Wizard Lord:I can Extract Anything

"Signing it is all it takes," Richard said with a smile as he signed his name on the other side of the soul contract. As the contract burned to ashes, an invisible soul chain linked Filst and Richard together.

Once the rune chains were removed, the fire giant Filst bowed his head silently.

"Master."

"Good," Richard nodded in satisfaction.

"Caw! This fool is hardly enough for cannon fodder," Ulysses squawked, flying in through the window to perch on Richard's shoulder. "In planar wars, even the lowest soldiers are at least legendary. Only primitives use anything less as cannon fodder."

"That's true," Richard replied, summoning a black flame in his hand. "But I have a way to turn it into a first-tier creature."

"Caw! Using the Annihilation Flame?" Ulysses looked at the black flame, puzzled.

He was unaware that his innate flame had such a capability.

Richard gave a mysterious smile, leaving the matter unsaid.

The knowledge from the Pioneers included not only information on fleshy creatures but also elemental beings.

Within this knowledge, insights into elemental evolution, combined with Richard's expertise in evocation, provided enough foundation for Richard to modify Filst.

If successful, Richard would gain a fire giant wielding the Annihilation Flame; if not, his loss would only be a soul contract, and he could buy another piece of cannon fodder from the slave market.

...

The modification of the fire giant wasn't overly complex; the most intricate part was continuously improving the rune arrays.

The Pioneers weren't wizards, so adapting their knowledge into the wizard's rune system required some modifications.

Fortunately, Richard's understanding of the Annihilation Flame was profound, and his study of evocation while designing the Heart of Annihilation spell had been extensive, allowing him to smoothly improve the rune arrays.

In less than half a year, Richard completed the improvements and fused the Annihilation Flame with the fire giant's elemental core.

Satisfied with the black-flame-burning elemental core before him, Richard left the lab.

The fusion would take time, and he had other tasks to attend to.

Entering another room on the second floor, Richard opened a spatial rift and brought out the alchemical golem that Anna had modified.

Following Richard's design, Anna installed three magical slots within the golem and modified its mind core, removing the original owner's commands, adding new data, and setting Richard as the master.

Opening the back panel of the golem, Richard retrieved an apprentice-war-era Annihilation Grenade launcher from his magic pouch and installed it.

Richard had modified the launcher during his alchemical machinery studies, extending its range to five kilometers and creating a firing table.

Additionally, he made a slight improvement to the Annihilation Grenades, reducing their cost to one hundred magic stones each.

While still not cost-effective compared to wizard spells, Richard believed further research could lower the price.

With the cannon installed, Richard took a complex mechanical device from the lab's shelf and fitted it into the golem's abdominal magical slot.

Thanks to Richard's precise design, the slot was perfectly sized for the mechanical device.

Richard activated the machine, and an Annihilation Grenade was ejected from the device, fitting neatly into the installed cannon.

"Ha-ha, a spatial magazine," Richard chuckled at the sight.

Magic pouches were among the most common magical equipment in the wizard world, their larger internal space widely used for storage.

During his launcher modifications, Richard had a sudden inspiration: if people could use magic pouches, why couldn't machines?

After experimentation, Richard concluded that as long as mana was supplied to a magic pouch, any object could be retrieved from it. Without mental selection, the pouch would deliver items in the order they were placed.

Thus, Richard filled a magic pouch with Annihilation Grenades and used alchemical machinery to automate retrieval and loading, creating the current spatial magazine.

With this device, the alchemical golem became a small artillery platform.

Completing the installation, Richard opened the golem's chest and inserted a large Annihilation Grenade.

This Annihilation Grenade was element-free and harmless.

Its purpose was self-destruction when necessary, buying Richard time or serving as waste disposal.

With the golem modified, Richard filled it with magic stones, closed the panel, and activated it.

Buzz!

A humming sound arose as runes lit up across the golem's surface, spreading from its chest to its entire body.

The golem's eyes glowed red, scanning Richard before emitting a mechanical voice.

"Master."

"Take a few steps," Richard commanded.

The golem moved, each step a resounding thud that shook the room's furniture.

"Stop. Use the Molten Fist."

Buzz!

A subtle hum followed.

The golem halted, runes illuminating its fists, and a wave of heat filled the lab.

"Good, stop and enter sleep mode."

