Wizards: Starting with Synthetic Gems

Chapter 63 Academy Investigation
Inside the advisor's office in the wizarding area of ​​Lilith's Hut.

Sophia the Witch calmly walked into the office and sat down in front of Francis Zoe, the college's senior advisor.

Francis Zoe was an old man with a white beard and white hair. He wore a black wizard's hat and looked very old, but a shrewd look would occasionally flash in his eyes.

He wore numerous medals on his chest, including awards for several important new discoveries of magical potions in the southeastern corner of the region.

Advisor Francis smiled at the witch Sophia and said, "Sophia, it's only been a short time. That stubborn little girl from back then is now a full-fledged wizard and someone else's wizard mentor."

"It's only been a few years."

"Time is truly wondrous. It seems like just a second ago, you were a clueless little girl who had just started school, and now you're a full-fledged wizard on par with us."

The flower on the vine atop Sophia's witch's hat had turned pale yellow, a color that was both solemn and not too old-fashioned—just right.

Francis Zoe is not as kind as she seems.

He dedicated half his life to the college, putting it wholeheartedly.

Sometimes, he doesn't even care what means he uses to achieve his goals, and Sofia has always kept her distance from him.

Sophia the Witch nodded slightly. "Supervisor Francis, thank you for your past guidance."

Advisor Francis smiled and said, "I apologize for bothering you by calling you here, but as a senior advisor and academic supervisor at Lilith Hut, I still feel it's necessary for me to ask a few questions."

He placed a file on Locke Augustine in front of the witch Sophia. "This student only had a level three qualification upon entering the school, but within a year and a half, he became a second-class wizard apprentice and obtained a breeder's assistant certificate."

"His speed of advancement is very unusual."

"The college wants me to confirm..."

Sophia the Witch understood his subtext and said, "Yes, I know all that."

“My student has a very simple background. He comes from the mortal world overseas and has not signed a contract with any local wizarding family. He just has special talents in the stability of his magical power and the absorption of medicinal properties.”

"At the same time, he has a great talent in the field of breeding. Most of the work on this Super Mandela vine, including the concept, was done by himself."

A glint flashed in Francis Zoe's eyes as his gaze fell on Locke Augustine's file on the table. So that's how it was; he had miscalculated.

Strictly speaking, Sophia the Witch is not yet a formal member of Lilith's Hut. Entrusting her with the training of an apprentice of this caliber is a dereliction of duty on his part, who is responsible for assigning students to schools.

At this moment, Advisor Francis felt a slight pang of regret.

If he had known about Locke's talent earlier, he should have prioritized assigning Locke to one of the core members of the academy, the first-level breeder.

Francis Zoe smiled calmly and said, "That's good. The Academy certainly trusts your judgment, Sophia."

"I just want to rule out the possibility that this student is a spy for a dark wizard, or that a dark wizard has invested a lot of extra resources in this student in order to maliciously compete for magical resources and disrupt order."

"However, this student's background is very simple, and his interpersonal relationships are also very simple, so I did not consider this aspect."

"Moreover, even with sufficient resources, it's very difficult to achieve results in the field of breeding. It's a field where you can burn money and still not become a genius."

Sophia the Witch nodded. "Advisor, if there's nothing else, I'll be going now."

"The college has recently assigned me quite a few tasks."

Seeing that Sophia hadn't signed a contract for two consecutive years, Lilith's patience was wearing thin. She seemed to have a premonition of something, so she started assigning Sophia tasks over and over again.

Sophia the Witch did not refuse.

She is a wizard from Lilith's Cottage, and no one can change that.

If you gain something, you should give something in return. Otherwise, Lilith's Cottage wouldn't let people leave so easily.

In fact, Lilith's Hut, as her wizarding academy, will remain very important for a long time to come.

Before she achieves significant results, if she wants to pass the teaching qualification exams of other wizarding organizations, they will first look at the level of the wizarding organization she comes from.

Advisor Francis smiled and said, "Sophia, the academy has already approved your student's request to establish a small botanical garden and has transferred him from the patrol team, assigning him a new task—[The Investigation of Magical Plants]."

“Sophia, Locke is a student with great potential. It’s great that you have such a student.”

"I hope that Locke can be nurtured into an excellent breeder under your care. You also know the importance of breeders to the academy. In Lilith's Hut, more than half of the wizards know some plant magic."

The prerequisite for learning potion-making is that the wizard has a basic affinity for wood elemental particles, so wizards who are good at plant magic will generally know a little about potion-making.

Wizards who have absolutely no affinity for wood elemental particles can only learn a little bit of basic potion-making at higher levels.

Therefore, there are many wizards using plant magic in Lilith's Hut, and the presence of excellent breeders can significantly improve the overall level of wizards using plant magic in this wizarding organization.

Therefore, breeders hold a higher status in Lilith's Hut than they do elsewhere.

Advisor Francis chuckled, "Sophia, are you really not going to sign a contract? Even if it's just for the sake of these outstanding students, stay?"

"As you know, a formal wizard can become a small force by teaching students. They can build their own resource network, collect a lot of magical resources, and entrust their students with many things."

"Furthermore, once you have students who become formal wizards, or even advanced breeders and potion masters, you can expand your power and create your own magic through your students."

"The power of a formal wizard lies not only in himself, but also in his students."

Sophia knew that Francis's goal was simply to keep her at Lilith's Cottage.

Now, they are merely using Locke and other students as an excuse to speak again.

Sofia said, "I need to think about it some more."

Consultant Francis, maintaining his smile, said, "Okay."

"No matter the outcome, you are always welcome here."

After the witch Sophia left, Advisor Francis looked at Locke's file on the table with a hint of doubt in his eyes.

He was puzzled and tapped his fingers on the table repeatedly. "The speed of advancement is one thing, but it's possible that some talent wasn't detected during the test. There have been many cases like this before."

"But how could a wizarding prodigy from the mortal world achieve such great success in the field of breeding in such a short time? We still cannot rule out the possibility that the witch Sophia provided him with resources, leading to this result."

"But it doesn't make sense. Sophia has no reason to do this. Maybe I'm just overthinking it."

Advisor Francis snapped out of his daze and said, "Never mind, he's just an insignificant second-class wizard apprentice anyway."

"Maybe I really did make a mistake. But if I made a mistake, so be it. This level of error isn't enough to attract the attention of the college's higher-ups."

"The key is to find a way to keep Sophia, a formal wizard who is both a senior breeder and a potion master, in Lilith's Cottage."

Today's incident was originally something he did while feeling confused, and he just took the opportunity to make a fuss about it.

If it were any other formal wizard, he wouldn't care, because those formal wizards would handle the matter themselves.

A second-class wizard apprentice was not even worth his attention.

(End of this chapter)