Wizard Lord:I can Extract Anything

After about a month of construction, the Floating City Fortress was nearing completion. Various alchemical weapons were set up, and if another war were to break out on the Black Bone Plains, ten thousand white wizards could easily win with these defenses.

As Richard entered the 500-meter perimeter of the Floating City, his crystal ball suddenly emitted a warning alert.

"Warning, warning, unauthorized flight is prohibited in the airspace of the Floating City without prior clearance."

As the announcement ended, Richard saw several white wizards flying up from the ground, wands in hand.

"Who goes there! Where's your flight clearance?"

Richard quickly explained, "Sorry, I've been out for the past month and wasn't aware of this rule."

The white wizards scanned Richard with their mental powers and, upon confirming he was a wizard, said, "Flight control is enforced over the Floating City. Without clearance, no wizard is allowed to fly. Please comply."

Richard nodded and landed promptly.

Walking into the Floating City Fortress from the ground, Richard encountered many black wizards like himself. Unlike white wizards, black wizards preferred solitary research, often leaving them out of the loop on updates.

Inside the fortress, a significant number of black wizards had gathered, and Richard immediately spotted Ellie among them.

"Ellie," Richard approached her and asked quietly, "What's the situation with this gathering, are they assigning infiltration tasks?"

Ellie's mentor, Susanna, was part of the command team for this war, so Ellie was more informed than Richard.

"It's an infiltration of sorts," Ellie replied. "The front lines are advancing smoothly. According to this world's power divisions, we've already captured two insect nations. But these insects not only have surface hives but also have complex underground lairs. Some have retreated into these lairs and are harassing us. The terrain of these lairs isn't suitable for deploying the white wizard army, so the task of clearing them falls to us black wizards."

Richard nodded, understanding the mission's outline. Black wizards were known for their individual combat prowess and flexibility, making them well-suited for this task.

Ellie glanced at the staff in Richard's hand, curiously touching it. "Where's your greatsword? Why switch to a staff without a head?"

The head of a staff is typically its core. A good headpiece, even without runes, can significantly enhance a spell's power. Ellie's apprentice-era lava gem wand was a prime example.

"The greatsword wasn't ideal against these insects, so I converted it into a staff and added some runes. As for the head...," Richard scratched his head sheepishly, "I'm low on materials, so it'll have to do for now."

"You turned a greatsword into a staff!?" Ellie exclaimed. "You alchemical wizards are so cheeky, just swapping gear mid-battle."

She showed her own staff, which bore many repair marks. Due to the craftsman's lack of skill, the staff still showed slashes from warrior insects.

"Can you enhance my staff?"

"Enhance?" Richard examined the staff. It was a gift from Susanna when Ellie became a wizard. The flaming crystal head, combined with runic arrays, boosted fire element spells by a hundred energy levels.

Coupled with Ellie's already impressive evocation skills, her basic fireball spell reached seven hundred energy levels. With her curse fire, her spells could surge to fifteen hundred energy levels, affecting multiple targets—unlike Richard's Heart of Annihilation, which was a single-target spell.

Thus, Ellie had served as a turret, protected by other black wizards during battles.

"With my skills, enhancement would mean swapping materials."

"Alright then," Ellie said, a bit disappointed as she took back her staff.

As black wizards converged from all directions on the Black Bone Plains, the command's orders finally came through.

The command center's voice from the communication crystal ball continuously assigned tasks to the gathered black wizards. Those assigned tasks received corresponding tools from logistics wizards.

During the past month, logistics wizards had conducted extensive research on Black Crystal Insectoids and designed various tools to counter them.

The black wizards' task was not only to clear the underground insect lairs but also to test these tools.

Richard's task was to clear out insects from an underground lair and map its terrain as much as possible.

Ellie's task was similar, and they were both assigned to Lair One.

Following the assignment, they collected their alchemical tools from logistics wizards, including scent-masking potions, a crystal ball for emitting scouting sound waves, a reusable slave stamp, and a magical pouch for storing slaves.

According to the command, many non-combatant insects resided in the lairs. Grand Wizard Black Tower was temporarily buying these insects without limit, prices ranging from one magic stone to a hundred per insect, depending on type.

