544: Witch Yekaterina's Personality
The seventh floor of the castle where the True Knowledge Institute was located, which was the top floor area.
Locke and Team Leader Kelt walked up. As soon as they entered the seventh floor, it felt as if they had entered an alien space; the walls and ceilings were covered with flowing lava and scorching unknown stones.
Moreover, it was filled with high temperatures, as if this wasn't the seventh floor of the True Knowledge Institute, but rather deep within the core of some non-living Plane.
It was a forbidden zone where ordinary life could not stay for long.
An Eternal Defense Field immediately covered the surfaces of Locke and Team Leader Kelt's bodies as the two walked across the surface of the lava with normal expressions.
Team Leader Kelt explained to Locke, "This is the territory of the Lord of the Throne Yekaterina. It's planted with magic plants that must be cultivated in lava and fire, so the temperature will be very high."
Locke agreed and scanned the surroundings, finding that the castle corridors alone were filled with many One-Ring Magic Plants cultivated in lava, half of which were floral magic plants and half were leafy ones.
Generally, lava-cultivated magic plants are at the First Ring Level or higher.
Everywhere Locke looked, he indeed saw only One-Ring Magic Plants, such as Red Rock Calla Lily, Black Magic Great Red Rose, Cold Orange Flame Lily, Bird's Nest Fern Dragon Willow, and so on.
Each magic plant was both powerful and... shared a common trait: they were extremely beautiful.
The branches and leaves of these magic plants had been pruned, and the orientation of the flowers had been meticulously refined.
Team Leader Kelt whispered, "These magic plants are all works personally crafted by the Lord of the Throne. She believes that power and beauty coexist; to pursue beauty is to pursue power, and likewise, to pursue truth. She is a very meticulous wizard, and she has always been a wizard with very high standards."
The Second Ring Wizard, Team Leader Kelt, wiped the sweat from his forehead, appearing very nervous, even repeating himself slightly.
Locke glanced at him and remained silent, being cautious.
For some reason, Team Leader Kelt's fear of Witch Yekaterina had actually reached this extent.
This was Locke's first time visiting the seventh floor of the True Knowledge Institute. Along the way, he noticed at least 31 types of First Ring level red rose magic plants cultivated in the corridor, including [Black Magic], [War Glory], [Super Corolla], [Hetalia's Wedding Dress]...
It was evident how much Witch Yekaterina loved red roses.
Simultaneously, some peach-type magic plants requiring lava cultivation were also planted in the corridor, such as Heart-Burning Witch Peach, Molten Branch Longevity Peach, fire eye watching peach, and so on.
After all, Golden Crown Mountain was most famous for its peach-type magic plants. Therefore, as a Throne Wizard of Golden Crown Mountain, Witch Yekaterina's research on peach-type magic plants must be very profound.
Locke used his Life Force Field to protect himself. In fact, with so many rose-type magic plants, the overflowing rose fragrance alone contained dozens of different natural magic structural components.
Rose-type magic plants were the most likely to affect one's mind and character, naturally possessing a large number of spell-like natural magic structural components from the Mind School and Enchantment School. This was a direction rose-type magic plants chose during their evolution to protect themselves.
Locke could only use his Life Force Field to protect himself, preventing himself from falling into the emotional vortex formed by this rose fragrance.
"This is..." In the corridor ahead, Locke saw a Second Ring Level red rose magic plant, which he had happened to read about in a book at the Golden Crown Mountain free library a few days ago.
That was a second ring magic plant red rose, growing deep within the abyss on the fifty-seventh Plane, the [Doomsday Molten Lake]. Its appearance was eerie and terrifying, with petals in a spiral shape, and the edges of the outer three petals were serrated like an emperor's crown. Its overall color was red with a terrifyingly majestic black.
Its name was the second ring magic plant [Red Demon God]!
Locke felt the world-destroying nature of the magical power emanating from the [Red Demon God]. It was said that there was a fundamental difference between second ring magic plants and One-Ring Magic Plants. Just as Locke was about to step forward and touch it with his right hand to explore the difference,
Suddenly, mana surged from the depths of his soul.
A flash of clarity crossed Locke's eyes. He timely used Mister Power to protect himself, finally breaking free from the desire-tether of the [Red Demon God].
'Right, how could I forget? The book said that for a One-Ring Wizard, the Red Demon God is extremely dangerous.' Cold sweat trickled down Locke's back.
'The Red Demon God comes with Second Ring Level Mind School spells, automatically triggering the desires in the hearts of those nearby. Everyone's desires are different. The deeper the desire, the deeper one sinks.'
'Once my palm touches the surface of the Red Demon God, in the next instant, my body along with my soul would be burned away until nothing remains.'
