Wizard Bloodline

Ronan continued inspecting the circular lab table when his attention was drawn to a groove whose color and texture starkly contrasted with the surrounding tabletop.

He slowly approached, the pungent odor of decay intensifying.

This smell wasn't immediately noticeable, but due to his enhanced sense of smell from physical training, Ronan had detected it upon ascending to the second floor. The source was now apparent.

The coarse black groove embedded in the pristine white lab table stood out prominently.

Inside the black trough were remnants of dark green, viscous liquid, barely covering the bottom corner.

Judging by the large green stains on the trough's walls, these unidentified liquids might have once filled the entire trough, slowly evaporating over time, leaving just this residue.

"A waste disposal trough for experimental byproducts?" Ronan hypothesized.

He had seen similar setups beside Bennigo's potion and alchemical workstations, where the troughs typically contained specially concocted corrosive potions to dissolve most experimental waste.

After a brief hesitation, Ronan extended his hand, shooting out silver metallic threads of refined Mithril Tungsten, immersing them cautiously into the dark green liquid.

The contact between the metal threads and the liquid produced a hissing sound, with faint wisps of smoke rising.

Ronan frowned, sensing the rapid consumption of Mithril Tungsten. In mere moments, it nearly matched the depletion experienced during intense spellcasting in combat.

This was enhanced Mithril Tungsten, bolstered by [Silverization]. The trough's liquid was far more corrosive than anticipated.

It was likely at least a tier-three substance.

Just as Ronan was about to retract the threads...

"Crack—"

Something beneath the dark green liquid was disturbed by the threads.

Ronan's interest piqued, and he manipulated the threads to retrieve the object from the trough.

Initially, he had hoped to chance upon a remnant of value in the ancient Mirror Court wizard's waste trough, perhaps as a "souvenir" for Bennigo...

Unexpectedly, he did find something.

——

The object retrieved was an irregularly shaped black metal ring, pitted and nearly broken, with a small sharp protrusion on one end. It seemed incomplete, originally part of a larger construct, now mostly corroded away.

Ronan drained the dark liquid from the ring and gently held it.

To his surprise, the black ring crumbled like a cookie in his hand, quickly disintegrating into dust and sand.

Before Ronan could react, a searing pain flared in his palm.

Instinctively, he shook off the ring's remnants, noticing a strange mark now etched on his right palm.

The mark resembled a ring topped with an arrow.

At a glance, Ronan recognized the symbol as the original form of the broken metal ring.

He rubbed his palm, finding it smooth and unscathed, with no cuts or damage to his skin.

The arrow-like mark seemed branded beneath his skin, slowly fading after a few breaths, leaving a faint trace.

"What is this? Some kind of rune?" Ronan wondered, sensing the mark within him but unable to remove it.

His mind recalled the fragmented words from the shattered stone slab: forbidden, experiment, Canos...

"Could it be related to the forbidden experiment mentioned on the slab?"

The house's owner, in their haste to leave, destroyed all experiment records, including this arrow-shaped item.

They, or someone else, had discarded it into the waste trough, yet even after all this time, it hadn't fully dissolved.

As Ronan pondered the mark and the mysterious experiment, his communication stone in the spatial ring activated.

He retrieved it, surprised to find it was from Derby, the other Seventh Ring wizard besides him and Clemens.

"I encountered someone from Black Swamp. I'm no match for them. My task ring was taken, and I might have to withdraw from this exploration."

"Clemens, Damien... be careful. Good luck."

Derby's voice sounded weak, indicating serious injuries.

Ronan's expression darkened upon hearing the message.

So quickly, Derby had been "looted and eliminated"?!

Derby wasn't weak, a mid-to-late second-level wizard who had grasped extraordinary domain power.

Yet he was severely injured and eliminated by a Black Swamp wizard, who showed no mercy. Clemens was right—the greatest threat during exploration came from other forces' wizards!

In this Mirror Court realm, many similar acts of looting and being looted were likely unfolding.

As he contemplated this, Clemens sent a message.

—"Where are you now? Can you see a floating, rotating tower nearby?"

Ronan didn't reply immediately. He quickly searched the second floor, then checked the third-floor attic, ensuring nothing was missed before exiting the house.

He crossed the garden, following the path outside the yard.

After about half a minute, Ronan stopped abruptly.

Ahead, at the path's end, a familiar ivory cottage with a garden appeared in the distance.

Back again?

The complexities of space and mirroring were perfectly illustrated, as Ronan felt no anomalies—no energy surges, no rune traces.

Yet he was trapped in a "closed-loop" labyrinth.

Ronan frowned, continuing forward, only to end up at the same cottage in less than a minute.

Reversing direction yielded the same result.

After several minutes of circling, his previous exploration experience provided a solution.

"Can't find the way in? Surely, there's a way out," Ronan murmured, returning to the cottage, finding a familiar mirror in the first-floor partition.

