Wizard: Starting with Symbiosis with Algae

trace

"It looks like that signal tower on our planet," Daniel exclaimed, pointing to the crooked building in the distance. "But as you can see, it's abandoned."

Lynn placed the two sea lilies on his shoulders, rubbed his hands together, and looked over.

It was a tall, tower-shaped building, perched atop a bare rocky ridge behind the coastline.

Its exterior has a hard granite texture, a wide base, a sharp and hollow top, and exquisite carvings on the outside. However, the base of the tower is tilted, and the entire tower leans towards the sea.

Seawater continuously flooded the tower, gushing out from the holes in the tower and creating a shallow beach of white foam at its base.

It has been abandoned for a long time.

Lynn knew it at a glance, but because he hadn't received enough training, he couldn't give the exact time.

Seeing this, Daniel volunteered, "That's a signal tower from the wizarding world. I remember it's a model from two thousand years ago."

Lynn thoughtfully tied the "dry cell" apprentices together. Although the problem of the rainbow hydra was not yet solved, if they could also find the remnants of the wizard, they could proudly claim credit later, which would be quite satisfying.

It's something I can easily take a look at.

Lynn patted the flower bud of Unit-00 and gestured with her chin towards Daniel: "Let's go."

The inside of the cell tower looks more dilapidated than the outside.

Seawater poured in through the cracks in the walls, forming puddles on the stone floor.

The wooden structure inside the tower had long since rotted away, leaving only a few rusted stone supports leaning precariously in the corners.

Lynn and Daniel climbed up the spiral staircase, floor after floor, finding nothing but some broken pottery shards and a few pieces of completely unrecognizable metal debris. Just as Lynn was about to give up, his foot kicked something.

A stone. Buried in a pile of rubble, with only one corner showing.

Lynn dug it out from the rubble and held it in his palm. The stone was about the size of his hand, with rough lines and a simple composition, yet it told a complete story.

"The stone depicts a group of humans worshipping some kind of creature? And it's glowing?" Lynn frowned.

Moreover, the repeated chiseling marks suggest that this is most likely a fragment of some kind of religious artifact or monument, a record of civilization.

Daniel leaned closer for a look, then rested his chin on his hand in surprise. Although they usually talked about the Wizarding God, the apprentices were mostly joking. What wizard would believe in a god?

Can they really live with themselves while enjoying free education from the college?

But in the pictures on these stones, the descendants of the shamans are depicted as believing in gods. How absurd!

"The previous exploration team didn't discover any phenomena related to faith, so this is a new development for us. However, I can't be happy. The humans on this planet were once our kind. How could they have fallen so low?" "Human wizards have their limits... could it be..."

"No. People change, Daniel. Two thousand years is enough for some creatures to go from a primitive state to establishing civilization. Let alone humans."

The basic training explained that this high-gravity planet originally had no radiation. Its orbit was stable, its atmosphere thick, and its oceans were filled with a unique type of fruit.

The information refers to it as "sea olive," rich in magic and possessing various magic-enhancing effects; it can be eaten directly. The wizards envision this planet as a seaside tavern for wizards on interstellar journeys to rest.

But what about now? The radiation storm clouds never dissipate.

The great war destroyed everything.

But what exactly happened after that?

Nobody knew, and Lynn was completely baffled.

"What a pity, a planet has been destroyed just like that."

He pulled another metal pipe from the ruins. Its surface had once been decorated with intricate carvings, and there were some patterns on it, but he couldn't make them out at all.

"Never mind. I'll just have to take it back for now." Lynn put the metal tube back in its place and wiped the rust off his hands on his clothes.

Daniel nodded.

If the spiritualist wizard on the ship were still alive, perhaps he could take on a side job as an archaeologist.

The interdisciplinary magic of these two fields can sense residual imprints of consciousness when touching objects, allowing for dialogue with traces of past civilizations.

But that's definitely not going to happen now. That unfortunate fellow was the most powerful apprentice of the Spiritual Awareness School among all wizards, and also the host directly parasitized by the Rainbow Hydra.

He was now wrapped in that colorless viscous liquid, unable to move even his fingers, let alone cast sophisticated perception spells.

"Bad luck," Daniel sighed.

The chances of stumbling upon ruins were slim. After the signal tower, the ship continued sailing northwest, and Lynn and Daniel's days adrift at sea lasted another three days.

Over three days, they rescued another group of trainees.

The trainees lay in rows on the vehicle, pretending to be tough guys without uttering a sound.

Fortunately, he was still eating well and his consciousness didn't deteriorate to the point of becoming a vegetable.

The good news is that as the number of crinoids increases, the effective range of their spores is extending and their intensity is also increasing.

Lynn now has six sea lilies, and Unit-00 leads five "little brothers," which can form two rows of walls that blow air simultaneously, effectively expanding the coverage area to nearly forty meters.

But the rainbow hydra's defenses are also being upgraded. It retracts its tentacles into the outer layer of the cockpit, absorbing nutrients from the interior of the cabin through wriggling, and only extends them to operate the apprentice when necessary, otherwise hiding behind the protective glass of the cockpit.

"Damn it, its tentacles just won't stop growing, it's like something is constantly supplying it with nutrients."

Daniel said angrily.

Lynn doesn't waste time on meaningless things.

Even more supervision of Unit-00's training of his underlings would be more effective than this.

Over the next three days, Lynn also tried to cultivate more plants. He wasn't hoping these ordinary plants would play a significant role in the battle—after all, even if the blue-light algae mutated, it couldn't bite. But taking this opportunity to greatly expand the variety of biological traits was still very important.

Unfortunately, mutations are full of uncertainties, and the storm never came.

Although the effect was minimal, the plants' water storage capacity did increase considerably.

"Being a water tank isn't bad, at least I have somewhere to go for a blue light bath, right?"

Fourth day.

Sylder also returned from afar.

He appeared from the sea to the southeast, his vehicle made of three black panels now laden with dead fish.

He looked somewhat like a homeless person, but overall he was still very energetic.

The two seriously injured wizard apprentices who went out with him also changed completely.

Griffin and Whit.

Lynn remembered that when they set off, they were unconscious, pale, and needed help to even sit up. Now, standing on the vehicle, their complexions were rosy, their magic was stable, and their eyes even held a hint of eager excitement.

Sylder spotted Lynn from afar.

He stood at the front of the vehicle, waving vigorously in Lynn's direction: "Hey, I'm here! I'm here!"

His voice was loud, but the people on the ship probably didn't care about him at the moment.