Versuch XXII: Neubildung
"Have you started recording?"
"Ja."
Hilde stood in the frame of the camera, a well-lit laboratory behind herself. Several vats containing green, red and blue liquids could be seen in the distance. The homuncula, clad in lab attire, promptly assumed a dignified position and began to speak in German.
"Experiment XXII: Regeneration."
She began wandering through the lab, looking directly at the camera, motioning it to follow her. "For normal human beings, regeneration of organic tissue is either restricted to nails and skin only, or an almost impossible achievement, unless using complex technologic means. For magicians and wizards, it's a simple matter of breaking the laws of physics and reality itself through sapient mastery of the astral arts. Between these two stages, surely there must be some point of transition. A point of transition which would permit regeneration without the use of expensive technology, and advanced applications of magic. A cheap, simple point of transition."
Hilde motioned the camera to stop.
"And what is the best way to find said point of transition? Well, using a transitional science, of course. In millennia and millennias of dutiful experimentation and tireless research, Alchemists have tried to synthetize a substance which would be capable of curing every illness or injury: the Panacea. Myself, I won't be as far-fetched: the topic of this experiment is simply regeneration of organic tissue, after all."
The homuncula stepped next to a veiled object.
"As a magician specialized in healing magic, I can assure that regeneration is mostly a matter of boosting the natural rejuvenation processes of the body of living beings. There is no need for replacement matter, unless the objective is to produce a new limb or vital organ. Even then, that would be probably achievable, given some further inquiry. But follow me."
Hilde threw the veil away, revealing the dismembered leg of a pork. From behind the camera, a little feminine laugh came, the one of a young female child.
"Silence." Hilde admonished, before resuming to speak. "First of all, before we can witness the regeneration of an injured tissue, we need said injury to be inflicted, in some way or another."
The camera zoomed on a scalpel in Hilde's hands.
"Here, I'll start inflicting a deep wound on the deceased pig's limb." the German homuncula announced, before starting to slowly cut deep into the skin of the leg, and from the skin to the muscles, eventually stopping short of the bones. The bistury made a small screeching noise as it made contact with the hard calcium of the skeleton. Hilde promptly removed it.
"If such an injury had been inflicted on a live human being, they would be currently squirming in pain, as plenty of their lifeblood spills over, threatening to bleed them dry. The same would apply to a particularly vicious gunshot wound. And now, in such a situation, how much time would it take for this person to reach an hospital equipped to treat this injury? And even then, would the treatment be enough to prevent permanent damage to the muscles?"
Hilde extracted a small vial from her pocket. "Since not everyone in this dear world lives in proximity of a mage trained into healing, other quick, more accessible methods of treating wounds and curing them are needed. I happened to discover one of these methods."
Hilde uncorked the vial, before pouring its contents on the wound. "The substance contained in this vial is liquid, and primarily based on sulphur, along with other components. These are the only things I'll reveal about it, for the time being." she announced, as the liquid fizzled in contact with the wounded tissue. Suddenly, the muscles started slowly mending together, as did the skin.
"The liquid acts as a nutrient and booster for the natural regenerational process common in human bodies. It does not have to follow the laws of Equivalent Exchange, since it only aids an already existing process in happening, rather than generating a new one by expending pre-existing matter. In that way, the liquid works more like a fuel, rather than as a sacrificial offer. Of course, nothing is perfect, and neither is this compound: while it is capable of mending muscles and bones, the mending isn't always accurate, and may require additional days of rest of the injured part to completely restore it to its precedent conditions. Even then, it works as a decent emergency treatment, other than a perfect way to stop excessive bleeding and help blood in coagulating."
Hilde paused, putting the veil back on the pig's leg. "I'll surely touch this topic again in a further video record. For the time being, I'll prefer to explore areas of research that I haven't yet looked into. Afterall, regeneration didn't prove so hard to achieve, did it? End of Experiment XXXII. Adjutant, stop recording."