He located the activation runes, stepping through the portal.

"Whoosh—"

Emerging successfully, Ronan found himself on a silver spiral staircase.

The staircase extended endlessly up and down, slowly rotating.

Ronan took a few tentative steps upward.

"Tap—tap—"

Footsteps echoed from above.

He looked up, meeting a pair of brown eyes gazing down at him.

A handsome youth in a green robe, hair braided like vines, nose adorned with black rings, stood above, looking somewhat surprised.

On the silver spiral staircase, Ronan and the green-robed wizard exchanged silent glances across several steps.

Time seemed to freeze in a strange suspension.

"Whoosh—"

The near-stillness was abruptly shattered by a roaring wind. The youth's robe billowed, hands glowing green, exuding a powerful, invisible domain force.

In an instant, it seemed a storm was brewing.

Yet before his formidable aura could expand, a thunderous crash echoed, as if lightning struck the ground.

A blurred figure appeared before him, silver light blazing, blue flames flaring. A silver hand, sharp as a blade, sliced through the storm-like domain and energy field, striking his forehead.

"Crack—"

"Boom!"

The green-robed wizard's skull fractured, a spell uncast, his body hurtled backward like a cannonball, smashing through the spiral staircase above, then another layer, and a third...

"Boom!" "Boom!" "Boom!"...

He crashed through seven or eight spiral staircases, finally embedding deeply in one, bloodied, eyes dazed, staring at the approaching youth.

"You..."

"Bang!"

Ronan struck again, the same spot, dispersing the wizard's mental power, knocking him unconscious.

With that, Ronan calmly withdrew his right hand.

The blue flames of dispelling magic receded, the silverized metal on his arm unraveling, revealing a slender, well-proportioned arm.

The arm bore faint, scale-like dark blue patterns, vanishing as calm returned.

"Even without actively triggering [Immaculate Body], my raw physical strength is frightening."

Ronan examined his right hand, noticing slightly sharp black nails, adding an eerie, menacing touch.

The subtle transformation from the Ancient Frost Hydra bloodline had significantly strengthened his body beyond [Ascetic Body Training].

For the ancient bloodline, this was merely a minor display of power.

Ronan hadn't even fully tapped into its strength.

"At this range, close combat was the quickest path to victory."

Terrifying physical strength, master-level combat skills, tier-two metal [Silverization] amplification, and the dispelling flame's effect culminated in a near-instantaneous victory.

Ronan lowered his hand, expressionless, removing a conspicuous spatial ring from the unconscious wizard.

The youth was from Thorn Palace, a mid-to-late second-level wizard.

Overall, he might surpass Derby from their team, yet fell instantly to Ronan.

"In the realm, anyone not wearing the same robe is an opponent."

Ronan quickly inventoried the ring's contents, musing silently.

Upon encounter, the wizard had attacked without hesitation, needing no rationale.

The wizard's ring held more loot than Ronan's own, perhaps due to good fortune in previous searches, containing numerous unique potion vials.

Ronan transferred everything to his ring, discarding the empty one back to the wizard.

The youth's head trauma had nearly shattered his mental power crystals. Recovery would take time, leaving him unable to explore further, effectively exiting the action.

As Ronan prepared to move past him, continuing upward...

The entire staircase began to quake, spatial energy particles surging from its sides.

Before Ronan could decide on a course, intense silver light erupted from the sides, a powerful force pulling him uncontrollably to one side, sending him spinning through space.

When he finally stabilized and opened his eyes, he found himself in a straight corridor.

The corridor was bizarre, constructed entirely of mirrors on all sides.

Mirrors reflected mirrors, images layered endlessly. Ronan lost count of how many versions of himself surrounded him.

Any movement prompted a synchronized response from countless reflections, blurring space and distance.

Ronan sensed movement behind the mirrors.

Breathing, chanting, spellcasting noises...

A cacophony surrounded him, emanating from multiple directions, as if many others had been transported to a similar place, in close proximity.

As Ronan pondered breaking through the walls to confirm his suspicions, intense light and dense spatial energy waves emanated from the corridor's end.

Squinting, Ronan glimpsed a radiant silver figure akin to the sun, standing at the corridor's far end, facing him.

An awareness ripple crossed the distance, entering his mind.

An indistinct, genderless, obscure voice.

Lowly speaking.

"Corridor of Reflection... Through Legacy Eight..."

"Buzz—"

Simultaneously, outside the realm, on the tranquil Mirror Lake.

Hundreds of water screen images converged into one massive screen.

The screen displayed wizards from all forces, standing in a strange corridor.

At the corridor's end, a radiant silver light constantly shifted forms, emitting overwhelming, mysterious energy waves.

The four third-level wizards hovering over Mirror Lake, upon seeing the silver light, shuddered, rising in disbelief, eyes fixed on the light, exclaiming.

"Spatial Elemental! Dawn Artifact?!"

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