Chapter 773: Competing for the Special Grant Application Slot, and This Low-Circle Wizard, You Have Taken Your Joke Far Too Far!

Wizard Kelt seemed concerned about Locke's situation and sent a message asking, "Please take care of yourself. If anything comes up, you can talk to me."

"Is there anything you need my help with?"

Locke replied through the water hyacinth system, "No."

"Thank you, Wizard Kelt."

He had absolutely no desire to get tangled up in this sort of affair. He was not even on staff with the White Wizard Association.

There was nothing in it for him, and he had no reason to wade into waters this deep.

That said, Lilith’s Cottage was still his alma mater, and if he could protect it in passing, he would do so in passing.

The solution was simple. Once this black wizard alliance meeting dispersed, he would follow behind whoever was chosen as team leader for the so-called task group, eliminate that elected leader, and take out a few of the candidate replacements along the way.

After that, he would trail the Ghost Sacred Order, take Witch Stephanie into custody, and then ask her about the spell model she had used all those years ago to drag him into the Stygian River.

Once all of that was done, at least in the short term, the local black wizard alliance would be hard pressed to mount any major offensive operation.

Still, Locke was curious about one thing. Wizard Kelt seemed to have a great deal of free time lately.

'Team Leader, it seems like you have had a lot of idle hours recently.'

Wizard Kelt replied, 'Not seems like, it is so.'

'I recently had a Tier 2 fund project application, and it was rejected by the Academic Committee at the very first screening.'

'The number of application slots for Second Circle-level funds is limited. To prevent frivolous applications, the White Wizard Association allocates a fixed number of application attempts per year for each academy based on the number of their Second Circle wizards. All Tier 2 fund applications therefore go through an internal academy screening first, and only those that pass are submitted. This is done to improve the academy's overall acceptance rate.'

'My fund project was eliminated at the first screening, however. So at the moment I am still in the stage of thinking over my project, which means I have a lot of free time. Or one could say I am anxious...'

It seemed that being fellow Second Circle wizards had prompted Wizard Kelt to open up entirely.

'Damned place, the Cloud Marsh Wetlands is even more cutthroat than other wizard territories, cutthroat to the point of explosion. Other places only require an evaluation every ten or five years, just needing to meet the standard, but in the Cloud Marsh Wetlands there is a performance review every three years, and failing to meet it means facing termination.'

'I have been worried lately about whether I can secure a Tier 2 fund within this three-year period. If I cannot, I will need enough published articles...'

'Or at least enough lateral project funding.'

Wizard Kelt sent another message to Locke, 'Sometimes I envy you, Locke. You are only a researcher, and you have absolutely no idea what the pain and anxiety I am feeling right now is like.'

'Sigh, if I do get terminated, I will leave Golden Crown Mountain and go work in the Cloud Marsh Wetlands' mid-sized organization sector. There is the Seven-Color Nursery. I think the conditions there are good and it is not as cutthroat. Going there might be a bit easier for me.'

Locke blinked.

Good grief, was Wizard Kelt really that mediocre?

Though the Seven-Color Nursery was also within Golden Crown Mountain's sphere of influence, so for Wizard Kelt it might indeed be a decent destination.

Wizard Kelt sent another message, 'Right, though you do not face any performance review pressure yourself. The special grant from the Origin Academy is different from other projects. It also has a restricted number of application slots.'

'Because Golden Crown Mountain's Origin Academy can only submit one application per year, regardless of whether it is approved, only one attempt is permitted. So the academy's internal Academic Committee conducts a preliminary review of applicants in advance.'

'This is done to improve the application success rate. It seems like this year's internal list has already been finalized. However, the internal review process for next year's fund application can now begin. The Academic Committee starts the internal application review half a year early, and at present three special grant application submissions have already been filed.'

At this moment, Locke's main body in the Cloud Marsh Wetlands immediately took out the Ganoderma magical plant to look up the relevant information. "Is Wizard Kelt trying to rattle me because I look too relaxed?"

"That said, a Second Circle wizard like Zalan Bailey was indeed no worthy opponent of mine. But the Origin Academy has at least ten senior researchers at any given time in the same period, in addition to the ordinary researchers at the Second Circle stage. And with the Academic Committee's advance internal review, the competition for special grant fund applications is fierce."

Wizard Kelt sent a message to Locke's Ancient Tree Fruit avatar, 'That said, to even submit an application you need to have a solid idea first. So careful preparation is still needed. You are still young, there is plenty of time. This year you have certainly missed the window, and even missing next year's special grant plan is not actually a problem.'

'You can wait for the year after, or the year after that.'

'After all, you still have at least four application opportunities.'

'Unlike some young researchers who are almost at the end of their station, sigh, they only have one last application opportunity remaining.'

