"Since that's the case, let's sign a contract."
Theodore took out a black soul contract from his pocket and drafted some terms. The content of these terms mainly outlined the rules during the operation and the distribution of benefits after the operation.
After all, they were all Black Wizards, and they had all reached the third ring. To say that their hearts were as coal would be an understatement. Selling out teammates for their own benefit was just a common operation for them. Without a contract to guarantee their interests, everyone would hold back during the operation, which would affect the overall gains.
After the contract was signed, several wizards displayed their abilities and left the basement, leaving only Richard and the Alchemist Wizard who had transformed himself into an alchemical puppet.
Theodore pointed to himself and then to the Alchemist Wizard beside him, introducing, "Let me introduce myself, I am Theodore, a Transmutation Wizard, and he is Stavin, an Alchemist Wizard."
Richard nodded slightly to the two wizards, "I am Richard, an Alchemist Wizard."
"Alchemist Wizard?" Stavin looked at Richard and said in his peculiar voice, "No wonder you joined so readily, from the Flesh and Blood faction?"
"I dabble in both sides and do not belong to any faction," Richard replied vaguely.
"Then you are a practicalist," Stavin said, looking at Ulysses perched on Richard's shoulder. "It seems you have high attainments in both areas; your magic pet looks quite impressive."
Ulysses, using one of his crow claws, had stunned all the wizards present with a display of strength against the physical wizard.
Although some physical wizards were hesitant to make a scene, Ulysses' overwhelming power played a significant role in the awe felt by the others.
Of course, if these wizards knew that Ulysses could wipe out all the wizards present if he truly wanted to, they would likely be left dumbfounded.
Richard humbly said, "It's just luck."
The help he received from Ulysses was purely luck—an injured world master, a unique geographical environment, and an unknown Miracle Furnace combined to create this nearly impossible situation of a first-ring wizard enslaving a world master.
"Luck is also a part of strength," Theodore interjected. "Now that the operation is confirmed, we should start making arrangements. Richard, since you got lost here, I assume you have no arrangements of your own. If you have nothing else to do, you can stay in this basement for now.
This basement is located beneath the Linksa Eye office; in terms of safety, you won't find a safer place in all of Luxor."
"Thank you, Master," Richard nodded.
...
After leaving the basement, Theodore and Stavin confidently walked into the office on the second floor of the building.
Inside the office, several Fire Lizards were engaged in the important work of breeding their population.
Creak.
As the door swung open, the Fire Lizards were startled and immediately stood at attention upon seeing Theodore and Stavin, performing a wizard's salute—even though their activities below were still proudly ongoing.
A flicker of disdain flashed in Theodore's eyes; the native aberrations were just that—native aberrations, driven by primitive desires all day long.
"Toin, we have a guest in the basement; do not let anyone down there for the time being," Theodore said calmly.
Although he despised the Fire Lizards, they were still useful at this moment. Let them breed; the more they breed, the more magic stones he would earn.
"Yes, Master."
Among the Fire Lizards, the most robust one replied in broken wizard language.
"Keep an eye on the movements of the army these days. If there are any unusual movements, report to me immediately."
Toin hesitated for a moment, then asked with some uncertainty, "Master, are you planning to take action against that base?"
Theodore frowned, and in the next moment, Toin collapsed to the ground, writhing in pain.
"Toin, I remember telling you not to ask questions."
Theodore's expression was emotionless, and his voice was as cold as the winter wind, causing the other Fire Lizards to shiver involuntarily.
Soon, Toin's convulsions stopped, and he crawled to Theodore's feet, tears and saliva flowing uncontrollably.
"I was wrong, Master; I won't dare again..."
Theodore looked at the pathetic Toin with a hint of disdain in his eyes.
Natives were just natives; compared to wizards, their will was as fragile as paper.
Theodore said nothing more and turned to leave the room. Stavin then took out a vial of potion from his pocket and handed it to Toin.
"This potion can alleviate your pain."
After saying that, Stavin also left the room.
Not long after the two wizards left, Toin drove the other Fire Lizards out of the office, leaving only a female Fire Lizard.
He roughly pinned the female Fire Lizard down, their two tails intertwining, sometimes loosening, sometimes tightening.
This breeding activity lasted for an hour, and with a shudder, Toin collapsed on the floor, mumbling, "Bili, I regret it a bit; these wizards are all bastards."
The female Fire Lizard named Bili lay on Toin's chest and said in a low voice:
"Toin, the dice have been cast; we have no way back."
