"Good! The preparations are more or less complete." The Mage snapped his fingers, and a long table from the other end of the hall flew over. As he took out the heart and, as before, produced a pile of experimental equipment, he explained to Geralt, "Though I don't know the properties of those materials, all mutation rituals seem roughly the same to me—nothing more than destruction and repair."
Geralt crossed his arms and watched him work. A sudden premonition arose in the Witcher's heart: he was about to witness a miracle—but he did not know whether it would be good or bad.
He Shenyan patted the enormous heart on the table. It was still dripping blood, and each drop hissed as it struck the wooden surface. From the experimental equipment nearby, he took out a huge basin large enough to hold the giant heart and placed it inside. Then he poured the golden liquid over it. The heart throbbed without any unusual reaction—until he added the bottle of Shadow Essence.
A thunderous boom exploded through the hall. The heart's color gradually shifted from dark red, turning gold one moment and black the next. Magic Power floated in the Mage's hands as he controlled this dangerous mutation. He stared at the heart with utmost focus, fine beads of sweat even forming on his forehead. The heartbeat grew louder and louder. Though it no longer had blood vessels to circulate blood through, it continued beating ceaselessly, each beat louder than the last.
The heart continued shifting between gold and black when He Shenyan suddenly shouted, "Geralt! Add the Bryonia!"
The Witcher hurriedly grabbed the Bryonia, peeled away its root, and threw it into the basin. The instant its green root entered, the black Magic Power in the Mage's hand ground it into