Chapter 793: Wizard Michael’s Concession and Locke’s Research Pipeline

In the chief manager's office at Solas Light Foot, the moon ring Director Hormuz looked at Michael, the First Circle chief wizard shoe designer at Solas Light Foot, and pressed him with a demanding question. "I am asking you, over the past month, have you made any new progress?"

"The Black Giant Hummingbird Bromeliad wizard shoe sold over ten million magic stones worth of sales at Arthas again within a single month."

"Which means this year, the top three selling wizard shoes on the Arthas rankings will very likely all be Augustine wizard shoes. Two superstar products have already locked in their positions on the rankings."

"From what I can see, the Blue Band Shop Alliance has nothing to offer as a solution. Just yesterday they came to me asking for ideas."

Wizard Hormuz said, "You are Solas Light Foot's First Circle chief designer, a talent we selected through the most rigorous process."

"The very finest. What is your assessment?"

Wizard Michael started to speak, stopped himself, and then said haltingly, "The Black Giant Hummingbird Bromeliad wizard shoe performs very well across all metrics. Its overall level exceeds the design standards of our current First Circle wizard shoe line."

"Even if I unlock the previously frozen technical reserves, it would be difficult to raise the quality by an average of ten percent in a short time."

"This is..."

Director Hormuz said, "Outrageous. A breeder's work, someone from outside the field entirely, has driven our Solas Light Foot First Circle design team to a state of complete helplessness?"

"This is simply ridiculous."

"I will give you one more month. No, half a month. Half a month."

"Can you design a shoe immediately?"

Wizard Michael's eyes went blank as he began to think.

"This requires manpower, money, additional investment... and time. Half a month is nowhere near enough."

"This month I only managed to complete the performance testing of the Black Giant Hummingbird shoe."

"Manager, the level of that Black Giant Hummingbird wizard shoe is truly formidable. It is hard to believe that it is a pure magical plant wizard shoe. I cannot come up with a good solution right now..."

Wizard Hormuz said, "You are our First Circle chief designer and you cannot come up with a solution?"

"One month then. Can you manage that?"

Wizard Michael suddenly thought that Wizard Hormuz had never really worked on the front lines himself, and had never spent a single day in a designer's role, having sat in an administrative position from the very beginning.

Wizard Michael bowed to Wizard Hormuz.

"Wizard Hormuz, I truly cannot do it. Never mind giving me one month. Even if you gave our entire First Circle team a full year, I still could not guarantee producing a First Circle wizard shoe whose performance could match the Black Giant Hummingbird."

Wizard Michael let out a sigh.

"At this point, if you wish to hold me responsible, I accept it. As Solas Light Foot's First Circle chief designer, being unable to compete in First Circle wizard shoe design against this opponent, even with ample materials and technical reserves at my disposal, is my failure."

"I take responsibility for this."

The moon ring Director Hormuz's eyes went wide.

"I do not want you to match it. I want you to produce a First Circle wizard shoe that crushes the Black Giant Hummingbird."

Wizard Michael suddenly felt a strange lightness come over him.

When you realize that the task your superior has set is completely impossible to achieve, it is as though the weight of responsibility simply lifts from your shoulders.

Wizard Michael said, "I am sorry, Wizard Hormuz. This is something I cannot do."

Wizard Hormuz fell into complete fury, his eyes blazing.

"As a rising talent of the Rose Council, as one of the prodigies within the Rose Throne's academic lineage, a gifted magical weaver, you are actually admitting that you cannot create a better wizard shoe than someone who treats it as a hobby, a breeder playing around."

"This is a disgrace."

"Wizard Michael, I will be contacting your academic mentors. Are you trying to bring shame upon our Rose Throne?"

Wizard Hormuz's fury seemed about to crash down upon Wizard Michael like a great wave.

Just as Wizard Michael was feeling things had gone very wrong and wondering how to respond, Wizard Hormuz's expression suddenly went cold and calm.

Wizard Hormuz said, "You may leave. As punishment, I am invoking Solas's regulations and will be withholding your entire year's bonus."

"Moreover, you will very likely be transferred out of your current position in the future. I hope you will be mentally prepared. This is a reasonable and appropriate action I must take in my capacity as Solas Light Foot's manager."

