Synthesis Wizard

While the graduation examination was in full swing, outside the cave, Moritz and a group of instructors were discussing the graduation ceremony.

“Dean, I heard that this year’s graduates will be joining the exploration team in the underworld after joining the Knights’ Guard. Is that true?”

“Yes,” Moritz nodded slightly. “This graduation examination is meant to prepare them for this. It allows them to adapt to the environment and combat of the underworld.”

“The underworld is fraught with danger. Isn’t it too soon for these students to join exploration missions right after graduation?” An instructor said with concern.

Moritz smiled faintly. “This just shows Lord Su Nan’s expectations of this batch of students.”

“Don’t look at these students through the lens of the past. Our academy is the first academy in the Starfire Dukedom, perhaps even the entire Starlight Continent, to cultivate knights. Have you ever seen someone become a knight from a commoner in just four years?”

Everyone shook their heads.

Not only had they never seen it, but they had never even heard of it.

They had all spent years diligently cultivating, taking twenty to thirty years to become knights.

“So, the knight students who graduate from this academy are different from us old fellows.”

A look of sentiment crossed Moritz’s face.

“The world they will experience and see will be completely different from ours, from the knights in the army. Naturally, the requirements for them will also be different.”

The instructors present all thought about it.

They all remembered the Magic-Inscribed Construct they had seen recently.

It was a wondrous piece of armament that would surely stir up a huge storm in the knight world once it was released.

And this powerful armament was prepared for these students.

As the dean said, their future path was different from theirs. It was no longer appropriate to look at the students through the lens of the past.

The open space in front of the cave fell silent for a moment.

Everyone silently waited.

The underworld had no distinction between day and night. Only the magic hourglass was used to divide time.

Ten hours of exam time flew by.

As time ran out, the Manticore, which had been meditating nearby, suddenly opened its eyes, took out a whistle and walked to the entrance of the cave, putting it in its mouth and blowing.

The shrill whistle echoed far into the cave.

Soon, the flapping of wings and footsteps could be heard from inside the cave.

One by one, the students walked out of the cave, led by the red-eyed ravens.

Almost every student had injuries, though some were more severe than others.

But fortunately, no one had died.

Moritz breathed a sigh of relief, immediately ordering people to bring out healing potions for the students to take, then began to count the points.

During the wait, Sheen found Rug and Solrano. Seeing that they were not seriously injured, he was relieved.

“How was your harvest?” Sheen asked.

“I only got twenty-five points.” Rug was a little apprehensive. “I don’t know what rank this score will put me.”

“I got twenty-four points.” Solrano said, then asked back, “What about you, Sheen?”

Sheen smiled slightly. “I was lucky. I managed to kill a Toad Beast at the last moment, and got a ten-point crystal ball. Now I have a total of fifty-three points.”

“Fifty-three points!” Rug exclaimed, then a look of excitement crossed his face. “That’s amazing. You’re definitely going to be the top scorer this time!”

Rug’s voice quickly attracted the attention of those around him.

“Sheen got fifty-three points? Really?”

“He’s too strong. I haven’t even reached half his score.”

“He deserves to be the top student!”

“Rosy and Colen both got forty-plus points. Looks like Sheen is going to be number one again this time.”

The crowd buzzed with discussion.

Rosy and Colen were both strong rivals who had fought Sheen for the top spot in the past. Even they were no match for Sheen, so the others stood no chance.

Sure enough, when the instructors announced the exam scores, Sheen unsurprisingly came in first.

Rug and Solrano also made it into the top fifty.

All three had joyful smiles on their faces.

“Quiet!”

Moritz stood up, raised his hand to signal the crowd to be quiet, then said loudly:

“The graduation examination is now over. From today onwards, you are officially graduating from the academy and will be members of the Knights’ Guard.”

“You have ten days off starting today. After the holiday, you will all report to Gloomy Lake City, the island city you saw earlier. There you will receive your equipment, and someone will assign you your missions.”

“Also, those who obtained the Dragonblood Fruit will go back to the academy to receive their reward.”

After giving the necessary instructions, Moritz led the students away.

At the same time, the list of exam participants was placed on Su Nan’s desk in his study.

“Sheen, huh? He seems like a good prospect.”

