Angor listened to Sunders’ summary with wide eyes.
I brought back a new hand AND solved my bloodline problem?
But...
“Did I really?” Angor returned to his body and walked around without feeling anything special. “I can’t find any new abilities...”
When he bent his legs and jumped, his body moved faster than he expected. Before he could crash into the ceiling of Sunders’ study, he managed to halt his momentum by pushing at the ceiling using both hands and landed back down unharmed.
“I think my body is really stronger!” Even though Angor was glad that he finally earned something good, he could not help but wonder why the bloodline fusing came and went away without leaving many traces behind.
“It’s probably because this bloodline went well with your body. It’s possible that it came from your nightmare projection, meaning, yourself, so your body will not reject it. However, as far as I can see... the enhancement isn’t very noticeable.”
Angor chose to accept this conclusion since there wasn’t another explanation for this. He felt uncomfortable when thinking that he just accepted “his own bloodline”. There was no record of such a case in any bloodline-related textbooks.
While Angor gazed at his deformed hand with a doubtful look, Sunders was still trying to figure out what exactly happened to his student. He decided to create a brand new research subject and record everything in his The Mystery of the Nightmare Realm.
Yes... the title shall be “The Origins of Projected Bloodline”.
There wasn’t much to go by since Angor was the only live case they ever knew of, and they surely couldn’t commence “thorough” experiments on Angor, such as cutting him up. For now, Sunders had to observe Angor and indirectly surmise more theories from there.
Such a pity that I did not catch “younger me” at Nether City and extract his bloodline...
There was an alternative to this. Angor once met with the projections of his house servants who appeared in the Nightmare Realm as monsters. Sunders believed that he could capture these monsters. He would then find Angor’s servants and make them into supernaturals so that they could accept the bloodlines from their projections. This way, they could then provide valuable research data.
Although no one knew where to find the said monsters.
Sunders decided to put the subject on hold for now. Perhaps they would run into the projections of other people in the Nightmare Realm later.
He still had some more tests prepared for the boy at this moment.
With that in mind, Sunders created an ice wall in his room. “This is a level-2 cantrip. Try to break it using raw strength.”
Angor woke up from his fantasies and quickly complied. He readied a fist and immediately felt an unknown yet powerful energy stored inside his new hand, which told him that breaking the ice wall should be easy.
The truth also proved so. A simple push and the ice wall instantly shattered.
“Use your left hand and try again.”
Angor’s mouth went agape at the amazing power he just displayed. At the same time, he was anxious as he wielded his new hand like his own. It was as if his brain was convinced that the strange hand always belonged to himself.
Sunders easily noticed Angor’s troubled mind. “Don’t stress yourself out yet. We cannot say whether ‘he’ is really you. And even if I’ve told you so, you will still consider him as a stranger. So don’t waste time worrying about a paradox which does not help with your case.”
Angor slowly nodded as he understood what Sunders meant. He was always Angor, and no matter how the projection was created, the projection would remain as someone else.
“Um, professor, I think you aren’t really interested when you saw my right hand. I mean, it’s as if—”
“As if this strange hand is never a serious matter to me. Is that what you’re trying to say?” Sunders raised an eyebrow.
Angor nodded.
Sunders lifted his own right hand.
Confused, Angor saw a strange shadow slowly covering up the gentleman’s hand and felt his vision go blurry for a brief moment.
When he could see clearly again, Sunders’ right hand had been replaced by a sharp curved blade, while the man’s original hand was nowhere to be seen.
“It’s just a hand. Just so you know, I replaced my own hand using the scythe of a Phantom Mantis. What you normally see on me is just an illusion. Apart from this, I have more foreign organs in other parts of my body, including some very unsightly ones. Do you know why I’m not bothered by your hand now?
“Also, getting a new body part is not the end to it. I can totally cut my right arm off and grow a human arm again. I’m a wizard, and wizards can do many things that you cannot imagine at your current level.”
Sunders’ “scythe” slowly melted and returned to being the perfect hand of a gentleman.
“I believe your right hand holds more secrets and potential waiting to be discovered, and it’s not a bad thing.”
Angor realized that he was still seeing everything with the eyes of a mortal. However, it couldn’t be helped since he had only been in the wizarding world for two years.
And whether it was his body or his mind, he had to train harder so that they could quickly grow stronger.
Even though he had spent two years as an apprentice, it seemed that the time had not helped him break the mental limitations of a mortal, and this thought made him feel defeated.
“Cut the random thoughts. You have ample time to solve your problems. And even if you fail, time will always help you,” Sunders said as he comforted his student. He then continued his test. “Now get to it. Break the ice wall using your left hand.”
Angor decided to put his concerns aside for now. While it was true that the strange hand posed an unknown threat, at the same time, it also provided him with opportunities to learn new knowledge, which was the most precious resource for wizards.
No point worrying about stuff I cannot understand.
Determined, Angor found his confidence returning. He punched at the ice wall created by Sunders using his normal hand.
“Take this!”
Crack!
While the wall remained unharmed, several of Angor’s finger bones were dislocated.
“Aw awawaw...” He blew at his crippled hand with tears in eyes. Apart from pain on the body, he also felt terrible as his hard-earned confidence was destroyed completely.
Instead of caring for the injury of his student, Sunders held his chin while checking the ice wall curiously. “Just as I thought. The physical enhancement isn’t as potent as I thought.”
“You knew this would happen?!”
“Well, I didn’t tell you to use all your strength,” Sunders said as he glanced at Angor. “You did not need much effort when using your right hand, right? Why did you suddenly change your tactic?”
Angor didn’t reply. No excuses.
Earlier, he was trying to vent out the remaining distress after coming around his mental burdens. He wished to punch at the ice wall as hard as he could to show his determination.
But he didn’t expect the wall to be so solid.
Ouch... I guess determination alone can’t help me escape from hard truth.
...
Wizards had established a set of rules for determining how much power one could receive from a certain bloodline. The same bloodline might display different effects or levels of power on different users. This meant that one couldn’t tell the potency of a bloodline just by looking at it. They had to take other factors into consideration.
However, bloodlines were still generally divided into wizard-level bloodlines and apprentice-level bloodlines. There was no argument that wizard-level bloodlines were always stronger.
Sunders was now trying to complete several basic tests so that they would at least know the fundamental properties of Angor’s new bloodline.
However, the final conclusion did not exist, as they failed to find anything which might tell them the details.
Talent abilities? None.
Other physical changes? None.
Residue or traces caused by bloodline fusion? No.
They did know that Angor’s own bloodline had grown stronger compared to before. Previously, Angor’s bloodline was not much different compared to mortal humans. Now, it was no longer the case.
The improvement wasn’t much. Angor’s body still couldn’t compete with common Bloodline apprentices such as Hookdick. However, he was sturdy enough to survive from certain hazardous environments, such as the depth of the Sea of Purification, without using extra help.
“With some proper training, your physical properties will be strong enough for you to hit wizard level” was Sunders’ final conclusion.