Wizard: Starting With Synthesized Gems

Chapter 419: Topic Selection and Establishing Rules

After the old wizard from the Plutarch family left, the three First Circle wizards in the research group all breathed a sigh of relief.Locke's firm attitude was the only protective umbrella that could protect their research group that had no senior teaching positions.

After Locke's firm refusal just now, the forty-five wizard apprentices they had negotiated for before probably wouldn't have any more wizard mentors dare to come to their door wanting to back out, break contracts, and take their students away.

Wizard Montgomery said, "Lord Locke, for the wizard apprentices now in our hands, we need to give first-class wizard apprentices three hundred magic stones monthly living subsidy, and second-class wizard apprentices fifty magic stones monthly living subsidy."

"In other words, our research group not only has to negotiate with the wizard mentors behind them at the startup stage, but also has to bear the burden of distributing funds to each student every subsequent month. That means our research group needs to pay wizards a total of twenty-one thousand magic stones every month."

Locke nodded slightly, indicating he understood.

Wizard Tacitus spoke, "It might not necessarily be twenty-one thousand magic stones. Because more issues need to be considered. What if students get sick or injured, and they're responsible for certain key data work? We can't very well tell them to take out loans and repay debts themselves and allow them to become debt slaves, right?"

"If this were in a team with senior positions, replacing students would be effortless. But none of us four have the authority to supervise students, so students are very precious to us. Also, what if a first-class wizard apprentice wants to break through to formal wizard during this period?"

Wizard Tacitus looked at Locke, saying, "Lord Locke, you should consider establishing rules for our research group. Many research groups have restrictions on what students can do, such as not allowing them to take part-time jobs outside while working in the research group, not allowing them to advance to formal wizard within a certain period, or after their mana reaches 800, requiring them to hand over their sacrifice potions to our research group..."

Although Wizard Tacitus was also of civilian wizard origin, because he was older, he was more realistic than all the wizards present.

Moreover, these requirements weren't excessive at all in the Land of Six Towers.

Witch Barbara angrily slapped the table and stood up, "I most detest these kinds of family wizards. If we do this, aren't we just the same as those family wizards in the Land of Six Towers exploiting students?"

Tacitus said calmly, "First, you think too highly of students, Witch Barbara. Not every student is an obedient little lamb. If they listen to our commands like that, of course that's good and would benefit both parties."

"But in the Land of Six Towers, too many students are short-sighted. Establishing rules within the research group is necessary. Without rules, nothing can be accomplished."

Even Montgomery fell into contemplation on this point and rarely remained silent. It seemed his heart also leaned toward restricting the timing of students' breakthroughs to formal wizard.

Wizard Tacitus said, "If students randomly attempt to break through to First Circle wizard, the injury and death rates are extremely high. And once they successfully break through, they may not stay in our research group. In other words, if students attempt to break through to formal wizard while in our research group, it does us no good at all."

"Restricting them from attempting to break through to formal wizard during the Cloud Marsh Cup period is obviously very necessary."

"Lord Locke, it all still depends on your choice."

Locke nodded slightly. He hadn't expected that forming a research group required considering so many issues. Students' futures needed consideration, funding needed consideration, collaborators' attitudes needed consideration, and even the research group's rules needed to be established by himself.

Many rules that seemed unreasonable in wizard apprentices' eyes were actually beneficial to himself and the research group.

The trade-offs were a very difficult decision to make.

It was also a problem that every new wizard mentor who had just become a small mentor would encounter.

New wizard mentors were basically formal wizards who had just become First Circle wizards. They lacked resources, lacked articles, lacked teaching positions. Because they lacked these three things, they inevitably lacked students, equipment and venues, plus lacked access permissions to wizard secret realms that were strongly tied to teaching positions.

Yet this period was precisely when new wizard mentors most wanted to achieve something to compete for certain magical resources.

Therefore, new mentors at this stage had it quite tough.

They easily developed mental problems.

Competing for resources, studying themselves while also guiding students, also going out to pull in projects and funding, while also working hard to meet various KPIs for teaching position advancement.

Therefore, many formal wizards at this stage directly began to slack off. After all, First Circle wizards were quality assets in quite a few wizard lands.

Witch Barbara was extremely dissatisfied with Montgomery and Tacitus, "You two, only those who've been rained on know the importance of someone holding an umbrella for you. You two don't need to do things so absolutely."

A painful memory flashed across Witch Barbara's face.

Among the countless figures of civilian wizards who were forbidden from breaking through to formal wizard due to research group's perverted requirements, and thus constantly worked without sleep, squeezing every drop of labor from themselves, was her.

That was her former self.

Also Montgomery's and Tacitus's former selves.

