The Wizard Has A Biochip

Thank you to the user "Christomol" for donating a gift. I will be releasing several Chapters today.

.

.

.

.

.

— Able to survive crossing my array, You’re really quite strong! But that’s even better, because Salin will owe me two big favors afterward!

The childish voice echoed through the tunnel.

That boy was far more dangerous than his miserable appearance suggested.

Although he looked small, thin, and even ugly, he was surprisingly a real human.

His palm was covered by a glove formed entirely from a dense layer of light-blue fire. The flames didn’t seem ordinary. They didn’t produce only heat; there was a strange elemental force compressed within them.

I had already learned, the hard way, that I shouldn’t underestimate any unknown ability in that Subterranean World.

If a living being were touched directly by that blue fire, all of its strength would be drained for fifteen minutes.

In a battle between acolytes and Pseudo-Mages, that was practically a death sentence.

Then I heard an indistinct noise.

Clang!

My crystalline core fell to the ground.

The boy was startled for a brief moment and immediately turned his attention toward the object. He seemed to hesitate before approaching.

But before he could touch the core, a dense cloud of elemental particles began bubbling over it.

— Hey... what is this?

Curiosity took hold of the boy.

It was at that exact moment that a deafening roar tore through the blue fire web.

— RAAAAARGH!

It was Salin.

The sound made the boy stop.

He looked toward the roar and then at the web keeping his targets trapped.

He seemed to be trying to decide which problem he should deal with first.

The thick cloud of elemental particles solidified.

A head resembling that of a serpent emerged first, followed by a gigantic body formed entirely from black stones.

A forked tongue emerged from its mouth filled with fangs.

That...

Was a stone basilisk!

The boy disappeared.

There was no perceptible preparation.

With a simple movement, his body vanished from where he had been and reappeared behind a huge rock, about twenty meters away.

The next instant, the basilisk slammed its mouth into the ground.

BOOOOM!

The earth trembled.

The impact traveled through the entire tunnel like a wave.

The stones from the ceiling began breaking loose, falling in huge chunks.

The basilisk raised its head again.

Its stone eyes found the boy.

He didn’t hesitate.

— Blue Flames!

The boy rubbed his palms together and unleashed a torrent of blue fire.

The flames engulfed the basilisk’s head.

A thick cloud of smoke immediately appeared.

The rocky surface began to melt, flowing like wax before a flame.

But the basilisk continued advancing.

The boy retreated.

His face finally lost its carefree smile.

He used that strange ability again and disappeared in the blink of an eye.

— Sharniz! What the hell are you doing there?! Quickly turn off the blue fire array!

Salin’s furious voice echoed through the tunnel.

.

.

.

.

Salin’s expression grew increasingly gloomy.

He turned to Netalp.

— Can you take me there?

Netalp gripped his wand tightly and closed his eyes.

His mind focused.

His perception spread throughout the terrain.

A few seconds later, he shook his head.

— The changes in the terrain are too intense. The aura of the earth layers is completely unstable. I can’t establish a connection.

— Damn it...

Salin didn’t wait any longer.

He roared.

His body began to grow.

Within a few seconds, that man had transformed into a three-meter-tall giant.

A black, crystalline armor appeared over his body.

Then he charged directly toward the blue fire web.

The flames immediately began consuming his armor.

Zzzzzzzzz!

Bluish plasmas gradually destroyed his shadow protection.

Salin shielded his face with his arms and continued advancing.

The dark energy emanating from his body seemed to reinforce his resistance.

He crossed the barrier.

When he finally emerged on the other side, he found only ruins.

The entire tunnel had been destroyed.

The walls were cracked.

The ceiling had collapsed.

Huge blocks of stone covered the ground.

And in the middle of that destruction was the basilisk.

Its black body remained motionless.

Dark, pungent smoke escaped from its carcass.

Where its head had once been, there was only a pool of magma.

A Spiritual Core still blinked a few times.

Then it went out.

The small boy was crouched beside the corpse.

He seemed to be examining something.

Salin advanced furiously.

