Whitestone Ancestral Home

No. 18, Municipal Square Street, Whitestone Ancestral Home.

A cramped, dim room in the basement was sparsely furnished. A faint Oil Lamp was its only light source. Long tables lined the walls, crowded with bottles and jars containing "experimental materials" that made the stomach turn.

In the middle of the room stood a large metal table. A Humanoid Creature lay on it, covered in blood and gore, his eyes tightly shut. Lumps the size of heads covered his body, pulsing like hearts as black-red blood seeped from them.

From his badly swollen face, one could just make out that he was Old White—the man who should have been dead for months!

A man in a purple tailcoat stood before the table, holding a syringe filled with red liquid.

He was Old White's eldest son, Jack White.

Jack held the syringe of red liquid up to the faint Oil Lamp and murmured in a daze, "How wonderful~"

He plunged the syringe into Old White's neck. The red liquid slowly flowed into his body, and something seemed to writhe beneath his skin. The Lumps on his body throbbed rapidly as Old White let out a harsh roar. Black-red pus and blood spilled from his mouth, while bulging veins spread across his face, making him look hideous.

Gradually, the Lumps' pulsing slowed, but cracks had spread across them.

A moment later, some of the Lumps on his body burst apart like smashed watermelons.

Human faces were revealed inside the broken Lumps!

Their eyes were closed, their expressions peaceful.

If Matthew had been there, he would have recognized one of the faces. It belonged to the Night Watchman.

Jack then injected Old White with another dose of the red liquid.

A moment later, Old White opened his eyes. A bloodthirsty red light gleamed in them.

"Go kill my dear younger brother, Rayne White," Jack whispered in Old White's ear. "Then go to 56 Riverside Street and get rid of everyone there."

56 Riverside Street was Chris's Home, where Matthew lived in this world.

At Lady Alsha's Banquet, Lady Alsha had invited Matthew to dance the opening waltz. Jealous Jack had held a grudge over it, so he hired two Dark Wizards to ambush Matthew near Whitestone Manor. He hadn't expected the Wild Wizard who had suddenly appeared to be so powerful; Matthew had killed both hired Dark Wizards.

Fortunately, Old White was still in the experimental stage and couldn't be sent out at will. Otherwise, Jack would have sent him to kill Matthew that night. Old White, who hadn't yet reached his full potential, might have ended up dead at Matthew's hands.

Jack had orchestrated too many disappearances. Link was already investigating the Mining Brotherhood, and it wouldn't be long before he traced the trail back to Jack.

Old White was only one of Jack's experimental subjects. He planned to make him take the fall; the faces on his body would be the perfect evidence.

Jack needed to go underground and buy himself some time. He had other experimental subjects with greater potential than Old White, with plenty of room to grow.

Once he became powerful enough, he could eliminate all the people in his way one by one, and every problem would be solved. Then he would have everything Lady Alsha had!

"To think a dead old wreck could be strengthened to this extent..." Jack thought of the experimental subject he had pinned such high hopes on, and a feverish smile spread across his face. "This is a Divine Miracle!"

After leaving Sir Rayne's home, Matthew maintained the Illusionary Body Spell and headed straight for City Square Street. He planned to take a look at the White Ancestral Home.

Municipal Square lay at the center of Whitestone Town. The houses along this street had all been built when the town was founded, and the White Family was one of its founding families.

The street was hundreds of years old, but its houses were not run-down. The White Ancestral Home was no exception.

The White Ancestral Home was four stories tall and occupied a sizable plot, with a small yard at both the front and back.

When Matthew arrived, he didn't go straight inside.

He cast a Runic Magic spell. An invisible ripple spread from his hand and swept over the White Ancestral Home.

It was a Detection Magic spell that enhanced one's senses. When an ordinary Wizard Apprentice used it, they could only roughly sense a few nearby magical fluctuations. But combined with Matthew's Magic Sense talent, it could detect changes over a wider area and pick up subtler details.

Matthew had traded a batch of potions with Link for several common spells. This Detection Magic spell was one of them.

Hidden Trap Arrays had been set up at the entrance and along the walls of the White Ancestral Home, but not above it.

After surveying the surroundings, Matthew found a house without a Trap Array. He waved his wand and cast a Levitation Charm on his cloak and shoes. With a slight push from his toes, he climbed up the wall.

Once on the roof, he leaped toward the White Ancestral Home, and the Levitation Charm carried him into a glide.

Matthew landed on the balcony on the top floor of the White Ancestral Home and walked straight inside through the balcony entrance.

He had already discovered with Detection Magic that the White Ancestral Home had a basement, where a Wizard Apprentice was present. That should be Jack White. Strangely, though, there also seemed to be some Magic Creatures down there.

"Is Jack White keeping some Magic Creatures in the basement?" Matthew wondered.

He looked around the room. It was a bedroom, and he spotted a family portrait. There were four people in it: a middle-aged couple and two boys around ten years old. He could recognize the younger boy as Sir Rayne when he was a child. From their faces, the others were probably Sir Rayne's father, mother, and older brother.

The bedroom seemed to have been left unattended for some time. A layer of dust coated the floor, cabinets, table, and chairs.

Matthew's footprints stood out clearly, so he waved his wand and cleared away the dust.

He opened the Bedside Cabinet, but it held only some unremarkable odds and ends.

He opened the wardrobe. A few sets of everyday clothes hung inside, and judging by their size, they were more likely to have belonged to the heavyset middle-aged man in the portrait.

"This should be Old White's room." Based on what he had learned before, Old White had been dead for months. Matthew reached his conclusion.

Matthew casually searched through the clothes in the wardrobe, in case he missed anything that might be hidden there.

Anyone who often hid things knew the wardrobe was a good place to stash them.

Matthew's expression shifted. Inside a long formal robe, he found a notebook with a Parchment Cover.

He opened it and took a look. He had indeed found something: Old White's diary.

Matthew skimmed through the diary. Judging by the dates, it covered the last year of Old White's life.

A moment later, Matthew's expression changed. The Protection Spell he had set up at Chris's Home had been triggered!