Wizards: Starting with Synthetic Gems

Chapter 863 Do you know who you are?
At this moment, Locke sensed a mortal cavalry force rapidly approaching in the forest. The hooves of the warhorses trembled as they hit the ground, causing tremors in the forest a hundred meters away.

At this moment, the boy and the middle-aged man also reacted immediately. They turned around and saw the cavalry of their original city-state appearing on the distant hillside.

The middle-aged man immediately tried to escape with the boy, but they didn't have many options, because two legs couldn't outrun four, and there were no other shelters around.

Therefore, the lush forest became the only option.

The two quickly rushed into the forest, found the largest tree in the forest, and hid behind it.

The cavalrymen quickly arrived at the riverbank, their warhorses searching around.

“There are footprints by the river, the footprints left by the shoes worn by the nobles of Terella. Those two sinners must be nearby. The priest said they must be killed to appease the wrath of the god of war.”

"They're right here, not far away."

A cavalryman, wielding an iron saber, said, “They have limited hiding places. I reckon they’re hiding in the forest ahead. Let’s dismount and search that forest; they’ll surely be hiding behind that tree.”

There were six cavalrymen in total. Another heavily armored cavalryman said, "These sinners who have angered the god of war are truly laughable. Do they think there is any place for them in this world? I heard that their whole family has been executed, and everyone associated with them is dead."

"The city-state of Terella will be under a new rule, the rule of the favored ones of the god of war."

The cavalrymen all dismounted and went into the forest to search.

The middle-aged man, hiding behind the trees, plunged his dagger into the soil, then gritted his teeth, his eyes wavering, wondering if he had joined the ranks of sinners.

He knelt on the ground and prayed.

"Unconquerable charioteers of blazing fire, gods who command charges and the clash of shields, please forgive our sins and give us another chance. We are willing to offer you our finest sacrifices..."

"Please forgive my young master, Orion, for all his sins, just as you have blessed his family with victories in every war. We have never harbored any disrespect for you; please do not let wicked people cloud your judgment... We beg you to look upon us once more..."

"My lord Orion will become your best hunter, capturing all those who betray and provoke you..."

As the middle-aged man heard the knights' footsteps getting closer, a look of despair appeared on his face. Terella's heavily armored knights were guardians of the gods, clad in heavy armor, representing the will of the god of war.

Is he going to be an enemy of these guardians of the gods?

Even if he can overcome the psychological hurdle, can he defeat six of these warriors who have received military training since the age of 10 and are capable of taking on hundreds of enemies, whether in naval or land battles?

How could he be that kind of person?
At this moment, in this person's heart, the only thing that could turn the tide was the will of the God of War, the chief god of the city-state of Terella.

That is a great god who can dominate world wars; wherever his gaze falls, war will break out.

The middle-aged man turned to Orion and whispered, "Young master, what are you doing? Quickly pray to the god of war!"

Orion grabbed the dagger. "We only have one dagger now, but there are two of us. I'm going to cut off a branch from this tree and carve it into a weapon."

"That way, we'll both have weapons."

Middle-aged people find it absurd.

“Young master, those are all heavily armored knights of Terella, the best warriors. Even if you and I could take up weapons, what could we change? Right now, the only useful thing to do is to pray.”

Orion's eyes hardened.

"The god of war has abandoned us, Selenos. Now we can only rely on ourselves."

"We need weapons now!"

Orion slashed at a branch of a tree in front of him with his dagger, and sparks flew as the dagger struck the branch.

Orion looked at the web of his right hand in shock.

His tiger's mouth felt numb.

The dagger in his hand fell to the ground.

From a young age, he aspired to become the best warrior in Terella and wear the heavy armor that represented glory, so he honed his skills and physique from childhood.

His father once said that he was also the best hunter in Terrera. He had a special talent that allowed him to never get lost in complex paths by relying on his intuition, and he could easily tame wild beasts that others could not.

Whether it was warhorses, dangerous creatures in the forest, or even a dire wolf he once subdued—a product of the legendary underground demon wolf and an ordinary wild wolf from the surface world—he had conquered them all.

