Wizard: I Can Refine Everything

Chapter 244: Chapter 28: Return

Traveling through the Magma Sea with a map for guidance was actually a very safe route.

Above the Magma Sea, Richard held up a Magic Barrier and, comparing his position to the map he had drawn from memory, ascertained his current location.

Beneath him, a Flame Giant Beast shaped like a catfish slowly swam through the Magma Sea. Ulysses held onto the two whiskers of the catfish like reins.

The upper layer of the Magma Sea was teeming with numerous Flame Giant Beasts. Most of these beasts were Level 1 Creatures, posing no threat to Richard. These creatures, having lived in the Magma Sea for many years, moved with great agility.

Therefore, Richard, seeking to save effort, had captured one to use as his means of transport.

Under Richard’s taming, the flame catfish quickly came to terms with its situation and began to obediently follow Richard’s commands.

As for Ulysses, who was now holding the two whiskers, he had whimsically decided to try racing in the Magma Sea – no, it should be fish-racing.

“Gaah, are we sure yet? Once we’re sure, let’s speed up!”

Ulysses, holding the two whiskers, looked excitedly ahead at the sea area.

In his perception, there were many Flame Giant Beasts ahead in the Magma Sea. These beasts’ strength was negligible to Ulysses, but at this moment, they served as a test of his “driving” skills.

Richard put away the map, casually opened a Space Rift, and threw it in.

“Confirmed, that’s the direction. Another fifty kilometers and we’ll reach the Wizard-controlled area.”

“Gaah, fifty kilometers? That’s hardly satisfying. Let’s go further,” Ulysses said with some excitement.

Racing with a tamed half-Element creature in the Magma Sea was indeed a peculiar experience that even he, the widely-traveled World Master, had never encountered before.

“Suit yourself, just don’t venture into the Magma Sea at the edge of the world.”

“Ha, got it!”

Ulysses let out a loud shout and gently tugged the two whiskers he held, prompting the catfish beneath him to emit a deep roar.

“Off we go, Murder of Crows! We still have a long way to travel!”

Above the Magma Sea.

Ulysses, completely focused, steered the “Murder of Crows” deftly through the churning magma. Around him, immense Flame Giant Beasts growled deeply, their bodies engulfed in intense flames, warily watching this slightly mad peer.

Fire Element was the most volatile element, and creatures with Fire Element flowing in their blood were like powder kegs, ready to explode at a moment’s notice.

The slightest provocation would cause them to attack. And Ulysses, in pursuit of that extra thrill, continuously used his energy and his raspy voice to provoke these Flame Giant Beasts.

“Ha, you fools, try and catch me!”

“That one over there, yes, you! What are you looking at? If you dare, come over and bite me!”

“Ha, Murder of Crows, bite him, yeah, bite his tail!”

While taunting, Ulysses moved gracefully like a dancer, nimbly weaving through the Flame Giant Beasts. His expertise allowed him to narrowly evade the beasts that tried to block his way.

Each time, the Flame Giant Beasts almost grazed him, but even the slightest gap seemed as insurmountable as a chasm.

Sometimes Ulysses would accelerate swiftly, cutting through the Magma Sea like a bolt of lightning; other times, he would slow down and meander, playing a clever game of hide-and-seek with the beasts.

For many creatures comparable to Hell, the Magma Sea was a fearsome place, but to Ulysses, it appeared more like a playground.

Ulysses played to his heart’s content, while Richard pondered on the side how to simplify the technology of the Pioneers.

The technology of the Pioneers was truly superior, but it consumed too much energy. Perhaps the civilization of the Pioneers had reached a level of energy freedom, but Richard did not yet possess such advanced technology.

Thus, reducing energy consumption was his primary task at the moment.

Although it wouldn’t be bad to use the gold he couldn’t spend on decoration, it was clear that the silver he could spend would be far better.

After much contemplation, Richard sighed deeply:

“Alas, it’s a pity that Giant Dragon Alchemy and Wizard Alchemy are incompatible. If they were, this modification would be much easier.”

After much thinking, the only solution Richard could come up with was to use Alchemy Machines for power, then attach the Chain Saw Sword’s teeth using a purely mechanical structure to reduce consumption.

But this required Richard to have a profound knowledge of Alchemy Machines.

Creating large-scale Alchemy Machines was difficult, and creating small ones was even more challenging.

Especially these small, harshly conditioned Alchemy Machines—the difficulty of crafting them was not unlike asking a Wizard who had never learned Alchemy Machines to start creating a humanoid Alchemy Puppet from scratch.

“Ah! At this rate, I’m going to turn into an Alchemy Wizard from the Mechanical Faction.”

The race continued for an entire day. After traveling four hundred kilometers, Ulysses was finally satisfied and decided to return to the surface.

Looking at the thick upper crust of rock, Richard sighed again.

He hoped that nothing unusual would happen during this excavation.

The scorching sunlight bathed the Earth, and for the Wizards residing in the rear, today was yet another peaceful day.

Kain, a White Wizard on rotation leave.

