Evening.
Locke headed to Sophia the Witch's Magical Creature Breeding Room, where the captured vampire Howard was being held.
Perseus' Eye Lichen required genuine combat testing to produce a detailed report before participating in the academy's Custom Magic Plant competition to secure victory. Otherwise, no matter how impressive the theoretical data might appear, others would still question its validity.
This was where the value of high-grade test subjects became evident.
Having a First-Class Wizard Apprentice from the Blood Curse Court's Black Wizards as his prisoner meant Locke could obtain high-quality combat test data—provided he could persuade him first.
Inside the breeding room, vampire Howard had physically recovered, though his Mana remained depleted, leaving him in a weakened state.
In the darkness, Howard suddenly raised his head, his eyes glowing with dangerous crimson light. "Who's there?"
Upon recognizing the visitor, fear flashed in Howard's eyes. "You... White Wizard!"
"Your Magic Pressure... has improved again. Your progress is alarmingly fast."
Since their last battle, Howard had remained wary of Locke. Now, sensing Locke's significant Mana growth over the past month—far surpassing ordinary First-Class Wizard Apprentices—he felt genuine terror.
While Locke's Mana growth seemed slow compared to his own progress as a Second-Class Wizard Apprentice, this was only because advancing as a First-Class required exponentially more effort for each incremental gain. Compared to typical First-Class apprentices, his monthly improvement—especially after using the Eye Demon Potion—was exceptionally rapid.
Currently, Locke's Mana had reached 462.
To Howard, it seemed Locke transformed dramatically every month.
Locke regarded the vampire coldly. "Howard, I'm giving you a chance. I'll restore you to peak condition and release you from this Restraint Cage. If you escape, consider it your good fortune."
Howard froze, gripping the bars. "White Wizard, have you gone mad? You'd restore me and set me free? After all the trouble you went through to capture me? What game are you playing now?"
Locke smirked but didn't answer. Instead, he ordered the Gray Dwarf attendants accompanying him to wheel Howard's cage out of the breeding room toward his laboratory.
Earlier, Locke had spent an hour mastering a basic 0.3-ring plant magic spell—[Green Moss Shield]. At his current level, grasping such cantrip models was trivial.
Of course, the magic plants typically paired with such spells were low-to-mid tier, meaning this spell model couldn't fully unleash the true potential of his Perseus' Eye Lichen.
This was akin to fitting a small car with a large engine—the small car couldn't harness the full power of the large engine.
By using this spell in combination with Perseus' Eye to deal with the First Class Wizard Apprentice from the Blood Curse Court before him, Locke could fully witness the formidable strength of Perseus' Eye's broad-spectrum Magic Resistance.
The ability to utilize a Magic Plant primarily depended on whether one could graft Mana into it, and the success of Mana grafting hinged on one's own Mana reserves.
For a Magic Plant of Perseus' Eye's caliber, only the Mana of a First Class Wizard Apprentice could control it. Moreover, most First Class Wizard Apprentices required considerable time to learn how to wield a Magic Plant of this level.
However, given Locke's profound Mana reserves, controlling this Perseus' Eye posed little difficulty.
Inside Locke's laboratory, he opened the iron door of the Restraint Cage and tossed Howard a vial of Magical Creature blood.
The Vampire Howard couldn't believe Locke was actually serious.
Trembling with fear, he hesitated for a moment. After waiting thirty seconds and seeing that Locke made no move to stop him, he finally lunged forward frantically, snatched the vial, and downed its contents in one gulp.
The terrifying power of the Vampire Curse transformed the Blood Curse energy, rapidly helping him extract energy from the Magical Creature blood. His physical ailments and original Mana reserves were quickly restored.
A glint of bloodthirsty malice flickered in Vampire Howard's eyes.
Curling his lips into a smirk, Howard sneered, "You'll regret this."
"During my imprisonment, I've replayed every moment of our battle, analyzing the reasons for my defeat. Now, in such a confined space, you have nowhere to hide. My Vampire physique can be utilized to its fullest potential."
Ignoring him, Locke activated the recording function of the True Sight Crystal in his palm and spoke into it: "This is the first battle between Perseus' Eye Lichen and a First Class Wizard Apprentice—Vampire Baron Howard. Prior to the battle, Vampire Howard's condition has been restored to its peak."
Howard's fury erupted instantly. "So you really are using me as an experiment! White Wizard, you'll regret releasing me."
The next moment, Howard began chanting—the Paralysis Curse.
During his captivity, Howard had reflected deeply and concluded that his capture resulted from failing to fully utilize the Blood Curse Court's Curse Magic system. The Blood Curse Court's strategy was to weaken enemies with curses before overpowering them in close combat with their Vampire physique.
But last time, Howard had relied too heavily on his Vampire Baron's formidable physique and neglected Curse Magic.
