The Institute of wizarding in Ottenhiem kingdom, in one of the labs assigned for final year research students, a skinny young man with long hairs, wearing the academy uniform, the blue trouser and the blazer wrapped tight around his body was sitting with a book opened in front of him on the table.
His long hair was dishevelled and dark circles were prominent under his eyes, showing how deprived of sleep he was.
In front of him was a fresh potted plant and just beside it in a glass cage was a white mouse, lying down without much movement. It was sick and was probably on his last breaths.
He was skimming through the book and making some calculations on a different notebook.
After some time, he put the pen down and started making some hand movements and then started chanting.
A small red runic circle started forming between the potted plant and the glass cage.
After the circle was formed, green energy started coming out of the plant and got sucked by the runic circle and passed through the other side towards the glass cage.
It then passed the glass cage and started flowing inside the mouse.
Slowly the plant started withering and the mouse started showing movements as it got up on its feet.
A smile formed on the young man's face as his calculations started proving to be right.
But before he could rejoice, the circle started getting unstable and after intense vibrations, it blasted into motes of light sending the plant and the cage blasting away and the young man was pushed back from the shockwave and fell on the ground.
He got up immediately and rushed to the plant and saw that it had withered completely and then rushed to the cage.
The mouse inside, was alright and moving around.
He sighed in relief and was about to pick it up when suddenly the mouse started swelling from all over and in an instant, it blasted into smithereens, blood and flesh flying everywhere.
A sigh escaped him and he got up and moved back towards the table.
He took a piece of cloth and wiped his face. Threw the cloth in the bin nearby and then closed the book which seemed to have a black cover with [V] engraved on it.
"You're still going at it, Ames?" an old man with grey hair and long beard with a few crimson strands of hair in between, wearing a red robe and a thick magic book at his waist entered with a smile as he spoke to the young man doing the experiment.
He was the headmaster of the institute, Blaze Snethorn.
Beside him was another man in his thirties, with dark blue hair and wearing a blue robe with a staff embedded with a transparent gem embedded on top.
He had a contemptuous look on his face while looking at Ames. He was a professor and an elder on the council of the institute.
"Headmaster!" Ames was surprised to see the headmaster come to the lab. He stood up and rushed to his side. "I didn't know you were coming!"
"I just came to check up on you. How's your research going? Anything concrete to present?"
"I feel, just when I am about to reach it, it slips away from my hand. There is something that is lacking and I can't point at what that is, headmaster!"
"These are just excuses. Just say that you need more funds. You need more money to dump in this useless bottomless pit of an experiment!" Boris, the man beside the professor jibed at Ames.
"Boris!" Blaze sternly asked him to control himself. "Can you show me how much you have progressed Ames?"
"Yes headmaster!" Ames then brought another potted plant and a glass cage with a mouse inside.
The mouse inside was healthy and running around, which made it difficult to show the results of the spell.
So, Ames pulled it out and held it tightly on the table. On the other hand, he pulled his index finger up, condensed mana into a sharp knife-like form and made a small cut on the back of the mouse.
Blood started oozing out and it started whimpering in pain. Ames put the mouse back in the cage. He then started his hand movements along with the chants.
The small red runic circle formed again and green energy started flowing out of the plant, being sucked in the circle.
The process repeated itself again and the energy transferred out of the other end towards the mouse.
It covered the mouse and the cut slowly started healing back as the blood stopped flowing out. The painful cries stopped and the cut healed completely.
But just then the circle and the runes started getting unstable and broke apart again with a blast.
This time, headmaster Blaze was quick to react and he without a chant casted a shield which protected them from the blast wave.
The plant and the cage were pushed back in return, fell and slid off on the ground.
Ames picked the cage back and put it on the table.
After a few seconds the region which was healed on the mouse stared swelling and almost instantly blasted the mouse into smithereens. It's blood and flesh covering the whole glass walls of the cage.
Ames had a disappointed look on his face. Boris stood motionless, stupefied and Headmaster Blaze had a grave and serious expression on his face.
Ames turned to look at the headmaster, who was in deep contemplation.
He was silent, eyes focused completely on the glass cage and the potted plant lying on the ground, withered and about to crumble into dust.
Ames waited for the headmaster to speak as every second passed, rose his anxiety further.
"This…this is evil. He's dealing in dark magic headmaster! He should be thrown out of the institute. No! He…he should be banished to the underground prison!!" Boris shouted out. Fear was apparent on his face.
"Hold your tongue, Boris! Don't spout nonsense!" Blaze chided him and then shifted his gaze towards Ames. His face serious as he opened his mouth. "You should stop the research and discard everything Ames!"