He felt he could cut a tree branch in half with a single dagger, but in reality, his hand went numb and the dagger fell from his grasp.

A leaf fell down; the leaf was lush and green, like a piece of jade, and it was an oak leaf.

The edges are gold, giving it a sacred feel.

Orion couldn't help but look down at the leaf.

The next moment, the roars of six heavily armored knights rang in his ears.

“He’s here! I’ve seen him, the sinner is right here.”

"His blood must be offered to the god of war. Seize him quickly."

Serenos was deathly pale. He said, “Young master, you must leave quickly. I will hold them off. Remember, you must escape. The God of War and the priests have only been deceived. As long as you live, we will one day clear our names of sins.”

Orion's eyes were filled with despair. He never imagined that he would fall into such despair and helplessness.

A trusted friend betrayed him.

His former subjects had become his executioners.

Even the god he worshipped judged him as a sinner.

And to this day, he doesn't even know what mistake he made.

The next moment, a tree in front of them suddenly stood up. The tree used its branches as hands and its roots as feet, walking on the ground. The tree raised its palm and slapped three of Terella's best heavy knights away. Then, tree roots rolled on the ground, and two heavy knights were bound by tree roots that emerged from the ground.

Then, Locke manipulated his treant avatar, stretched out his hand, and grabbed the last heavily armored soldier in front of him.

The heavily armored soldier was horrified to find himself being lifted up by Locke, and exclaimed, "The tree... the tree can move?"

"Gods of the crater, am I seeing things? The trees are moving? God of War above."

Locke glanced at him, and the heavily armored soldier instantly felt a strange sensation, as if he were being watched by some enormous being.

It wasn't the tree person watching him.

It was Locke who was watching him.

Locke's current magic pressure is 18500, which is equivalent to about one percent of the world's total magic pressure. This is world-class magic pressure.

Therefore, this heavily armored soldier would have the illusion that he was being watched by some huge object, but he could not accurately judge the size of the object.

Locke glanced at it and judged, "This soldier is human, and his soul structure is not much different from that of mortals in the wizarding world. It's just that the plane of his body is different."

"But there's one thing about him that sets him apart from the wizarding world. And that difference is what makes this world unique."

Locke realized something: the issue of time flow in the three worlds.

The time flow rate on the crater is approximately 2:1 different from that in the Wizarding World.

But the flow of time on the earth in this world seems to be different from the flow of time on the crater.

What takes one day on the crater is equivalent to a year on Earth.

The moment he entered this world using his Treant avatar, he immediately realized this. The information collected by the Void Cube was only a partial and incomplete understanding of the plane's principles, which is why he directly entered the present world and thus became aware of the characteristics of the Three-Dimensional Plane.

“This mortal has almost no magical energy. The entire earth is a mortal world, and the Three-Planet is very close to a medium-to-large-scale plane. How could it not have magical energy?”

"The magical tide was absorbed by the plane of the crater."

This is quite in line with the capabilities of the higher plane.

The upper plane above the crater is probably the root cause of the lack of magical tides on Earth. Because the upper plane at the top of the crater absorbs almost all the magical tides of this world, this has caused a difference in the flow of time between the two.

"That is, one year on Earth is equivalent to one day on the mountain. The actual flow of time within the Three Cave Worlds is more complex."

Although it may seem that one has more time in the present world of the Three Caves, in reality, because the present world is a region that is almost devoid of magic, one would only waste time here, or even experience a decline in power.

Having more time can actually be a disadvantage.

Even for wizards, this is true. First, it is difficult to maintain magical pressure here. Second, there are not many materials available for conducting experiments. Even if experimental materials are brought to this region, the magical tidal concentration gradient of the materials will continue to decrease over time.

This place is unsuitable even for wizards to conduct thought experiments, because it is a magic-free area. And at higher magic levels, even thought experiments require a certain amount of spiritual light.

But at this moment, for someone like me who wants to evolve a power system and forge immense magic, the difference in time flow between the present world of the Three Caves and the Sanctuary on the crater is actually very advantageous to me.

Perfect timing. I need a considerable amount of time to evolve my power system, and I also need to find a place to organize my thoughts on botanical magic.

