Wizards begin with Occlumency.

Chapter 220 The Birth of a Baby

Let's give it a shot.

Since Christina, the person involved, is willing to take the risk, what is there for Link to hesitate about?

The witch Celine didn't care at all.

There was at least a little bit of hometown camaraderie between Christina, Link, and Jasmine.

To the witch Celine, however, they were complete strangers, and there was no need to pay them any attention.

If necessary, the witch Celine would not hesitate to kill without hesitation.

"Do you have enough time? This isn't a problem that can be solved in a short time."

Link glanced at Christina's still-flat stomach.

She's only three months pregnant now, and it will be at least six months before she gives birth.

This study requires daily monitoring of various data related to Christina and her unborn child.

If Christina has to return to Shadow City and can't stay at the academy for long, everything will be for naught.

"There is plenty of time."

The serpentine black smoke outlined Christina's reply: "I have six months of vacation available."

The Shadow City's system differs from that of the Rivosos Academy.

The former is similar to a company, while the latter is like a school, so naturally there are differences in the management of its members.

For Rivoss College, wizard apprentices receive education and assessments, while wizards pursue advanced studies, further education, and go on missions. As long as they do their job well, they have a lot of freedom in the rest of their time.

Well……

If you're going out to have fun, it's best to die within the academy's sphere of influence, if possible.

This also allows for the timely collection, dismantling, and recycling of corpses and resources.

For the Shadow City, whether they are apprentices or wizards, their time belongs to the Shadow City, not to the apprentices or wizards themselves.

Want to do your own thing?

can.

Take leave and go.

This leave isn't something you can just take whenever you want, or for as long as you want.

All decision-making power rests with the various levels of management in Shadow City.

The length of leave approved by management is the length of the leave that can be taken.

Link had heard about these rumors.

I was quite surprised to hear that Christina had taken a six-month leave of absence.

On second thought, perhaps this was Shadow City's compensation for Christina wasting a month and a half.

He didn't dwell on this trivial detail any further.

After a moment's thought, Link said solemnly, "Considering many factors, in order to increase the success rate, we need to conduct comprehensive testing on you, including your soul and the soul of your unborn child. In addition, we need to sign a confidentiality agreement. All research results belong to me and the wizard Celine; you have no rights to them, and you are not allowed to disclose them to anyone in any form."

This condition is extremely demanding.

From the perspective of universal values, Christina appears to have no human rights whatsoever.

However, in the wizarding world, this seems reasonable, even overly favorable to Christina.

Link did not charge Christina any fees, out of consideration for their shared hometown and for her contributions of providing information as "research material".

The witch Celine didn't mind such a small amount of "mosquito leg meat".

"Sure, I have no objection."

Christina agreed without hesitation.

She had investigated Link Grand's reputation and exploits in the Rivosos region over the years, and she had prepared herself mentally before setting off to seek his help.

Through Link's various deeds, Christina had long realized that Link Grand was not a kind-hearted person.

It's impossible to help her for nothing without asking for anything in return.

This situation is already a result that Christina never dared to dream of.

Celine the Wizard took out a blank confidentiality agreement and, in front of Christina, filled in contents that were extremely binding on Christina, stipulating that all the results of this research would be jointly owned by Link and Celine the Wizard.

After confirming the contents of the contract, the three signed their names and left their biological information and mental imprints.

The contract was established and was originally kept by the witch Celine.

It's getting late, and I haven't sorted out all the arrangements for the research yet, so I'll stop here for now.

After having dinner, the witch Celine returned home.

The following day, Link officially handed over all the work at Grand Pharmacy to Jasmine.

This includes the preparation of "Yi Yi" medicine.

Even if the success rate and yield of Jasmine's "One Will" potion are low, resulting in a large waste of raw materials, it doesn't matter.

Aside from exceptional talent and overpowered abilities, which pharmacist didn't build their reputation through sheer hard work and resources?

Link can afford such a small waste.

As long as Jasmine can be cultivated, she can earn tons of magic stones in the future, easily making it all back.

Link himself, along with the wizard Celine, focused on research into creating humans.

Christina declined Jasmine's invitation and did not stay at Link's North District villa.

She rented a high-end apartment with a witchcraft laboratory in the East Wing through official Shadow City channels and settled in comfortably.

They wholeheartedly cooperated with Link and Celine's various research needs.

She wanted to protect the pregnancy, and also hoped to change some of her negative traits.

For example, a hoarse, harsh voice, like the sound of two pieces of rusty iron being ground together;

For example, the slippery, grotesque snake arms that resemble octopus tentacles.

Time flies.

Six months have passed in the blink of an eye.