— Where are the enemies I told you to intercept?! Where are the two bastards?!

The boy raised his head.

— Aren’t they there?

He pointed toward a spot among the ruins.

— Huh?

He blinked.

Then he realized.

The two charred humans had disappeared.

Without leaving a trace.

.

.

.

.

.

Inside the earth, I was racing against time.

The Shark was advancing at high speed through the underground.

After we crossed that damned blue fire array, the interference affecting the elemental energy of the earth finally disappeared.

I took a deep breath.

It had been a gamble.

A desperate gamble.

To save my life, I had been forced to abandon my basilisk.

I ordered it to hold back that terrifying ten-year-old boy who was a Pseudo-Mage while I secretly summoned the Shark.

Then I grabbed Ruby and fled.

Now, looking at her in my arms, my heart felt as if it weighed a ton.

Ash fell from her body at the slightest movement.

Where the blackened crusts peeled away, they revealed steaming, partially cooked flesh.

The scorching fire had destroyed much of her muscles and bones.

If she had been an ordinary acolyte, she would already be dead.

But Ruby wasn’t ordinary.

She was an acolyte whose bloodline had undergone a mutation.

Her bloodline granted her a survival ability that bordered on the absurd.

As long as the core of her heart remained intact, her soul could continue to exist.

Even within that charred body, I could still sense a faint aura of energy.

I held Ruby more firmly.

— Biochip. Examine Ruby’s current condition.

—I want the most reliable treatment possible.

My voice remained cold.

But inside...

I was panicking.

[Beep.]

[Scan initiated.]

[Warning.]

[Warning.]

[Target’s survival rate is below 5%.]

[Central consciousness is showing signs of damage.]

[Target’s life aura is deteriorating.]

[If immediate intervention does not occur, the cardiac core will begin to rupture.]

— Don’t tell me all that crap!

— Just give me the best solution!

The Biochip responded immediately.

[Blood.]

[An extremely large quantity of blood appears to be necessary.]

[The target possesses a body constitution similar to that of a mutant Blood Fairy.]

[As long as the target receives a sufficient amount of blood, survival will be possible.]

[Even if the body is completely destroyed, as long as the central consciousness comes into contact with fresh blood, reconstruction is possible.]

— Blood?

I remained silent for a few seconds.

Then I shook my head.

I was being a complete idiot.

Ruby was a Blood Fairy.

Of course blood would be the solution.

— Change course, golem!

— Find a region with a high concentration of subterranean creatures.

— The more creatures, the better.

A few minutes later, the ground exploded.

BOOOOM!

The Shark’s enormous body emerged from beneath the ground, sending earth flying in all directions.

Ahead of us was an entire colony of Subterranean World Rats.

Hundreds of them.

Brown-furred rats.

Each was approximately one meter tall.

They had robust, furry bodies, tough leather-like skin, and enormous teeth.

They were demi-humans.

Individually, they were weak.

But they were extremely numerous.

Their diet was practically unlimited.

In the Subterranean World, besides stone and earth, they could devour almost anything.

That was why they survived and reproduced so quickly.

And that was why they could be found practically everywhere.

In that world’s food chain, they were among the lowest creatures.

Apparently, it was dinnertime.

Some were returning from hunting, carrying the remains of creatures.

Others chatted away while throwing their spoils into a huge stone cauldron.

The liquid inside was green and muddy.

There were even white eyes floating on the surface.

Some rats stirred the mixture with long wooden sticks.

To any human, it would simply be disgusting.

To those rats...

It was a delicacy.

They all held stone bowls and fought over the best spots near the fire.

The reason was simple.

The clan chief had not yet arrived.

As the leader, he would have the right to taste the food first.

The Shark opened.

I carried Ruby in my arms and slowly stepped out.

All the sounds in the colony disappeared.

Hundreds of eyes turned toward me.

The rats froze.

Some dropped their bowls.

Others began backing away.

My face showed no emotion.

Ruby needed blood.

A lot of blood.

I pressed her charred body against my chest and ordered my golem.

— Kill them all.

...

1461 Words