The entire hall of the Feast of Death was silent. Everyone waited quietly to see what product this experiment would yield—how far it was from the synthesis of life force matter.
This silence was nothing like the hopeless, suffocating quiet that had fallen under
After an indeterminate stretch, just as the crowd's eager anticipation was about to dissolve into murmured discussion, Lucian on the high platform suddenly chuckled and spoke: "Mr. Felipe, you may open the reactor."
Felipe followed the standard procedures for an Arcane Magic experiment, activating various protective and hermetic Alchemy Magic Circles to prevent the product inside from deteriorating due to any lapse, as well as to keep toxic gases and similar hazards from spreading outward.
The reactor opened slowly. Since everyone assumed the contents were merely an intermediate product of the experiment, they were curious but not solemn—there was no holding of breath or any such reactions.
Under magical treatment, the reactor—now restored to room temperature—was lined with many white solid granules tinged slightly with red.
After packing these granules into an Alchemy vessel and sealing it properly, Felipe turned to face Lucian: "Professor, what do we do next?"
"Heh, Mr. Felipe. Aren't you going to inspect those granules?" Lucian replied, amusement in his voice.
Felipe spoke with a mixture of confusion and dawning realization: "Professor, you mean..."
On the high platform, Ceci and the other necromancers were equally puzzled, unable to understand why the Professor wanted Mr. Felipe to examine the granules.
"Mr. Felipe, just as you've guessed—our experiment is finished. Those granules are a substance contained within the human body," Lucian confirmed Felipe's suspicion with calm composure.
"What?!"
"The experiment is over?!"
"Those white granules are life force matter?!"
...
The hall erupted into an uproar, stunned and bewildered.
Felipe's eyes were locked on Lucian, his expression suggesting he was struggling to suppress a flood of emotions. He simply could not accept that an experiment to synthesize life force matter could be so simple, that the result could come so easily.
After a moment, as the necromancers' and apprentices' astonished discussion reached a fever pitch, Felipe finally spoke in a low voice: "Professor, you had better not be playing tricks on me."
Lucian—who had been internally taut, half-expecting Felipe to lash out in disbelief—controlled the tangled mix of tension and relief inside him and answered with the same unhurried composure as before: "Mr. Felipe, inspect the granules and you'll know whether I've been playing tricks. It is exactly what you previously suspected—urea!"
The moment that word, inherited from the ancient Arcane Empire, left his lips, the clamor in the hall receded like a sudden tide, plunging the room into a bewildered, disoriented silence.
"Mr. Felipe, please verify those granules for us," Ceci, Tess, and Sidney all spoke at once, their voices laced with a terror, fear, hope, and anticipation they themselves could scarcely comprehend—as though this were not merely a substance the human body could excrete, but a forbidden thing capable of destroying the entire world.
Having studied ancient necromancy and grown into mid-tier magicians, the theory of human vital force was an incontrovertible truth for them. The very fact that they stood here, possessing the power they did, was proof of its validity. But if it was confirmed that this was urea, their understanding of life and the world would likely come crashing down—and they would begin to question the real reasons behind their own advancement.
Felipe's usually grim face displayed a rare expression of extreme gravity. He walked slowly to the Alchemy vessel, opened it, and cast the first-rank spell "Appraisal" upon the white, faintly reddish granules.
A milky flash of light passed over them. Felipe stood there in silence, eyes fixed on the granules—motionless, wordless, like a stone sculpture.
After waiting for several dozen seconds, Ceci finally could no longer bear the suffocating pressure in his heart and spoke: "Mr. Felipe—is it really urea?"
His voice carried with it nearly a thousand gazes, each filled with desperate hope and dread.
The other necromancers and apprentices dared not utter a word, as though afraid that any sound might disturb Mr. Felipe and cause the result to change for the worse—even though the outcome was already decided.
Felipe seemed not to hear the question. A full minute passed before he spoke, slowly and tersely: "It is indeed urea."
The hall fell deathly silent once more.
Since Felipe had conducted the experiment personally, no one suspected the Professor of any deception. They examined themselves in despair—had all their prior Arcane Magic study, analysis, and countless experiments and rituals been nothing but a dream, now finally shattered by cruel reality?
Felipe suddenly turned his head sharply toward Lucian and said: "Professor, Appraisal can occasionally produce errors. To be thorough, I will conduct various experiments to confirm the properties of these granules, and thereby definitively establish that they are urea."