'The special grant is ultimately a small Tier 2 fund. So there are still institutional application slot restrictions, just governed by a separate quota from the standard Second Circle application, which makes it somewhat simpler than the normal Second Circle application, though not by a great deal.'

Locke asked with some puzzlement, 'Those people are almost at the end of their station, and they are still applying for the special grant?'

Wizard Kelt replied quickly. 'Listen to you! Locke, you truly have no idea what my anxiety feels like, though you will understand one day. Of course they can apply. The special grant follows the person.'

'When you leave your station, you can take the project with you to your new academy. Some academies may hold you back, for instance requiring you to finish the project before leaving, but this is Golden Crown Mountain we are talking about. It is a large institution with a big foundation and does not care about something so small.'

Locke immediately understood. This was actually quite a clever technique.

Securing a small Tier 2 fund application before leaving one's station and then bringing it directly to the wizard academy where one intended to take a position was effectively the equivalent of that academy having recruited a Second Circle wizard who came with their own Second Circle project already in hand.

For that Second Circle wizard, going to any academy in this manner would be considerably easier, and might even allow one to aim for an academy of slightly higher standing than one otherwise could.

And Golden Crown Mountain, with its large foundation, truly did not care in the slightest about a special grant being taken away.

In other words, if he were to apply, the ones most likely to be furious about it would be the wizards who were finishing their station that same year and hoping to use this very technique themselves.

Locke gave a slight shake of his head. Everyone competed on their own merits. There was no point in talking about who was more aggrieved than whom.

Locke's Ancient Tree avatar put away the Ganoderma magical plant and looked toward the black wizards who were in the process of nominating an outstanding crystallization wizard to serve as the task group's team leader.

He fell into quiet thought.

If this was how things stood, then to have a chance at the special grant in the coming year, he would need to start accumulating ideas in earnest.

Preparations would have to begin now.

The competition was simply too fierce.

Locke's gaze burned with intensity as he looked in the direction of the Ghost Sacred Order. Having been given this nudge by Wizard Kelt, he suddenly felt less inclined to return to Corfu Island at all, and more urgently driven to find the Ghost Sacred Order and retrieve the spell model, then proceed to Lilith’s Cottage to establish a cooperative arrangement.

On the other side, back in the direction of Golden Crown Mountain, Wizard Kelt sat in the office within the longevity peach orchard and looked at the Ganoderma magical plant in hand with a smile.

"Well, having chatted away at Locke for so long, I am no longer anxious."

"Anxiety truly is something that can be shared. Once someone else is anxious, I find I am not anymore."

Wizard Kelt's face settled into a satisfied smile.

"Excellent. Now it is Locke who is anxious. Sigh, if that Sun-Herding Dragon had been lured into my hands back then, my pasture enhancement research on improving the affinity of summoned magical creatures toward wizards might have passed the academy's internal Academic Committee review."

"What a shame. That dragon was killed just like that by the Rose Throne."

Wizard Kelt thought back to the day the Rose Witch had struck with such terrifying force, and felt a shiver of fear.

It had been truly frightening. A dragon of such formidable power, and the Rose Witch had simply reached out and touched it, turning it into a magical plant.

If she were to touch him like that, would he not also turn into a magical plant?

Best not to think about it.

...

In the southeastern quadrant, Locke watched as after a very long process of deliberation, the Golden Skull King wizard of the Bone Cult had somehow been selected as team leader for the task group.

Evidently, even the Golden Skull King wizard himself had not anticipated that such a weighty responsibility would be placed in his hands.

Locke then summoned the gray stone tablet and sought to inquire with Wizard Halen Vera about the recent developments in the southeastern quadrant.

Come to think of it, the last time he had been in contact with Albert had been nearly a year ago.

The Black Wizard Grand Raid had clearly taken place around that time, and it had been the pivotal moment that caused such a sudden shift in the state of the war.

And at the time he had been in contact with Albert, he had only known that the war in the southeastern quadrant was raging fiercely, without anticipating that things would come to this.

Afterward he had been extremely busy, and had simply made no contact with the wizards of the southeastern quadrant at all.

At the same time, the Golden Skull King wizard burst into loud laughter. "My thanks to all fellow black wizards for placing your faith in me. I will rise to this responsibility and deliver, for all of you, the decisive blow that brings down Lilith’s Cottage's last desperate resistance."

"Lilith’s Cottage is nothing more than a gathering place for potion sellers and farmers. As long as we apply ourselves properly against them, it will crumble on its own. Ha ha ha ha..."

In the next instant, a blood claw plunged into his skull and seized his soul flame.

The Golden Skull King wizard cried out in horror and said, "Who is this? Who are you?"

