Wizards: Starting with Synthetic Gems

Chapter 9 Six Months

Six months later.

Inside Dean Tunguska's residence, Locke, Patty Isa, and Cord Newman sat together, studying.

Because the magical teaching resources within Aurelian Academy are very limited, even if the three of them are taking different courses, they are taught individually by Dean Tunguska.

However, Locke couldn't say anything about it, since the magic stones required for his classes were already discounted.

The course that originally required more than a hundred magic stones can now be completed with only ten magic stones. So, there may be some minor flaws in the teaching quality, but that's alright.

By this time, Locke had become familiar with Patty and Codd.

Both of them were students from commoner families and both possessed wizarding talent. Patty had level 2 wizarding talent, while Codd only had level 1 wizarding talent.

Codd is an ordinary teenager with red hair and a pockmarked face. He is taciturn and seems difficult to get along with, but he is actually just not good at speaking.

Locke managed to break the ice with him and become familiar with him in just one day.

Kod's family background was simple, and he was a simple person with nothing much to his name.

His parents were serfs of a viscount in the Kingdom of Aaron. By chance, the viscount noticed his talent for learning, and after passing a series of exams and receiving instruction from renowned teachers, he finally arrived at the Academy of Aurelian.

It turns out there was a reason for his exceptional learning ability: he possessed the talent of a wizard, albeit at the lowest level.

According to Codd himself, after drinking the Elemental Jade potion, he could see very few elemental specks.

Patty, on the other hand, is a girl who is cold on the outside but warm on the inside.

Otherwise, she wouldn't have helped Locke, who sought her help, half a year ago.

After the three became familiar with each other, their relationship became very good, and in the eyes of the other students in the college, they had become a small group.

While learning about magic control, Codd suddenly asked Locke a question. After receiving Locke's answer, he said admiringly, "Locke, you are really smart."

“I studied for more than two years, but you caught up with me very quickly and even surpassed me.”

Patty, on the other side, also showed an expression of admiration.

In general, both of them are high achievers from humble backgrounds, and naturally admire students with good grades and bright minds.

Locke nodded slightly, while rotating the ring on his thumb, which was set with a deep blue gemstone.

It only took him three months to catch up with Patty and Codd's learning progress, and then another three months to surpass them.

There are many reasons for this.

First, Locke's wizarding talent is level three, which is considered below average, but still better than that of Codd and Patty.

His basic learning speed is actually at least three to four times that of Codd.

Moreover, the gap will only widen in the future.

Just like a snowball rolling downhill, in the beginning, a low-aptitude wizarding prospect might be able to catch up through hard work, but the gap will only widen over time.

This made Locke understand why wizards valued the talents of aspiring wizards so much.

But there is actually a second reason.

Locke looked at his thumb. Six months ago, he discovered that by synthesizing sapphires to level four, he could create [Deep Blue Jade].

Later, he had someone craft the deep blue jade into a ring, and during his daily wear, he discovered what it meant by making the fluctuations of spiritual energy more stable.

Wearing this deep blue gemstone can help stabilize your daily mood, improve your concentration, more than double the time you can focus each day, and increase your learning speed by at least double.

It was thanks to the Deep Blue Gem that Locke was able to catch up with Patty and Codd's learning progress in such a short period of time.

Of course, Locke also discovered that the Deep Blue Jade was actually a consumable item; one Deep Blue Jade could only be used for about half a month.

Therefore, he needs to continuously synthesize level 4 sapphires. In addition, Locke also tried to synthesize other crafted items, but so far, synthesizing other crafted items to level 4 only makes them more exquisite and more expensive, without producing any special effects.

This ensured that Locke would not lack worldly wealth.

However, Locke has only discovered one useful crafting formula for the Wizard's Path so far: to combine three level 3 sapphires to create a deep blue gem.

Locke wasn't in a hurry. He hadn't been exposed to the wizarding world much yet, and he hadn't left the Corfu continent. So, in this low-magic region, the resources he could access were very limited. He believed that once he actually arrived in the wizarding world, he would definitely discover more useful crafting formulas.

The Horadric Cube ensures that you don't lack resources.

Just like how he is currently using the Deep Blue Gem to increase his learning speed.

Inside Dean Tunguska's residence, Patty said to Locke, "By the way, Locke, I think you don't know yet, but Angel, who was always bothering you, is dead."

"He died more than five months ago."

Locke paused for a moment. He had been so engrossed in the joy of learning that he couldn't quite recall who Angel was. But he quickly remembered her: the girl who, like him, had been tricked by Professor Old six months ago.

Locke nodded slightly. "I reminded her."

"But she didn't listen to me."

Patty said, "Teacher Olde has been going too far lately. Those who died were all from noble families. Isn't Teacher Olde afraid of getting into trouble?"

"Dean Tunguska said he was a second-class wizard apprentice, and he had lived to be 150 years old, reaching the limit of his lifespan."

"That's why he used magic to borrow lifespan from those ordinary students."

Cord blushed and said, "But I don't like it this way."

"How could he do this? Many people, without knowing anything, have their lifespans stolen by him."

Locke nodded and said, "Let's focus on our own things. All we need to do now is study."

"I think the academy will make its own arrangements for Alder."

Professor Olde clearly doesn't have much time left and is on the verge of going insane, so I dare not meddle in this matter.

Patty suddenly spoke up: "Do you think that one day we will become like Professor Old? Become the very thing we used to hate the most?"

Codd opened his mouth, but hesitated. He thought of Professor Old's increasingly frantic expression recently, and then he thought that he himself might become like that in the future, which made him feel a little scared.

Patty then laughed. "I was just kidding."

"What's with those expressions?"

Codd was quite frightened by her, but she laughed out loud. "We're still young. Who knows how old we'll be when we need to worry about our lifespan?"

Locke glanced at her and remembered that Dean Tunguska had told him that Professor Alder's wizarding aptitude was level 2.

He was one level below him, the same level as Patty, and one level above Codd.

Locke looked at his textbook and came to his senses. After six months of focused study, he had laid a solid foundation in magic, a level he couldn't compare to before.

"I can now begin cultivating magical vines."

“Cultivate magical vines, and then use spells to modify these vines, making them resonate and synchronize with my magic power. Through gradual refinement, I will be able to master my first magic trick model – the Vine Hand.”

“However, there are no magic vine seeds on Corfu, so I can only buy them from Dean Tunguska. Since this is one of the five magic trick models prepared for the native wizards of Corfu, Dean Tunguska must have the matching magic vine seeds.”

Judging from the academy's tone, I doubt they'll provide these vine seeds for free.

I reckon I'm going to be in debt for magic stones again.

(End of this chapter)