Locke stopped his footsteps just in time. Fortunately, he was still ten meters away from the Red Demon God. He looked at the section of the corridor behind the Red Demon God, where most of the magic plants cultivated were second ring magic plants.
Rumor had it that there were fundamental differences between second ring magic plants and One-Ring Magic Plants, which was why second ring magic plants possessed such massive magic pressure phenomena, even possessing mental power sufficient to interfere with the will of a First Ring Crystallization Wizard.
This was not something he could study right now.
Team Leader Kelt quickly strode over. He had been thinking in his mind about how to speak when he saw Witch Yekaterina, so he hadn't noticed Locke going in the wrong direction in time.
"Locke, don't wander around aimlessly in the Lord of the Throne's territory. That corridor ahead is dangerous even for me."
"What is a back garden for a Third Ring Wizard is a terrifying place for us, even if... it doesn't possess any inherent malice."
Team Leader Kelt led Locke away from that corridor and back to the door of a meeting room.
Team Leader Kelt glanced at the Mister Power on Locke. "Your Eternal Defense Field... seems very unique. Why does it have Second Ring characteristics?"
"No wonder you were so close to the Red Demon God just now and didn't have your desires triggered. That thing is considered a relatively dangerous type even among second ring magic plants. It's just that the Lord of the Throne likes this type of magic plant, so she keeps these plants—which would cause a large-scale ecological disaster if placed outside—in her own castle for appreciation."
At this moment, Locke also felt immense admiration for the great power of High-Ring Wizards.
For instance, transforming an entire floor of a castle into a special environment with a high gradient of magic tide and planting it with powerful magic plants—this kind of behavior was... incomprehensible to him.
Because he didn't know how it was done.
How could the difference between the sixth and seventh floors of the castle be as vast as two different worlds, yet the two could coexist peacefully?
How could so many dangerous magic plants be turned into office decorations?
Team Leader Kelt straightened his clothes and then gritted his teeth. "Locke, we are about to see the Lord of the Throne."
"Be careful with what you say."
The next moment, he pushed open the door to the meeting room and walked in. He saw that this was still a meeting room with an overall black-red volcanic style, but it was relatively more normal inside. There was no lava, nor were there many aggressive magic plants; only a few Molten Branch Longevity Peaches, fire eye watching peaches, and some Longan Monstera served as decorations.
Witch Yekaterina was sitting in a chair behind the desk, feeding birdseed to a bird in a cage—a palm-sized bird that looked like an ordinary magical bird.
Yekaterina was wearing a luxurious Obsidian Gold Gilded Robe, and on her head was a simple Lord's Crown inlaid with eleven rubies, which seemed to be a powerful high-ring Magic item.
Witch Yekaterina looked at Celtic amiably. "You're here, Celtic. I've been waiting for you for a long time."
Then, she looked at Locke. "And Locke, I heard that this time, Wizard Hao Brooks from Quinn Joel University gave you a very high evaluation, believing you have the prospect of definitely becoming a Second Ring Wizard."
Witch Yekaterina smiled and said, "That's very good."
"From the very beginning, I believed you could do it."
"Now, you indeed haven't disappointed my expectations of you. Having you come here this time is to fulfill my previous promise to you—to help you choose to contract with a special Plane. I can give you a few options, and the specifics will be for you to choose yourself."
"Everything is up to you."
Witch Yekaterina said, "Theoretically, a wizard can sign contracts with multiple special Planes, but specifically, it's best not to. Because signing with more than one special Plane yields very low cost-effectiveness; there isn't much improvement, and it instead adds many unnecessary magics."
"When using Ritual Magic, always remember one thing—sometimes, what you gain and what you give are not proportional."
Locke bowed to Witch Yekaterina and said, "Thank you, Mentor. I understand."
Witch Yekaterina suddenly put down the birdseed and walked over to Locke's side. Celtic's eyes flickered over, almost scared to death.
Witch Yekaterina suddenly reached out, grabbed Locke's collar, and personally straightened it for him. "There, that's better."
"I'm sorry, Locke, I have a bit of obsessive-compulsive disorder. From the moment I started talking to you just now, I really wanted to mention that your collar was a bit crooked."
"Of course, it might just be that I'm overly sensitive to parallel lines."
"Ordinary people probably wouldn't see that it wasn't aligned."
Locke said, "It's alright, Teacher."
Witch Yekaterina gently invited Locke and Celtic to sit at a small tea table in the center of the meeting room.
Locke glanced at Celtic in confusion, really not knowing why he was so afraid of Witch Yekaterina.
After sitting down, Celtic said to Witch Yekaterina, "Lord of the Throne, I have something to report to you..."
Witch Yekaterina said, "You don't need to say it, because I already know."
"Zewen Watts and Alexei Patterson, those two ordinary True Knowledge Institute researchers, falsified experimental data and used that falsified data to submit papers and apply for projects."
