Two hours later...
The laboratory room was surrounded by transmutation circles glowing in violet tones, runic lines etched into the floor like magical scars pulsing in harmony with the demonic presence in the air. Ampoules, vials with mutated liquids and soul fragments in glass jars flickered as the ritual approached.
Evelyn was standing next to a table, her eyes fixed on Strax as if she were looking at something... wrong. Unfair, even.
He was standing in the center of the newly constructed circle. The runes that Evelyn had spent weeks to draw correctly for the first time... he had traced in fifteen minutes. With precision.
"So, did you understand how to open the veil of the soul without collapsing the receptacle?" she asked, a little out of obligation, a little out of technical pride.
Strax gave a slight nod and said casually:
