Wizard: Starting with Symbiosis with Algae

Inside the cave, the pungent smell of sulfur compounds finally became milder, no longer assaulting the senses as it had when we first entered.

Visibility has also improved somewhat, and the lake water is clearer, at least enough to make out the outline of the rock wall a few meters away.

Lynn slowly swam ashore from the hot spring. He raised his arm and rubbed the dark skin that had fallen off his arm.

"My skin is quite fair. My metabolism is very fast."

After admiring himself for a while, Lynn shook his hands. Since there was no towel, he ordered the blue algae to absorb all the moisture from his body.

The blue-green algae attached to the skin surface quickly became active.

The body, which was originally wet, suddenly became dry and clean, and even had a faint glow.

Lynn leaned against the wall and put on her clothes.

In sulfur-containing water environments, blue-green algae can be completely consumed by sulfur-containing algae within a day.

The same principle applies to the external environment.

Fortunately, Lynn held the dominant position in the symbiotic relationship.

Lynn pulled up his pants and glanced at the panel.

[Stamina recovery 0.2]

【Strength +0.1】

[Agility +0.1]

Strength 1.5, Agility 1.5, Stamina 1.15, Magic 0.78

He looked around at the gloomy surroundings, though there was a sliver of light.

"But sulfur-producing organisms should generally only live in the deep sea."

The thought had barely crossed Lynn's mind when another line of text popped up on the panel:

[Sulphotoxin synthesis successful]

He turned his head and looked at the worms by the door.

In the blink of an eye, one of them, taking advantage of his inattention, attempted to devour its companion. However, it failed. These survivors were already of mid-to-lower strength within their group; their mandibles couldn't even pierce the skin of another worm.

"It's quite a spectacle, like two chickens pecking at each other."

I definitely need to come here every few days, but I can't come too often.

Worms need to change direction during rotational grazing to give them time to catch their breath, otherwise the land will soon be gnawed bare.

So, is there anything I can take with me?

He looked down at the corpses of the worms on the ground, which had been brought down by the poison, and without hesitation bent down to pick them up.

After putting away his spoils, Lynn searched the cave thoroughly again, running his fingers along the slippery cave walls.

The worm eggs are black, blending seamlessly into the environment of this almost pitch-black cave.

Just then, a pale light flashed in the darkness.

Lynn felt a chill run down his spine and grabbed his spoils, backing away.

"I hope I don't run into any flying sticks here. In this kind of environment, I might not survive."

He slowly retreated, facing the inside of the cave, until the long-awaited ray of sunlight fell on his head, and only then did his heart finally settle down.

……

evening.

Lynn returned to the experimental station after using up the last bottle of oxygen.

In the experimental station, the potatoes had already grown to about 25 centimeters tall. Next to the microscope was a stone jar, in which worm seedlings, like a group of small loaches, rolled around.

Ruby lay on the not-so-clean bed, snoring softly, her chest rising and falling slowly with her breath.

Lynn gently closed the door, first stuffing all the worms into the low-temperature compartment for safekeeping, before slowly walking over.

This seemingly rough woman is undoubtedly the best partner for wilderness survival. She can breed animals, guard the home, and provide emergency medical care—she can do it all.

She's a bit oblivious, that's true; she wouldn't be able to handle a noblewoman like that.

Lynn's first thought was to moisten.

To be honest, Ruby looks quite pretty when she's asleep.

My mouth was watering; I wonder what delicious food I was dreaming about.

After a while, Lynn himself squinted and almost fell asleep in his wheelchair.

"How long have you been back?"

Ruby's voice suddenly rang out.

Lynn opened her eyes in a daze and realized that she had been staring at the person and had even fallen asleep while staring at them.

This is impolite from any perspective.

"I just got back not long ago."

Ruby tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, coughed lightly, her voice still dry and sticky from just waking up: "Next time you come back, if I'm sleeping, just call me."

Lynn nodded. This second-level wizard apprentice, known for his strong abilities at the academy, was probably embarrassed because someone had seen his vulnerable side.

Ruby walked to the microscope and carefully held the worm larva in her hand.

She cast a chilling spell, which calmed the little creatures down a bit, and then they spoke:

"Regarding the potatoes, the extract you made is excellent, better than most second-level apprentices. So rest assured, I've checked their condition one by one, and the first batch can be harvested in as little as nine days."

"I thought it would take about eleven days." This was Lynn's judgment based on his own experience.

Ruby shook her head, as if she had made a new discovery: "Because high-energy soil only needs a tiny bit of it to make potatoes grow incredibly fast. So, you know."

Lynn's gaze lingered on Ruby. Once Ruby switched to a serious mode, she spoke clearly and logically, and apart from the occasional moment of emotional outburst, her logic remained largely intact.

"But that's not my main point." Ruby's tone turned slightly somber. "The key is the worm seedlings. The high-energy soil stimulates the development of the worm eggs, and the thirty-four seedlings have now grown to three to four centimeters."

"They've entered their growth period and need new nutrients. If you can dig up some river mud or fungal mats, they can grow to the size of your herd within a few days."

Ruby paused slightly at this point. The growth rate of these electric worms was comparable to that of the specially cultivated potatoes grown at the academy for generations. Logically speaking, on a planet like this, organisms occupying a lower ecological niche shouldn't have such a growth rate.

This strategy of rampant growth is typically employed only by dominant herbivorous species.

That's rather unusual.

Lynn waved his hand, turned around and dragged in several worm corpses he had found near the hot spring through the door.

I originally intended to use it for compost, but since it's useful for reproduction, I'll prioritize that for now. Anyway, with this hilly planet's unpredictable weather—one day rain, the next sunny—raising livestock is much more reliable than farming.

"Oh, you've discovered a new worm?"

"However... these also seem to have been gnawed on by flying sticks."

Lynn was stunned. He had carefully examined the worms' corpses and clearly saw no signs of holes being pierced through their bodies.

"I must be seeing things. They were all poisoned."

Ruby shook her head, picked up a few worms that had failed to be saved from the pond, pointed at them and said, "You read that right, but worms have such strong self-healing abilities. So even if some of them are not injured on the outside, their internal organs, such as their hearts, have been pierced."

Just like the worms in the experimental station that were attacked by flying sticks, the few Lynn picked up were also killed by flying sticks.

Lynn was taken aback.

I really just missed out on the flying stick back then.

I don't know why that thing didn't attack.