Chapter 515: A Wider World!
Director Morrison said with some guilt, "Little Locke, I'm sorry. I wasn't able to negotiate any favorable contracts for you at the Hall of Advanced True Knowledge at Bonifacius University."
Locke stood up and bowed to Director Morrison, saying, "I am already very grateful to you, Director."
Although Director Morrison, as a Second Ring Wizard and a young cadre wizard, might feel a bit of regret for not being able to help him secure better terms, as a young One-Ring Wizard, it was best for Locke to show proper respect.
Director Morrison gave a satisfied smile. "But it doesn't matter. I've negotiated terms for you over at Golden Crown Mountain."
"If you enter their Hall of Advanced True Knowledge to work, your monthly salary can be increased from ten thousand magic stones to twenty thousand."
"However, you must keep this part confidential and not tell others. The Hall of Advanced True Knowledge at Golden Crown Mountain implements a salary confidentiality system to prevent the wizards' morale from fluctuating, so they don't know each other's monthly benefits."
"In addition to that, as long as you enter that Hall of Advanced True Knowledge, you can choose any Advanced Meditation Technique you like."
Hearing this, Locke looked up in astonishment. "Director Morrison, is this a benefit that every Hall of Advanced True Knowledge offers?"
Director Morrison showed a proud smile, enjoying Locke's current expression; it made all his persistent pestering of Witch Yekaterina and the Dean of the Hall of Advanced True Knowledge at Golden Crown Mountain worthwhile.
"Of course not. Although the difficulty of obtaining an Advanced Meditation Technique at the Hall of Advanced True Knowledge is very low, it's impossible to get one as soon as you enter. You must be there for at least half a year before you're even eligible to apply."
"And it's not guaranteed to be approved."
"There's a whole list of prerequisite conditions you have to meet. Only when you satisfy the requirements of the True Knowledge Institute will they give you the Advanced Meditation Technique."
"But since I stepped in, I negotiated this most important benefit for you. Thus, you can directly receive an Advanced Meditation Technique as soon as you enter."
Director Morrison laughed.
Locke expressed his gratitude to Director Morrison once again. "Thank you, Director Morrison."
Director Morrison said, "In addition to these two basic benefits, you also enjoy a research startup fund for entering the True Knowledge Institute, which has been doubled from one hundred thousand to two hundred thousand magic stones."
"Combined with your salary, in other words, within five years, the True Knowledge Institute will pay you a total of 1.4 million magic stones."
"Besides that, the Hall of Advanced True Knowledge will provide you with free staff dormitory accommodation and allow you to share laboratory equipment with the researchers and cooperating mentors within the Hall."
Locke nodded slightly.
No wonder the Hall of Advanced True Knowledge was a place every wizard dreamed of. As soon as he arrived, they were going to provide him with funds worth 1.4 million magic stones over five years.
They also provided a series of basic treatments needed for living and conducting experiments.
For many wizards who lacked the funds to further study the magic they wanted to research, this was a timely rain of resources.
Director Morrison said, "Besides the resources worth a total of 1.4 million magic stones, there are two more benefits once you enter the Hall of Advanced True Knowledge."
"The first benefit is that you can apply for the True Knowledge Institute Project Fund. After entering, you can first do a small project for the True Knowledge Institute, which will give you about 200,000 to 500,000 magic stones."
"The specific amount depends on the funds required in your project budget proposal."
"Basically, as long as you enter the True Knowledge Institute and apply for this fund, the White Wizard Association headquarters will approve it."
"Everyone in the True Knowledge Institute can apply for the fund once, and it almost always passes, so this is considered a benefit of entering the Institute."
Locke nodded slightly. This was indeed the case, especially for those wizards who weren't good at pulling in projects or investments; this benefit from the True Knowledge Institute was a significant resource subsidy for them.
"The second benefit is the opportunity to apply for the Special Subsidy Fund. That is the White Wizard Association's true support for the True Knowledge Institute. The special subsidy amount for a regular True Knowledge Institute is one to two million magic stones, while the special subsidy for your Hall of Advanced True Knowledge is... between three and five million magic stones."
"With that many magic stones, one can truly conduct some meaningful research, unlike those small-scale projects you were doing before."
Locke glanced at Wizard Morrison in confusion. From his perspective, whether it was himself, Wizard Edgar, Witch Diana, or even Yennefer the Witch and Wizard Alaric, the research they did and the magic plants they developed could no longer be considered'small-scale'.
They possessed great practicality and popularity.
