The magician did not really do anything fancy. He simply locked Alexei in place through magic, ensuring he would not be able to move. After that, he cast his signature silencing magic so that Alexei would not let out a sound.
Typical villains loved to hear the screams of pain of others, but it was slightly different for the ones inside the room. They indeed love to listen to the cries of agony of others, but it only applies to beings on the same level as them since it meant that they had conquered people worthy to be called their foes.
What could be more exhilarating than making the strong bow to you and being subjected to your whims? Nothing. As such, they find no satisfaction in listening to the cries of inferior races, deeming it better to just silence their working area to not disrupt their concentration.
With that said, silence prevailed as the experiment commenced. The spectators did not have to wait long for changes to appear.
Black, bulging veins covered Alexei's exposed skin including his face as black odorless wisps slowly formed from the relic and entered his orifices. His skin turned red and large beads of sweat also began to trickle down from his face. His eyes looked like they were about to pop out of their sockets. Blood also began to trickle down his nose and stained his lips, jaw, and the collar of his shirt. The young lad's lips opened and contorted, but no sound came out. Alexei's overall appearance could only be described as miserable, very unlike what he looked like just half a minute ago.
If anybody else were in the room, they would be chilled by the short amount of time it took for a black piece of rock to turn somebody into this.
However, everyone there was a heartless individual. Nobody sympathized with Alexei. In fact, the leader only looked on with interest as he watched how the boy endured the torturous process of being bathed in the power of the abyss without being corrupted. As time went by, no change in his expression occurred. But it was to be expected when he was not at all amazed by the tenacity Alexei showed. The experiments had been done thousands of times before and countless subjects showed them the same result.
And so a few minutes after, the Leader turned to Marlon.
"Is this all?"
The purple-robed lich standing next to the giant remained silent, although he also turned to the magician.
Marlon continued holding the abyssal relic as he said humbly, "Yes. Milord. This is already the best result for this batch. He has the highest compatibility rate amongst them of all. The rest has begun to be influenced by the power of the abyss, it won't be too long before they get reduced into black mucus or become a mindless slave."
The lich laughed, "So you're saying it's about time we get a new batch of experimental subjects. But you know this is not what we all want to hear."
Cold sweat ran down Marlon's spine upon hearing that.
To the magician, that ominous laughter sounded like both mockery and a warning. His reply meant as is, 'This is not what we want to hear.' As the lich was a very trusted aide of the leader, to him, those words also sounded like the leader's words, especially since the giant was keeping silent while looking at the boy. Understanding this, Marlon lowered his head, glaring at Alexei.
"Milord, allow me to continue the experiment. Even if nothing new comes up, I want to take this opportunity to see if his compatibility rate has risen."
Unbeknownst to them, Alexei who was supposed to be too preoccupied with pain to care about anything else was actually listening attentively to the conversation. Deep inside his heart, he mumbled, 'As expected.' He was not referring to the petty thoughts the magician had in his mind but to the nature of the experiments.
The information he gathered gave him a rough idea of what this organization truly wanted to accomplish. And when he mulled it over, the urge to beat himself up came up since all along, their intention was actually pretty obvious.
The black lump made of an unknown metal was from the abyss and contained some sort of magic power opposing the divine.
Alexei had long speculated that none of the captives including him had a Gift. He used to wonder why was that so considering that if this organization wanted to train soldiers, then Gift users should be their target. But now it all made sense. They wanted to create soldiers that could harness abyssal powers. Gift users were automatically out as an option since their bodies would instantly reject any power that did not come from their own Gifts.
With his entire body convulsing from pain, Alexei discreetly smiled, albeit bitterly.
'If only my Gift manifested before I got spotted by these crazy guys, I would not have been captured. I would not be here.'
"Go on." The giant sat down on the bone chair that the lich conjured. He grasped the smooth armrest with his left hand.
Alexei who had kept his silence purposely all throughout glanced at the black object floating above the magician's palm, observing the black mist surging from it. The thing gave off an evil feeling and normally people would subconsciously find themselves looking away from it. But Alexei continued to stare at it, as if he was obsessed. His body spasms stopped.
Because he remained in the same posture for so long, the attention of the three individuals observing him was immediately captured. In particular, intrigue flashed across the eyes of the giant.
"Hmm." Still seated on the huge bone chair, the Leader leaned forward.
Curiosity was also dripping from the lich's scratchy voice when he spoke. "A real abnormality?"
Hope blossomed in Alexei's heart when he heard that. Actually, a part of him began to rejoice.
'The fact that they're questioning whether I'm an abnormality confirmed my guess.'
'They don't know much about the power of the abyss! Or at least, they don't know everything! They are open to possibilities!'
With that good news in mind, Alexei continued his 'performance', he kept looking at the relic without blinking until his bloodshot eyes completely lost focus. It was not easy battling his entire body's natural instinct to tremble when in great pain, but he persisted. His breathing became shallower and shallower.
The spectators watched as the black-colored mist enveloped Alexei's entire face. However, at this point, Alexei did not know it since he had already closed his eyes.
A few moments passed that he stayed in that position. Without seeing any more change in his experiment subject, Marlon furrowed his brow, then he said in a hesitant voice, "He seems to have fallen into a dream-like state."
A corner of the giant's lips curled into a grin. A puny human actually dared to fall asleep in his presence?
Marlon continued, "He's still alive and I can feel that his breathing is stable, so it's really as if he's just sleeping."
"We wait."
"Yes," replied the magician with a slight bow.
Approximately three minutes passed before Alexei 'woke up' from his dreams. Same as before, his eyes still had that lackluster shine in them.
Marlon glanced down at his hand to briefly check the state of the relic. It took him a couple of seconds to notice that... nothing really changed. So what really happened? His suspicious eyes flickered to the boy in front of him and his face darkened at the thought that Alexei might be playing them.
However, before the magician could question the boy, the leader beat him to it, raising a hand to stop him from speaking.
Alexei slightly lowered his head, making it appear like he was staring blankly at the floor. From his observers' angle, the slow movements of his lips were visible.
The moment they saw this, the lich and the magician automatically looked at their Leader.
All of them had good eyesight, including the lich who was using magic to 'see', so they did not miss the words that slowly and wordlessly escaped from the boy's mouth.
Silence took over the place for a few seconds before a burst of laughter came from the giant.
"Interesting."
"Really interesting."
Not long after, the Leader stood up from his seat. He took a close look at Alexei who was still in an entranced state, then laughed again before waving a hand at the lich.
"Abel, I will meet him again tomorrow. For now, take him away and give him a room on the first floor."
Surprise showed on the faces of the two others in the room.
The leader continued with a smile, "For making me laugh heartily today, I would give him a chance to become a servant. Come, bring him with you and make him more presentable."