"The position of First Circle chief designer represents Solas Light Foot's century of honor. It represents that you are, as a magical shoemaker, among the very finest at the First Circle level. And so as a magical shoemaker, you absolutely cannot lose to a breeder."

"Michael, I am extremely disappointed in you. I do not even wish for you to continue working for me."

A bitterness settled in Wizard Michael's heart.

He knew that if he simply walked out of this office now, Director Hormuz would turn him into a peripheral figure at Solas Light Foot.

His rank would never advance again after this, and might even be reduced.

His entire future would be destroyed.

Even a prodigy, unless they had reached that level of absolute transcendence where conventions simply did not apply, absolutely needed to rely on a platform.

Only a true super-prodigy was completely unstoppable.

But an ordinary prodigy needed a large amount of resources to grow rapidly.

But should he stay, and tell Director Hormuz that he could design a shoe better than the Black Giant Hummingbird within one month?

Wizard Michael turned this over in his mind, and felt even more despairing.

The design of the Black Giant Hummingbird wizard shoe loomed heavy in his thoughts.

He had spent a full month, an entire month, testing that shoe.

As a magical shoemaker, he had always been someone who carried great pride in his work.

He had initially looked at the design of this wizard shoe through the standards of a magical shoemaker and evaluated its design and production quality against the magical shoemaker's framework.

But very quickly, he was astonished by what he found.

He had even, in an unoccupied corner, secretly slipped on that pair of wizard shoes. The very reason he had become a magical shoemaker was that he had been absolutely obsessed with shoes since he was small.

His love of shoes had grown into something of an obsession.

He knew that in this world, some things existed regardless of whether anyone was there to appreciate them.

But shoes were different.

Without people, there were no shoes.

Shoes served people.

Shoes were a created thing, a symbol of civilization. Over countless millions of years, shoes and civilization had grown side by side, to the point that in certain eras, wherever a footprint could be found, so could civilization.

A truly good shoe did not always reveal its quality in everyday wear.

But put that good shoe on for extreme activities, or take it to places of harsh and difficult conditions, and the difference of having a truly fine pair of shoes would make itself apparent.

Shoes were his greatest love.

He had secretly slipped on the Black Giant Hummingbird wizard shoes, and then he was lost.

Yes, the comfort of this wizard shoe was poor.

The force analysis was insufficient. It had not been made to fit foot shapes other than the standard human biological norm.

The gait cycle had not been addressed properly, had very likely not been addressed at all. The rolling angle of the toes had not been considered in the design.

The humidity and thermal conductivity of the materials had not been considered.

The artistic achievement of this wizard shoe was very low.

One could tell that the wizard who had designed this shoe had no extensive experience in wizard shoe design.

But the Black Giant Hummingbird wizard shoe was still currently the finest wizard shoe, fine to a degree that frightened him.

Because this shoe had returned to the original starting point of wizard shoes, which was functionality.

It was hard to imagine that a pure magical plant wizard shoe could reach this level.

Wizard Michael even felt a certain regret as he thought: if a magical shoemaker were to assist that Locke Augustine, to help him design a wizard shoe, might it be possible to produce those truly, truly outstanding works that Solas Light Foot and Melechi had created a hundred years ago, before they had unified the market?

Those works that had originally drawn him into this profession?

Wizard Michael knew that he could not produce a shoe surpassing the performance of that pair in a short time, and so he had no choice but to turn and walk out of Solas's manager's office.

Wizard Hormuz's gaze was cold and calculating as it swept over Michael.

"Hmph."

"I truly do not know whether his ability is lacking, or whether that shoe is on a high level. Or whether this is some deliberate act of defiance, a way of coming to threaten me."

"This person cannot be relied upon any further."

Wizard Hormuz thought, "Since he cannot be used for my purposes, I will marginalize him."

Wizard Hormuz tapped his fingers on the desk.

"But now the Throne and the various Third Circle teachers are all about to leave the Cloud Marsh Wetlands and go to the Southern Border Region."

"Lord Solas will also be leaving. Oversight will decrease considerably, and my own authority will grow. Many things will become possible. No, I cannot let things continue this way. Otherwise Solas with its great foundation will not collapse, but I will lose my manager's position."