However, Locke keenly sensed that Wizard Morrison seemed to be using a different set of criteria to evaluate their research, so he prudently remained silent.
This very standard was the reason he needed to head to a more advanced place.
Locke continued listening to Wizard Morrison: "The primary goal for many wizards entering the True Knowledge Institute is to get this Special Subsidy Project Fund. But the Special Subsidy Fund is different from the True Knowledge Institute Fund; it's not something everyone can get. It's a selection of the best, one in ten thousand. Even within the True Knowledge Institute, the wizards who can obtain this project fund are still a minority within a minority."
"That is one of your biggest goals in going to the Hall of Advanced True Knowledge!"
"The second goal, of course, is the Completion Certificate. That is the only thing that represents your qualified performance within the Hall of Advanced True Knowledge and can gain the trust of those Wizard Academies."
"You've seen the completion conditions for Golden Crown Mountain. Besides the True Knowledge Institute Fund and the Special Subsidy Fund, you also have to strive to get a sub-topic of a key project from your cooperating mentor."
"In other words, once you're at the True Knowledge Institute, you must finish at least these three major funds before you can consider it a perfect harvest," Wizard Morrison advised. "Average wizards, even if they think they're geniuses before entering, are quickly demoralized once they're inside the True Knowledge Institute."
"Genius wizards outside are one in ten thousand, but inside the True Knowledge Institute, they're everywhere on the streets."
"So, many self-confident wizards think they can obtain all three major funds before entering, but unfortunately, in the end, they only get one ordinary True Knowledge Institute Fund at most."
Wizard Morrison sent the contract he had negotiated with Witch Yekaterina to Locke via the grey mist slate. "Look at this contract. In it, you will also enjoy the right to freely allocate funds without interference from anyone, and you won't need to find a cooperating mentor to sign off."
"At the same time, you have the authority to independently recruit assistants, though there is a limit; you can only recruit two."
"Generally speaking, other wizards in the Hall of Advanced True Knowledge can only recruit one assistant."
Wizard Morrison said, "Since I didn't expect the attitude of Bonifacius University, I've changed the advice I gave you earlier. After all, the strength of an academy is secondary; the benefits given to you are the real things you can hold in your own hands."
"My personal recommendation is still for you to choose Golden Crown Mountain."
"Golden Crown Mountain has thirty-seven colleges. The main campus has twenty-two colleges, known as the Twenty-Two Gardens, and there are fifteen colleges, or fifteen gardens, distributed elsewhere."
"If you go, you'll be going to the Dragon Fern Garden among the Twenty-Two Gardens of the main campus."
"The thirty-seven colleges of Golden Crown Mountain are managed by three major factions. The first major faction is the Senate, the actual leadership of the academy, managing finances and rules. The second major faction is the Academic Committee, mainly composed of representatives from various academic authorities, in charge of Golden Crown Mountain's academic authority, project reviews, and so on."
"The third major faction is the Deacon Inspection Team, which is a product of the heads of the various important laboratories at Golden Crown Mountain joining together."
"The thirty-seven gardens are respectively governed by these three organizations within the academy."
"Furthermore, Golden Crown Mountain has a Wizard Academy that is actually already independent but still has lingering ties and cooperation on various levels—the Lu Xu Bridge Academy."
"Lu Xu Bridge Academy is no smaller in scale than Golden Crown Mountain. Together, the two make up the seven top Wizard Academies of the Cloud Marsh."
Only then did Locke understand that the structure of the Wizard Academies in the Cloud Marsh was far more complex than those in the Southeast Corner Region and the Six Towers Land, being composed of various branches and colleges.
Locke asked in a low voice, "Director Morrison, may I ask how many One-Ring Wizards there are in total at Golden Crown Mountain?"
Wizard Morrison smiled. "I'm not exactly sure about the specifics, but I can tell you that the number of Formal Wizards within a single garden might be over a hundred."
Locke did a quick calculation; adding up the number of Formal Wizards in all the gardens, there were probably several thousand Formal Wizards!
The total number of Formal Wizards at Liliths Cottage was close to a hundred before he left.
Back then, when the four wizard organizations of the Black Wizard Alliance in the Southeast Corner Region joined forces for an operation, they only mobilized over a hundred One-Ring Wizards at once.
The great war between Black and White Wizards in the Southeast Corner Region was essentially equivalent to a small-scale brawl between two colleges here at Golden Crown Mountain University.
At this moment, Locke finally felt what a colossal entity Golden Crown Mountain and Lu Xu Bridge were!