Chapter 37: 37:Hypothesis

“How are the reactions?”

I asked Luna who was checking the vitals.

“He’s stable.”

I nodded. I continued to carefully dismantle the parts I wanted. A minor error may impact my results.

“Will it work, young master Lucian? This is only theoretical and it might just cause worse damage than you anticipated.”

Professor Gilbert, beside me, said while looking at the thesis I had written. This had been my presentation for the class during our monthly research presentations but it had been nothing but hypothetical.

This would be my very first attempt at bringing it to life. I was excited to see the results come to life.

“Have I ever been wrong. I came up with the theory after intense study of the brain, emotions, and triggers that should be disrupted or changed.”

The professor nodded his eyes shining.

“Are you going to engrave spells on those parts like the others i see you didn’t include that during your presentation. The class might be curious as well.”

I shook my head. When I presented, most of them had been looking at me weirdly, but it wasn’t my place to make them understand. The theory was pretty straightforward.

We were all alchemists and alchemy thrives on curiosity, inventing, and improving. I did find some of their presentation useful, which is how I came up with my theory.

“Engraving spells means I’m taking full control of the slave, but I don’t need to control them since they will be useless anyway after the experiment is over.”

The professor’s eyes widened in shock. Luna passed me a small forcep, which I used to separate the thin tissue on the brain.

This procedure was more delicate than the others. It requires me to just take away tiny parts of the brain, little by little, in designated parts.

“Will you really be able to induce madness just by removing those parts? It sounds a bit whimsical to be able to induce madness artificially. This is something that happens naturally or needs an external stimulus”

The professor adjusted the flea glass as he peered at the microscopic parts of the brain I had removed.

It was normal that he was unable to understand some of the theories and parts i was removing most alchemists do not study the brain as much.

The brain basically runs the whole body’s functions. Just like on Earth, they had managed to replace the heart, but the brain was still a mystery. Something to be fascinated by but not touched.

But coming to this world it made it easier to understand this very organ that runs our entire being. Without the brain, even if one manages to remain alive with magic or something else, they will basically be useless.

“Yes, but I’m not very sure they will go mad or just lose a piece of their memory or function. It’s worth a try. I will do this as many times as possible until my theory comes to life.”

“I like your dedication.”

“That is what keeps my drive to reach immortality going, even the strongest join history books.”

The professor burst out laughing. I had explained to him the reason for taking alchemy was to find a way to break through the limit placed on the human body, and alchemy was the best way to improve and develop the body.

The strongest magicians have reached the twenty-fourth star, but where are they? Only fables of their achievement are left for the next generations to marvel at while they discover and rob their corpses.

“I do hope you will find your way and elevate alchemy as a magic branch.”

I nodded.

I placed the last piece of brain on the small tray and turned to Luna.

“Stitch it up.”

She nodded and quickly stitched and healed him. The man had been strapped to the bed since the experiment I was doing was new, and I didn’t want them to jump off the bed.

“Inject the serum.”

Luna took a small bottle from her pocket and pulled the blue liquid inside into the syringe.

“What’s that?”

The professor asked curiously.

“It’s something that would wake him up faster, it counters the anesthesia in the body and shocks the brain into waking up.”

I explained. The professor picked the empty bottle and raised it to the light.

“Won’t that induce a coma or make him brain dead?”

I shook my head.

“No it won’t. It’s a stimulus of some sort, just meant to wake him up. To put it simply its an antidote for the anaesthesia. I used more than usual since I wasn’t sure how long it would take.”

“Ooh, that is quite genius, young master.”

I accepted his praise wholeheartedly.

“But in your theory, you said the patient has to be awake when you remove the brain parts since it creates a better traumatic experience and shock.”

The professor questioned thoughtfully. He was right, but I had two hypotheses, the unconscious one was the first trial before the other one.”

“Ooh, yes, that is true, but this is more of a practice. A conscious person will have their brain fully functional. I need to be absolutely sure which part should be removed and the quantity before I can move on.”

“Ooh i get. It’s like how you said, trying experiments on mice before moving to the actual research subject. ”

“Yes, that is how it is.”

” Master, he’s waking up.”

Luna’s voice got me out of our discussions. Most of the time, I felt like the teacher during our dynamics, but still, the professor did provide enough assistance and ideas.

I leaned over and opened the man’s moving eyelids and shone a small light crystal on the moving pupils.

“His eyes are blank.”

I said letting his eyelids close back down.

“I think this might be a fai…..”

The man jolted awake his eyes still blank but moving around frantically. He tried to sit up but the straps holding him down did not allow that.

He opened his mouth and screamed before he went quiet abruptly and started to mumble to himself while he struggled against the straps that had started to cut through him.

Blood started to flow from his wounds, but he didn’t seem to notice; he continued to rub against the straps.

“Hello.”

I said calmly. He turned to me but his blank eyes didn’t seem to register me. He only continued to mumble things I couldn’t understand to himself.

“Is he blind?”

The professor asked.

“I don’t think so.”

I shone my small light over his eyes and he went silent as he followed the light from the torch. The moment I turned it off, he would start struggling and mumble nothing to himself.

I burst into manic laughter.

“Luna it worked, on the first…”

“Master, he’s bleeding!”

Luna’s voice cut me off from my jubilation. Turned around to see the slave had started to bleed heavily from his mouth, ears, nose, and eyes.

My eyes widened in shock.

“No… no… no… Luna open the straps, he’s only been alive for a few minutes, that’s too little time…non…”

I shouted at luna who pulled the straps separating them from the bed.

I turned the man to the side to prevent him from choking on his own blood and turned to Luna.

“Shock him.”

A small purple spell circle appeared on Luna’s hand before he placed it on the man’s chest, sending a small bolt of lightning into him.

I could feel it conducting into my body but it was useless on me. It didn’t hurt me. The slave’s body jolted, but nothing happened; his pulse slowly came to a stop.

I let the body go, and it fell back on the metal bed, his body already starting to get cold.

“Tsk! Useless. ”

I clicked in disappointment. I thought I had gotten it on the first try, but failure during experiments was to be expected.

“He did show signs of madness but it overwhelmed his body.”

The professor said thoughtfully.

“Yes, there has to be something I did in excess. But the level of madness wasn’t as satisfactory as I had hoped. It’s only the first trial.”

I agreed with the professor. It can get frustrating, but it’s not the way of life.

“Luna?”

“Yes, master..”

I run my hand through my hair.

“This was a failure, “I sighed, “prepare the next slave.”

Luna walked a few steps to the next bed where another slave had been tied to. She had unfortunately witnessed everything that had happened.

I had anticipated the death since my experiments aren’t perfect. Its a learning process that will always involve failure.

I wanted to see if extreme fear would just make it better. I wasn’t satisfied with the level of madness the first slave had shown.

It was passable at best but not good enough. Maybe if the other slaves experience extreme fear i might just get better results and level.

“Master, she’s ready.”

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