Wizards: Starting with Synthetic Gems

Chapter 271 Obtaining a First Ring of Memory Fragment

Zoina called out worriedly, "Senior! Behind you!"

An angel soldier statue appeared behind Locke, suspended in mid-air.

The angel's face was cold and indifferent, its icy marble body seemingly devoid of any emotion. A massive two-handed stone sword, enveloped in dense polymorphic magic energy, slashed towards Locke's back.

Locke turned around, used the "All Plants Are Soldiers" technique to manipulate the Black Lock Bamboo Sword, and blocked the stone sword that the angel statue soldier was about to slash at him.

The black magical pressure and the invisible polymorphic energy clashed fiercely, and vortexes of magical energy appeared between Locke and the angel statue.

Locke noticed that the stone sword in the other person's hand was incredibly heavy, yet it seemed to possess the sharpness of a metal sword.

It can be said to possess the characteristics of both stone swords and iron swords.

This effect must have been created using some kind of transformation technique.

The opponent's stone sword continued to emanate shapeshifting energy, attempting to alter the form of the weapon in his hand. However, the Black Lock Bamboo's magic level was quite high, so it completely resisted this shapeshifting energy.

If it were an ordinary weapon, it would probably turn into something unknown the moment it came into contact with this stone sword.

'That's good. I've rarely fought against such high-level shapeshifters, so this will be a good opportunity to increase my combat experience in this area,' Locke thought.

The black bamboo sword in his hand was wrapped in black demonic pressure, which had gradually been replaced by his own, replacing Albert's demonic pressure.

This means that he is gradually beginning to fully master this rare magical plant, and that the quality of his magical pressure is starting to catch up with Albert's.

"Crack! Crack!"

The bodies of the angel statue soldiers and the stone swords that were fighting against Locke were constantly developing cracks, from which flowed polymorphic energy.

“I remember that the Transfiguration school’s magic is magic that changes form,” Locke said, looking at the angel statue soldier in front of him. “It doesn’t seem like the Enchanting school, which changes state, or the Alchemy school, which changes essence.”

"Therefore, even if transformation magic is used, its own state and material strength do not change. Thus, the stone statue is just the strength of a stone statue."

"They're not particularly troublesome golems. Of course, the sheer number of them is indeed a problem."

Locke wielded the Black Chain Sword Bamboo, and under the influence of the "All Plants Are Soldiers" spell, the body of the angel statue soldier began to crumble, turning into fragments that fell to the ground.

The energy from the deformation on those rubble dissipated.

At the same time, a transparent crystal appeared inside the pile of rubble. Locke waved his hand, and the Ominous Mandragora vine delivered the crystal into his hand.

At the same time, the instant the angel statue soldier shattered, an invisible energy flew out and landed on his body.

“This is…” Locke paused in mid-air, a hint of surprise on his face. “This is actually a fragment of a first-ring wizard’s memory, which contains his understanding of magic.”

Locke looked at the manor on the ground, filled with a beauty of decay and tranquility, and the many stone soldiers within it, and realized what was happening.

"I see."

"By killing the being within this memory echo, I can obtain a portion of that first-ring wizard's memories and some of the first-ring wizard's understanding of magic."

"Most of it isn't about understanding specific spells, because in this memory echo, the first-ring wizard's consciousness was already shattered; he was dead. This is just fragments of his memory after his death. But those haven't faded with time, and the remaining fragments are all magical essence."

Locke said, "In other words, this Echoing Memory Realm is like a mine. The more I kill, the more magical insights I can obtain, allowing me to further improve my understanding of first-level spells."

"No wonder the Wizarding Realm is a top-tier resource within the academy. It can effectively compensate for my lack of accumulated understanding of magic and further accelerate my journey to becoming a formal wizard."

This is a resource that an ordinary wild wizard could never enjoy.

The echo of a first-ring wizard does not last forever on the material plane; it will be worn away by the power of the material plane over time.

Therefore, creating such a secret realm would require enormous resources, as well as resources to maintain it every moment.

Furthermore, it is essential to select from among the numerous echoes those suitable for preservation and from which fragments of memory can be extracted. Of course, it's not just a matter of whether they can be created; there should also be ethical review mechanisms within the association to limit their creation.

The number of officially recognized wizards who can openly create Echoes of Death as a secret realm is likely extremely limited.

It is very likely that the consent of the officially recognized wizard before his death will be required, or even a signed contract.

This explains why Lilith's Cottage doesn't feature a plant-based wizard's memory echo, but rather the echo of a formal wizard from the Transfiguration school.

It's obvious that choosing a plant-based wizard would be more effective.

Locke said to Zoina, "Zoina, you are now a first-class wizard apprentice, and you have nearly 600 mana. So I will let you go down later and let you fight on your own."

"In this secret realm, combat is like mining. We need to fight to obtain the memory fragments we need, and it seems that specific magical crystals will also drop from inside these marble statues manipulated by shapeshifting magic."

"These are all top-quality raw materials for making magic potions."

Zoina's face turned pale; she was clearly unprepared. "Senior, I... am I supposed to fight? I'm not ready at all. I thought the secret realm was just a simple resource-gathering mission."

"Can...can I quit halfway through?"

Locke looked at her in surprise. "You haven't actually fought before, have you?"

Zoina nodded immediately, as if she felt Locke understood her. "Yes, senior. During my five years at Lilith's Hut, I studied every day, and later I did research and projects every day. I didn't fight at all."

"Now that I'm suddenly asked to fight... I... I'm not used to it."

Locke glanced at Zoena speechlessly. To be honest, even though white wizards rarely engage in combat, Zoena's situation was still quite extreme.

Because ordinary white wizard apprentices definitely need to earn money to acquire magical resources.

During the second-tier wizard apprentice stage, students will receive academy missions, so even though there are few combat scenarios, they are not entirely absent.

For example, clearing out groups of harmful magical creatures near the academy, or conducting investigations into magical plants.

But Zoina seems to have such high talent that she has achieved her current success by focusing solely on research and learning.

'No wonder Professor Harlan Vera asked me to guide her. If no one were to guide her, she would probably die as soon as she entered this wizarding realm, which would be a complete waste of the opportunity to enter the realm.' Locke suddenly realized.

Locke dodged the three-headed angel statue soldiers that flew into the air and pursued him, and also dodged the arrows fired at him by the archer statues on the ground.

“Zoina, you’ve never fought before, but you’ve at least learned some combat spells, right? I’ll find a safe place to put you down, and then you can do your best. You should also have the map your teacher gave you, which marks many statues with higher kill value. Just look at the map and decide for yourself.”

"Zoyna, you have to learn to mine the ore yourself."

“First-class wizard apprentices have already reached the stage of conducting independent research, but the project you are currently working on was given to you by your teacher. This is a serious problem. You must take the initiative to do everything yourself.”

After all, this is a trial, and Teacher Harlan Vera only asked me to help her a little; I'm not her babysitter.

Once inside this secret realm, Locke finally understood the meaning of the map given to him by Harun Vera.

Seemingly due to some kind of restriction, or for the sake of fairness—after all, this is a trial—Harlan Vera did not mention much specific information about the secret realm on his map.

Or perhaps he believed that the students would be able to adapt to the situation once they entered the secret realm; otherwise, the trial would be meaningless.

This kind of wizarding realm is probably one of the few occasions where white wizards can experience real combat.

Zoina, pale and extremely nervous, said, "Okay...senior..."

"I will follow your arrangements."

(End of this chapter)