He Xi swept his gaze across the laboratory.
The modest space was lined wall to wall with wooden shelves, densely packed with all manner of glass vessels and porcelain jars.
A faint magical hum occasionally drifted from the incubator in the corner. Beside it hung several exquisite miniature metal splints and blueprints for prosthetic limbs tailored to small animals.
Near the window stood a long table, its surface covered with a thin layer of black cloth.
Several ongoing experiments rested upon it—a patch of glowing moss soaked in magical solution, a sealed glass tank raising unknown varieties of luminous insects, and an overturned petri dish whose edges had been sealed shut with wax, concealing whatever lay inside.
The air carried a strange blend of herbs and some kind of animal dander.
Bruno was clearly long accustomed to the smell. He walked straight to the row of wooden shelves near the door, pulled out a hardbound record book, and handed it to He Xi.
"Before you look at what you came for, take a look at this first."
He Xi accepted it and lowered his eyes to the cover.
<Preliminary Study on the Biomimetic Application of Fungal Tissue in Repairing Limb Injuries in Magical Pets>.
He opened to the first page and read down the sheet.
January 7: Decided to formally begin this research.
The cause was that winged lizard with the severed hind leg.
Its right rear leg had been bitten off by an Ironclaw Marten. The wound healed extremely poorly, and conventional treatments had all proved ineffective. The chances of recovery were practically zero.
I refuse to accept that. I have been considering whether there is something that can replace the bones and muscles it cannot heal.
The extensibility and adhesiveness of active fungal hyphae gave me this idea.