'scritch-scritch'
Shaan didn't stop pounding the umbraroot inside the stone mortar he held tightly in his hands. It sounded simple enough, but the root's texture turned out to be surprisingly tough, forcing him to use extra effort to crush it into small fragments.
"Ah, I think this is fine enough," Shaan said, wiping the sweat from his forehead. "Dammit, I really didn't expect crushing umbraroot to be this hard."
"Shaan, have you broken down the umbraroot yet?"
"Almost, Dr. Marshal," Shaan replied while grinding down the last piece of the root. "I just need to crush this final bit and I'll be—"
He stopped for a moment as Dr. Marshal walked over to him, holding a small cylindrical tube filled with a dark, grayish liquid."Dr. Marshal, what is that liquid? Why does it look so dark… and strange?"
