Wizard: Starting with Symbiosis with Algae

"Wizard's Navigation Guide reminds you that you have deviated from your course."

"Current coordinates: Dune Planet 08-23, 23°N, E..."

Beside the arid, barren red sand, a riverbed was bubbling and gurgling.

As the bubbles burst, oxygen from the lakebed silt entered my nostrils.

Lynn was startled awake by the notification sound.

Cold, tired, hungry.

It's like a useless college student recklessly attempting the Snowman Triathlon at dawn; now he's having difficulty breathing, his consciousness is blurred, and his whole body aches.

My heart, in particular, was pounding and pounding, which was extremely uncomfortable.

Lynn rolled half a circle on the ground, struggling to turn his nostrils and chest towards the sky to avoid excessive pressure on his chest, and then he felt a little better.

But that hint.

wizard?

What wizard?

I've traveled through time.

Lynn shook his head, his memory hazy and his mind not very clear.

All he remembers is staying up all night, drinking Sprite, and eating Chocola in an effort to squeeze out more mental energy for work, and then losing consciousness after a marathon that challenged him to push himself.

After another notification tone

"Wizard Navigation Assistant reminds you that you have been involved in an accident. We are contacting staff..."

Lynn picked up her memory,

After transmigrating, he became a novice wizard apprentice, contributing to the expansion of the Atmospheric Modification Academy and incidentally funding his own research project on grasses. He accompanied the wizard ship to assist in recruiting new students. The second-level wizard apprentice he was with was a busty but brainless woman who, due to dangerous driving, insisted on sailing during a thunderstorm, causing a minor accident on the wizard ship.

in other words

They crashed.

Lynn lay on the ground with a bitter smile.

"Is this even worse than getting a free 10-pull upon logging in, like getting Mamba Out upon logging in?"

To be rescued, the most urgent thing right now is to find the airship itself and then call for help.

He sat cross-legged and examined his body. Apart from soreness, he felt no pain and there were no signs of attack on his body.

"The plane crashed in the southeast direction, that's for sure."

"But what's with this feeling of my heart pounding?"

The original owner didn't eat anything; he didn't die from poisoning, starvation, or being gored by a wild animal.

He followed the orthodox path of knight's squire → wizard's apprentice, and I don't recall detecting any instances of Lynn trying to force things to grow too quickly.

How could a naturally trained knight squire faint?

Lynn stood up and looked out over the fields, along the dry, barren red sand, to further assess the current situation.

He took two steps forward and found the riverbed beneath his feet was only lightly covered by sand.

The mud, wrapped around dead algae, clumps together and drifts along the riverbank.

The river is very deep, and even after skimming off the debris, you can still see a lot of living algae floating on the riverbank.

"So, the good news is, there's water, there's some strange algae, and this is a planet with life."

Furthermore, since the water and algae are in the same place, it means that the water quality is most likely clear and drinkable.

The bad news is, there don't seem to be any animals here. Or at least, no large animals to eat.

Lynn might starve to death, but it's unlikely he will.

He stretched his body and strode towards the southeast.

Ten seconds later, Lynn, who had been standing up straight, suddenly went black and fainted.

...

"She fainted again."

Lynn struggled again to rise and surged to the riverbank.

He is a person who learns from his mistakes.

Just after recalling the events and standing up to look at the distant view, I suddenly fainted.

Clearly, it was the act of standing up, not the memory, that caused him to faint.

He lay on the ground, considering many possibilities, but suddenly the bubbles encased in algae in the middle of the river burst.

The delicate, fragrant aroma of the bubbles wafted into Lynn's nostrils. Lynn suddenly felt a surge of energy, and he finally realized...

"Oxygen! The oxygen in the bubbles is restoring my body to normal."

"The reason I fainted was due to lack of oxygen, and it wasn't due to insufficient oxygen intake caused by bodily functions, but because the whole planet is lacking oxygen. Only the bubbles that have just appeared by the river have enough oxygen concentration."

This is terrible. The entire planet is oxygen-deprived, and it will be extremely difficult for Lynn to reach the landing point of the next spaceship.

The gurgling current on the riverbank was too slow.

Just as Lynn was thinking of a solution, a slowly rotating body suddenly appeared in front of him.

Then, a ringing sound.

Please select your symbiotic life form.

Is this my cheat code?

Lynn hesitated for a moment, not expecting the cheat to appear so timely.

A string of characters prompted again

Symbiosis: sharing capabilities, sharing nutrients, preserving form, and co-evolving.

In other words, it means acquiring the target's ability without destroying the organism's form.

The body needs to pay for the nutrition required to cultivate that organism.

A summoner who essentially becomes a nutrient pool for their summoned creatures.

At the same time, a more detailed personal panel also appears.

Strength 1.4, Agility 1.4, Stamina 1.4, Magic 0.2

The three attributes are self-explanatory. As for magic power, just 0.1 magic power is enough to advance to the level of a wizard apprentice, gaining a slight magic resistance while learning magic.

Lynn knows a spell called Entangling Vines.

Although Lynn was almost killed by oxygen deprivation, he became a white spirit ring on the vine.

But it must be said that the vines are still effective.

"There are already existing solutions to the problem of oxygen deficiency."

藻类

no doubt

Currently

Only algae can produce oxygen on this planet.

But we still need to do some selection.

Lynn used the spell "Entanglement of Vines" to drag himself to the edge of the pond, observing the clear lake water beneath the sand, where various algae drifted slowly.

