Shattered

Hugo leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees, and fixed his gaze on Aria. 

"I want you to help me perfect a formula," he began in a calm but serious tone. "A formula that could change everything." 

Aria maintained her neutral expression while María swallowed hard. 

"I've been researching how vampires use blood to regenerate. It's an amazing process, somewhat similar to what we do with mana, but taken to a completely different level." 

María looked at him wide-eyed, absorbing the magnitude of what Hugo was saying. 

Normally, mana with a spell was capable of healing wounds, and even then, there was a limit to what could be done, but what could go beyond was the power used by the priests in the churches, which they called sacred power capable of performing miracles. 

Still, the previous two options were far from reaching the healing factor that Elizabeth had shown in her battle against the griffins. 

"Vampires not only use blood to heal their wounds, but they also use it to extend their lives indefinitely," Hugo continued, this time with some enthusiasm. "What I want is to mimic that. To modify the mana rings in mages so that they can, in theory, replicate the immortality of vampires." 

María felt a chill run down her spine. 

Certainly, immortality was something that caught her attention, and every time she read about it in a book, she couldn't help but feel a certain envy. 

Having all the time in the world to explore any place was... wonderful. 

All the things she could do or achieve... 

'Is this old man really not joking?' María wondered as she watched Hugo with some doubt. 

"I need someone with your memory and problem-solving skills," Hugo explained, his eyes shining with a certain light as he looked at Aria. "I want you to help me identify the variables, to perfect the formula so that the rings can not only regenerate but also maintain the stability of the human body, as vampires do with blood." 

Aria listened attentively, showing no emotion on her face. 

For her, the proposal did not seem incredible or impossible; it was simply another problem to solve. 

"What do I need to read?" Aria asked dryly with a sharp and direct voice. 

Hugo let out a small laugh, pleased with Aria's response. 

"I love your attitude," he said as he stood up and headed to a nearby shelf. 

Hugo pulled out a thick, ancient book with a cover worn by time and handed it to Aria. 

"Start here. I need you to study the basic principles of blood alchemy and how they could be applied to mana rings. There are many theories we need to test, and I believe you could help me see things that others have overlooked." 

María continued to watch the scene, still in shock. 

All of this seemed surreal to her. 

Hugo was talking about altering the very nature of mages and humanity, and he was doing it with the help of a little girl. 

Aria took the book with a serenity that did not match her age, running her fingers over the cover as if she were already planning how to absorb all the information. 

"Alright," Aria simply said, as if she had accepted yet another challenge. 

Hugo smiled, satisfied. 

"We will work on this together, and who knows, Aria... maybe we'll find something no one has seen before." 

And as Hugo made that statement, María realized something. 

While that statement was worthy of a drunk at a family dinner... 

In this mansion, apart from the stone golems and griffins, there were quite peculiar entities. 

First... her companion, if she could still call her that, was a vampire with great combat skills, but her personality was... 

'Ugh...' was what María thought as she remembered all the murderous glances Elizabeth had given her while on the other hand with Aria... 

She was overly submissive! 

How could someone go from being a complete killer to a girl waiting for approval from a child? 

And what most unnerved María was Esmeria, or whatever she was. Since she saw firsthand her ability to spy on them from the shadows... it meant that her privacy when going to the bathroom had officially become public domain, except for these two days, but now with this officialization of this research... 

How much longer would she be in this mansion surrounded by that old man along with all these crazies? 

Even though María smiled outwardly as Hugo and Aria worked, inside she was shattered. 

Whether they managed to create that immortality or not, right now she wanted to go back to asking for her paid vacation.