Chapter 38: 38

James watched Adam leave and whispered to himself, "You underestimate me Adam. Now that I've been given a second chance, I will do anything to stay."

From Adam's display of power. James has seen the impossible. He knew that one needs to have a great amount of mental strength to fuel this psychic power, and he was the lead researcher on meditation, so Adam's research would be beneficial for him.

"Better to die trying to become a mage than spend the rest of my life doing nothing."

...

Adam returned to the lab, and the puppet standing guard unsealed the lab for him. He entered the lab and summoned a puppet through the console, since he wanted to remodel the lab. There were too many rooms in James' original lab, which was probably why it was so messy.

Adam didn't need much help either, since he could run multiple systems in the background.

However, Adam needed live subjects.

The alchemy puppet went to retrieve their allocated power stones, and Adam once again saw the nanobots swarming over the lab like a tide -- in mere seconds, Adam's planned renovation was completed in seconds.

If these puppets weren't the property of the Academy, he would have stolen all of them. The ability to change the environment in mere seconds was too fascinating.

The next task was to purchase equipment.

Optical projectors were the most basic lab tools -- however, mental strength amplifiers, supporting devices, energy amplifiers, energy fluctuation detectors, and other instruments were powerful, but costly.

Adam frowned while buying some equipment, noticing that the allocated funds were quickly being used up. Now, he knew why apprentices would duel over mere power stones -- apprentices were poor.

His mind trailed back to the Task Hall, remembering there were dangerous missions that gave huge rewards. Initially, he wasn't interested, but now, he might want to do it.

Now wasn't the time, however. He needs to send his research over to the library. The books at the library weren't made of paper, but light. Adam recorded his research onto the optical projector, then removed the information from the projector. All nineteen sets of runes were stored within the information box, and the library would form 'books' based on the information given.

...

...

The next morning, Frank arrived at the lab as soon as James arrived.

"I'll join the lab," Frank muttered.

Adam wasn't surprised -- it was hard for Frank to reject upon witnessing Adam's display of power.

"I'm honoured, but I do not need an assistant -- I need a test subject. Are you willing to become my test subject?" Adam asked. Neither James or Frank were as knowledgeable as him in this field of research so they had to help provide Adam with data via other methods. James' role is to study how this would affect a normal body, while Frank's role is to study how this would affect a semi-mechanical body.

Both James and Frank were a little embarrassed being ordered around by an apprentice, but agreed, "Yes Mr. Adam, I accept."

Adam nodded, then presented them with their contracts. The contents of the contract were displayed clearly, and the two signed it without looking at it.

"Then, come in," Adam gestured. "James, you can start to build the runes, I'll check how you perform later. Now Frank, come with me."

Frank was interesting thanks to his body, so Adam wanted to begin with him.

"Alright. Today's research is to study if your soul has been altered after you gained this mechanical body."

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Frank simply said, "There aren't any changes. I just can't use magic anymore."

Adam recorded what Frank said, and asked, "Is this similar to the other apprentices with mechanical bodies? Do they have any other methods of using or coming into contact with magic?"

Frank sighed, but restrained himself. Adam lacked common sense since he's just an apprentice, he told himself, and replied, "Yes. Magic gets insulated from our bodies, so we can only become alchemists. However, alchemy requires a lot of resources, so the tower doesn't really pay attention to us."

"And why is that?"

"In the apprenticeship stage, your body is the manifestation of your soul; however a mechanical body causes your soul to deteriorate."

Losing your soul? Adam knew that back on Earth, scientists cannot prove the existence of a soul. If Frank suggested that an incomplete body results in the absence of the soul, then why was he able to retain his thoughts?

Perhaps the brain plays a more important role here.

Adam recorded this question and highlighted it. There might be relevant information in the library, so he wanted to research it while he had time.

"Yesterday you told me that your body brings you pain. How?"

"I may look like one person but I carry two bodies with me. My human body carries out its normal functions, but the mechanical side can't. However, this mechanical side forces itself to adapt to my human body. Watch," Frank said, taking off his clothes. His mechanical body was exposed, and he ripped it out with both hands, separating it from his human body.

This hurt Frank immensely, and sweat formed on his forehead. He gritted his teeth, masking his pain, "That's it."

It was scary watching his human body attempting to heal the wound, only for the mechanical side to continue cutting off the healing. Each blood vessel was connected to a pipeline, which is how blood was transported through the body. His internal organs were all made of machine, and Frank's entire body shook like a machine.

"Magic keeps your body going."

Adam hypothesised that this pain wasn't only physical -- Frank's body cannot cope with magic, which means the pain caused by his body was because magic was chipping away at his human body, preventing him from healing.

"Don't move. I need to test my hypothesis."

He wanted to test if he could use his telekinesis to form a harmonious link between the human and mechanical body, relieving Frank of his constant pain.

Psychic power flowed out from Adam gently, covering the gap between the human body and the mechanical body, forming a thin film, "Merge your body."

Frank sighed, and forced the mechanical part back into his body. He resisted the immense pain -- if Adam's experiment was successful, it means that he might not have to endure constant pain.

"How does it feel?" Adam inquired.

"The pain is relieved, but it's still there," Frank replied. "You still have to inhibit the healing from my body."

Adam nodded, and gently applied psychic energy to Frank. He had to control himself, as too much power would kill his human body, but too little would mean that the pain would still be present. Fortunately, Adam gauged his power carefully, and found a suitable power outfit.

"What about now?"

Frank's eyes widened -- for the first time in his life, he felt relieved. "It... It works! I still feel some pain, but... I can breathe normally."

Adam's display of power gave Frank great hope -- he couldn't believe that in just a single day, his pain would be relieved.

Adam didn't care. He still had more experiments to run. He withdrew his psychic power, and Frank fell to the floor in pain again. "We're done today. Go back and rest, or you can help James out," Adam said with a monotone voice.

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