Wizard: Starting with Symbiosis with Algae

The dark clouds lingered, and the snow and rain were biting cold.

Rusty mud rolled in from the northwestern highlands, splashing mud stains onto the legs of the group.

The test station lurched and jolted forward, accelerating.

Ruby, clutching her coat, said happily.

"We've become faster."

With each passing minute of cold, the throwing of the stick slowed down a fraction of a minute.

Of course, this so-called "slow" speed is just a drop from being far faster than the test station to being 30% faster than the test station. Catching up with them is still a piece of cake.

But even this slight slowdown is enough to have a noticeable effect in combat.

With vines growing all over his body, Lynn held his own against two wild flying sticks in a fight.

The four symbiotic flying rods moved together and repelled all the wild flying rods that had climbed onto the carriage.

With the support of the environment, the occasional flying rods that land on the test station pose no threat at all.

The attack slowed slightly, and Lynn shouted to his two companions.

"Ruby, Joe, we've already won half the battle."

"Ordinary flying rods can't damage the structure of the test station; we can handle them all now."

Upon hearing this, the two wiped their sweat.

With Lynn's symbiotic flying rods patrolling, the pressure on the two of them was significantly reduced. If it were a normal team of three level-two wizard apprentices, they might already be dead in the chaos. Joe and Ruby both understood that Lynn was indispensable in temporarily stopping the horde of flying rods.

Joe asked

"Half? What about the other half?"

Lynn squeezed out the high-energy soil from the flying rod, his eyes warily glancing at the crimson shadow that was flying higher and higher in mid-air.

The scaled pike continued to use its flying clubs to attack, showing no intention of actually pouncing down.

They really are pragmatic creatures.

Never make a move unless it is absolutely necessary to kill the opponent.

However, Lynn thought about it and realized that the same principle applied to flying sticks; if you can take advantage of the situation, you should never fight.

He himself was about the same; if he had a choice, he wouldn't have really wanted to go before Flying Sticks died in battle.

Lynn replied with her hands on her hips

"That would naturally mean reaching a completely cold environment. Then we would be out of danger and could proceed at our own pace."

Ruby gently patted Lynn on the shoulder and warned, "This is the boundary between cold and hot, their mating ground. The number of flying rods and worms is surging, so don't be careless."

Lynn nodded, his gaze sweeping over the dark mass of pursuers behind him.

"I won't make that mistake."

The mud grew increasingly viscous in the cold, and the experimental station continued its arduous advance; the danger was far from over.

The test vehicle vibrated continuously, and they had to constantly control the direction and adjust the posture. Once they stopped, they would be completely submerged by the tide of worms.

Normally, Lynn would look down on such creatures, but this is not a normal situation.

He turned his gaze forward again and saw a deep crack, with layers of ochre and dark gray rock exposed on the cross-section.

The cliff and chasm are right in front of us.

He grabbed a handful of high-energy soil, shoved it into the engine, and shouted at the two men, "Input control! Input more magic! We need an ascent!"

Joe roared, "Listen to my command!"

Ruby immediately responded, "Understood!"

The front wheels of the test station rolled over the rocky ridge at the edge of the cliff.

Then, the car body is light.

The wind rises, the car starts moving.

The test vehicle deployed its wings. Two large wing surfaces flapped along the sides of the vehicle, catching the falling cold air as it glided down.

They crossed the cliff, traversed the murky, raging river, glided a short distance further, and landed smoothly.

...

The temperature dropped even lower. They were getting closer and closer to the frozen coast to the south.

The three people took turns operating the test station, changing the protective gear as needed.

Lynn's arms were already a little stiff from the cold, and Joe, gripping the control stick on his thigh, felt about the same way.

The sudden drop in temperature caused him sharp pain at the amputation site, making him extremely miserable.

He gritted his teeth and remained silent, but a layer of cold sweat had already seeped onto his forehead.

He leaned over the threshold and looked back. The blue light filling the sky was slowing down.

The flying rods were no longer flying smoothly, and the frequency of their jumping and flying decreased significantly. Some even began to deviate from their formation.

Because of the physical pain, Joe smiled while frowning, and said incredulously.

"They've slowed down. Their numbers have decreased."

"We can finally rest and then slowly gather the materials."

Ruby shook her head.

"We need to hurry. We need to get south. The north has been taken over by this pike. Perhaps only by going south can we achieve better development."

Lynn agreed with this.

Just then, white mist rose from a hot spring in the south.

The surging air currents carried the waves hundreds of meters high.

He extended his index finger and pointed south.

"Ruby, you're right. See that new island? It's a geologically active area, definitely suitable for raising worms. In ten days at most, we can try to take off."

Since we've started talking about future plans...

Upon hearing this, Joe and Ruby narrowed their eyes, took out a few potatoes, and rested for a while.

Upon returning to the wizarding world, based on the current population size that expanded reproduction can support, they can at least rightfully become junior pioneers.

That's a title that many advanced apprentices and even full-fledged wizards spend a long time to obtain.

Suddenly, a thought popped into Joe's head.

Ruby and Lynn's positions are unshakeable, but what about him? If someone asks him to be a spokesperson, shouldn't he also come up with something unique?

He swallowed the potato and said, "When we get back, maybe we can find some professionals to help us out. Perhaps we can reap even greater rewards."

The voice has not fallen,

The blue light became denser again, even more abundant and faster than before. Its speed did not decrease. A flying rod had already climbed to the edge of the platform, attempting to attack the group again.

Ruby glanced back; the worm seemed to be in considerable discomfort.

It did not do this voluntarily.

"This is.."

"The scaled pike are affecting the flying rod's movement. They are expending their own energy in exchange for greater flight speed."

However, the efficiency is not very high.

Just as humans have leaders, an army has orders.

Even if it comes at an extra cost, they will charge forward without regard for the consequences.

But it's impossible to go against instinct or objective laws.

Lynn turned to look at the slender, scarlet figure in the distance.

"Isn't it also afraid of the cold? Why is it unaffected in the sky?"

Ruby explained

"You think it's unaffected? It's just too afraid to come down. The cold would greatly increase its energy consumption. Studies have shown that they were eliminated because of energy depletion. Besides, this pike is in a weakened state and needs to replenish its energy, which is why it's stranded on this planet."

In that case, just keep an eye on the scaled pike and keep heading south.

Although there are more movable throwing rods, there's nothing to worry about if they can't reach the car.

Just when Lynn thought everything was fine, his gaze swept across the southern horizon and he paused for a moment.

Another scarlet figure is slowly emerging from the south.

The scaled pike was even thinner than the first one. Its slender body was covered with dull patches, and it writhed with a deathly slowness.

But it continued forward. Beneath it, too, lay a dense swarm of flying rods.

The South. That was a direction Lynn had never explored.

Two scaled pike. One in front and one behind, sandwiching them in the middle.

Joe saw it too. His face turned as white as snow in an instant.

"That's... the second one?"

Ruby fell silent.

Two scaled pike.

Lynn stared at the weak pike in the south for a moment. Its flight path was somewhat erratic, and it looked extremely weak.

If there were only one, they might be able to put up a fight.

But now, on land, sandwiched between two breads, there is nowhere to escape, nowhere to fly.

There's only one way left.

Lynn looked at the vast sea, the gushing hot springs, and the white waves and said.

"We'll go out to sea. Then we'll fly."

Ruby asked

"We can fly, but what about the scaled pike?"

Lynn confidently clenched her fist.

"I already have a solution."