Wizards: Starting with Fairy Crests

040: Sweep

In the final moments of the Potions Manor, the wizards there were conducting cruel magical experiments on a brother and sister.

The younger sister's experiment failed, and her remains were thrown into a dry well, while the older brother underwent some unknown mutation during the experiment, turning into a terrifying humanoid deformed creature.

During the mutation, this aberrant creature was injected with magic essence—

Magic element is a power possessed only by wizards, and it is one of the biggest differences between apprentices and wizards.

And possessing magic energy also means—

Wizard level!

Yes, those puppet guards outside are nothing but scrap metal; the real danger in this potion manor is this wizard-level aberration monster.

The researchers here went to great lengths to trap and seal it in a petri dish for further research, but before the deadline could be reached, the place was forced to be abandoned due to pollution leaks caused by the mutant's rampage.

The mutant is still submerged in the petri dish at the bottom. Once the door here is opened and it is invaded, the defense mechanism here will draw all its energy to defend itself.

At that time, as the energy sealed in the petri dish is extracted, the seal will be opened, and the monster will awaken and unleash a massacre!

And this time is exactly two hours!

Time, in the deathly silent and perilous ruins, passed by at a heart-stopping pace.

Lynch was well aware of the potential terror that would awaken in two hours, and his exploration was efficient and highly targeted.

Using his knowledge of ancient wizarding laboratories, he avoided many areas that were obviously traps or useless, and went straight to places where valuable items might be stored.

Fifteen minutes after entering the Potions Manor, he sneaked into a dilapidated stone chamber located in the side wing, marked "Materials Pre-processing Room".

Most of the heavy obsidian cabinets inside, which were covered with cooling runes, were damaged, and the delicate materials stored inside had long since turned to ashes.

In a crevice created by the collapse of a stone cabinet, Lin Qi found a perfectly intact sealed jar of cold iron.

The can was cool to the touch, and the anti-corrosion runes on its surface, though faded, were still effective.

Inside the opening were three well-preserved "frost-veined ferns," with silvery-blue leaves and veins resembling ice crystals, feeling icy to the touch.

This is a mid-level main ingredient used to formulate highly effective frost resistance potions or certain calming mind potions, and it is quite valuable. There are also several pieces of solidified "Rock Core Ointment" scattered nearby, with a texture as hard as amber, which is a high-quality base material for strengthening earth-type protection potions.

36 minutes after entering the manor: In a room that appeared to be a researcher's private laboratory, Lynch discovered a skeleton lying face down on an experimental table, with a thick notebook made of some kind of shadow leopard skin underneath it.

Most of the notes were blurred and faded due to time and leaked contaminated energy, but a few pages written with special magical ink survived.

Lynch quickly flipped through the pages and found a complete potion recipe, "Shadow Affinity Reagent".

This is a precious potion formula that can temporarily enhance the precision of perception and manipulation of dark elements and slightly improve stealth ability. Its improvement approach is quite unique.

He stuffed the notebook into his pocket.

One hour and eight minutes into the manor: Lynch crossed a cracked, suspended stone bridge overlooking a bottomless darkness and entered a circular observation deck on a higher level of the castle.

This place, which appeared to be a large cultivation area below the monitoring system, was now empty, but beneath an overturned control panel, he found a small safe embedded in the ground.

After forcibly breaking the already unstable rune lock, they found five viscous potions sealed inside double-layered crystal pillars.

The potion has a dynamic, nebulous, deep purple color, with tiny silver specks floating inside.

Lin Qi immediately recognized it as "Starlight Concentration Elixir," a high-level magic potion that can significantly improve the efficiency of a deep meditation session and has a certain probability of helping to break through minor bottlenecks in mental strength.

1 hour and 36 minutes after entering the manor: After a long search, the results were meager; we had basically searched all the places we needed to look for.

Just when Lynch was about to give up, he discovered a dark trapdoor that was almost blending into the wall in a corner that looked like a pile of abandoned junk.

The disguise on the door was extremely sophisticated; if he hadn't sensed the very faint, concealed energy fluctuations, he would have been almost completely unaware of it.

After prying it open, there was a small, dark compartment underneath, just big enough for one person to crouch inside.

The hidden compartment was dust-free, and in the center was an exquisite little box made of metal and crystal.

The box contained no finished potions, but three well-preserved ancient recipes. Two of them were advanced healing and antidote recipes, precious but not unique.

The third one caught Lynch's eye: "Bio-energy sublimation potion".

This is a magical potion that can deeply activate the body's life energy and greatly increase the upper limit of strength and physique, and it has virtually no side effects. In the game, it is a very famous item for increasing knight's professional experience.

Lynch's progress in improving his knightly strength has been very slow, but with this potion, the efficiency will definitely be greatly accelerated.

After receiving his reward, Lin Qi checked the time and realized that there were only two hours left!

He decisively stopped the search.

Quickly determining his direction, he sprinted towards the depths of the castle.

After passing through a long corridor, he burst out of a broken archway, where the view suddenly opened up, only to be instantly enveloped by an even deeper gloom.

This is a desolate garden, covered with vast expanses of withered, grotesque branches and vines, like countless desperate arms reaching towards the gray sky.

In the center of the garden stands a circular, stone-lined dry well with a diameter of over five meters.

The wellhead was covered with black, vein-like moss.

The dry well was bottomless, and a pungent smell rose from it, a mixture of decay, disinfectant residue, and countless dead sediments.

At the bottom of the well... there were layers upon layers of densely packed, stark white bones!

The skeletons of humans, humanoids, and even some strange beasts are interspersed and mixed together, and some skeletons still bear traces of twisting and mutation.

This is the "waste disposal well" of the Potions Manor, the final destination for all the "products" of failed experiments.

Time, tick-tock, tick-tock…

The hands of the pocket watch kept ticking, reminding Lynch that he didn't have much time left.

Without hesitation, Lin Qi took out a spare rope and grappling hook, secured them, and quickly slid into the dry well filled with the aura of death.

He did not choose to escape. The laboratory's spatial nodes had been sealed off since they entered the experiment and would not reopen for several hours.

During this period, no one can leave this place; they can only suffer the merciless slaughter of the mutants.

The only way out is this dry well where the remains of the mutant sister are buried; the mutants will not invade this place.

This is a lesson learned from countless game runs. Back then, countless players died trying to discover this trick.

Just a few minutes after he descended into the dry well, the time finally came to an end.

Two hours later, we arrived.

In an instant, the entire ruins space seemed to tremble!

It is not a physical vibration, but a violent detachment at a deeper energy level!

Immediately afterwards, a muffled, deafening crash, as if countless panes of glass were shattering simultaneously, came from the deepest part of the castle!

What followed was an indescribable surge of energy, a mixture of violent life force and deep resentment, erupting like a volcano awakening!

"roar--------!!!"

An inhuman roar, filled with pain, rage, and endless hunger, pierced through layers of rock and architecture, shaking the entire dimensional space!

The most dangerous "guardian" has awakened.