Both Fire Lizards had silver horns on their heads; they were supposed to be among the elite of the Fire Lizards, but here, they were merely slaves, natives, consumables.
Their value sometimes didn't even compare to a vial of potion from a wizard.
"A way back?"
Toin looked blankly at the ceiling.
Suddenly, he stood up and walked to the desk, pulling out a nail covered in golden patterns from the drawer.
He stared at the nail for a long time, and Bili stood up from the floor, curiously looking at Toin.
"Toin, what is this?"
Toin's gaze shifted from confusion to determination as he looked at the nail. He whispered:
"This is a way back, and also redemption."
...
Days passed, and Richard was not idle in the basement.
Spell optimization is a fundamental skill for any wizard; regardless of the school of magic, optimizing spells is essential, especially for Evocation Spells.
As preparations for a major operation began, Richard finally started optimizing his spells after a long time.
For wizards, spells are the most commonly used means of attack, and the duration of casting, energy consumption, and power level are all crucial indicators of a spell.
Richard's understanding of transmutation was not particularly profound, so significantly enhancing the power level of his spells was clearly impossible. However, over the years, his experience in creating Magic Equipment and Alchemy Machines had given him a deeper understanding of rune arrays.
This understanding allowed him to reduce the number of runes in the Spell Model, thereby decreasing the magical energy consumption. Richard also planned to incorporate the Pioneer Rune into the Spell Model, making substantial changes.
After a month of optimizing spell consumption, Richard looked at the complex Spell Model in the crystal ball, a smug smile appearing on his lips.
"Hehe, by merely reducing the number of runes and adding the Pioneer Rune, I managed to cut the consumption down to half without diminishing the power of the Heart of Annihilation."
The Heart of Annihilation, the first spell Richard created, had never been modified since its inception.
Thus, this modification essentially integrated all the knowledge Richard had acquired up to this point, making it a crystallization of his knowledge.
"Now, all that's left is to modify the spell imprint."
Mentioning the modification of the spell imprint, Richard's expression involuntarily drooped.
Modifying a spell imprint is akin to performing surgery on the soul, and without anesthesia; this feeling is quite painful even for wizards.
This was why Richard had taken so long to think about optimizing the Spell Model of the Heart of Annihilation.
If the pain of modifying the Spell Model could be reduced, Richard would definitely modify it as soon as he made any progress.
Three days later, Theodore and Stavin arrived at the basement.
"Richard, the plan has been arranged. Here is the map and the arrangements; take a look."
Saying this, Theodore handed Richard a large scroll.
Upon opening the scroll, Richard quickly understood the arrangements made by several wizards for this operation.
The most important aspect of this operation was speed; they needed to complete all strategic objectives before the Dragon Beast Knight Order could surround them, and then retreat.
Moreover, to minimize casualties and make the operation more flexible.
In this operation, first and second-ring wizards would serve as decoys to draw fire; they would conduct multiple raids on cities near Luxor to disrupt Barashar's vision.
These decoys were also meticulously planned; if Barashar did not come to their aid, these decoys would turn into real attacks.
Meanwhile, the three-ring wizards would infiltrate the Dragon Beast Breeding Base as the main force, completing their mission as secretly and quickly as possible.
After reviewing the entire plan, Richard returned the scroll to Theodore.
"Tonight we act?"
"Tonight we act."
"Good."
Richard immediately began to tidy up the items in the basement and used magic to erase all traces left behind.
Watching Richard check for any remaining traces in the basement, Stavin couldn't help but speak up:
"Actually, you don't need to be so thorough; this place is safe enough."
Richard smiled, "It's always better to be cautious."
A few minutes later, the three wizards displayed their abilities and left the basement, quickly arriving at the designated location.
A few kilometers away from the designated location was the volcano where the Dragon Beast Breeding Base was hidden, according to the intelligence.
At the designated location, the other three-ring wizards had already gathered.
Theodore glanced at the number of people: "Everyone is here. But before we act, I must reiterate that this operation must be swift. You are all third-ring wizards; in previous wars, you must have seen wizards who died because of greed.
Do not make the same mistakes in front of [The Lost Ones]."
"Haha, Master is still so nagging."
"Greed kills; we all know that."
"Master, you should save that speech for your students."
Seeing the indifferent expressions of the other wizards, Theodore couldn't help but sigh inwardly.
He hoped these wizards would truly remain rational when the time came.
Soon, the sky darkened.
Theodore took out a pocket watch and glanced at the time.
"Action."
(End of Chapter)