Wizard: My career panel has no upper limit

Chapter 312 More Terrifying Than the Abyss

Upon hearing Franka's words, Eve's amethyst eyes narrowed slightly.

She put down her teacup, shifted her gaze from Franka, and instead stared at the verdant leaves swaying in the breeze outside the window.

"Franka..."

Eve's voice was very soft, as soft as a feather brushing the surface of water:

“You have never been a vassal. At least, not to me.”

Franka's body trembled slightly.

She didn't answer, she just lowered her head.

But Ron keenly noticed that the half-dragon maid's tightly clenched hands had slowly loosened.

“When I was little, whenever I was in great pain because of the symptoms of ‘demonic attack’, you were always by my side.”

Eve continued, her voice filled with tender reminiscence:
"You would lull me to sleep with those old lullabies, and secretly prepare herbal teas to relieve my pain..."

She turned her head, her amethyst eyes looking directly at Franka:
"Back then, you never had any sense of 'duty' or 'obligation'; you only had heartfelt care."

Franka looked up, her usually stern and serious face softening considerably.

A slight smile played on her lips: "Your Highness still remembers those lullabies..."

His voice was filled with undisguised joy and warmth.

"of course I remember."

Eve chuckled softly, her laughter as clear and melodious as a silver bell:
"Especially that song, 'The Grass Flute and the Seed Turtle,' you always sang it softly during my most difficult nights. Although I never understood the lyrics in the dragon language, the melody has always accompanied me as I grew up."

"The lyrics of that song..."

Franka's voice was a little hoarse, but it quickly regained its composure:

"It tells the story of tree spirits humming grass flutes to guide lost seed turtles in the dark, allowing them to safely return to their families."

Eve's eyes were slightly red, but she tried her best to maintain an elegant demeanor: "Thank you."

After a moment, the girl coughed lightly, regaining her composure:
"Alright, let's get back to business..."

"Yes, Your Highness."

The half-dragon maid had also composed herself, suppressing her unusual outburst of emotion, and steered the conversation back on track:
"The screening criteria for strain families are actually far more brutal than they appear on the surface."

Eve got up and walked to a special counter in the corner of the room, where a strange device that Ron had never seen before was displayed.

The device presents a complex geometric shape and is composed of dozens of crystals of different colors, each of which is pulsating slightly, as if it were breathing with life.

“This is a ‘historical projection device,’ which was jointly developed by Grandpa Yutel and the ‘Eye of Observation,’ and is one of the treasures of the Crown Clan.”

Eve carefully adjusted the various crystal modules on the device:

"It can capture and reproduce the residual traces of certain important historical events, allowing us to understand the past in a more intuitive way."

As she operated it, the device began to emit a soft silver light.

The air in the room became thick, as if time itself was flowing slowly.

Ron could sense an ancient and profound energy fluctuation gathering.

That feeling reminded him of the strange sensation he experienced when he connected to "Hermit Star," where he was enveloped in a dreamlike vision.

"Let's start from the very beginning."

Franka began to explain:
"At the end of the Second Era, when the Abyss corruption reached its peak, the whole world trembled."

The silver light gradually coalesced and took shape, and a huge 3D projection appeared in the center of the room.

The scenery there was just as described in the book.

The sky was a sickly deep purple, as thick as stagnant blood, and countless bizarre architectural ruins were scattered across the land.

Even more terrifying, the ruins of those dilapidated cities were filled with twisted and deformed animal carcasses.

They were once a powerful species of dragons, but now only terrifying remains remain, corrupted by the abyss.

"Do you see those ruins?"

Eve then pointed to a massive, partially collapsed building in the projection:
"That place was once one of the most glorious dragon cities in the Second Era, inhabited by various dragons and their families."

The projected image began to move, as if an invisible observer were walking through the ruins.

Ron saw chilling details:

The walls of those once magnificent palaces are now etched with desperate scratches.
Huge bones were scattered on the streets, some clearly belonging to adult dragons, but all of them were twisted into unnatural shapes by some inexplicable force.

“This level of destruction…” Ron murmured to himself, a look of shock flashing in his eyes.

