Vigo didn't hesitate. He uncorked the modified vial and poured the shimmering concoction directly into the brass channeling funnel atop the pod.
Inside the crystalline glass, the adolescent seaman arched in the fluid. Radiant, pulsing lines of energy flared across its translucent blue skin, glowing with a fierce, blinding luminescence.
Arthur braced himself, his muscles locking tight as he anticipated an inevitable shockwave.
But the eruption never came.
The blinding light within the pod flickered, dimmed, and then settled into a soft, steady glow. The overwhelming energy receded beneath the creature's skin, fading back to a healthy blue. The seaman went limp, its chest rising and falling in a slow, rhythmic slumber as it drifted peacefully.
A breathless laugh punched its way out of Arthur's chest. "It stabilized!" A perfectly modulated gasp. "You actually did it, Professor. The ratio is completely perfect."
"Hm." Vigo didn't even crack a smile. His face remained a mask of carved granite as he snatched a quill, his hand flying across an open ledger in sharp, aggressive strokes.
"The base equilibrium holds, yes," Vigo murmured, his syllables clipped. "Yet equilibrium is merely a stepping stone, not the objective. A static baseline is entirely useless if the dosage fails to scale exponentially against arcane capacity."
He dropped the quill and pointed a stained finger toward the far bench. "Take the secondary dosage. Process it through the Separation Membrane. I require the solutes concentrated precisely by a factor of three."
Arthur blinked, the lingering euphoria draining from his blood. He looked from the bench to the pod. "Concentrated? But... Head Instructor, forgive me, but the subject barely survived the baseline. If we elevate the density by even a fraction, the arcane feedback will trigger an absolute cascade failure, just like the others."
Vigo paused. Slowly, he turned his head. His hollow, obsessed eyes pinned Arthur to the floorboards, and the temperature in the laboratory seemed to plummet.
"Because, Cedric," Vigo said, his voice dripping with chilling, magnetic conviction. "The grand purpose of my Magnum Opus is not to elevate a base species. It is to meticulously forge you into the absolute apex of modern magic."
Vigo stepped closer, the sheer gravity of his presence suffocating the space between them. "Supremacy is singular. It cannot exist if it is shared among beasts. If this specimen survives possessing the exact arcane mutation I am designing for you, your power degrades from a miracle to a mere commodity. Prepare the membrane."
Arthur stared down at the instrument in his trembling hands. A cold, heavy stone settled deep in his gut.
His logic is flawless, Arthur told himself, actively burying his hesitation under his cold reasoning. I require this ascension. I will secure absolute power, by any means necessary, to ensure Cedric's survival.
He turned toward the bench, his fingers tightening around the cool glass. Yet, as he caught a final glimpse of the sleeping, innocent face of the seaman, a splinter of hesitation wedged itself into his mind.