"Don't be nervous." Louis smiled, his gaze sweeping over the notes and bottles. "Could you walk me through your research this past month? I'd like to hear it from you."
Merian drew a deep breath, his fingertips trembling slightly against the pages of his notes.
He had practically memorized every formula, but having to explain them before his lord and everyone else still left him tense.
Several Alchemy Apprentices pushed in a cart laden with reagents and small instruments. Faint light hovered inside the glass bottles, while sealed samples lay in metal cases.
The apprentices were so respectful they almost trembled, their eyes filled with anticipation for the master's work and affection and reverence for Louis.
Looking at the row of tools that seemed both familiar and unfamiliar, Merian swallowed before saying quietly, "I'll... begin."
Louis smiled faintly. "Relax. There's no need to be nervous."
Merian then laid three ingredients and several bottles of finished products on the table: Shadow Moss spore powder, residual crystals from Soul-Eater Lizard Beasts, and Soulvine Dew Crystal Solution.
"These are the core ingredients. Shadow Moss amplifies the echoes of memory, Soul-Eater crystals disrupt memory frequencies, and Soulvine Dew acts as a stabilizer here, preventing the fractured mind from collapsing."
He then picked up a small, dark silver bottle. The liquid inside flowed slowly, refracting iridescent streaks under the lamplight.
"This is one of the finished products, Mind Abyss Luring Mist. When dispersed as mist, it plunges the target into fragmented memory flashbacks and mental confusion, disrupting language functions and weakening mental defenses.
Combined with interrogation techniques, it can force subjects to disclose truthful information from their subconscious in an extremely short time."
He picked up a slender syringe containing a faintly lustrous liquid.
"This is the Heart-Eater Interrogation Needle, an injectable node agent. After