Chapter 1297: Observing Advancement, Sacrifice, and Inheritance

Xia Duo had been to the second basement level once before; the previous route might have been a bit winding, and he was not very familiar with it, but once he reached the second basement level, he was no stranger to the destination, Laboratory 001.

Laboratory 001 and Laboratory 003, which he had visited before, were in the same area of the second basement level, not far apart; it would not be an exaggeration to call them neighbors.

Soon, Xia Duo and Luo Zi arrived at their destination and met an Assistant Researcher responsible for reception at the laboratory entrance.

Seeing that two people had come, the Assistant Researcher was clearly stunned for a moment, a flash of surprise crossing their eyes, but as if thinking of something, they ultimately said nothing and just led Xia Duo and the other into the laboratory.

"The two of you, follow me!"

Xia Duo followed behind the guide, his gaze constantly roaming the surroundings; although this laboratory was numbered "001," the area it occupied was far inferior to not only "Laboratory 003" but even "Maikade" laboratory.

It looked like this place was prepared specifically for advancement.

Xia Duo remembered that the advancement laboratories in the Tower of Time were even smaller than this, but the Tower of Time had a total of six advancement laboratories that could be used in rotation.

Aiboke had used the last intact advancement laboratory at that time; if he had failed to advance then, it would have been difficult for the Tower of Time to produce any more Arcanists later on.

Only Arcanists could repair advancement laboratories; if a tower had no Arcanist of its own, the laboratory could not be repaired, and one would have to go to another Mage Tower to organize an advancement, the difficulty of which could be imagined.

That Xia Duo was able to complete his advancement at the Tower of Time also had a bit of luck involved.

Soon, the three of them entered the main body of the laboratory, a room of nearly twenty square meters.

"The two of you wait here, the Dean will be here soon!"

After saying this, the Assistant Researcher responsible for reception offered no further explanation and left the room directly, leaving only Xia Duo and Luo Zi in the room.

The two of them looked at each other, seemingly surprised as to why the advancement of a mere ordinary Assistant Researcher would involve the Dean!

The Dean was a Great Arcanist, there was no doubt about that; how could such a big shot care about the advancement of a small fry?

Xia Duo suspected that Luo Zi might be the child of Dean Bernie; after all, among the Empire Remnants, everyone who could not become an Official Mage before adulthood was required to have two children.

"Maikade" had two children, though Xia Duo had not yet met them.

Why couldn't Luo Zi be Dean Bernie's child?

While unobtrusively scrutinizing Luo Zi's appearance, Xia Duo tentatively asked, "Luo Zi, you—"

Perhaps guessing something, or perhaps being particularly sensitive to strange looks, Luo Zi hurriedly took a step back and waved his hands repeatedly, "Don't overthink it, I have no relationship with Dean Bernie whatsoever; I haven't even met the Dean in person!"

"Cough—"

Xia Duo also felt that such speculation was too baseless; in fact, among the Empire Remnants, including the past Imperial era, parent-child relationships hardly existed; they were more often colleagues, superiors and subordinates, or teacher-student relationships.

After all, everyone's own origin, as well as the origin of their children, was not under their own control, and raising them was not their own responsibility; it was hard to say there was any deep affection between parent and child.

He asked Luo Zi again: "Then what about others' advancements? Did the Dean show up?"

"I don't know, perhaps the Dean showed up for them too, but they never mentioned it, or it didn't reach me."

Hearing this answer, Xia Duo fell silent, but this matter was not important, as long as it did not affect the observation that was to follow.

And Luo Zi stopped talking as well, and the two of them just waited quietly like that.

It was unknown how much time had passed when Dean Bernie, with graying hair and a kind face, walked in from outside.

Xia Duo and his companion hurriedly stepped forward to salute, but Dean Bernie just waved his hand and asked, "Who is Luo Zi?"

This question completely overturned Xia Duo's previous speculation; Dean Bernie couldn't even tell who he and Luo Zi were, so how could he have come specifically for Luo Zi!

As for Luo Zi, he was stunned for a moment, but he quickly reacted and answered rapidly: "Dean, I am Luo Zi."

Although he had said earlier that he had nothing to do with Dean Bernie, seeing now that Dean Bernie might not have even seen his Magic Image, he still felt a sense of inexplicable disappointment.

"Is everything ready?" Dean Bernie asked again.

"Uh, everything is ready."

The business-like manner once again made Luo Zi completely give up hope; fortunately, he hadn't had such thoughts before, it was just a fleeting notion from a moment ago that had made him lose his way, and it wasn't too late to wake up now.

If he had really been wishful thinking and made a fool of himself, it would have been very hard to clean up.

Hearing Luo Zi say he was ready, Bernie immediately unfolded his Arcane Fire; the originally curled and retracted Micro Magic Net was opened layer by layer, rapidly covering every corner of the laboratory.

Such an obvious change naturally could not be hidden from Xia Duo and Luo Zi; one was a High Mage about to advance, and the other was a Senior Arcanist from the Main Plane, both having a relatively sufficient understanding of Arcane Fire.

But in this current situation?

Luo Zi was quite confused, but Xia Duo had a very bold guess in his heart; if this guess came true, it would directly raise his evaluation of Netheril Magic.

Looking at Dean Bernie's calm and solemn figure, Xia Duo gained a bit more confidence in this guess!

Next, Dean Bernie activated some kind of auxiliary facility within the laboratory and then said to Luo Zi: "You may begin, create your own Arcane Fire!"

But Luo Zi hesitated at this moment; the Magic Net environment in the laboratory, except for the first layer, had all been replaced by Dean Bernie's Micro Magic Net—was he supposed to tear apart the Dean's Magic Net to create his own Arcane Fire?

Facing this situation, how could he not hesitate?

Seeing that the advancement environment was ready but the person advancing was completely motionless, Bernie could not help but frown.

But he also knew that anyone would hesitate in this situation; if he really encountered an advancer who didn't hesitate at all, he himself would be the one to hesitate instead.

"As long as one creates Arcane Fire within a Great Magic Net environment, even if one is underground, it is possible to be monitored by Keman, thereby locating the survival base; many survival bases in the past were discovered this way!"

Seeming to recall some unpleasant past, Bernie's expression became dim, and he continued to explain in a deep voice: "Later, someone discovered that creating Arcane Fire within a Great Arcanist's Micro Magic Net environment could highly likely succeed in evading Keman's Scrying.

"And what you don't know is that for this advancement, it is not just me here providing the Magic Net environment; there are three other Great Arcanists simultaneously maintaining the Scrying deception for this area.

"Hurry up, don't waste our efforts!"

Hearing these words, Luo Zi's eyes even turned a bit red; he nodded forcefully, adjusted his state of mind, and then began to cast spells to create Arcane Fire.