Chapter 76: Feeling Good

“It turns out I have a pretty good eye. No matter what your magic aptitude is, your high mental aptitude makes you capable of handling a lot of basic tasks.” Nick made no effort to hide the fact he was praising himself, but there wasn’t even a trace of smugness in his tone.

“Yeah, Senior Nick really does have a good eye,” Saul thought to himself. “Back then, he was also the one who saw at a glance that my strongest talent was sensing light elements—it wasn’t just something I wrote down at random.”

“Well then, now that we’ve reached an understanding, we can cooperate properly, right?” Nick spread his hands toward Saul.

Saul quickly replied, “I’ll do my best to assist you, senior.”

Nick gave a slight nod, still expressionless, as if he was born without the ability to make facial expressions.

“We’ve wasted a bit of time. Let’s jump straight into the experiment. We’ll explain as we go. Subject One, come in!” Nick put on his headset, raised his voice slightly, and called toward the door.

Saul turned around just in time to see the lab door open. A blonde-haired, blue-eyed female Second Rank apprentice walked in, her face devoid of emotion.

It was one of the apprentices Saul had seen in Rum’s room earlier. Who knew how long she’d been waiting outside?

She stepped inside and stood across from Nick at the operating table, facing him directly.

Neither of them showed any expression—perhaps more accurately, no emotion.

Saul’s eyes darted between them, wondering if there was some kind of relationship between the two.

“Don’t look at me,” Nick gestured to the girl but continued speaking to Saul. “I’m different from her—their situation is not the same.”

Nick had the emotionless yet beautiful female apprentice sit in the metal high-backed chair opposite them.

As the slender girl sat down, the chair immediately began to transform.

The tall backrest sank downward, and two metal rings extended from it, locking around her neck and waist.

The armrests folded inward, perfectly supporting her forearms and locking her elbows and wrists in place.

Even the chair’s legs extended metal bands to clamp her ankles and knees.

It looked like something designed for punishment.

Nick motioned for Saul to follow and began teaching him how to use the metal chair.

Behind and below the chair hung several cable-like cords, thin as embroidery needles at the tip.

Once the girl was properly seated, Nick went over and began sticking the fine tips into places like her cheeks, wrists, and ankles.

Though the cords looked heavy, the needle tips only pierced a few millimeters into her skin. When Nick let go, they didn’t fall due to gravity but instead floated in place, as if they had a will of their own.

Saul memorized each step while thinking about when he should bring up the issue of resolving the vengeful spirit.

The work had started too suddenly—he hadn’t had the chance yet.

The girl remained expressionless throughout, completely unreactive.

Saul felt that even if Nick did something more horrifying to her, she wouldn’t resist at all.

Once they were done setting everything up, the two of them stepped back behind the operating table.

Nick took out a metal disk made from the same material as the chair.

Saul craned his neck forward to get a better look.

The disk was divided into four quadrants by a cross, and each section was subdivided into a different number and shape of small compartments.

“This is the Electro Sense Chair. This is the corresponding control panel,” Nick explained. “The mechanism behind the control panel is complicated and classified knowledge—you don’t need to worry about that. Just remember where each sensor wire was placed.”

After confirming that Saul remembered the setup process, Nick handed him some paper and a pen, and had him sit beside him.

“Usually, I record the emotional fluctuations of the test subject to perceive their response to the chair’s stimuli. In a moment, you’ll use your own method to record the subject’s reactions.”

Nick casually tossed the control panel into the air and caught it. The panel suddenly lit up with a streak of blue electricity that flashed across its surface and then vanished.

Saul instinctively retracted his plastic-boned fingers back into his sleeve.

Electricity—the natural enemy of plastic bones.

“I’m actually pretty curious why the professor sent you to record the subject’s reactions. Did you awaken some strange gift?” Though Nick voiced curiosity, his eyes didn’t move at all—it felt more like a polite inquiry.

Before Saul could answer, Nick pressed the control panel. “We’re starting.”

As Nick pressed various parts of the panel, different segments lit up.

Corresponding to that, arcs of electricity traveled down the cords to the girl’s body, and a faint scorched smell immediately began to waft from her.

The girl’s face twisted in pain. She tried to arch her back but was held immobile by the numerous restraints.

Saul scanned her with his eyes first, but didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary.

It just looked like she was being electrocuted.

Then, he slipped into a semi-immersive meditative state.

When Saul looked at the girl again, he was shocked to find a semi-transparent, pale male face superimposed on hers!

The man’s eyes were half-lidded, lips curled into a satisfied smirk.

That face looked very similar to the one formed by the rune array on her back.

“I’m picking up that Subject One is currently feeling pleasure. Did you notice anything?” Nick asked without looking at the girl’s pained expression, his focus fixed on the control panel.

Saul stared at the translucent male face on the girl’s face.

“He’s… enjoying it.”

Nick blinked, turning to look at Saul. “That’s a rather unusual way to put it. Can you describe it in more detail?”

“It’s like… extreme comfort. Total relaxation.”

Hearing this, Nick lowered his gaze to the panel, deep in thought.

After a moment, he suddenly threw the control panel onto the table, bent over, and started scribbling rapidly.

Meanwhile, the girl on the chair had twisted into such agony that her facial muscles contorted, drool dripping from the corner of her mouth.

And the man’s face on hers had begun to roll his eyes back in ecstasy.

“Senior Nick, maybe… turn the chair off for now?” Saul suggested.

Nick snapped back to awareness and finally noticed the girl’s state but instead of turning off the panel, he switched to a different stimulation mode.

A new kind of silver arc danced along the cords.

The girl’s pained expression instantly vanished. Her body relaxed, slumping back into the chair with a long exhale.

But in Saul’s eyes, the translucent man’s face was beginning to twist in agony.

His suffering didn’t resemble being electrocuted—it was more like suffocation.

He opened his mouth wide again and again, gasping for breath, seemingly forgetting that he didn’t need to breathe anymore.

Saul stared at the two contrasting faces and suspected that the man was some kind of spirit.

A spirit attached to the girl.

“I’m getting pain and exhaustion this time. What about you?” Nick asked after another round of observation.

“Suffocation,” Saul answered honestly. “Like a fish tossed onto land.”

Nick looked thoughtful. This time, he didn’t rush to take notes, but instead powered off the control panel and the Electro Sense Chair.

“Your perspective is actually clearer than my single-track emotional sensing.” Nick resumed his notes.

Saul glanced over and saw a mass of incomprehensible symbols.

Watching Nick scribble away with full focus, Saul commented as he read, “Senior Nick, your emotional sensing is actually more accurate. My interpretations of the subject’s behavior could easily introduce errors in the information.”

Nick finished his last note and turned to Saul. “You don’t seem like a twelve-year-old kid.”

(End of Chapter)

If you find any errors ( Ads popup, ads redirect, broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.