Wrinkles on Shaan’s forehead deepened as he watched Dr. Marshal pull out one book after another from the shelf inside his house. Honestly, Dr. Marshal had already taken out almost half of the books from his cabinet, yet he didn’t stop and kept pulling more without a pause. Damn it, what’s he actually looking for?
’I already offered to help him, but Dr. Marshal refused because he didn’t want to trouble me,’ Shaan said while shaking his head. ’And honestly, I can’t understand what’s going through his mind.’
"It should be around here somewhere," said Dr. Marshall, continuing to pull books from his shelf. "If I remember correctly, it’s in... Ah, here it is. This is what I need."
Dr. Marshall then pulled one of the books from among the others until he finally got it. It was a thin book (perhaps only about 30-50 pages) with a brown leather cover with black stains on the surface.
’No wonder Dr. Marshal had a hard time finding it; nearly every other book on the shelf looked much thicker than the one in his hand.’
Without wasting any time, Dr. Marshal rushed to the nearest table and flipped through the pages as fast as he could. His eyes moved quickly, scanning the contents, clearly searching for something inside. Strange... What exactly is Dr. Marshal trying to find?
"Dr. Marshall, what exactly are you—"
"Ah, here it is!" Dr. Marshall smiled happily. "The notes on the Metempsychosis procedure," he said enthusiastically. "Thank God it’s still in one piece, and I’m sure we can use this method to solve this problem."
"Metempsychosis. Metempsychosis is the process of transferring a person’s soul from one body to a new body (could be a Homunculus or other artificial vessel) using a specific ritual."
’Jeez, I had no idea there was something in the dark realm.’’
"Wait, wait. So do you mean, you’re going to transfer...?" Shaan paused for a moment. "No, no. That’s impossible. You must be joking, right?"
Dr. Marshal shook his head. "No. I’m not joking at all. It can be done, and if you don’t believe me, I’ll show you," said Dr. Marshal, holding the book and walking out of the living room. "Come on. Follow me."
Shaan quickly followed Dr. Marshal until they finally arrived at the lab. At first, Shaan was quite surprised because there was nothing strange happening in this room, but strangely, Dr. Marshal then walked over to one of his supply cabinets and slowly slid it open a little. Right behind the cabinet, there was a small brown door that had faded in color.
’Wow, I never expected there to be a door behind this cabinet.’
When Dr. Marshal slowly pushed the door open, his face immediately tensed up. For some reason, when he saw the inside of the room, he instantly remembered a scene from a horror movie he had once watched.
Everything looked the same, from the chandelier that lit up the room to the wooden cabinets filled with glass jars containing human organs, to the metal operating table. Not only that, on the table lay a human body on the operating table, surrounded by a collection of sharp objects smeared with red liquid, causing him to swallow hard.
’Holy sh*t, what... what is Dr. Marshal doing in here? Don’t tell me he... he.’ Shaan stood frozen in front of the door, cold sweat slowly forming on his forehead. ’This is bad. I feel like Dr. Marshal is planning to do something bad to me. I’d better keep my distance from him right now.’
"Shaan, what are you doing in front of the door?" asked Dr. Marshal, beginning to remove sharp objects from the operating table. "Why are you still standing there? Just come in."
"Uhm... Dr. Marshal." Shaan scratched his head. "I think I’ll just stay outside and wait here," he said with a dry laugh and walked away. "I don’t know, but... but I don’t think that’s a very good idea for me."
"Huh? I really don’t understand what you’re saying at all."
"Um... I’m just not used to things and of course..." Shaan pointed his index finger at the body lying on the operating table. "You know, I just don’t want to end up like him."
"What—" Dr. Marshal paused for a moment and then burst out laughing. "Oh my god, don’t get me wrong. It’s not what you think," he explained. "I’m not a psychopath who likes to kill people."
"B-but how do you explain what’s lying on the table and all the jars containing human organs?"
"Ah, about that. The body you see is a temporary artificial homunculus I made, and the artificial organs you see are artificial organs I made for my Homonculi couriers," explained Dr. Marshal. "Things are necessary for me to make new Homonculi couriers or to simply repair."
’Ah, I get it.’ Shaan let out a deep, long breath. ’It’s good to hear that.’
"Now, I’ll show you what I was talking about earlier."
Dr. Marshal quickly took something from the table that looked like chalk used for writing. He quickly began drawing a mysterious symbol with a moon and a cross in the center.
’Strange, what Dr. Marshal is doing with that strange symbol.’ Shaan scratched his head. ’That’s kinda weird.’
Not only that, Dr. Marshal quickly took one of the cages, which turned out there be a mouse, and placed it in the center of the symbol. He then walked over to one of the small tables there and placed one of his hands on the table. With his other hand, he deftly opened the pages of the book and began to read the strange writing inside.
’What exactly is going to happen?’
Suddenly, the spell symbol that Dr. Marshal had drawn earlier emitted a red light. Strangely, the mouse in the cage immediately stopped moving and fainted. This immediately shocked Shaan, who decided to check on the mouse’s condition more closely. "So, where is—"