The six golden skull heads adorning the scepter in his hand all floated upward, and each one fired a beam of negative energy at whoever had attacked the Golden Skull King wizard.

But before those beams of negative energy could reach their target, the attacker simply swallowed them whole.

The wizards of the Bone Cult were all astonished.

"Is it a white wizard?"

"No, it is an elder from the Blood Curse Court side who suddenly made a move. He is a vampire. What rank? A count?"

"What does the Blood Curse Court want? Just because your lineage holds a special standing within the Pale Pilgrimage does not mean you can do as you please!"

The black wizards on the Blood Curse Court's side were equally bewildered.

The Blood Lord in felt the magic pressure of a considerable number of crystallization wizards present lock onto him in an instant, ready to strike at any moment.

He had clearly been mistaken as the one who had planned the sneak attack on the Bone Cult's wizard leader.

But he had not.

At this moment, the high priestess of the Ghost Sacred Order directed a sharp accusation at him and said, "Blood Lord, no matter how badly you want the team leader position for yourself, there was no need to resort to such methods. The Alliance Lord is watching."

Hammerk acted immediately. His skull head opened its mouth and spat out a dagger, that dagger wreathed in swirling grey death energy flying like a dart toward the vampire elder who had made the attack.

But the vampire elder simply opened his mouth wide and swallowed the dagger whole, chewing it briefly.

"Not a bad taste."

"Just too weak."

Locke blinked. He recognized the vampire who had suddenly struck as one of the black wizards from the magical convoy he had been following, the very one who had abruptly moved to kill the headless knight and divided its components among himself.

This was bad. He had let his guard down.

Locke inwardly chastised himself. Locke, Locke, you have truly become careless.

Since becoming a Second Circle wizard, to have let his vigilance fall to this level was inexcusable.

Locke looked at that vampire and smiled, saying, "Hussein. I should have guessed it was you long ago. Otherwise I would have struck down those seven black wizards right then and there. But you suddenly killed that headless knight."

"I should have realized at the time that it was not a coincidence. When did you arrive in the southeastern quadrant?"

Hussein said, "A week before you."

"Because something came up."

"Locke, I have run into a spot of trouble."

The black wizards immediately sensed that something was wrong and looked toward Locke, who was standing mixed in among the Blood Curse Court's people.

Another spy?

At the same time, they directed furious glares at the Blood Curse Court's Blood Lord. If one Blood Curse Court faction had produced two spies, then the Blood Lord certainly could not be clean.

The Blood Lord was speechless with no way to defend himself. He turned a furious glare on the two figures within his faction's ranks, and suddenly felt a chill run up his spine.

Who on earth were these two?

Locke stepped out from the crowd and stood facing Hussein.

"How serious is your trouble?"

Hussein said, "Very serious. Very serious. You can see my current state for yourself."

Locke gave a slight nod. Hussein's current magic pressure was roughly just over ten thousand, and this was his main body, not an avatar.

This meant he had become a Second Circle wizard.

And from the last time they had met, Hussein had still been around 900 points short of the First Circle peak magic pressure threshold, yet now he had already become a Second Circle wizard.

And he was also saying he had run into trouble.

There was only one possibility that fit.

"You found the inheritance left by the ancestor wizard in the Eternal Hall, but the inheritance had a trap?"

Hussein nodded and said, "Yes. Talking to a sharp mind is effortless. So I would like to ask you to step in and help me kill all of the Blood Curse Court lineage wizards here. I anticipate there is a possibility a Second Circle wizard from the Pale Pilgrimage may make a move. If that happens, I want your help. If that wizard does not appear, then I will still owe you a favor."

"As compensation, I can do one thing for you to the best of my ability."

"I did not expect to find you here."

Locke thought it over and said, "The way I see it, what you are describing is two things. So you owe me two things in return. One is to help me decipher a map, and the other is to help me with a plane exploration."

His plane exploration still needed people.

Carrying out a plane exploration required assembling at least a project team.

Having a trustworthy friend like Hussein involved would make things considerably easier.

Hussein said, "Agreed. The deal is made."

At the same time, the Blood Lord on the other side was nearly beside himself with rage.

"What is going on? Who are you two? Why have you appeared among my people?"

The high priestess of the Ghost Sacred Order looked at the two of them with a dark expression and said, "Truly quite bold. State your names."

Locke looked back at her with considerable interest.

"It has been a long time. Bold? This low-circle wizard, you have taken your joke far too far."

In the next instant, Locke appeared behind her.

"My friend, I happen to need a spell model that you have in your possession, and I wonder whether you might be willing to share it with me. I hear that black wizards are all very warm and hospitable."

Witch Stephanie's pupils contracted sharply, and she was struck with shock to find Locke appearing directly behind her without her having sensed him at all.

"How is this possible..."