Chapter 138: The Laboratory

"Tell me! About the bloodline within me!" Hughes had never been able to find any information regarding his own bloodline; it was as if such a lineage had never existed in the entire Wizarding World.

"That... I am not entirely certain myself, but I can tell you this: you must never let other wizards discover the bloodline within you. If they do, no one will be able to protect you!" Mavis did not hide the truth from Hughes. Although she had been with her master for hundreds of years, she only knew that her master had been searching for this 'Abyssal Bloodline.'

"The reason!" Hughes felt he was drawing ever closer to the truth.

"Infinitude. Your bloodline possesses the characteristic of infinitude. You should know that the growth of a bloodline wizard always has a ceiling, but you are different. If another bloodline wizard were to obtain your bloodline, they could cast off all their inherent limitations and possess the same infinite potential as you. Even an ordinary wizard could be implanted with your bloodline. Now you understand what your bloodline signifies, don't you?

Furthermore, the bloodline within you will not diminish even if extracted by others. It appears you possess the purest form of the Abyssal bloodline, which means you are capable of continuously regenerating it."

"It also means that if I am captured, I might be reduced to a mere tool for mass-producing bloodlines." Hughes realized there were still many unknowns regarding his own nature.

"It is good that you understand! Your bloodline is something every wizard would covet." Mavis's tone carried a hint of envy.

"Was it because of this bloodline that your master reached his limit?" Hughes paused, then thought again; that didn't seem right. If he had truly reached a limit, why would there be mentions of 'explosive curses' and the like?

"Impossible. My master possessed the bloodline of a Level 5 high-order creature, the Purgatory Serpent. He was only at the third level at the time; he could not have reached his limit." Mavis flatly rejected Hughes's conjecture.

"Level 5... Purgatory Serpent... Then why did he mention these things?" Hughes held up the diary in his hand.

"I do not know. I only know that shortly after he reached the third level, the bloodline within him began to consume him. It was only after researching materials across various continents that he discovered the existence of the Abyssal bloodline. After the first backlash, he sealed himself within this portrait. He usually stayed in his laboratory and rarely saw me." Mavis recalled the past, her usual playful demeanor momentarily fading.

"Where is the laboratory?" Hughes remembered his primary objective and asked urgently.

"You cannot notify the others to come here, at least not until I have finished selecting my items." Mavis hesitated for a moment before deciding to disclose the location.

"You know that other people have entered this manor?" Hughes felt a moment of internal hesitation. If he entered the laboratory, he would surely be able to claim more for himself.

"Of course. Did I not tell you? The control center of the entire manor is linked to me." As she spoke, Mavis's tone was filled with pride. Though she could not leave, nothing in this place escaped her senses.

"Tell me where the laboratory is!" Hughes decided to enter first; after all, the contract they signed didn't forbid it.

"Very well. The entrance to the laboratory is right here with me. Just walk straight through!" As Mavis spoke, the portrait she was attached to rippled like the surface of a pond.

Hughes reached out and touched it; it was exactly as Mavis had described—he could pass through. Without further hesitation, he stepped into the portrait and emerged onto a circular platform.

"And now?" Hughes stood on the platform, seeing no sign of a laboratory, and shouted out, unsure if Mavis could hear him.

"See that blue crystal? Shatter it!" Mavis's voice came through faintly from the outside.

Hughes looked at the fist-sized blue crystal floating above him. After a moment's thought, he shattered it. He knew this crystal was what had imprisoned Mavis, but they had already come this far, so he decided not to dwell on it.

Just as he expected, once the crystal shattered, a mermaid soul appeared before his eyes.

"Hehehe! After being trapped for so long, I am finally free!" Mavis flew about in the air, stretching—though it was unclear if she could truly feel it.

"Let's go!" Hughes was now single-mindedly focused on the laboratory.

"Don't worry, with me here, your companions will never find this place. You can have everything in the laboratory all to yourself." Mavis flicked her mermaid tail; it had been a long time since she had seen her own beautiful tail.

"Shut up!" Hughes's face darkened slightly. He acknowledged that he intended to keep the contents for himself.

"Tch, you humans are always so hypocritical. How boring!" Mavis waved her hand, and the platform began to slowly descend.

"What was your strength before?" The descent was slow, and Hughes asked out of curiosity. He could clearly feel that her soul power was very weak, yet it was no small feat to have endured for so long in this place.

"A Level 2 wizard. I possess the purest mermaid bloodline!" Speaking of her heritage, Mavis tilted her chin up with precision.

Hughes could see it—her sky-blue hair, the faint scales on her arms, and the fish tail beneath her all confirmed she was of an orthodox Sea Folk lineage. He simply hadn't expected the master of this manor to capture a Level 2 wizard just to serve as a gatekeeper.

"How did you end up as a gatekeeper?" Hughes was curious.

"What business is that of yours?" It was as if he had touched a sore spot; Mavis immediately bristled, but remembering that her life was still in his hands, her attitude softened instantly.

"Love, you understand love, right? I just, because... well..." Mavis stammered, clearly unwilling to answer.

"We have arrived at the laboratory!" Fearing Hughes would press the matter, Mavis quickly announced their arrival.

"Hmph." Hughes saw her evasiveness and decided not to pursue it.

The platform stopped, and Hughes stepped off. Before him lay a laboratory the size of a football field.

"Such a scale..." Hughes scanned his surroundings. This was the largest laboratory he had seen since arriving in this world.

"This was my master's laboratory, though there isn't much left here. Let's go to the experimental bench in the center; that is where the items should be!" Mavis suggested, eager to see if the things she longed for were still there.

"Agreed." Hughes concurred; in such a massive space, searching everywhere would be quite tedious.

"What are these..." Hughes looked at the three-meter-high crystal vats filled with green liquid. Some were even tens of meters tall, with various creatures floating inside.

"These are the life forms my master used for his experiments. There are 1,846 different species here. The weakest are equivalent to Level 3 wizard apprentices, and the strongest possess the power of a Level 2 wizard." Mavis spent the journey recounting her master's great achievements.

"The liquid inside is a nutrient solution, researched to ensure they wouldn't die from lack of food. But so much time has passed—these creatures are likely all dead by now."