Su Nan looked through Sheen’s profile and nodded silently.

From the information, even without the Dragonblood Fruit, Sheen could likely become a knight before he turned thirty if he followed the normal cultivation path.

In terms of talent, he was better than many noble children.

Though the overall quality of the common people was inferior to the noble children, excellent individuals still occasionally emerged.

“Prepare the Magic-Inscribed Construct. When this batch of students report for duty, hand them out. Let them get used to it for a while.” Su Nan instructed.

Four hundred and ninety-five sets of first-level Magic-Inscribed Constructs and five sets of second-level Magic-Inscribed Constructs were already ready, stored in the warehouse, waiting to be equipped as soon as the personnel arrived.

“Yes, Master.” Karolina replied respectfully.

“How long will it take for Sheman and Corey to return?” Su Nan continued to ask.

“Lord Sheman and Lord Corey sent word back three days ago. They are currently opening a third magic plant garden. Seeds have already been planted in the magic plant garden. When the first batch of Dragonblood Fruits matures and there are no problems, they will be able to end their mission and return. It is expected to take about two months.”

Su Nan nodded slightly.

This batch of students would need time to adapt to the Magic-Inscribed Construct and the underworld. Two months later, when Sheman and Corey returned, they could start forming exploration teams composed of mage apprentices and Magic-Inscribed Knights.

“What about the investigation into the Gloomy Land-Walking Dragon?” Su Nan asked.

Karolina immediately replied: “The people sent to investigate found an entrance to the underworld in a cave north of Ryan City. They found traces of dragon claws near the entrance. It can now be confirmed that the Gloomy Land-Walking Dragon came from there.”

As soon as she finished speaking, the Red Widow immediately chimed in.

“There are hills opposite the entrance. We found many footprints of sub-dragon species there.”

Su Nan’s eyes lit up: “There is a sub-dragon species group there?”

The Red Widow hesitated, then shook her head: “It should not be. Those footprints are of different sizes and shapes, belonging to different sub-dragon species. We suspect that many different sub-dragon species once lived there.”

Su Nan furrowed his brow.

Different sub-dragon species had vastly different living habits and environments.

For example, the Gloomy Land-Walking Dragon usually lived in dark, damp caves near lakes.

The Dragon Antelope usually lived in flatlands with suitable climates.

If it was a Volcanic Dragon, it would usually live in volcanic areas.

Their preferred living environments could be as far apart as heaven and earth.

It was highly unusual for many different sub-dragon species to appear in the same place.

“Search for those sub-dragon species. Investigate where they came from and why they gathered there.”

After pondering for a moment, Su Nan gave the order. He then added:

“Once you find those sub-dragon species, immediately capture them. Try to capture them alive.”

Live sub-dragon species could continuously provide Dragon’s Blood.

The Gloomy Land-Walking Dragon from Ryan City had already coagulated blood when it was sent over, rendering it almost useless, which made Su Nan a bit regretful.

“Yes, Master.” Karolina and the Red Widow responded in unison.

After the two women left, Su Nan looked at the list on the desk, a relaxed smile appearing on his face.

With this batch of Magic-Inscribed Knights, he had a lot more manpower at his disposal. He no longer had to rely solely on vampires and Manticores.

Once they got used to it, they could be incorporated into exploration teams with the puppets, accelerating the exploration process.

Sheman and Corey could lead two ace teams, and when it came time to investigate the sub-dragon species, which would require a lot of manpower, he would send them.

Closing the list, Su Nan stretched his body, got up and left the study, returning to the surface.

Nowadays, he spent most of his time at the No. 2 base in Gloomy Lake City, but he would also return to the No. 1 base every once in a while to check on the recent developments.

“If I’m the only one, it’s a little tough managing two bases. I can’t even keep up with a lot of things.”

Though he now had plenty of manpower and many things no longer required his personal attention, he still had to take care of the management aspect of things.

The Red Widow and Karolina did have some management skills, but they weren’t mage apprentices, and Su Nan didn’t completely trust them yet. So, he had never thought about handing over management of the base to the two of them.

“It would be best to find a third-rank mage apprentice to manage the No. 1 base. That way, I wouldn’t have to handle so much, and I would only need to review reports regularly.”