"The terrifying aspect of abyssal erosion lies not in its destructive power, but in its 'activity'."

Franka's voice sounded particularly heavy against the backdrop of the projection:

"It doesn't simply destroy everything, but rather transforms everything into a part of it."

"According to the oldest records preserved by the Crown Clan, these dragon species were actually cross-border refugees."

Eve adjusted the projector, and a new image appeared—an even grander and more terrifying scene:

Countless enormous figures traversed the void; though their forms were majestic, their eyes were filled with despair and fear.

Behind them, some indescribable darkness is chasing them.

It was neither matter nor energy, but a pure "nothingness" that caused even space itself to disappear wherever it passed.

"They know that forcibly crossing the world will lead to existential instability and a slow demise."

Eve's voice became unusually low:
"But they still made this choice because the existence of those who invade their world is more terrifying than the erosion of the abyss."

In the scene, the dragons' bodies began to show obvious signs of decay the moment they crossed the world barrier.

The once perfect scales began to lose their luster, and powerful energy began to leak, as if a precision instrument had been forcibly transplanted into an incompatible environment.

"This is what is called 'externality'."

Franka added:

"Any existence that transcends world boundaries will face this fundamental problem."

Their mode of existence conflicts with the fundamental laws of this world, leading to continuous decay and instability.

Ron quickly analyzed this information in his mind.

If dragons are indeed cross-species refugees, then the instability of their bloodline is not a simple genetic issue, but a more fundamental existential defect.

This also explains why even the most powerful dragons appear so vulnerable to the corruption of the abyss.

"According to the information I have, the original breathing technique is said to have originated from the dragon race, and was later improved by wizards and blood knights into a version suitable for humans."

"So the dragons created breathing techniques to solve this problem?" he asked. "Partially correct, but it was nothing more than a futile attempt."

The creators of the breathing technique were not the most powerful dragon kings, but rather the relatively weaker but more intelligent dragon scholars.

Eve explained:
"They realized that pure force could not solve the fundamental flaws of existence, and that only through meticulous self-regulation could the process of decay be slowed down."

In the scene, some of the dragons began to show obvious changes:

The previously violent energy fluctuations became calm and stable, and the dull scales regained their faint glow.

“The final stage of each complete breathing technique corresponds to a specific Star Ring bloodline, and this is no coincidence.”

Franka took over the conversation:
"These breathing techniques are essentially a complex biological regulatory system that uses specific breathing rhythms, muscle control, and mental guidance to suppress those violent and uncontrollable factors in the bloodstream, while activating and stabilizing beneficial genetic traits."

Ron remembered the Corona Breathing Technique he had practiced.

That complex and precise energy regulation method does indeed seem to be designed to solve some fundamental problem.

"This also explains why practicing breathing techniques is so difficult."

Eve continued:
"It requires not only a strong will and precise control, but also a perfect match with a specific bloodline."

An incorrect combination is not only ineffective, but can also lead to blood vessel collapse.

"But this effort ultimately failed."

Eve's tone also became extremely heavy:
"When the erosion of the abyss reaches a critical point, even the most exquisite breathing techniques cannot completely resist that fundamental pollution."

The scene shifts to the final moments of the Second Age:
The sky was torn open with countless cracks, from which flowed not light, but an even deeper darkness.

Those once-powerful dragon kings fell one after another under the erosion.

Their bloodline advantage seems so powerless in the face of pollution that transcends comprehension.

"It was in this desperate situation that human wizards proposed the 'preservation of the strain' plan."

Franka's voice carried complex emotions:
"Instead of watching all the dragon bloodlines disappear, we should choose the ones with the best chance of continuing and maintain their lineage through artificial protection."

The projected image switched to another scene:

Inside a massive laboratory, dozens of black-robed wizards were working around a complex array of runes.

In the center of the array, a dragon was bound to a specially made platform, surrounded by a dense array of pipes and probes.

Its eyes were filled with despair, but it was unable to make a sound.

"The selection process is extremely brutal."

