As night enveloped the Royal Capital, the entire city appeared quiet and peaceful, except for the still bustling Adventurers' Guild, taverns, and inns.
The rhythmic hoofbeats suddenly ceased, and the Dragonblood Carriage came to a steady stop at the manor's entrance.
"Thank you," Climb said as he stepped out of the carriage, respectfully thanking the coachman, as this was an 'Elite Guard' whom even Lord Marc treated with politeness.
Guarding the manor's entrance, besides two sentries, was a captain-level Tiger Knight, whom Climb identified by the special marking on his chest plate.
The captain approached Climb, confirmed his identity, and said indifferently, "Follow me, and remember not to look around."
After speaking, the captain paid little attention to Climb's reaction, turning and walking towards the interior of the manor.
Climb was puzzled, but he could only follow the others' steps now, looking at the manor in the night. It was like a fierce beast opening its bloody maw, making him nervous. This was the place that would change his destiny, and perhaps the end of his life.
At this moment, in the basement of the manor's main house.
It looked like an enlarged wine cellar, with the surrounding walls still made of earth, not covered with stone bricks.
Lock stood on a small stepping stool, wearing a somewhat worn black magic robe, his hood almost covering half his face. In his hand, he held a large ladle, stirring a giant stone pot in front of him.
Strange bones and flesh floated in the stone pot, and the turbid liquid continuously boiled under the intense fire, emitting a peculiar aroma.
Vier, on the side, watched Lock, who was busy, with a smile, showing no intention of helping. This was her master's pleasure, and as an excellent maid, she knew how to leave some private space for her master.
Lock lifted the ladle, looked at the green potion, sniffed it, and nodded in satisfaction.
Lock's Special Dragon Vein Potion!
It took eighty-one special dragon-related materials, combined with special magic, and four whole hours of brewing to obtain it.
Although it was called a potion, it actually had no healing or amplification effects. In a sense, it couldn't even be called a potion; it was purely a special prop material prepared for the upcoming experiment.
Although that golden-haired boy, Climb, was a decent supporting character in the original work, Lock didn't dislike him, but he wouldn't treat him specially because of that.
The reason was that Climb, much like Gazef, was not someone who could truly serve him faithfully, but merely an ordinary person bound by gratitude and a bit of lust.
He had no talent himself, nor was he one of the subordinates Lock had recruited before his rise, like the Tiger Knights. Why should he receive his grace?
Lock was not a philanthropist.
Just recently, he had made some progress in his magic research, and Lock wanted to see how the altered ritual magic would work, so he would use him as a test subject.
As footsteps sounded, Climb appeared in the somewhat gloomy basement through the staircase corner of the entrance.
"Hmm?" Climb looked at the person whose figure was obscured by the black magic robe with some doubt, guessing his identity. On one side was a large pot; on the other was a space where a complex magic circle seemed to have been drawn. Count Lock's personal maid stood at the edge of the magic circle.
"You've arrived," the black-robed man said, then slowly turned around.
Climb was slightly startled. Although he couldn't see half of his face, he identified him as the person he was looking for from the white hair peeking out from under the hood and his voice.
"Uh... Count Lock, why are you dressed like this?"
"It's not important," Lock said indifferently. His finger traced through the air, as if drawing magical incantations. As the magic power surged, the liquid in the large pot seemed to be drawn, flowing towards the magic circle not far away.
The green liquid slowly flowed along the lines of the magic circle, like river water filling a ditch, eventually filling all the patterns.
Suddenly, the magic circle flickered with an alluring red light, looking extremely ominous.
"This..."
Climb took a step back, somewhat frightened. This magic circle, combined with Lock's current attire, reminded him of the evil mages in legends.
Lock paid no attention to Climb's reaction, but instead posed a question, "Boy, I ask you. If the price of becoming stronger is to abandon certain aspects of being human, do you still desire power?"
Climb's expression immediately became serious, and he nodded without hesitation. Since he had come here, he had naturally already made up his mind. Everything was for Princess Lana!
"If that's the case, then walk to the center of that magic circle. It might be a bit painful next, but you must remain conscious until the end of the ritual, understood?" Lock instructed, his face becoming serious, because this ritual had an extremely significant impact on his plans. Collecting as much information as possible would help him perfect this magic.
Climb took a deep breath, then resolutely walked towards the magic circle.
When he reached the very center, Lock took out a jade-green seed from his storage space, then lightly tossed it. The seed immediately flew to the space above the center of the magic circle, and another magic circle unfolded with it as the center.
Lock seized the opportunity, activated the lower magic circle, and his magic power continuously poured into it. In an instant, the entire underground space was filled with red light.
"Ugh!" Climb felt a powerful force pouring into his body from below his feet, causing his blood to boil and churn. An indescribable agony assaulted his brain, almost making him cry out.