While collecting tools, Richard and Ellie unexpectedly encountered a familiar wizard.

"Lawrence, which lair are you clearing?" Richard greeted warmly.

Having fought alongside Lawrence, Richard knew his capabilities well. In the confined spaces of an underground lair, Lawrence's shadow magic would be even more potent.

Lawrence looked at Richard, his expressionless face breaking into a stiff smile. As a necromancer, Lawrence had transformed himself into a zombie-like being, and a smile on his face was a sign of true joy.

"Lair One, and you?"

"Same here."

"Shall we team up for now?"

"Agreed."

...

Lair One was located a hundred kilometers south of the Black Bone Plains. Until they reached the lair, Richard had assumed it was a mountain range.

Approaching the lair, its towering structure was riddled with holes, previously used by the Black Crystal Insectoids to enter and exit. Many had been collapsed by white wizard spells.

"This is Lair One?" Richard exclaimed in awe at the massive structure.

"Incredible that these insects could build such a gigantic lair," Ellie marveled alongside him.

As novices in planar warfare, everything before them was astonishingly new.

"Impressive indeed," the old wizard Lawrence remarked. Having experienced two planar wars, he had seen many wonders of other worlds. While the lair was impressive, his mind was on its interior.

Such a vast lair likely had a complex network of tunnels. For the Black Crystal Insectoids, these were merely their backyard, but for wizards, they were traps waiting to be sprung.

"Let's go."

Richard captured the lair's grandeur with his crystal ball before leading the group into the lair.

The lair's construction material was peculiar, a mix of red sand and plant roots. This material was quite sturdy; Richard estimated it would take a fifty-energy-level impact to destroy it.

"This building material is quite good. The white wizard army might like it," Richard commented, collecting a sample.

It also had research value, potentially expanding his knowledge base.

A mature wizard must have a vast reservoir of knowledge.

As they descended the lair's tunnels, the environment became progressively more humid, with moss-like plants appearing on the sandy walls.

This contrasted sharply with the dry surface conditions of the Hive World.

According to wizard observations, the Hive World's surface was arid and cold, with vast wastelands and deserts, and only a few major rivers surrounded by denser vegetation.

However, considering the insects that appeared during the war, the world likely supported nearly a billion low-level insects as its foundation.

If the surface alone provided for the Black Crystal Insectoids, they couldn't sustain such numbers.

Thus, the command believed that the primary food sources for the Black Crystal Insectoids were underground, with the lairs being the world's main feature. If the black wizards' insect-clearing operations were successful, they'd be tasked with sabotaging the unoccupied lairs next.

The lair's tunnel system was incredibly intricate, with seemingly identical forks that could easily lead one astray. Due to the lair's unique structure, Richard's group dared not use spells to forge paths, fearing a collapse.

Fortunately, the command had provided them with crystal balls for ultrasonic scanning. These crystal balls emitted inaudible waves to map the terrain, crucial for navigating the labyrinthine lairs.

Without such tools, wizards lacking special methods would quickly become lost.

As they ventured deeper into the underground lair, the scene before them was breathtaking.

They found themselves in a large cavern, its walls covered in faintly glowing blue moss. Among the moss, brighter glowing mushrooms dotted the landscape like stars in the night sky.

Richard inhaled deeply, noting the cavern's warmth compared to the surface and the sweet, humid scent in the air, reminiscent of a forest after rain.

"Spore concentration is significantly higher here than on the surface. Prepare for toxins," Richard warned.

"Yes, water element concentration is high. There must be an underground water source nearby," Ellie added.

Her elemental bloodline was of fire, making her uncomfortable in the water-rich environment.

Lawrence activated the crystal ball provided by logistics wizards. It emitted an inaudible sound wave, and moments later, projected an image of the surrounding tunnel network.

"Ellie, you guessed wrong. There's no underground water source here," Lawrence noted. "If there were, the image would show it. This water element is likely due to this world's peculiar rules. Be mindful of that—these otherworldly rules often create phenomena that defy our world's logic."

He pointed to a larger cavity on the image, with a small dot inside.

"There's a cavern here. I suspect there's an insect inside."

--Support me in Patreon for more chapters 35+ chapters in there 

patreon.com/LegendaryTL

Thanks!