In the past six months, neither Link nor the wizard Celine could possibly devote all their time to research on creating humans.

They each have a lot of things to do.

The witch Celine had to manage various businesses for the Sage Paro, handle interpersonal relationships, and also run her own shop, researching and refining potions, keeping her extremely busy.

How could I possibly devote myself entirely to this research?

The same goes for Link.

After less than two weeks of vacation, Link returned to the Advanced Academy to continue his studies.

Both the major course in Elemental Wizardry and the minor course in True Spirit Wizardry have entered the "deep water zone".

The knowledge involved is becoming increasingly profound, and the witchcraft recommended to be mastered is becoming increasingly complex.

Every day, a significant amount of time and energy must be devoted to learning and absorbing new knowledge.

Not to mention, Link also needs to seek opportunities to expand his innate sorcery "Warframe" and constantly combine various sorcery to improve the combat system based on different versions of "Warframe".

Therefore, Link and Celine the Wizard actually spent less than 3 hours a day on this research.

That's enough.

The difficulties and challenges that need to be overcome in the research are all concentrated in the early stages.

The first step is the dissection of the fetus's soul.

In other words, the wizard Celine had studied methods to improve wizards' qualifications, and her mastery of the soul, if not exceptionally high, was at least above that of a typical level three elemental wizard.

Link, who minored in a course on spiritual wizardry, is not a complete novice when it comes to matters of the soul.

With the two of them working together, they managed to cut off the tiny bit of the shadowy serpent part of the fetus's soul, which wasn't too difficult.

Next comes the handling of the fetus's physical body.

The Shadow Serpent's genetic traits are quite strong.

Even when a fetus is only three months old, it has already begun to show a tendency to develop deformities.

Link and the wizard Celine extracted some biological tissues from the fetus and rapidly cultivated, studied, and experimented with them;

Christina's biological tissue was extracted and used for the same project;

They also purchased a Shadow Serpent through special channels as a control group.

After much effort and many setbacks, they finally managed to create a highly targeted potion.

They successfully transformed the Shadow Serpent race's abilities, which were already five months old in Christina's womb, from a soul-level sorcery-like ability into a fairy-like innate talent, and integrated it into the fetus's body.

After that, it mainly came down to Christina's business.

She had to carefully nurture the fetus, helping the innocent soul of the fetus adapt to the overly strong physical body and struggle to survive.

Link and the wizard Celine's main task at this stage was to use various methods to ensure the safety of the mother and daughter.

Referring to the cultivation methods of mechanical wizards and incorporating some techniques of true spirit wizards, they designed a special method suitable for fetuses whose souls and bodies are seemingly separated yet connected, almost like lotus roots still attached.

This method was initially operated by Christina, and then passed on to her once the fetus had developed a certain level of intelligence.

Through extensive research, both Link and the wizard Celine made good progress.

By drawing inferences from similar cases, the witch Celine discovered the unknown influencing factors in the "Bone-Spitting Worm" project and, after refining the project, restarted the live experiments.

The experimental materials, referencing Link's approach, consisted of low-level thugs from the West Side.

Two rounds have been conducted, and the process and results are all under control and have not exceeded expectations.

We will follow up for a few more years to confirm that no other problems will arise with the live experimental materials.

This "Bone-Eating Worm" program to enhance wizard aptitude can serve as one of the core competitive advantages of the Paro Sages faction.

It can give loyal but not highly skilled members of the wizarding lineage a hope for continuous improvement.

The gloom that had been hanging over Jasmine's head has finally dissipated by more than half.

Just keep checking regularly, just in case.

No more living in fear or anxiety, worrying that something terrible might happen at any moment.

Link further enhanced the effects of the "Fairy" potion.

Even though it's still not as good as Celine's "Bone-Spitting Worm" solution, it's good enough.

In addition, Link combined the characteristics of Shadow City's cross-species transplantation with the original fairy biochemical modification and enhancement program to develop two new potions.

The first potion is called "Empowerment," and its effect is to grant the racial abilities of extraordinary beings to humans with wizarding potential, creating superpowers similar to the innate abilities of fairies.

In other words, the "empowering" potion is essentially the wizard's version of "gene fluid".

The drawback of this potion is that it consumes some of the recipient's potential, limiting their potential for growth.

It is suitable for quickly developing henchmen and cannon fodder, but not for cultivating loyal subordinates.

The second potion, named "Sublimation," completely eliminates all the flaws and side effects of the original fairy biochemical modification and enhancement scheme, and can enhance the fairy's innate abilities without damage and with a significant increase.

It will neither change the fairy's appearance nor affect the fairy's mind.

After examining the various data of the "Sublimation" potion, the sorceress Celine immediately sent the test report to the sage Paro.