"This matter is due to your poor management."
"Go and deal with those two—dismiss them and make them pay compensation."
Locke looked at Celtic in surprise.
He hadn't expected there to be such a thing within Group Six.
Celtic's body jolted. He looked at Witch Yekaterina in confusion and said, "But this is the first time I'm reporting this to you. Before this, you hadn't come to our Group Six for almost a year..."
Celtic's face turned pale as if he had thought of something.
Witch Yekaterina glanced at him and said, "There's a little witch in the ordinary True Knowledge Institute, Mason. I've been guiding her recently in choosing her special Plane. Through my interactions with her, I've learned many things about Group Six."
"So, I know all about these things. Including everything about you."
Witch Yekaterina looked at Locke and said gently, "This is the information on the special Planes. Based on your situation, I've made three choices for you, each of which is actually very suitable for you."
"But I suggest you choose either the Ancient Sky Mirage Realm Plane or the Emerald Dream Plane. These two are the most suitable for you."
"Just choose one of them."
Celtic Wizard's mouth was dry, and he wanted to say something, so he quickly spoke up, "Lord of the Throne, there were some misunderstandings between Wizard Locke and me before, but I didn't expect him to be so excellent. Your vision is truly great. It's like this..."
Witch Yekaterina looked at him and said, "The tickets for the Mira Sisters' concert were given to Locke by Mason on my instructions."
This one sentence completely silenced Celtic Wizard.
It ended the conversation.
Because this meant that Yekaterina knew everything that happened within Group Six.
Witch Yekaterina had never been to Group Six, but she had eyes and ears everywhere within it.
She knew everything.
But no matter what Celtic had done, Witch Yekaterina indeed hadn't interfered even once over the past year.
Witch Yekaterina said to Celtic Wizard, "You should understand my way of doing things."
Celtic Wizard's face was pale, and he gave a bitter smile. "So, do I only have one last chance left? If I don't grasp it, I'll have to leave Golden Crown Mountain or be transferred to an unimportant position."
Celtic Wizard suddenly crushed the watch in his hand and said to Witch Yekaterina, "Lord of the Throne, I understand. From today on, I will never act out in Group Six again or vent my negative emotions at will. I will be more attentive to Group Six and will never let data falsification happen again."
"I was too impatient before, so I was willing to believe those two's breakthrough discoveries were real and didn't perform additional verification. This was indeed my responsibility, a mistake caused by too much psychological pressure, but in the end, it is indeed my responsibility."
Celtic Wizard exchanged a look with Locke, giving the latter a bitter smile and suggesting with his eyes that Witch Yekaterina was not easy to get along with.
And once the other party directly interfered with your behavior, it meant her tolerance for you was gone.
Granting freedom was Witch Yekaterina's greatest respect for a wizard, and once she intervened, it meant she no longer trusted them.
Celtic Wizard understood that this summons was his final warning.
Witch Yekaterina looked at Locke and said, "Are you used to life in the Yunze Wetland and my research group? You performed very well this time, just as well as I expected. You didn't disappoint me at all."
From Witch Yekaterina's attitude, Locke realized that she seemed to have estimated his abilities through the Yunze Cup. In other words, all of his current performances within Group Six in the Yunze Wetland... might have always been within Witch Yekaterina's predictions.
This was why Witch Yekaterina had said she knew he could do it.
That meant all of his performances in the True Knowledge Institute defense were likely within her expectations.
For a moment, Locke even felt a surge of immense pressure.
That pressure wasn't due to fear of danger or seeing something dangerous, but rather a different kind of pressure.
At this moment, Locke even felt a sense of empathy with Celtic Wizard.
Locke said, "Teacher, I'm living very well. Life in the Yunze Wetland is even more convenient than I thought."
Witch Yekaterina nodded. "That's good. Then you must work hard and seize the opportunity."
"By the way, there's something I want to ask you. I've seen your experimental data. Your data is very good, and it's all your own work; I can tell that much. But there's a problem—I saw in the section of your article about the Great Black Diamond Pineapple that you actually included some discrete data that wasn't very favorable to your conclusion. Why didn't you delete that data?"
"That data clearly shows it was only affected because your assistant's operating procedure was incorrect; the general direction definitely wouldn't have a problem."
Locke was stunned for a moment. "Teacher, shouldn't all the real data be included?"
This was a habit Sophia the Witch had instilled in him when she was teaching him.
Celtic Wizard was also stunned for a moment and looked at Locke in shock, asking, "You didn't polish your experimental data even a little bit?"
"You just wrote down all your experimental data like that?"
Locke felt uneasy being stared at by Team Leader Kelt and began to doubt himself. "Is there something wrong with that? It won't affect me passing the project application anyway."