Thus, this time, he led with his most familiar spell—the Paralysis Curse.
A streak of crimson light shot from his hand toward Locke as he himself charged forward. Simultaneously, Howard continued chanting, layering four additional curses onto his Blood Claw—
Blood Curse, Thousand Blades Curse, Consciousness Split Curse, and Coma Curse.
These four curses, combined with the Paralysis Curse, formed a linked effect, merging into a far more potent composite curse.
Clearly, this was a trump card Howard hadn't had the chance to unleash before.
The Blood Claw struck at Locke with a resounding "bang," smashing against a circular shield of Magic Plant lichen that shimmered like emerald before him.
In the next moment, the eye-like pattern at the center of the Emerald Lichen lit up, its Curse energy swirling across the surface of Perseus' Eye Lichen, producing violent clashing sounds.
The tearing noise grew louder and more intense.
Sparks erupted from the surface of the lichen shield as energies clashed.
Howard was utterly shocked. He stared at the Magic Plant shield that had blocked his Blood Claw, now entwined with his composite Curse—his trump card. "You didn't have this last time... What is this? Why can't my Curse even penetrate it? I—"
Before he could react, under the guidance of Locke's Green Moss Shield cantrip model, the eye pattern at the center of Perseus' Eye Lichen flashed with an emerald light, shooting straight toward Howard's eyes.
"Ah—my Curse was reflected!" Howard barely had time to dodge before the rebounding emerald light obliterated his vision.
At the same time, the purifying Magic Resistance energy, which had completely reflected his composite Curse, surged into his Mana reserves, cleansing away a significant portion of the Mana he had painstakingly recovered.
He was sent flying, crashing into the laboratory wall, his entire body steaming as he writhed and howled on the ground.
The composite Curse he had unleashed earlier was his strongest trump card, yet Locke had used Perseus' Eye to reflect it back.
The resulting purifying energy rampaged through his soul, instantly robbing him of his combat ability and leaving him powerless to continue the fight.
Howard couldn't believe it—just over a month ago, he had been able to fight Locke on equal footing. Now, in a single exchange, Locke had crippled him!
Locke observed the scene with a nod before turning to the scrying crystal and declaring, "Vampire Baron, First Class Wizard Apprentice Howard's Curse was perfectly reflected by Perseus' Eye. Moreover, the rebounding purifying energy deals additional damage to a Vampire's Undead Body."
Locke glanced at the now charred surface of Perseus' Eye.
"Conclusion: Even when powered by a 0.3-ring Spell, Perseus' Eye retains the ability to reflect the Curses of inexperienced Curse casters. Additionally, the reflected energy can inflict fatal damage to a Vampire's Undead Body."
"Dispelling Magic and Holy Magic deal doubled damage to Vampires. The magic reflection of Perseus' Eye operates on a similar principle."
"However, Perseus' Eye itself is severely damaged and likely only has one or two uses left. If an enemy is familiar with its properties, they may exploit this weakness to destroy it."
"Yet, if we develop Spells specifically designed to synergize with Perseus' Eye Lichen—such as 0.5-ring or 0.8-ring variants—it may be possible to reflect the Curse Magic of senior First Class Wizard Apprentices from the Blood Curse Court while extending the shield's durability."
"It's estimated that the usage count can be extended to about 15 times, which should be sufficient to handle multiple fierce battles."
As he spoke, Locke thought of Seflin and Hussein. As long as he could develop a spell model compatible with Perseus' Eye, he believed this Magic Plant creation of his could even reflect the Curses from those two Black Wizards.
Locke continued speaking to the crystal ball: "This practical combat proves that even when driven by existing plant-based magic, the Perseus' Eye shield can still play a crucial role in battles between First Class Wizard Apprentices."
"Moreover, Perseus' Eye Lichen has extremely strong counter effects against all magic from curse masters, and its magic reflection shows powerful suppression against Vampires and undead creatures."
"The Perseus' Eye Lichen also possesses certain physical defensive capabilities, providing some protection against the blood claws of Vampires."
Locke continued: "This record demonstrates the superiority of Perseus' Eye Lichen in battles against curse masters."
"However, conversely, I believe Perseus' Eye has the following flaws: First, Perseus' Eye only targets Curse Magic. If the enemy isn't a curse master, then Perseus' Eye would be useless."
"Second, the protective range of Perseus' Eye is limited, requiring the user to have certain operational skills."
Locke turned off the True Vision Crystal and evaluated objectively. "If I write another related combat data report, I should be able to complete my third B-grade paper. The dwarf scholar Ol was right - capturing a Vampire means I can produce numerous related papers."
Locke locked the nearly unconscious Howard back into the Restraint Cage, then ordered the Gray Dwarf servants to push him back to Wizard Sophia's cultivation chamber.
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