Su Nan thought silently.

But while he could think about it, finding a suitable candidate wasn’t easy.

It wouldn’t be difficult to convince a third-rank mage apprentice to manage the No. 1 base for him. If he gave them enough benefits, he could definitely find someone willing.

The key was to ensure that they wouldn’t betray him.

A soul contract?

It probably wouldn’t work. No third-rank mage apprentice would willingly sign such a contract.

An oath contract might work, but it wasn’t very reliable.

After all, much of the No. 1 base involved the secrets of the synthetic magic cube. If he were to let someone else manage it, he had to ensure their reliability and loyalty.

In short, choosing a manager for the No. 1 base was very important and he had to be extremely cautious.

As he pondered, Su Nan had already returned to the No. 1 base.

Two years had passed, and the number of students in the base had increased by more than a dozen.

Now, the entire base had 284 people.

Nearly a third of them had already built their second Star Ring.

Ethan and Atilla were currently making the fastest progress. It was estimated that they would be able to build their third Star Ring within a year, becoming the third and fourth second-rank mage apprentices in the base after Sheman and Corey.

As he walked, students kept stopping to greet Su Nan.

Occasionally, he would also see various strange and unusual creatures from other worlds.

The No. 1 base now had almost as many creatures from other worlds as students, summoned by Su Nan, including a large number of elves and fairies.

These creatures from other worlds were mainly responsible for managing the various areas of the base.

It was because of them that even though Su Nan was away for most of the time, the No. 1 base could still operate smoothly.

Su Nan continued walking, inspecting each of the important areas in the base.

Counting the two magic plant gardens that were still being developed, Su Nan now had twelve magic plant gardens, numbered from 1 to 12.

The No. 1 magic plant garden in the No. 1 base was of paramount importance.

After the development of the No. 7 to No. 12 magic plant gardens, the output of Dragonblood Fruit and Silver Moon Flowers increased significantly, basically enough to meet the needs of the base, the Knights’ Academy and the Blackrock Cavalry Regiment.

So, Su Nan removed the Dragonblood Fruit and Silver Moon Flowers from the No. 1 magic plant garden and replaced them with other valuable rare magic plants.

Since he now had enough manpower, he could open up a few more magic plant gardens if he needed to increase the output of Dragonblood Fruit and Silver Moon Flowers in the future.

In the insect nest, the dull gemstone insect crawled slowly on the ground, the gemstone on its back shimmering.

With the rare metals supplied by the Star Alliance for making fission nutrient, the gemstone insect population grew rapidly.

Now there were thirty-two of them.

The gemstone output of the insect nest also increased to more than one thousand one hundred gemstones per year.

That translated to more than twenty thousand gold coins.

Although it was far from the profit generated by the Star Alliance’s mines, it was a steady stream, and there was no need to worry about resource depletion.

Moreover, this output would gradually increase over time, making it a promising prospect.

In the workshop, the magic crystal forging furnace rumbled low.

Dozens of cubicles were occupied by people working.

Su Nan took a look around and found that most of the apprentices were forging magical mithril.

For apprentices who had initially mastered “Magic Artifact Manufacturing,” the most worthwhile task in the base was undoubtedly forging magical mithril.

Apprentices who took on the task would receive mithril and materials from the warehouse, then forge it and hand it in, earning a certain number of contribution points.

Of course, if they failed, they would have to bear the cost of the loss.

It is worth mentioning that the funds used to purchase mithril were taken from the treasury of the Starfire Dukedom by Su Nan.

In the first few years after the war, the Starfire Dukedom spent most of its tax revenue on reviving its people, particularly rebuilding the Frostbite Province. For most of the time, its finances were in a state of deficit.

Only recently had it begun to have a surplus.

Su Nan didn’t hesitate to pull a sum from Kei, using it to forge mithril Magic Puppets.

The Dragonblood Fruit provided to the army over the past two years had not been free.

Su Nan had been thinking about separating the base and the Starfire Dukedom economically, making them independent entities. He decided to make a clean break with Kei in the near future and begin the process.

Only by shifting from an unclear dependent relationship to a mutually beneficial trading relationship could both the base and the Starfire Dukedom develop better.