Thinking about it carefully, it is indeed quite expensive to do the work of organizing thoughts at Jinmian Mountain. Not only is the land at Jinmian Mountain extremely valuable, but even time is extremely valuable.

Jinmian Mountain shouldn't be used for just this.

Locke casually tossed the mortal, who possessed a portion of the God of War's divine power, out.

At the same time, Locke turned to look at the middle-aged man and the boy, Orion.

Locke said, “You are all very rude. The first time you saw me, you hid behind me without my permission. Then, you even tried to cut off my branches.”

The middle-aged man raised the dagger in his hand, trembling as he pointed it at Locke.

“We…we meant no offense. Who are you?”

"You have just killed six loyal guards of the God of War. You have offended the God of War..."

Orion said, “Tree man, we meant no offense. You are so powerful that we can leave immediately if you wish. I apologize for trying to cut off your branch earlier.”

Orion was somewhat apprehensive.

He actually tried to injure such a powerful... creature?
Locke chuckled, then said seriously, "I am the forest. I am part of nature. You ask me who I am, but I should be asking you who you are."

"I know very well who I am, but do you know who you are?"

As he spoke, the dagger in the middle-aged man's hand rusted rapidly, and with a gust of wind, it turned into a pile of dust and vanished in his hand.

Faced with Locke's question, the middle-aged man stammered, "We are Terella people... no..."

A look of confusion crossed his eyes. He had claimed to be a Terrell, but now the Terrell were hunting them down and trying to kill them all.

A look of confusion flashed in the middle-aged man's eyes. "Who...are we? I am the young master's guard, a loyal subject..."

Orion said, "We are followers of the God of War! We were betrayed by a villain, and my family was slaughtered. We are prepared to seek refuge with a city-state that is close to our family, then regain our strength, return to Terella, kill that evil man, have the High Priest cleanse our sins, and have the God of War forgive us."

Locke sighed. "Alas. You see, I knew it. You can't answer who you yourselves are. All these things you talk about are merely your outward identities. So I ask you, once you remove these outward identities, can you still clearly say who you are?"

The two looked at each other, speechless. They had thought they would have a lot to say, but when they opened their mouths, they found that they couldn't say anything at all.

Orion's expression shifted, and he asked Locke, "Lord Treeman, you are so powerful and mighty. The God of War will surely be pleased with you. Why don't you help us retake Terella? Once I restore my family's glory and status, Terella will forever be your ally."

"Trella is the city-state of the god of war, and you will gain the friendship of the god of war."

Locke let out another loud sneer.

He said to Orion, “Interesting little fellow. I won’t help you. I am part of nature, the forest, and I have no interest in the infighting within your city-state. But I just heard the person next to you say that you are an excellent hunter? Then you can try picking up that leaf over there. That’s the Leaf of Power. Only the forest rangers chosen by the forest can obtain it.”

The leaf did not fall of its own volition; it was cut off by Orion with a dagger.

Because the Leaf of Power system is already a complete system.

Therefore, it does indeed respond automatically to those with suitable qualifications, and drops a leaf of power to absorb external talent.

Orion immediately looked at the leaf.

Locke said, "I can train you inside this forest, so you should be able to return to your city and take revenge on your enemies."

"But this is a deal. In return, you must kill someone for me in this world."

Orion didn't realize that Locke's choice of words was precise; it was "this world," not "other worlds."

Of course, in his mind, this world is the whole world.

He immediately bent down to pick up the fallen leaves, while the middle-aged man beside him glanced at Locke's treant avatar in horror and then advised, "No. This treant is very likely from the Demon Wolf clan... We are followers of the God of War, we cannot accept his power."

Orion had already picked up the Leaf of Power, the Path of Nemesis, from the ground, and turned back to whisper to him, "But we do need power now. Only with enough power can we go back for revenge. Only then can we kill the evil ones and make the High Priest and the God of War understand our piety."

"The god of war will forgive us."

Orion looked at Locke and said, "Tree Man, I accept your deal. Please train me! In return, I will help you kill one of your enemies."

(End of this chapter)