Wizards begin with Occlumency.

Chapter 29 Budding and Coveting

With no troubles to get involved, Link's life returned to normal.

Aside from daily chores, Link devoted all his energy and time to studying.

Part-time work also falls under the category of learning.

And so, another three days passed.

Today is Wednesday of the seventh week of school.

This is Link's sixth day working part-time at the Third Botanical Garden.

evening.

Link entered the third greenhouse in the third row.

As usual, Link randomly checked the condition of the silver star flower seeds and, after confirming that they were all within the expected development range, began his work for the day.

He first cast a secondary misty rain spell on Supermodel.

After these days of practice and practical application, Link can now cast this 0-ring spell in about 3 seconds, and he believes that the day when he reaches the practical standard of 2 seconds is not far away.

The Lesser Mist Rain spell's mist reduces battlefield visibility, facilitating concealment, maneuvering, and ambushes, while the rain creates favorable environmental conditions for offensive water-based spells. As a support spell in combat, its performance is quite commendable.

The next thing to be performed was a fertility induction spell, which was also cast in about 3 seconds.

However, this 0-ring sorcery is not applicable to actual combat, even if you carry some vines, shrubs, or other plant seeds that have the function of entanglement and concealment.

Making plant seeds germinate, grow, and mature instantly requires too much mental and magical energy, making it too inefficient.

Instead of wasting so much mental and magical energy, it would be better to find a way to learn some offensive and defensive magic spells.

Unless in special terrain, such as areas with lush vegetation, regrowth-inducing techniques are only effective.

Even so, there are other wood-based spells that can be used as alternatives, such as Thorn Entanglement, which is also a level 0 spell, consumes the same amount of resources, and has a better effect.

Thorn Entanglement can even be upgraded to the first-circle sorcery Thorn Strangulation.

After the fertilization spell ended, Link could feel that the life force contained in the Silver Star Flower seeds was completely full.

All that's missing is a trigger, and all the seeds in the soil will sprout and grow.

Link sat on the ridge and meditated briefly. As soon as his mental and magical power recovered, he immediately cast Supermodel's Lesser Mist Rain spell again.

The rain drizzled down on the soil.

The silver star flower seeds, having absorbed enough water, pushed aside the soil that was holding them down, broke through the ground, and sprouted one after another.

Thanks to Pomona Sprout's botanical talent, coupled with his advanced affinity for wood elements, Link could clearly feel the joy of the Silver Starflowers, which touched him deeply.

This is the joy of new life, this is the power of life.

Link was immersed in the emotions and insights.

A moment later, Link felt refreshed. Not only had his mental and magical energy recovered, but he could also clearly feel that his mental and magical energy had improved.

It's not about improving the quantity, but about improving the quality.

It's like the air has transformed from frivolous to ethereal.

Link doesn't yet know what changes this advancement will bring, but it's ultimately a good thing.

The successful germination of the silver star flower seeds means that the first task assigned to Link by the botanical garden can now be said to have been completed a day ahead of schedule.

However, Link didn't rush to submit. Instead, he planned to observe for another day and submit it tomorrow when he was sure there were no problems.

Furthermore, it's time to explore some questions about silver star flower seeds, germination, and cultivation.

Link took out his notebook, which was specially used to record the germination log of silver star flowers, and wrote down the status of the seeds, the methods used today, and the changes before walking out of the greenhouse and leaving the botanical garden.

Not long after Link left, Sophie Lucia entered the third greenhouse in the third row again, and what came into her view was tender white sprouts breaking through the soil everywhere.

This surprised Sophie greatly.

Six days! It actually sprouted successfully in just six days!

It happened a day earlier than the most cost-effective method she knew.

Moreover, look at all these tender white embryos; the germination success rate is nearly 70%.

Su Qi was the one who sowed the silver star flower seeds in the greenhouse. She estimated the probability by sight and mental calculation.

Don't underestimate the significance of just one day earlier.

Don't underestimate this mere 70% germination success rate.

Silver Star Flower entered the wizarding world less than twenty years ago. Because its stamens are extremely effective in healing external injuries, it was used as an auxiliary ingredient, which promoted the improvement of many external injury medicines on the market.

This further reduced the price of wound medicine, making it more affordable for ordinary people and wizard apprentices.

The growth period of the silver star flower can be shortened to three days under the influence of witchcraft and nutrient solution.

The limiting factors for silver star flower production have always been the rate of improved varieties, the germination time, and the germination success rate.

Furthermore, because the wound medicine made by adding the stamens of the Silver Star Flower as a raw material is not suitable for formal wizards and above, no formal wizard is willing to spend their precious time improving Silver Star Flower seeds, improving Silver Star Flower germination methods, and optimizing Silver Star Flower cultivation programs.

This puts Silver Star Flower and related medicines in a rather awkward situation.

The results were excellent, the market welcomed them, but production couldn't keep up.

As a low-end product, it cannot be sold at a high price, resulting in thin profit margins.

If that country bumpkin really didn't use nutrient solution or chemicals, it means he has mastered or developed a new method for promoting the germination of silver star flowers.

This is no longer just a matter of economic value; it can be used as a research outcome to publish "papers," earn "academic credits," and improve welfare benefits and status.

The "credits" at the Rivosos Institute of Biology and Medicine can be exchanged for many things, such as witchcraft, witchcraft artifacts, and secret documents that cannot be found in the high-level archives.

Moreover, there are only two ways for wizard apprentices to obtain "credits":

One way is to publish a "paper," and the other is to win a prize in the annual North-South inter-district competition organized by the college.

Compared to competing against hundreds or thousands of people for a very limited number of top ten spots in two regions, publishing a "paper" is undoubtedly much easier.

If you have high research talent and strong research ability.

Sophie Lucia is that kind of genius.

She was able to become the acting head of the Third Botanical Garden right after entering her second year, and it would still be quite a long time before she could be promoted to a third-class wizard apprentice, because she published a "paper" of very good quality in the first half of the year.

That's how she managed to get the position after some maneuvering.

Having tasted the sweetness of publishing a "paper," Sophie Lucia longed to experience it again.

Unfortunately, several months passed without her finding a good research angle or producing any significant research output.

Now, she has discovered a golden opportunity.

Once she figured out the method for germinating silver star flowers that the country bumpkin had mastered or developed, she could start her research, set up experiments, collect data, and then write a "paper" to publish on the intranet hidden beneath the "official website".

The key now is to find a method for germinating the seeds.

Please refrain from nitpicking regarding time. I have diligently researched the relevant materials, considering the relationship between mass and gravity, and gravity and time. Unfortunately, being a poor student, I'm completely baffled. I can only assume it's consistent with Earth's time. I want to emphasize: the Wizarding World is a fragmented and reconstructed world with a large surface area and a mass similar to Earth's.

(End of this chapter)