Richard waved his hand, and the golem's red eye glow faded, the entire machine becoming a stone statue.

Checking the golem's energy consumption, Richard noted that it had used about one magic stone in a minute.

"Energy consumption is reasonable," Richard muttered, closing the panel.

While the alchemical golem wasn't as powerful as Richard, its strength was commendable compared to an average first-circle wizard.

Its enchanted stone exterior provided solid defense against both physical and elemental attacks, and repairs were straightforward.

Now equipped with the Annihilation Cannon, it excelled in both defense and clearing out cannon fodder.

For a new wizard, the first planar war was the most dangerous. During this period, wizards lacked sufficient resources, knowledge, and experience, making them far more susceptible to death at the hands of planar natives than seasoned veterans.

With the alchemical golem, Richard effectively gained a loyal wizard guard.

This significantly increased his survival chances.

Furthermore, Richard possessed the powerful Heart of Annihilation and the aid of Ulysses, the otherworldly world lord.

Richard felt confident about the upcoming planar war.

...

"Caw! You're finally willing to heal my wounds."

Ulysses landed on Richard's table, which held three soul crystals and a large piece of active flesh.

The soul crystals contained pure soul energy, excellent for healing soul injuries, while the active flesh was for breaking physical limits.

Ulysses's current body was a synthetic beast, requiring such means for growth.

Richard nodded calmly. Since he was heading to the planar battlefield, Ulysses was an invaluable ally.

Over the past decades, Richard had kept Ulysses's soul injuries stagnant, only allowing minor recovery when he needed the Annihilation Flame.

This was mainly due to the immense power gap between them; even with a fate contract, Richard feared the world lord might play tricks.

Now, with the planar war imminent, Ulysses's assistance was indispensable.

Ulysses swallowed the three soul crystals, and the room's magic rushed into its body.

Currently in the body of a former Misty Beast, Ulysses wasn't large.

But after devouring the soul crystals, it consumed the active flesh, growing rapidly as black Annihilation Flames ignited on its feathers.

"Caw!"

With a resounding caw, Ulysses regained the strength of a first-tier creature!

"Caw, it feels great to be back in power."

Ulysses flew around the lab before settling on Richard's shoulder, speaking with a fawning tone, "Caw, my dear master, if you get me more soul crystals, I promise to keep you unscathed in this planar war."

But Richard wasn't swayed.

"When I become a second-circle wizard, then you can become a second-tier creature."

"Caw, my master, we have a fate contract binding us. I'm your loyal servant for ten thousand years; why the caution?"

Ulysses's eyes gleamed, its intentions known only to itself.

"Contracts aren't foolproof," Richard replied coldly. "If you want to regain your strength early, provide me with new knowledge."

"Caw, knowledge? My master, we Annihilation Ravens aren't like you wizards. Our growth comes from battle and consumption. According to you, we're on the path of physical evolution—the most primitive kind.

If you want new knowledge, I can only offer the secret to becoming a god."

Ulysses's words dripped with temptation:

"The secret to becoming a god, master, do you desire it now?"

Richard's heart skipped a beat. In the wizard world, the path to becoming a Grand Wizard was the most closely guarded secret, known only to ancient wizard families and the Tower of Truth.

To obtain this knowledge, third-circle wizards with potential had to sell their souls to the Tower of Truth, trading their post-ascension benefits for the chance to advance.

Ulysses's words hinted at an alternate path for Richard.

The Gods' civilization was diverse, encompassing multiple races, suggesting that their method of ascending to world lord had no bloodline restrictions.

If Richard could acquire this knowledge, he could bypass the Tower of Truth to become a Grand Wizard himself, even creating his own Grand Wizards.

The thought made Richard's heart race.

"Whoa..." Richard exhaled sharply, fixing Ulysses with a cold stare. "Ulysses, if you attempt to influence me mentally again, you'll never become a world lord."

His previous thoughts had been overly greedy and reckless, contradicting his nature. Clearly, he was under external influence.

"Caw, I did nothing!" Ulysses protested loudly. "Annihilation Ravens naturally incite greed with their voices; those were your own desires!"

"Your current body isn't that of an Annihilation Raven!"

Ulysses fell silent, unable to argue.

"Caw, unlucky me. But I speak the truth; I do know the secret to becoming a god. And certain divine techniques, I can replicate using other means."