Seeing this situation, the kobolds in the other containment cells shrank back, as though they wanted to put as much distance as possible between themselves and the devil that was Leylin.
"The other test subjects are still acceptable!"
Leylin looked at the fear in their eyes and nodded.
Fear meant intelligence, which in turn meant they still had value worth preserving.
These kobolds were, naturally, Tarna's handiwork.
After receiving Leylin's orders, she had not only collected a large quantity of high-grade kobold warlock bloodline essences, but had also somehow procured a batch of kobold prisoners and sent them to Leylin.
Leylin, who happened to be in the midst of conducting bloodline experiments for the Quicksand organisation, had naturally accepted these gifts without the slightest hesitation, using the kobolds to test out his experimental theories.
From the looks of it, the results were rather promising.
Leylin swept his gaze over the kobolds in the other containment cells. Their frames generally exceeded two metres tall, their muscles knotted and bulging, their scales far denser, and even the horns atop their heads had grown noticeably thicker.
"I never expected that the rumours about kobolds carrying dragon bloodlines would actually be true…"
Leylin retrieved a vial of golden blood from his leather pouch.
The moment the vial was produced, a tremendous aura of majesty descended without warning. Even the most cowering kobolds, crouched in the corners of their containment cells with their heads buried in their arms, raised their heads to stare at the test tube in Leylin's hand, undisguised longing burning in their eyes.
"The bloodline essence of an ancient red dragon!"
Leylin sighed. If he were willing to part with this ancient bloodline, combined with the high-grade Meditation Method he had obtained from the underground world — the Dragon King's Divine Power — he could probably transform any kobold present into a terrifying progenitor of draconic-bloodline warlocks in an instant!
However, until he had developed more robust methods of constraint, doing so would only invite trouble, and Leylin had no desire for that.
Although his own bloodline had already been set, the ancient bloodline experiments of the Quicksand organisation had still provided him with considerable inspiration.
The method of burning other ancient bloodlines to enhance one's own strength, for instance, had greatly interested Leylin, and he had been researching in that direction ever since.
After confirming that the previous excess energy consumption had been entirely caused by that maddened kobold, Leylin left the area and made his way to the magic testing zone.
Having gone through a period of metamorphosis, he urgently needed to gain more complete control over his powers.
The magic testing zone of the Wizard Tower was constructed from the most durable alloys, equipped with specialised counters and experimental targets, its reinforcement sufficient to meet the demands of any tier-three spell or below.
"First, the tier-one innate ability — Comorin Scales!"
Fine black scales covered every inch of Leylin's body. The Comorin Scales at this moment appeared subtly different from before — numerous patterns had combined to form complete sigils, and a film of light now coated the surface of the scales, connecting them all together to form a second layer of defence.
This was the advantage of innate abilities. When a Wizard advanced to a higher rank, their innate abilities would also be enhanced, displaying power that was in no way inferior to that of high-tier spells.
The same was true for a Warlock's bloodline magic. The stronger the bloodline, the more formidable the boost granted to the innate ability.
"Test begin!" The Tower Spirit hovered beside Leylin.
Ever since gaining the Tower Spirit, tasks that the Chip would have handled were now shared with it instead. The surplus computational power was all stacked together by Leylin, channeled into far more important tasks.
Dazzling elemental light shimmered as countless particles emerged, then coalesced into attacks.
First came the most common earth, fire, wind, and water attacks, followed by special particles of light, darkness, and the like. Finally, it was the composite attacks of numerous warlock spells.
Lightning, hailstones, wind blades, and fireballs exploded against Leylin in succession, each wave growing more powerful than the last.
Hummm! A dark radiance flowed across the Scales of the Giant Kemoyin Serpent, and astonishingly, all those terrifying warlock spell attacks were deflected away.
The violent barrage of energy particles continued for over ten minutes before the Tower Spirit's voice rang out once more: "Spell resistance test complete! Physical defense experiment begin!"
Crack! Crack!
The instant the words left its mouth, all the warlock spell attacks vanished. Several hatches split open in the ground, and Adamantine Golems wielding massive steel swords, axes, and heavy hammers emerged, launching their assault on Leylin.
Rumble!
The tremors persisted for nearly half an hour before finally coming to an end.
The Tower Spirit flapped its translucent wings and came before Leylin to report: "Scales of the Giant Kemoyin Serpent defense test complete!"
As it spoke, it projected a display screen, showing the measured values.
"Scales of the Giant Kemoyin Serpent. Innate spell of the Giant Kemoyin Serpent Warlock (Enhancement: Tier 3). Spell Resistance: 160 degrees. Physical Defense: 175 degrees…"
"With this level of defense, most second-tier warlock spell attacks would probably be completely nullified!"
Leylin nodded, thoroughly satisfied.