Another ingredient to be added

Spencer stands up and heads towards the table. He lifts one of the orbs that was neatly arranged in a row and faces the young man.

Orchid picks up a stack of papers and glances downwards to read from the first piece.

"Fifth rate mage, Thind Droit. Graduate of Udone magic academy."

Orchid announces in an industrious voice.

"Udone academy? Where have I heard that before?"

Spencer curiously asks while eyeing the man.

"They are a magic academy second to only the Fermone magic academy, master."

"So that's where it is, no wonder it seemed familiar."

"We've had so many others come in from differing academies and affiliations but no one from this particular school before, has Noel finally expanded his search?"

Spencer strikes a ghastly smirk while staring at the man before breaking out in a huge chuckle.

"Haha!"

His maniacal chuckle spreads throughout the entire room as he begins moving the orb that was in his left hand towards the young man's chest.

Although he didn't know what it was, as the black orb moved so slightly towards him, the young man started to cower in fear and shiver instinctively. Not before long he attempts another grand escape by tossing and twisting.

"Stop."

The young man felt a fingertip on his forehead which sent a shiver down his spine, causing him to tremble in fear once again. His gaze is suddenly forced back to face the tall man in front of him.

Cold, callous and completely heartless, Spencer's glare sent yet another shiver down the young man's spine.

"I'm really going to die here!"

He thinks while gritting his teeth in alarming comprehension.

His first instinct upon gazing at the Spencer's face was to once again attempt another batch of "twist" and "turns", only...

"What?! I can't move at all!"

The young man screams in thought while looking down.

Just a few seconds ago he was free to swerve and twirl around in resistance, but now he couldn't even struggle. It was like every muscle in his body was choosing to not respond to him.

"Ah that's better, they always try to move about, that is why we always need to have the sleeping drug in place."

Spencer gives a mocking grin towards the young man.

As the young man looked up into his captor's eyes, he finally started to understand what was transpiring. The man in front of him had casted a spell to freeze his movements.

An icy feeling enveloped his entire body while the young man was trying his best to scan the mana that penetrated his body. He was confident in his ability to determine other mage's rank despite his measly fifth rate ability. It was the only thing he was talented at.

"What...This man's mana is at least second rate?!"

"No he is above that!"

"Why the hell is a first rate mage doing all this?!"

The dawning realization makes the young man hyperventilate as he stares at the black orb closing in on him. As it appeared closer, the young man realized that it wasn't the orb that was black, but the gas swirling inside that was giving it color.

He starts panting in anticipation.

And then.

"HMRRRPPPPP! HMRRRRPPPP! HMRRRRRRPPPPP!"

A series of visible black shocks entered the young man's body as the black orb touched his skin.

The pain was so intense that it made him want to scream at the top of his lungs but he couldn't because of the gag.

He wanted to thrash around in full force in pain, but he couldn't because of the spell placed onto him.

The young man could do nothing but sit there and accept his fate.

It was an excruciating experience that felt like all his vitality and energy was being sucked out by the foreign force that penetrated his body.

It wasn't before long that he found himself slowly losing consciousness.

Even though his skin only made contact with the damned orb for a fleeting moment, to him that few seconds of pain felt like a whole hour.

"As expected, this process is way more effective."

"Wanfi always uses such crude methods with his shitty worms. I prefer a much more elegant method like this."

The process Spencer was using allowed him to gather chunks of mana within the black orbs by absorbing them from other mages' body before unloading all stored mana into the "products'" bodies. It was a highly efficient method that only needed other mages.

Unlike Wanfi's method that required the worms to grow overtime in order to receive the most absorbed energy, the procedure allowed Spencer to gather the needed mana as fast as possible.

Meanwhile, as the young man continuously screams in pain, Spencer was just observing the black orb gradually fill up with purple energy. He notices the multiple streams of mana flowing into the object and can't help but think out loud.

"It's filling up more than usual for a fifth rate, is it a special constitution he has?"

Spencer finally retreats the orb from his captive and the young man's head drops to the ground.

Spencer stares at the newly colored quarter of the previous pitch black orb.

He puts two fingers on his chin and stares at the young man squirming around on the floor, experiencing aftershocks.

"It would be good to have more material like him."

Spencer stares in deep thought before ultimately averting his gaze to the next person after a few seconds.

He looks over to the next person in line sleeping silently beside the young man. This time it was a woman in her thirties with black hair and fair skin. He takes two steps to the right and looks at her intently.

As Orchid brings up the piece of paper yet again, she notices something and informs her master.

"Master, the man seems to have a sister as well."

"Oh? Where is she?"

Spencer turns back in curiosity upon hearing his disciple's words.

"She is in the other room and part of the same batch that just arrived."

"Rank?"

"She is fifth rate as well."

Spencer grins at the news and moves his eyes to the direction facing the young man.

"Siblings huh. Then they should share some similarities in terms of constitution."

"Orchid."

"Yes master."

"She's an interesting material so save her for last, I want to conduct some experiments on her as well."

Orchid silently bows while making a mental note based on what her teacher just said.

"Both of them will make great materials for No. 20 and the others."

While staring at his captors, the young man on the floor heard the entirety of the conversation. He was surprisingly still conscious.

As his vision gets blurry and head gets foggy, he naturally begins closing his eyes. The young man knew that this time, he probably wouldn't wake up again.

Before conceding to his death, he had wanted to beg the people in front of him to not hurt his sister, he grit his teeth and tries his best to keep his eyes open.

But as the last of his life force seems to be draining away, he ultimately accepts his fate at the last moment.

At his death bed, the young man stares at the sides of his two abductors. Even though all his senses were heavily dulled, in that moment he could vaguely hear the words of Spencer while moving on to the next person.

"Next."