not a double agent, are you?"

"Have you examined the shadows of the city-state of Corinth? It's possible that the entrance to the research institute is hidden in the shadows of these buildings. You dark wizards always like to hide the entrances to important facilities in the shadows."

The dark wizard Nils sensed Andy's rejection, but he could also sense Andy's immense magical power. If Andy so desired, he would be virtually no match for him.

The difference between first-rate wizard apprentices is greater than that between a human and a dog.

Niels bowed to Andy and said, "Senior, what you're talking about is also a direction I've investigated before, but I haven't found anything."

Niels looked at the witch Sophia and knelt down before her again. At the same time, he even looked at Locke and gave him a deep bow.

Locke was completely baffled.

Why is the teacher's spy bowing so deeply to me?
The wizard apprentice, Nils, said, "Master Sophia, this must be your student, my senior, Lord Locke Augustine. Master Sophia, I am willing to do everything I can to help you find the entrance. I have only one small request."

“Please take me away from the Blood Curse Court. My wizard mentor is Rashid Tahrir. As long as his lineage of wizards is destroyed, all the curses on my head will disappear.”

“I originally came from the mortal world overseas. I never wanted to become a dark wizard. It was the Blood Curse Court who kidnapped me here.”

"Please keep your promise and take me back to Lilith's Hut, and accept me as your student."

Locke raised his eyebrows in surprise. He hadn't expected that the black wizard's condition for the deal was to take him away from the black wizard's territory.

Sofia the Witch frowned.

At the same time, the Incinerator Andy, with a glint of fiery magic in his eyes, took out a high-level enchanted item from his astral ring: a wizard's sword imbued with a 0.9-ring Incineration spell.

“I knew this dark wizard apprentice was up to no good. We should just arrest him and interrogate him to find out the location of the entrance and how we got in.”

"Sophia the Witch, Gabriel the Witch, what do you say?"

The dark wizard Nils was startled. He quickly said loudly, "Wait a minute, senior, you have too much prejudice against me."

“I just want to become a student at Lilith Hut Academy, to go from being a dark wizard to a white wizard, and to no longer be anyone’s slave. Mistress Sophia, you’ve always known my wish.”

Sophia the Witch said, "Andy, he's just a child, you don't need to scare him like that."

Andy scoffed. "Dark wizard children? None of these people have clean hands; everything in the cesspool is filthy."

"It's only because you're kind-hearted, Sophia. These dark wizards actually dare to make demands of us. Just give them a truth serum! Albert is the best at using truth serum, isn't he?"

Gabriel frowned. "Andy, calm down. You're too emotional. As a wizard, that can be fatal."

"Don't worry if you can't find the entrance. If all else fails, I can use the magic of the Prophecy School to easily predict and locate the entrance to the research institute."

"The only problem is that the Blood Curse Court has five sets of the Wall of the Unbelievers system. When I use prophecy magic, the probability of being located is very high. Unless absolutely necessary, neither Sophia nor I can take action."

"So, the three of you had better come up with a solution. Niels, your request isn't out of the question, but it depends on your performance and whether you can make a significant contribution."

The dark wizard apprentice, Nils, breathed a sigh of relief. "Yes, okay."

"Thank you, Lord Gabriel."

The witch Gabriel looked at Nils with a playful expression. "However, you were too careless; there was a little bug following you."

(End of this chapter)