Wizard: Starting from the Skill Tree

This is the unwritten iron rule of the Wizard Plane for thousands of years; no one can break it.

The spoils of slave beings belong to the slave owners, the resources allocated by the army belong to the army, but anything personally seized by any wizard on the battlefield.

Whether it be Elemental Crystals, Magic Metals, or the corpses of Elemental Life forms, belong to the individual wizard.

This rule ensures the enthusiasm of each participating wizard and guarantees that the Wizard Plane always has a steady flow of reinforcements in countless Plane Wars.

Edmond took out a small notebook from his pocket and quickly recorded something on it.

"The reserves of Magic Metal ores, the number of Elemental Crystals, the types of Molten Spirits’ corpses... These data might be useful in the future," he said while writing, "And according to the information, Molten Spirits above Level 4 have Element Cores inside them, which are worth at least a hundred times more than the corpses below Level 3. Such things should have been seized quite a lot on the frontline but won’t be sent to the rear; they should be directly shipped back to the Wizard Plane."

Duke did not participate in their discussion; he walked to the side, observing the edge of the camp.

Outside the Energy Barrier, a dark red column of fire sprayed from the ground, reaching tens of meters high, then dissipated.

That was a release of underground magma pressure, quite common on this continent.

The further inland, the more frequent volcanic activity becomes.

Many of the frontline Furnace Castles are built on the edges of active volcanic craters, using geothermal energy as their power source.

The Wizard Council’s armies need to break through these fortresses, facing not only the counterattack of the Molten Spirits but also the volcanoes that may erupt at any time.

Intelligence reports state that the 235th Legion has already lost many slave beings on the frontline, not killed by the enemy, but burned alive after falling into magma.

The group walked back to the central area of the camp and stopped at the foot of a stone tower.

The stone tower is the camp’s highest point, with a wizard stationed at the top responsible for monitoring the battlefield dynamics in the distance.

Duke raised his head, looking at the rotating searchlight atop the tower, its white light sweeping across the camp, illuminating the darkness.

They used the time of an evening walk to familiarize themselves with the entire camp situation and then returned to their respective tents.

...

The next morning, the sky was still gray; the dark red halo hadn’t changed, but the camp’s activities became noticeably more lively.

Soldiers began transporting supplies, wizards gathered in front of the bulletin board to check the day’s mission assignments, slave beings were driven out from the enclosure, lining up under the command of the beast masters.

Duke walked out of the tent and saw Leon already fully dressed, his armor reflecting a cold light under the lamps, looking quite spirited.

Vera and Edmond also progressively walked out, with Morris being the last to emerge.

Rex was already at the end of the pathway waiting, wearing a dark blue military uniform, a sword at his waist, straight as a spear.

He took a glance at them, didn’t exchange any pleasantries, only nodded, then turned and walked out of the camp: "Follow me."

The group followed him through the outer pathways of the camp, passing through the exit of the Energy Barrier.

Outside the barrier, the scorching air hit them.

The temperature here was dozens of degrees higher than inside the camp, with each breath feeling like drinking boiling water.

Leon furrowed his brow slightly, but did not complain, only quickened his steps to keep up with the team.

Duke walked in the middle of the group, his gaze scanning the surroundings.

Outside the camp was a wide trench, filled with defensive installations, barbed wire, stone walls, rune towers, traps.

Further ahead was the city of Molten Spirits captured by the 235th Legion, named the "Obsidian Furnace," a cluster of furnaces that once was one of the major settlements of Molten Spirits in the southeastern corner of Ashfire Continent, now only ruins remain.

The twisted, grotesque Furnace Fortresses were even more awe-inspiring up close, the walls of obsidian engraved with complex rune patterns, not for decoration, but part of a Magic Array.

Some fortresses were still smoking, the air filled with the acrid smell of burning.

Rex led them into the city’s ruins.

The road was paved with obsidian, wide enough for four carriages side by side, the road was smooth, with something like drainage channels on either side.

The city layout was so well-organized, unlike the savage beast tribes, more like a highly developed civilization.

There’s a residential area, commercial area, industrial area, and sacrificial area, each with different architectural styles but all using the same obsidian material.

The residential area’s buildings were dense, windows small.

The commercial area’s buildings were tall, with sculptures resembling signs in front of them, each with different patterns. The industrial area’s buildings were orderly arranged, chimneys stood tall, mostly smelting works or forge workshops, the chimneys had long stopped smoking, the furnace fires had long extinguished.

Duke noticed there were many murals engraved on the buildings along the street.

Not human murals, but the history of Molten Spirits.

The murals depicted scenes of their birth from magma, the process of constructing their first Furnace Fortress, their history of establishing the Four Spirits Council with Earth Spirits, Sky Spirits, Ocean Spirits.

The lines of the murals were rough but full of power, the red mineral pigment stark against the black walls.

At the city’s center was a massive square with black stone slabs, each engraved with the Molten Spirits’ totems.

The totem was a ball of burning flame, with an open eye in the flame’s center.

The altar at the square’s center had been destroyed, rubble scattered across the ground, the base of the altar still showed a sculpture of a Molten Spirit, holding a spear pointing to the sky, majestic in pose, resolute in gaze.

On both sides of the square were long corridors, and prisoners were still chained to the columns of these corridors.

The prisoners varied in shapes and sizes, some large-bodied, covered entirely in dark red scale armor.

Others were slender, like figures solidified from flowing magma, their bodies semi-transparent, showing flames flickering inside.

Duke also saw some curled up in corners, like burning rocks, only their eyes glowing in the darkness.

Most of their eyes were hollow, filled with despair.

Several wizards in uniforms stood beside the prisoners, holding record boards, tallying numbers and registering information.

A slave owner was discussing prices with a military officer.

According to Wizard Plane rules, prisoners of war belong to the captor, sell or keep, kill or release, all at one’s personal discretion.

Rex didn’t pause, passing through the square, continuing forward.

At the city’s perimeter was a city wall, about sixty meters high, approximately ten meters thick, built with solid blocks of obsidian.

The city gate had been breached, pieces scattered across the ground.

Outside the city gate was a wide expanse.

Further beyond the wide area is the frontline.

Rex stopped here, turned to look at them.

His gaze swept across Duke and the others, then raised his right hand pointing towards the distant rolling hills.

"Those hills are called Red Ridge Mountains, the last natural barrier in the southeastern corner of Ashfire Continent. Beyond the Red Ridge Mountains is the vast Black Stone Plain. Scattered across the plain are dozens of large furnace clusters, the core settlement area of Molten Spirits and our strategic goals."

"The 235th Legion’s mission is not to conquer the entire Ashfire Continent but to gain a foothold in the southeastern corner. Three months, take down all areas east of Red Ridge Mountains. Current progress is slower than expected."

Leon frowned: "Why is it slow? Is the strength of slave beings insufficient?"

"The strength is sufficient," Rex’s tone was calm, "The issue lies with the terrain and climate challenges. Ashfire Continent’s underground magma network is extensive, Molten Spirits can ambush us from below ground at any time. Our slave beings are unafraid of direct combat but can’t cope with the omnipresent magma eruptions. Over the past month, more than half of the slave beings lost by the legion were not killed in battle but burned alive by falling into magma or poisoned to death by volcanic gases erupting from the ground."

Duke looked down at the hard obsidian ground beneath his feet.

The data show that Ashfire Continent’s crust is extremely thin, so thin that in some areas one can feel the heat underfoot.

Once the ground’s rocks are fractured by magic, magma will gush from the cracks, devouring everything.

For the Molten Spirits, this environment is an excellent habitat, but for most other species, it is practically Hell.