He immediately clenched his teeth, unwilling to show his weak side at this moment.
The heat made him completely unable to feel other parts of his body. Climb's eyes gradually turned into the vertical pupils of a dragon or snake, and his exposed neck and arms seemed to be covered in scales, his fingers transforming into sharp claws.
Lock watched the changing Climb, a strange smile playing on his lips, and he couldn't help but wonder if it would be more interesting if he interrupted the magic at this moment, turning this golden-haired boy into a half-dragon, half-lizard state?
But in the end, he didn't do it.
How to put it, Climb was still a kind youth after all. Although he followed the wrong master, there was no need to torment him like this. After all, Lock wasn't a devil!
Long ago, Lock knew one thing: as a human, his base attributes were much weaker than those of a heteromorphic race like Ainz.
Knowing his disadvantage, he naturally had to try every means to change it. If he were to talk about the strongest race, it would naturally be the Dragon Race.
In Yggdrasil, players could not choose the Dragon Race as their race. Even the World Tree Seed, which could transform undead into other races, did not include the Dragon Race among the selectable options.
Interestingly, many game NPCs in Yggdrasil used forbidden magic to transform themselves into dragons.
So Lock often collected relevant magic data, spending time in the other world to replicate a relatively complete Dragon Transformation Ritual, and he had recently completed its final enhancement.
But becoming a dragon was not his main goal.
Having the attribute bonuses of the Dragon Race while maintaining human form, that was the ultimate goal; life would lack a lot of fun.
Discarding distracting thoughts, Lock focused intently on guiding the magic circle's energy to continuously pour into Climb's body. At the critical moment, he immediately activated the World Tree Seed in the upper magic circle, and a green light instantly cascaded down like a waterfall, enveloping Climb.
Within the light, the lizardman-like Climb gradually began to transform back into a human form. The scales disappeared, restoring his original tanned skin, and his sharp claws slowly retracted, returning to his hands.
Finally, his eyes, which were originally blue, turned a light green, but when meeting his gaze, there was a faint sense of oppression that came over one.
When Climb had fully reverted to his human form, Lock immediately retrieved the World Tree Seed, stopping the transformation, lest the attributes attached to him be washed away. At the same time, as his magic power was cut off, the light of the lower magic circle also dimmed, finally disappearing completely.
Climb immediately knelt on the ground, his body completely exhausted, soaked in sweat, and gasping for breath.
Whoosh!
A swift gust of wind sounded in Climb's ear. Completely unprepared, he only saw a shadow flying towards his chest. He could only instinctively cross his arms in front of him to protect himself.
The immense force immediately sent him flying, then he slammed heavily against the basement wall, creating a human-shaped indentation. Climb was embedded in the wall like that.
Looking closely, it was Lock who had attacked him. At this moment, he was slowly lowering his raised left leg.
Climb struggled to crawl out of the wall. As soon as his feet touched the ground, he immediately looked at Lock warily, "Count, what is the meaning of this!?"
"Hmm? Haven't you noticed?" Lock patted his trouser leg, saying nonchalantly, "If it were the old you, you would have broken both arms and bled internally to death from my attack just now. How could you still be standing here talking to me?"
At his reminder, Climb came to his senses, looking at his hands in disbelief.
That's right! An attack of that magnitude would have been enough to kill the old me. That means I've become stronger!
Climb immediately felt immense excitement. Princess, I can protect you now, too.
Lock looked at the golden-haired boy, who couldn't calm down for a moment, and didn't intend to let him stay there and hinder him. He said, "Since it's done, you can leave. Remember your promise to me. If I find that you've violated our agreement, I will personally reclaim the power I bestowed upon you, and your life as well!"
Upon hearing this, Climb's excited emotions were immediately suppressed. He bowed respectfully to Lock and shouted, "Thank you, Count Lock! I will definitely fulfill my promise, protect Her Highness the Princess, and be the first shield for Lord Marc and the others!"
"Hmm," Lock grunted, then waved his hand at Climb.
"Then I shall take my leave!" Climb, understanding his meaning, dared not linger. After saying his goodbyes, he directly left the basement.
At this moment, Vier, who had been observing everything, suddenly asked, "Master, you don't seem very satisfied with the results of the experiment. Was there some flaw?"
Lock merely shook his head, saying in an uncertain tone, "Although the entire process seemed perfect, the result is a bit unsatisfactory. Perhaps Climb's own strength was too weak, preventing the ritual's power from being fully unleashed. All in all, it still needs improvement."
Sighing, his gaze shifted to the magic circle that had just been used. About a third of the magic circle's patterns still appeared green, meaning the dragon vein materials within had not been fully absorbed by Climb.
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