Of course, sleep can wait. There is science to do. Arslan reached into his bag and pulled out each of the vials setting them on the counter next to the cauldron except for one. He uncorked it and poured the contents into the mixture. The materials expanded slightly then settled into an unidentifiable goop.
“Eugh,” Mandilyn cringed pointing into the pot. “That’s so disgusting.”
“You also looked like that at some point,” Arslan said continuing his work without pause. He dipped his pen in ink after almost every single stroke — circles within circles, lines connecting, an intricate formula that was heavily modified for golems.
Once she was done wretching, Mandilyn approached the alchemist at work from behind and asked, “What are all those scribbles?”
Using the tip of his pen as a pointer, he tapped the outer circle. “Incrementum,” Arlsan stated, “for growth,” He moved the pen to the inner circles. “Fertilis and spiritus representing fertility and spirit,” He then finally moved to the direct center, a triangle. “Corporis for body, it's to create a form for everything.”
Mandilyn seemed pretty unmoved by the explanation. “Sounds cool, but why fertility?”
Arslan shrugged, “Transmutation is weird; it’s never just a straight forward solution.”
“Oh,” she responded. She noticed another circle, one that wasn't a part of the main. “What‘s that?”
“Hm?” Arslan hummed, “oh, that’s ignis. It’s fire. I figured that I’d need to apply it in the formula.”
“Yeah, I'll just let you do all...this.” She moved her finger in a circular direction around the paper. “All these words are making my head hurt.” She pulled up a chair and began sitting down.
However, the moment Arslan finished the formula, he grabbed a pen knife that was nearby and pricked his finger squeezing the tip, a dollop of blood developed from the wound. He smeared it on the paper and touched it off with a little bit of magic. His blood lit up bright crimson and slithered around the paper until it found its way to each of the circles taking the exact shape of each one. He dropped the parchment into the pot; at first, there was an extremely bright light, then it dulled to a soft amber glow. Arslan grabbed one end of the pot but found it too heavy.
“Mandilyn, grab the other side,” Arslan commanded. She ran over and grabbed the other end. “Over there on the table.”
The two shuffled over to the metal table, Arslan started to tilt the cauldron at the edge of the table, with the help of Mandilyn the pour was reasonably smooth. The contents, a large amber sac. Inside was the silhouette of a person. They could be seen moving underneath, slowly. Arslan placed a hand overtop the sac, it rippled slightly, quivering as the contents inside stirred from the touch.
Mandilyn wretched from the gel-like sack. “Could you not do that?”
Arslan smiled and tapped lightly on the sack making it jiggle as Mandilyn continued to dry heave. He explained, “This is a very crucial moment. I have to make sure everything is perfect.” his voice got low, and he spoke softly, “I don’t want another accident.”
He poked the membrane with the tip of the knife cutting a small incision. He gently pressed the blade down until he broke past the first and second layer, upon cutting the double layer an unknown clear liquid bubbled its way out. Arslan continued pulling the blade down until the liquid was pouring off the table.
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Inside, the sounds of the creature’s first breaths could be heard, but so was the first touch. A hand burst through the hole and grabbed Arslan by the throat. The second arm peeled away at the sac revealing a female with long, wet black hair and brown skin, a shade darker than the scales that covered the sides of her face and the majority of her arms. Her golden eyes locked on Arslan, filled with pure predation. He choked and hit at her, “Mandi!”
“Arslan!” Yelled Mandilyn springing into action, she drop-kicked the sack causing the arm to let go as it fell. The creature inside growled and roared. Mandilyn ran to the hunched over Arslan, “Are you okay?” she asked frantically.
Arslan coughed and sputtered, “Yeah…” he took in deep breaths to relieve the pressure that was inflicted on his throat. Suddenly, his eyes widened, and he shouted, “Get down!” The creature that was in the gel sack was now out; It turned out to be quite feminine. Most of the features were human with a splash of drake. The legs turned out to be more lizard-like than human, and a thick tail slowly swayed back and forth against the floor. Her already, large chest had been inflating every second until she released a massive torrent of fire. If the two had remained in the same spot, they would have become incinerated by her.
At the end of her breath attack, she was left heaving. Mandilyn attempted to tackle the drake-girl, except her weight and muscles kept her standing while Mandilyn was knocked down. The drake-girl began laughing while picking up the bunny-girl by the sides of her cloak.
“Let go, fire breath!” Mandilyn demanded while kicking and punching.
The drake girl slammed her fist down into the table causing it to dent inward slightly. She reared up for a punch but was stopped with a stool hitting the back of her head. Arslan stood with the furniture as she turned around.
“I really expected that to do more,” he admitted.
Arslan took a step back each time she took one forward. Out of the corner of his eyes, he could see Mandilyn readying up the only attack that worked. The force of the attack was actually enough to send the drake-girl flying out the window, shards of glass flew back at the two.
“Make sure she stays down!” Arlsan ran towards the wall to write a formula on another sheet of paper.
Mandilyn opened the door instead of climbing through the broken window, safety first. On the ground was the drake-girl and she was beginning to stand up. Mandilyn yelled in anger and charged at the girl.
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Arslan scrambled on the desk drawing circles, running through a list, most being nothing more than simple and having one meaning. He cut his palm smearing blood over every single one, then grabbed each one and headed for the door.
Outside, he could see the two girls fighting hand to hand, and Mandilyn was clearly on the defensive. Her speed and agility were far higher than the drake’s, but she couldn’t put out much damage or even enough strength to harm the girl. When she would swing or even swipe at Mandilyn, she would dodge it and pop up somewhere else.
“Mandi! Keep her still!” Arslan shouted with a handful of papers. Mandilyn ducked a swing and attempted a headlock, an action that at best would buy them a couple of seconds. Arslan ran up and placed the papers on her stomach. The drake-girl roared and shuffled trying to get the rabbit-girl off her back.
The first was pax, a calming spell. The moment Arslan activated the magic, it sparked and fizzled away, the next was somnum, another that failed. However, when he tried the last one, obedientiam. Her body stopped struggling, and she fell to her knees, taking the bunny girl down with her. The runes on the paper had etched itself just above the girl’s waist, a circle with two intersecting lines continuing outward into another two smaller circles.
Arslan fell to the ground and exhaled.
Mandilyn let go of the girl and sat on the ground next to Arslan. “What did you do?” she asked.
He wiped the sweat off that had accumulated from under his hood. “Obedientiam,” he stated, “A very nasty control spell.”
Mandilyn waved, “Whatever, I’m glad it just worked.”
Arslan stood back up. “Alright, let’s get her back inside.”
“Right now?” queried Mandilyn.
“Yes, right-” Arslan was interrupted by a loud noise and flames erupting from the lab. “...now.” he finished.
Mandilyn snickered, “I guess we can wait for a little while, can’t we?”
Arslan put his hands to his face and yelled, “It's fine! I have a plan!”