As long as the number of Wizards was not critically low, front-line White Wizards could apply every year for a three-month rotation leave to the rear.

During this time, Wizards could stay away from the front lines and undertake some patrolling missions in the rear that were free of danger.

For Wizards, this was essentially no different from being on vacation.

However, as the war dragged on, Kain could distinctly feel that there was a shortage of Wizards.

At the outbreak of the war, if one wished to take rotation leave, one needed only to file a report, with no need for approval, and could directly return to the rear. For his leave this time, not only did he wait nearly half a month for approval, but his recent combat performance was also scrutinized.

According to his direct superior, had it not been for his squad recently suffering heavy casualties, his application for rotation leave would certainly have been rejected.

“Ah, those Fire Lizards are really tenacious,” Kain said offhandedly.

“Exactly,” echoed a fellow White Wizard on rotation leave beside Kain. “I heard from a Black Wizard coming from behind the lines that in a recent operation against the Fire Lizards, we lost six Masters of the Three Rings all at once.”

“Sss, that many!” Kain gasped in shock. “Six Three-Ring Masters, were they ambushed by Fire Lizards?”

“God knows.” The other White Wizard shook his head. “They say the Fire Lizards deployed an elite troop that had never seen action before, whose single combat power was even stronger than that of the Three-Ring Masters.”

Kain was taken aback. In his mind, Wizards should be overwhelmingly dominant against these natives, or at the very least, on par.

How could there be natives stronger than Wizards?

After saying this, the conversation-partner White Wizard continued with a secretive air, “And what’s more, I heard that if it wasn’t for the astonishing strength of one of the Three-Ring Masters involved in the operation, who dealt with two of those elites as soon as he made a move, not one would have escaped the operation.

And the strangest thing, you know what? That powerful Three-Ring Master was there by accident.

None of the Three-Ring Masters who were meant to be on that operation included that Master. He suddenly burrowed out of the ground while the other Masters were discussing their plans!”

“Huh? Three-Ring Masters discussing plans, how could someone just burrow up from underground?” Kain exclaimed in amazement. “This rumor is too half-hearted!”

The conversing Wizard shrugged, “That’s what the rumor says, but who knows the real situation.”

Kain was about to ask more when he suddenly sensed a fluctuation of magic power beneath his feet.

On reflex, he levitated instantly, and the Magic Wand in his hand fired off a jet of flames with an energy level of five hundred.

The Wizard patrolling alongside him also caught on, casually tossing two fireballs into the mix.

Boom!

The fireballs exploded into a cloud of dust and, as the dust cleared, a Wizard with a soot-covered face stood at the location of their spell attack.

“This welcome ceremony is a bit special,” Richard, brushing the dust off his face, said with an awkward smile to the two Wizards who attacked him.

Having run into Patrol Wizards upon emerging, Richard wasn’t sure if he was lucky or just very unlucky.

Fortunately, neither of the two Wizards’ spells was of high energy level; Richard could withstand them with just his body, escaping without injury from the sudden attack, though he did swallow some dust.

Looking at the Black-Robed Wizard who had appeared from underground, the two Patrol Wizards tensed up, gripping their Magic Wands cautiously.

“What kind of Wizard are you, coming out of the ground?”

The Fire Lizards’ infiltration into the Wizard-controlled territory had never ceased; some of the infiltrating Fire Lizards even possessed illusionary abilities that allowed them to appear as Wizards.

“Oh, that’s a long story. In short, I’m a Black Wizard returning from the rear. As for my identity…” Richard gave a wry smile, “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”

Ignoring the two Patrol Wizards, Richard took out a map from his Magic Pocket and, trusting his instincts, figured out his bearings.

Digging his way from the Magma Sea to the surface, Richard certainly hadn’t traveled in a straight line. Arriving at the surface, he definitely needed to determine his position.

“Excuse me, is the Floating City in this direction?”

Richard held the map and, with a swift move, approached the two Patrol Wizards, casually pointing out a direction.

The bodies of the two Patrol Wizards stiffened slightly; Richard’s speed was so fast, they could barely react.

Kain glanced at the detailed map in Richard’s hand, swallowed hard, and nodded.

“Yes, that’s the direction.”

Richard gave a smile, casually pulled something from his pocket, and handed it to Kain:

“Thank you. This is for your troubles.”

Without another word, Richard rapidly flew off toward the Floating City.

Kain was taken aback, looking down at the thing that this enigmatic Master had given him—a Fire Element Gem of exceptional quality.

Seeing the gemstone in Kain’s hand, the other Wizard exclaimed in surprise:

“Such a pure Fire Element Gem, this quality is likely only found in the magma from deep underground, not even guaranteed in regular active volcanic magma-st least worth dozens of Magic Essence!

Kain, you’ve made a fortune this time.”

Kain looked at the gemstone in his hand, dumbfounded, and couldn’t help but recall the rumor they discussed earlier.

A powerful Wizard emerging from the ground… Could it be that he had encountered the storied Three-Ring Master?