529: Renting magic fields and Earth Wizards
Panno gave a general explanation of how to use some of the equipment and the various sections within the public laboratory, then said to Locke, "Brother, you need some magic fields."
"At least one acre of magic field is needed for the experimental data for your project application. There are no spare magic fields in the public laboratory right now. These fields that can be provided to us for free have long been eyed by others; as soon as there's a slight chance of one becoming vacant, it gets taken."
"So, we have to spend our own money to rent some magic fields outside."
Panno said, "Alright, that's it. Now, I need to continue browsing through the documents and materials to find my own topic."
Locke said, "Many thanks."
He moved to the table, first looking at the materials Celtic the Wizard had given him, and then checking other documents and materials.
There was an immense amount of material here related to magic plants and the fertility of magical creatures, incredibly diverse and complete.
Some magic plants could release specific natural magic structural components to specifically enhance the fertility of a certain magical creature, while others could grow unique fruits. These fruits possessed immense energy, allowing certain magical creatures to gain the ability to reproduce after eating them.
Locke read a file by a Wizard Apprentice named Hodur Anderson, who had investigated the forests near Golden Crown Mountain. He observed a group of griffins whose population had abnormally increased within that forest. After preliminary observations of the griffin group's habits and diet, he narrowed it down to eight magic plants that could potentially be related to the sudden rise in the griffin group's fertility.
What Locke needed to do was to identify the one or more magic plants from among these eight that were actually having an effect.
Of course, it was very possible that there were no key magic plants among them at all.
All of this required Locke's discernment.
Locke also realized that the best way to improve this discernment was, first, to read more materials, and second, to use those materials to conduct some simple experiments.
A whole day passed. After organizing the materials, Locke put them back in their original places and stretched lazily.
It was already midnight. He had spent the entire day reading here, greatly expanding his knowledge.
At the same time, he left the laboratory. Panno was still inside, continuing to read through materials in an attempt to find his next project topic.
Locke, however, had to go to class.
The teacher-led instructional course scheduled for the early hours of today finished at two in the morning.
Locke walked through Golden Crown Mountain in the dark of night, seeing many Wizards in the sky above Golden Crown Mountain, moving quickly on their respective means of transportation.
Wizards in the Cloud Marsh liked to work 24 hours a day, day and night. Therefore, whether it was day or night, Golden Crown Mountain appeared to move at such a fast pace.
Locke headed to the market at Golden Crown Mountain, the Dragon Blood Market.
That market was a large-scale Wizard commercial city, a massive ancient castle located on the mountainside. There were numerous shops inside, and many open-air shop areas outside the castle.
There, Locke found a Fairy Bank and withdrew his 30,000 magic stones as an external researcher, the 60,000 magic stones Lady Irina had shared with him, and the 50,000 magic stones sent to him from the Six Towers Land.
With that, he suddenly had 140,000 magic stones on hand.
Furthermore, adding the 200,000 magic stones in research startup funds from the Golden Crown Mountain True Knowledge Institute and his 20,000 magic stone salary, he now had 360,000 magic stones.
Having savings again, Locke felt a sense of confidence as he walked through the Dragon Blood Market.
Locke walked down the street, thinking about his next steps. "I should finish the True Knowledge Institute project fund as soon as possible, and I need to do it exceptionally well."
"For other Wizards, the True Knowledge Institute project fund might be the main career path of the True Knowledge Institute, something they can slowly grind through over the next five years. But for me, if I want to obtain special funding, I can't do it that way."
"My mentor Yekaterina wouldn't allow it either."
Locke thought, "To find a breakthrough method quickly, I still need to rent a magic field and start experiments as soon as possible to produce excellent preliminary experimental data. That way, writing the project application will be easy, and it will be easy to pass."
"Besides, without experimenting, I won't know which parts of those preliminary magic plant investigations are credible and which are questionable."
Locke walked into a shop on the second floor of the Dragon Blood Market castle named [Covenant of the Fertile Fields]. The owner was an Earth Wizard of the Life School at the First Ring Liquefaction Stage, with mud splattered on his face and clothes.
In his hand, he held a wand that looked like it was made from a dead old tree stump. The Cloud Marsh had a highly developed wand system, with a vast number of excellent wands available.
Wands could assist Wizards in casting spells, enhancing magical power, increasing casting speed, and reducing casting consumption.
Therefore, they were very popular in the Cloud Marsh.
The only problem was that wands required a high magic tide environment for storage and maintenance, otherwise they could easily run into issues. Because of this, they weren't as prevalent in many Wizard Lands where the magic tide concentration gradient was insufficient.
This Earth Wizard was a dwarf. A sparrow poked its head out from his thick, long hair; its eyes stared at Locke for a moment before it flew off on its own.
Earth Wizards and Botanical Wizards both belonged to the Life School, but they had different focuses. Botanical Wizards focused more on the relationship between magic plants and nature, while Earth Wizards focused more on the earth—that is, geology or geological ecological restoration and such.
At this moment, the dwarf Earth Wizard saw a customer walk in, and his eyes immediately brightened. He walked out on his short legs. "This customer, I am O'Connor."
"Are you looking to buy a magic field, rent a magic field, or trade a magic field?"
Locke said briefly, "I want to rent a magic field to conduct some magic plant experiments."
O'Connor nodded. "Very well, I will arrange the best land for you."
O'Connor smiled.
As an Earth Wizard, he specialized in studying the earth within nature. He understood the classifications of magic ores that seemed incredibly dull to other Wizards and knew which area's land was most suitable for what.
Otherwise, he wouldn't be the owner of such a large shop as Covenant of the Fertile Fields.
As an Earth Wizard, he could even adjust the flow of the underground magic tide to enhance a certain piece of land.
Wizard O'Connor said, "What price range are you looking for in a magic field? Or what function? If you're looking for cost-effectiveness, I recommend a Discrete Magic Field."
"If your funds are tight, I suggest you buy a Linear Magic Field or a Vertical Magic Field."
"If your funds are ample, you can buy a Matrix Magic Field."
"Oh, let me see..." Wizard O'Connor said, "A few days ago, a magic field opened up on top of a Great Red Banyan Tree tree was vacated. That one-acre magic field is currently in a special offer period. Do you want it? You can rent it for only four thousand magic stones a year now."
"The normal price is eight thousand magic stones!"
Locke frowned. "How much for a normal, square-shaped, one-acre magic field on the ground?"
He only wanted a more ordinary magic field.
Wizard O'Connor said quickly, "That would be the Matrix Magic Field I mentioned. That's ten thousand magic stones per acre."
"If you have special requirements—for example, if you need to plant in lava, in flowing water, or above the clouds—I have special types of magic fields to recommend to you here."
Locke frowned; he hadn't expected a normal magic field here to be so expensive.
However, the magic fields here were infused with the magic tide of Golden Crown Mountain, allowing one to directly plant One-Ring Magic Plants without even using a large amount of resources.
For magic plants, this was an ideal environment that was almost impossible to find in other regions, so a high price was only natural.
The space inside the druids ring was not normal space. Since he was conducting experiments, he couldn't do them inside.
The data obtained would have some deviations.
Locke thought for a moment and said, "Then I'll rent that magic field on top of the Great Red Banyan Tree tree."
He only needed one acre anyway, and being on a treetop versus being on the ground didn't really make a difference.
Therefore, there was nothing wrong with saving a little.