Eve's voice turned cold:
"The wizards need to conduct a thorough bloodline analysis on each candidate family, including gene stability, genetic purity, reproductive capacity, and so on. Those who do not meet the standards will be executed or used as experimental subjects."

Ron felt a chill run down his spine as he looked at the images.

Even though he had grown accustomed to the cruelty of the wizarding world, this systematic racial selection and control still made him uneasy.

“What’s even more frightening is that this screening is not a one-time event.”

Franka added:

“Every few generations, wizards reassess the value of each family of bacteria.”

Those whose bloodline begins to decline or whose reproductive capacity decreases will be ruthlessly eliminated.

The projection shows another scene:
A once prosperous dragonborn town has been reduced to ashes, with traces of wizarding magic still visible on the remaining buildings.

Scattered on the ground were numerous skeletons, which, judging from their size and characteristics, clearly belonged to members of the Dragonborn family.

"At the beginning of the Fourth Era, the 'Ghost Face Clan' was ordered to be eliminated by the Crown Clan because it had failed to produce qualified bloodline awakeners for three consecutive generations."

Eve's voice was devoid of emotion:
“The entire family, including the elderly and children, was executed. Their blood samples were collected for final research purposes.”

"The existing strains of bacteria have all survived this bloody selection process."

Franka's voice was tinged with bitterness:

"We must not only maintain the purity and stability of our bloodline, but also constantly prove our worth."

Once we lose our usefulness, the fate of the Ghostface Clan will be sealed.

Ron quickly calculated the scale and impact of this system in his mind:

"What is the position of the Cadus family, which you mentioned, among the existing families of preserved bacteria?"

"We're of medium size," Franka replied truthfully.

“The existing family of preserved bacteria is not limited to our branch.”

Throughout the entire Ring Abyss Continent, there are at least seven or eight similar bloodline lineages, each corresponding to a different type of Star Ring bloodline, but the dragon race undoubtedly dominates among them.

The projected image then shifted to a more detailed distribution map of the bacterial strain family:

The entire Huanyuan continental group is marked with areas of various colors, each color representing a different family of bacteria.

"The 'Frostscale Clan,' located in the northern ice plains, preserves the bloodline of the Frost Dragon. Their people can live normally in environments as cold as minus sixty degrees Celsius and can even briefly resist the erosion of the Abyssal Ice Curse."

"The 'Deep Tide Family' of the Endless Sea Islands inherited the legacy of the Deep-Sea Dragon. They not only move freely in the deep sea, but also possess the special ability to control marine life."

“The ‘Sunblood’ deep in the desert possesses a masculine energy affinity second only to the Farouk family, but they have chosen a completely different development path—merging with the elemental creatures in the desert to form a unique symbiotic relationship.”

As each family is introduced, a corresponding video clip is displayed on the projector:

The warriors of the Frostscale Clan moved through the blizzard as if on flat ground, their bodies covered in a layer of natural ice armor;
The members of the Deep Tide family swim gracefully in their underwater palace, surrounded by various obedient marine creatures;
Members of the Blazing Sun Bloodline dance with the fire spirits of the desert, their bodies surrounded by a blazing aura of energy.

"The relationships between these families are extremely delicate."

Eve explained:
"On the surface, we are allies, sharing the mission of preserving our bloodline."

But in reality, we are also competitors, all vying for limited resources and the attention of asylum seekers.

"The secret gathering held once every thirty years is ostensibly for technical exchange, but in reality it is more like a covert contest."

Franka's tone held a hint of helplessness:
"Each family must showcase its latest achievements and bloodline progress while secretly assessing the strength and value of other families."

Those who perform poorly often "unexpectedly" disappear before the next gathering.

Even protected bacterial strains must constantly fight for survival.

"Then why wasn't the Farouk family chosen? As far as I know, their bloodline is also quite powerful."

Ron raised this crucial question at the opportune moment.

“Of course, that’s the question I’m going to answer next. I remember you were born in the Kingdom of Farouk.”

As Eve adjusted the settings, the projected image immediately switched to a new scene:

A tall figure clad in armor stood in the center of the battlefield.

(End of this chapter)