Wizard Hormuz thought, "Before I replace Michael, I cannot fully control the people of the First Circle design department. And so the best approach is to pull a Second Circle wizard across departments and out of their rank to design a First Circle wizard shoe."

"This does not follow the rules. But it is the best solution available right now."

Wizard Hormuz considered the feasibility of this approach.

Solas Light Foot had originally strictly prohibited Second Circle designer wizards from going to the First Circle department.

But at this moment, with the Genesis academic conference underway, this restriction seemed like something that could quietly be bent a little.

Wizard Hormuz thought, "Based on the discussion at the last technical symposium, the Second Circle designers unanimously concluded that Locke Augustine would not be able to develop a mass-producible Second Circle wizard shoe within fifty years."

"So the real battle is only in the First Circle wizard shoe domain. I only need to hold that line."

"In that case, the resources in the Second Circle design department are currently in surplus and can perfectly well have a portion diverted to the First Circle design department, which needs support most urgently."

After lengthy deliberation, Hormuz finally made up his mind, secretly handwriting a document, preparing to quietly go to the Second Circle design department and pull someone over.

"Just find a Second Circle designer who has free time and no design project of their own."

"This should not be a problem. Even if the board of directors asks about it, as long as I produce results and have not affected the Second Circle design department, this will not be a mistake but rather a credit."

Director Hormuz thought, "It will show my bold vision and willingness to go against the consensus."

"With so much debt to my name, if I lose this position, the formal income from the position itself is not what I would regret. But the gifts people send me every year, those would certainly stop coming to my office. And that would affect me tremendously."

"So this Solas manager position absolutely cannot be lost."

Wizard Hormuz directly contacted an ordinary Second Circle designer through the Ganoderma magical plant.

"Hello, Wizard Shik. I believe you have nothing much on your plate recently. Hmm? You are about to begin a design project? Well, it has not started yet, has it? Before it starts, could you perhaps set it aside for a moment. I have something..."

"Hmm... I will send you a quartzite magic stone mine in a medium world called the Spirit Rock World. All you need to do is design a wizard shoe that surpasses the Black Giant Hummingbird in the shortest possible time."

"Yes. You can rest assured on that point. I previously arranged for technical experts to meet, and after discussions across multiple departments, we have confirmed that Locke Augustine does not have the corresponding technical reserves within fifty years to find a way to reduce virtual root costs."

"Unless he obtains the special grant or some other project that gives him access to a key laboratory. But that project he should not be able to obtain in the short term."

"Yes. And so even pulling one of you from the Second Circle design department would not have any impact, and neither of us would be penalized by the board of directors."

"Very well. It is settled."

...

At Golden Crown Mountain, Witch Scarlett notified Locke that their Black Giant Hummingbird had once again opened to a triumphant result, generating ten million magic stones in revenue.

Locke exchanged a few words with her and arranged to go to the White Wizard Association the following week to collect the shop alliance's business license and pay the wizard tax and license tax.

Witch Scarlett seemed to hope that the Augustine Shop Alliance could truly be established and grow into a renowned brand, becoming a dark horse breaking through in a market that had been completely monopolized, with rigid stratification among the established great wizard shoe shop alliance factions.

Locke glanced at the ten million in revenue and gave a slight nod.

"I currently have twenty million on hand. Without doing research, that is quite a lot. With research, it will probably sustain me for a few months. Since that is the case, I can go full force on the several projects I have in hand. The two projects in the southeastern quadrant need to be launched as soon as possible."

"On the virtual root side, I can also begin a two-month library borrowing period, and during that time use my avatar to run experiments. I will wait until after my avatar has finished arranging things in the southeastern quadrant before coming back."

Locke's eyes were filled with confidence. "Through the Moon of Evolution, I can shorten my plant cultivation cycles. Using Flowers Bloom and Fall, I can quickly obtain improved samples for large-scale validation."

"And using Flowers Bloom and Fall in combination with the synthesis magic cube and entry descriptions, I can rapidly obtain a large batch of magical plant subspecies, from which I can find many useful things in their plant essence. Perhaps, making good use of these two months, I can find a way to mass-produce Second Circle wizard shoes."

He had already preliminarily built an entire system for himself that could accelerate the production of Second Circle achievements.

This system was the most valuable thing of all.

Because it could be applied to other projects as well.