novel-bin Chapter 6 Experiment Begins
Chapter 6 Experiment Begins
"Carlo, Carlo," the mentor's voice carried a cruel sigh as his gaze fell on the twisting, writhing body.
"You're too impatient. I thought you'd be more patient, at least waiting until the crucial moment of my promotion before showing your fangs."
He shook his head slightly, as if regretting a mistake in an experimental procedure.
On that mouthless face, despair and regret almost burst through the solidified muscle lines, struggling in vain and emitting a silent roar.
Mentor Perot looked down at Carlo, a chilling, icy sneer on his face: "You think that by siding with Klin and offering him my secrets, you can get the resources he promised to help you advance to a full-fledged wizard?"
He scoffed, a laugh that pierced the deathly silence of the room. "Naive."
He slowly straightened up, his gaze turning to Hick, who stood frozen to the side, his face deathly pale.
"Since you're so eager to become a full-fledged wizard... as your teacher, how could I refuse?"
Perot's voice suddenly became unusually "gentle," yet carried a chilling coldness more piercing than a blade: "Don't you think so, Hick?"
Hick felt a chill instantly rise from the soles of his feet to the top of his head, as if his very bones were frozen!
He almost instinctively, using all his strength to squeeze out the words: "Yes...yes, mentor."
Perot nodded in satisfaction, his gaze returning to Carlo, his tone as if announcing a predetermined experimental plan:
"Then, Carlo Bailey, from now on, you are my seventh test subject."
He paused, each word like an ice bead hitting the ground, "After I become a second-level wizard... I will help you. Look forward to it, Carlo."
This chilling declaration sent shivers down the spines of both Hick, who was standing, and Carlo, who was writhing on the ground!
Carlo's struggle intensified instantly. His mouthless face was twisted and deformed by extreme fear and despair. His silent wails seemed to pierce through space and crashed hard against Hick's defenses.
Professor Perot turned gracefully around, his chillingly gentle smile reappearing on his face, as he looked at Hick, whose back was soaked with cold sweat.
"Hick, you did a good job." His voice returned to its usual calm, yet it was like poison coated in honey.
"You remained calm under pressure and displayed remarkable quick wit. Your performance in front of Klin today proves that my judgment was correct."
"Now," he waved his hand, as if he had just dealt with a trivial matter.
"Go and get yourself ready. Be at my core lab in an hour."
A glint of something unreadable flashed in his eyes. "Our real experiment... has only just begun."
Hick's gaze involuntarily swept over the "thing" on the ground that was still twitching slightly and almost lost its human form—it was Carlo Bailey, a third-level apprentice.
A chill emanating from the deepest part of his soul surged up, instantly swallowing and freezing any remaining relief he felt from surviving the ordeal.
He was acutely aware that, in the eyes of his mentor, Perot Griffin, both the traitor Carlo and himself, the newly recruited disciple who had just demonstrated "value," were nothing more than pawns on the experimental chessboard that could be adjusted, replaced, or even sacrificed at any time.
He lowered his head deeply, using all his strength to suppress the trembling in his voice, keeping his tone as humble and steady as possible:
"Yes...it's my mentor."
Almost moving his stiff legs, Hick left the lounge, which was filled with an atmosphere of death and absolute control.
As the heavy door closed silently behind him, shutting out the terrifying scene inside, he immediately felt all his strength drain away. He leaned heavily against the cold, icy wall, breathing heavily, each breath filled with the trembling of someone who had just escaped death.
My clothes were already soaked with cold sweat, clinging to my skin and bringing a sticky, icy feeling.
He had never felt so acutely that the depth of his mind and the ruthlessness of his mentor, who was about to break through to become a second-level wizard, were a hundred times more terrifying than the naked killing intent of Wizard Klin!
That thorny path to the pinnacle of power is stained with the blood of others' schemes and the cries of despair at every step.
He glanced subconsciously at the tightly closed door that seemed to devour everything, and then, the gray "36 Experiment Points" interface deep in his consciousness surfaced like a last straw.
A crystal-clear, blood-stained thought was branded into his very bones:
Survive... at all costs, survive!
This thought, like the last embers, stubbornly burned on the boundless, icy plains of fear.
He suddenly straightened up, forcing himself to walk with legs that felt like lead, toward his room.
The icy water splashed on my face barely washed away some of the stickiness from the cold sweat, but it couldn't wash away the trembling deep in my soul.
He quickly changed into a clean apprentice's grey robe, his movements stiff, but his mind was racing.
The mentor said the real experiment had just begun. It seems the mentor wanted to force the final transplant before the wizard Klin could react and take more drastic measures, thus breaking through to the level two wizarding stage!
He wanted to catch Klin off guard! And Klin... judging from his attitude of personally interrogating him today and making no attempt to hide his murderous intent, if Pelo successfully gets promoted, Klin's chances of survival are definitely slim!
A level two wizard can kill a level one wizard, especially if the other party has made a mortal enemy of him. There is no reason needed at all!
Hick's heart pounded, not just out of fear, but also because of a crazy thought: his mentor must be completely focused when conducting such a dangerous and crucial transplant experiment!
This might be his chance to activate the "experimental system"!
Time slipped away amidst the torment of fear and calculation.
An hour had passed when Hick stood once again before the door to Mentor Perot's core laboratory, engraved with countless complex runes and radiating a cold metallic luster.
The door slid open silently, and a strong, suffocating odor rushed out—the pungent smell of strong disinfectant, the sweet, cloying fragrance of exotic herbs, and the rusty, metallic stench of fresh blood.
Next to the lab bench in this laboratory, which Hick had never been before, there was already a heart in a glass petri dish.
This heart is exactly the same as the one from this morning, but the energy within it is much stronger!
Mentor Perot noticed Hick's arrival, but he did not look up. His gaze remained fixed on the dragon's heart, which was throbbing and pulsating in the golden molten metal, and his eyes burned with naked desire and a thirst for conquest.
"Hick," Pero's voice came through the microphone on his protective suit, carrying a cold, metallic echo, yet suppressing extreme excitement, "Come here. Stand in support position number three."
He pointed to a smaller control console next to the platform, which was covered with rune crystal balls that monitored vital signs and mental fluctuations.
"Your task is simple, yet crucial. Monitor the energy fluctuation curve as this heart merges with my life magnetic field, especially the body's rejection threshold. Once the value exceeds the red critical point, immediately press that red rune, understand?"
"Understood, mentor!"
The instructor nodded in satisfaction and went to the experimental table.
He suppressed his turbulent emotions and quickly walked to the third auxiliary control console as instructed.
At the same time, the system in his mind was also activated by Hick!
"Experiment begins!"
Success or failure hinges on this!