The Fairy World is the first world of servants recruited by the Paro Sage Legion.

In the future, as the Sage Paro conquers the heavens, he will continuously recruit servants and soldiers from the fairy world.

There is no need to purchase or lease from the college.

If the quality of soldiers can be improved from the root, it will have many benefits for the army's campaigns.

The Sage Paro reacted very decisively.

He directly bought out all rights to the "Sublimation" potion and all original data in the name of the Legion.

Unfortunately, the Sage Paro did not give Link the magic stone.

Instead, they used a World Core taken from the depleted world as payment.

If it weren't for the "small world's" strong desire for the world's core, Link would have had to make Sage Paro pay some magic stones.

He's using magic stones more and more these days.

Cultivating loyal subordinates, represented by the "freedom to do anything" type, requires magic stones;

Cultivating a "small world" requires a lot of resources, especially magic stones;

You still need to save up magic stones and spend money to draw cards.

Link even had a vague premonition that he would need to save up more magic stones in the future to buy a few more villas and find some peace and quiet.

Iris finished her internship and returned home, which was four months before Jasmine went out for her internship.

The two of them were entangled together all day long, sometimes kissing and cuddling, sometimes bickering and fighting.

Link was caught in the middle, and he was completely overwhelmed!

Unfortunately, Link had absolutely no romantic feelings for Iris.

They clearly wanted to avoid it, but they could never escape it.

Iris kept pursuing Link, but there wasn't much romantic feeling between them.

More than anything, it's about seeking solace.

In the vast universe and among the countless people, finding even half a fellow human is an extremely difficult thing.

People who have been lonely for a long time crave companionship.

Once you find it, you won't want to let go.

The "small world" absorbed the core of the world and advanced one-third of its third-phase cultivation progress.

Seeing this result, Link felt that he still needed to develop more drugs.

He squeezed the pockets of the other wizards to feed his bloated "little world".

Besides Jasmine completing the first phase of her advanced studies and going on an internship, the "Brothers Group" and the "Social Anxiety Group" also underwent changes.

They were promoted to full wizards one after another and arrived at the advanced academy ahead of schedule.

There was another piece of news that surprised Link quite a bit: Lanny Taylor had disappeared.

No one knows where she went, but the college never announced her death.

Link had asked Celine the wizard and Cody the wizard, who was already undergoing a metamorphosis, about this issue.

Both of them remained tight-lipped and did not give Link a direct answer.

This made Link secretly take notice.

Summer passes and autumn comes.

Another fall semester is about to begin.

Link officially ended his advanced studies at the Advanced Academy, declined the academy's offer of a teaching position and the position of assistant researcher, and prepared to focus on managing the Grand Pharmacy for a period of time.

Earn more magic stones.

That day, Link was in the laboratory on the second floor of the pharmacy, finalizing the flavor profile for the tea beverage series.

Suddenly, Christina sent a message saying that her water had broken.

Link quickly put down his work and drove the Phantom Coupe toward Christina's residence while notifying the wizard Celine.

After Link picked up Christina and returned to the villa in the North District, the wizard Celine had already made preparations for the delivery.

The witches never had cesarean sections; all their births were natural.

Moreover, the process is not difficult.

After all, given a wizard's physique, it's almost impossible for him to experience an accident like massive bleeding.

The only potential problem is that during the witch's childbirth process, her brain subconsciously mobilizes more life force to protect her body.

Neglecting the supply of nutrients to the fetus can lead to congenital defects in the fetus.

What the witch Celine had to do was to provide enough life force from the outside world to support the fetuses that were struggling to cross the life channel to come into the world.

Link and the others stood outside the laboratory, their expressions still quite tense.

After six months of hard work, whether they can bring Celine's research on creating humans to a satisfactory conclusion depends on now.

Not long after, Link heard a loud cry.

That was the first cry of life, announcing the arrival of a newborn to the world.

After waiting patiently for a while, Christina, having cleaned herself, carried the swaddled baby and followed Celine the wizard out of the laboratory.

Link leaned over and saw that the baby's skin was wrinkled and its hair was sparse.

It's humanoid; nothing unexpected happened.

The only remnant of the Shadow Serpent bloodline is its pair of serpent eyes, which are quite similar to Christina's.

Successfully conceived a baby!

"Good."

Link said earnestly to Christina, "When you get back, you must continue to use that method to protect your daughter's soul."

Christina nodded, then bowed to Link and the wizard Celine to express her gratitude.

The serpentine black smoke outlined the shape of the characters.

"Thanks!"

Link accepted the bow readily and reminded him:

"You can't stop taking your medicine."

(End of this chapter)