He placed a stone under his chin and gently stirred the algae with his hand.

Red and yellow algae are definitely not desirable because there are too few of them.

Overly flamboyant rainbow colors are obviously toxic.

The sole driving force of life is reproduction, so to avoid any mishaps, it's best to choose the ones that reproduce the most, are the largest, and have the least striking colors.

So

[Selected: Blue-green algae]

[Observed characteristics. Photosynthesis – Magic Respiration: Consumes a small amount of magic power to produce a large amount of oxygen...]

[Please note: The source of the magic is unknown.]

It doesn't matter if it's unknown; Lynn herself still possesses a little bit of magic.

Use it first, then investigate its origin later.

[Whether to choose target symbiosis.]

Lynn nodded.

My strength is slightly depleted. A slight dizziness washes over me.

Green algae grew on Lynn's torso, on large areas of skin exposed to sunlight, on the outside of his arms, shoulders, abdomen, and even in his hair.

[The symbiotic organisms can be included in the model displayed by the system.]

Lynn tried it, and sure enough, as soon as he had a thought, the blue algae disappeared into the body on the panel.

But if Lynn wanted to, these blue algae that had already grown would quickly regrow on Lynn's body within 10 seconds.

They are even the same size.

then

On the riverbank, Lynn, wearing only a pair of shorts, walked barefoot into the water and then lay down.

The water reached his chest and shoulders. He closed his eyes, relaxed his limbs, and lay quietly in the riverbed, letting the current gently sway his body.

"The oxygen supply is sufficient."

"As long as you're in the river and follow the correct course downstream, you're very likely to find the spaceship."

...

Twelve hours later, lightning and thunder suddenly struck the sky above the riverbank.

In those 12 hours, in order to increase the efficiency of absorbing external nutrients, the algae spread about 30cm from his limbs outwards, much larger than his body.

This shape slightly affected Lynn's mobility.

Aside from occasionally shifting his position to prevent himself from drifting in the wrong direction and taking a short patrol along the river every now and then, Lynn didn't do much else.

"But that's already an ideal situation."

Lynn knew perfectly well in her heart

Blue-green algae need to be soaked in water to continue growing.

Blue light algae can absorb Lynn's magic and directly convert it into oxygen. Even without sunlight, Lynn can breathe freely as long as he is in the water. The effect is really good.

Blue-green algae can emit light, but the purpose of this light emission is currently unknown.

He has to stay completely wet.

Fortunately, Lynn is finally about to receive his wet raindrops.

Lynn got up from the riverbank, rolled up his clothes, and walked on the sand.

The first shower after the thunderstorm soaked Lynn's body.

The branches of the blue-green algae spread out completely, extending outward from the rice-shaped pattern, like snowflakes one after another.

Lynn combed through the blue algae on his tailbone; it was so dense that it looked like he had grown a tail.

Are blue-green algae craving lightning?

A violent storm came from afar.

A wisp of rain, brimming with the scent of thunder and lightning, poured down.

[Blue-light algae, absorbing nutrient-rich (magic crystal) raindrops. Currently fixing magic.]

[With fixed magic power, your magic power has increased slightly...]

[Magic +0.01]

"This is the source of the magic of blue-green algae."

Just like how early organic matter on Earth came from lightning.

The high-energy reaction of lightning condenses the thin magical energy in the air and transforms it into its own magical energy.

Because of limited field of vision.

Lynn searched downwards around the riverbank.

Hopefully, the river didn't wash the airship into the ocean.

...

In the shadows, it's difficult to perceive how quickly time passes.

The lightning and thunder finally began to subside.

About 2-3 days have passed

The dark clouds have not yet passed.

Thunder rolled in from afar, its deep rumble causing ripples on the water's surface.

Lynn returned to the river and gurgled around, paddling to keep himself in the shallower, calmer water.

[Magic +0.1]

Lynn

Strength 1.4, Agility 1.4, Stamina 0.9, Magic 0.5

Nourished by the torrential rain, his magic power has increased by 0.3, a full 1.5 times.

What used to be a laborious task of entwining with vines has now become as simple as his hands and feet.

He didn't see the airship wreckage, but Lynn encountered a second problem: hunger, and the resulting decline in his physical functions. His stamina, or his body's ability to withstand change, was rapidly decreasing. Because of the rain, starting a fire was difficult, and even though the riverbed mud contained a lot of organic matter, it was inedible.

Otherwise, given his extraordinary qualities, eating some dirty food shouldn't be a big deal for him.

A long-term vegetarian diet is not advisable; simply eating algae is completely insufficient. Without enough food, the body will deteriorate rapidly.

Lynn saw a thunderbolt in the distance fall at the edge of his field of vision, revealing a delta, the mouth of a river.

It's about 200km.

With the help of the river, Lynn could reach his destination in as little as three days.

What a coincidence!

If there is not enough food in the river

The estuary, where the silt accumulates and contains the most minerals, must have plenty of food.

Lynn took a breath, turned his head towards the estuary, and, following the difference in elevation, pretended to be a heartless canoe.

bang

Lynn's head accidentally hit a rock amidst the flashing lightning and the rushing water.

Lynn covered his head and stood in the river for a while. Suddenly, his communication device rang.

Lynn's heart skipped a beat!

"This is Ruby, a level two wizard apprentice. Survivors, please reply."

"The rescue airship will arrive in 3 days. All of you, assemble at my location."