But now, these two wanted to make such requirements of students within their own research group. It was truly excessive.

Witch Barbara sneered, "Every student whose mental power reaches eight hundred, according to regulations, the association will distribute a sacrifice potion to them. But you two, do you also want to learn from other research groups in the Land of Six Towers, covet those students' sacrifice potions, and sell potions that should belong to students at high prices?"

"Or hold potions that should belong to them to dangle in front of them and exploit their labor? But the two wizard gentlemen have probably forgotten that we're not those students' wizard mentors and don't hold professorship teaching positions."

"According to convention, advancement potions should also belong to their original wizard mentors."

Locke swept his gaze over the three who were already in dispute and frowned.

He needed to balance interests and morality. Most importantly, he needed to control the hearts of people in the research group.

Letting them continue to conflict had no benefit. Locke glanced at Witch Barbara, and after weighing the pros and cons, chose the path least likely to go wrong.

Locke said, "Alright, stop the discussion. Witch Barbara, don't be so agitated. The two wizards were just giving me reasonable suggestions."

"This is my group meeting."

Locke tapped the table with his finger, emphasizing his authority, and used his gaze to signal Witch Barbara to calm down.

Witch Barbara immediately felt apologetic. She was quite convinced by Locke. After all, Locke could protect her within the Plutarch family.

This point was something all other wizards either couldn't do or were unwilling to do.

Witch Barbara bowed to Locke, "Sorry, Mr. Locke. I shouldn't have been so emotional, especially in front of you."

Locke nodded slightly, "When discussing problems in the future, we need to be calm and rational. We're not enemies."

"But comrades cooperating with each other. Competition is like a battlefield. Only if we work together with one heart can we win this competition. Otherwise, we've already lost at the starting line from the beginning."

Locke looked at the three wizards, "I've carefully considered it and decided not to restrict students from breaking through to First Circle wizard while working in my research group."

"As long as we establish a good handover system, work at the wizard apprentice level hasn't reached an irreplaceable degree. Secondly, we also have a relationship of growing together with those students. If we blindly exploit them, I think it would actually make them slack off instead."

Locke said, "I think establishing a reasonable system and reward mechanism would be better. We can have students develop habits of backing up and organizing materials. I thought of this point early on, so I sought out an excellent general studies wizard apprentice in advance to join our team and have him record our team's materials."

"This way we can achieve the possibility of immediately finding a second person to replace someone who has an issue. This can eliminate many problems that could easily explode in our research group in the future. Secondly, establish a reward system. I'll set up one or two outstanding student spots in the research group and subsidize them with my own money."

Locke said, "I believe using this positive incentive method to encourage students to work hard actively is far more appropriate than using punishment and restrictions to exploit student labor."

Locke himself wasn't too confident either. After all, this was also just his speculation. The details of establishing research group systems also needed consideration.

In any case, these were issues he didn't need to think about when he was a wizard apprentice before.

His systems were also referenced from what Lilith's Cottage did.

Lilith's Cottage's Healing Hand clinic set up a few reward spots and could make a group of potion masters start seriously treating those wizards, just to compete for four year-end reward spots.

But this kind of system had completely failed in the Land of Six Towers. All honor titles had almost become tools for family wizards to cheat and make deals.

Therefore, the positive incentive system in the Land of Six Towers had long collapsed. Then of course wizard mentors in the Land of Six Towers could only use various powers in their hands to intimidate and exploit those students.

If students didn't want to be randomly exploited and resisted slightly, they would immediately be marked as poor assets by the wizard mentors here, then these poor asset students would be traded with other wizard mentors, students would be seconded, and certain interest exchanges would be achieved between them.

After Locke said this, Tacitus and the others immediately nodded.

Witch Barbara's eyes brightened slightly, "Doing file storage and classification work in advance, this is a good idea. This is much more useful than blindly exploiting students."

Tacitus and Montgomery also nodded.

Tacitus said, "This is also good. Perhaps it will be somewhat better than my suggestion. In any case, we can adjust at any time later."

However, Tacitus and Witch Barbara seemed to already be starting to get on each other's nerves. One felt the other's thinking was too emotional and somewhat idealistic, while the other felt the other had character problems and might betray them someday, so wasn't worth trusting.

Locke coughed and said to everyone, "There's another currently crucial issue, which is topic selection."

"We need to choose which tactical-level magical plant category to develop. Common tactical-level magical plant categories include multi-person operated treants, multi-person operated mushroom leaders, large magical vine platforms..."

"We need to at least choose one category for development."

"Topic selection is very important. If we choose wrongly at the start, the value of all subsequent efforts will be greatly reduced. Therefore, topic selection requires caution. Do you three have any good ideas?"