[i]Researcher's Field Diary, Day 1: Alchemy is a tool of immense power, the manipulation of the physical in ways unimaginable before the beasts befell the realm. In it, we become clothed in immense power, as those who once stood to bend the simplest elements into gold once thought. But materials grow thin and ideas short: There is only so much transmutation and psuedo-magic to do in the realm of the physical.

But in this new world, new discovers are made, and so to must we find new thoughts. The soul, immortal or not, surely exists, for we have isolated it. And if it can be observed, it can be manipulated. And if it can be manipulated, it can be our new frontier for alchemy. To this end, we have recruited 26 of the Church of Peter's Hunters, of varying quality, to serve as our newest test subjects. Although not informed of the extent of our experimentation, all have given consent to become our next generation of Hunters through new alchemical techniques and we have  been given the blessing of his Lordship himself.

Evolution is a process. We begin it now.

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Researcher's Field Diary, Day 5: Subject's souls have been sufficiently induced into a multitude of alchemical alterations and what an exciting process it is! Despite only finishing full alchemical procedures two days prior, all subjects are already showing signs of physical and/or spiritual alterations! Sadly, Subjects E and G appear to have not survived the process. Subject G's body appeared to suffer a serious case of spontaneous conflagration, perhaps an unfortunate result of the Sulfuras Powder being one of her soul's ingredients (Later Note: Perhaps souls are flammable? More research required.), while Subject E appears to have mysteriously catatonic. Although we cannot decipher brainwaves from his body, it nonetheless fails to decay appears to still function as living, with no necrosis setting in. Perhaps Everett's idea of lining the soul with eyes was, in retrospect, a poor descision.

Hopefully, particularly standout subjects shall appear within the next three days. Until then, diary, I shall go  and write my offical report on the remaining subjects, and then I believe get a good night's sleep...

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Researcher's Field Diary, Day 8: As I had hoped, only three scant days and already we have seen standouts, for good and ill, in our little program! For the five of which I am most excited I shall exposit upon now, lest the moment of excitement be lost to the annuls of time!

The first of which I shall discuss, Subject B, had her soul infused with various metals used in our weaponry, and most notably with Moonsilver from her own bowblade. Since awakening, she has for the most part seemed lucid, sane and unchanged, yet she seems to have gained a deep and spiritual connection to her weapon, feeling the pangs when it is flicked, a cool touch when it is caressed and even pain when she tested it upon a wall once. She even has seemed to have gathered a much smaller ability to almost "talk" with metal, signalling its impurities. What, then, would happen if one of Sir James' clockwork contraptions were given a soul? Already, the possibilities send shivers down my spine!

Subject O appears in more dire straights, her soul infused with more fluidic elements and essences, which appear to be translating into her physical self, which has begotten an almost melted, watery quality to it, which she has even flicked and sloshed around, although fortuitously she has not suffered any loss of a human shape. Sadly, the subject's mind seems quite averse to this new condition, crying that she never asked for this, and had to be restrained after a near escaped that gravely wounded one guard and more minorly injured two others. Her eyes have transformed an otherworldly, emerald green, as has her soul. I have heard another scientist even claim her to have minor transluscence, but this overall remains unconfirmed...

One of our more odd subjects is that of Subject P, who was infused with raw knowledge, physical books and the brain matter of others. The experiments appear to have left her sensory deprived, unable or unwilling to interact by sight or sound and seemingly unable to speak even when opening her mouth to do so, yet she remains alive and appears almost serene, although she seems displeased when not alone. Pink sinews of flesh have begin to run from her pores and may even be forming brand new external organs. Advisatory warnings to avoid touch have been heeded and she is kept under close guard, though not with her knowledge...still, sometimes, when I watch her from those spots, I swear she can see me with her back turned, and even now I feel as if her cold breath behind me. Brr. I should hope to be done with her before long.

Subject N was to be infused with that of slain beasts, in an attempt to see the results of it upon the human body and soul were and so far the results have yet to disappoint. Subject's right hand and arm have become that of the three-clawed Ravenlupe, although they appear to be as if a delightfully horrifying fusion of the melded human finger and the original's, while the Axe-Totl's distinctive head appendage has begun growing from the subject's head, with their black hair seemingly moving towards an ichorus, inky black like that of the X. Their legs appear to be almost lion-esque and the furred-yet-mouthed tail reminds me of the dangerous Nue beasts, with his face becoming more beastial, two tusks-incisors of decent size sprouting from his mouth. Regretfully, subject's mind appears unwilling or unable to handle the situation respectfully and has repeatedly lashed out at guards and researchers over his time, although his paintings and work of writing have been an effective calming tool, albeit one which is proving less effective with time. I am planning to call upon a small detachment of hunters to reinforce the laboratories in case of uncontrollability.

Finally, I believe I must state more upon Subject E and the curious case developing. Brain activity remains null and we cannot record body functions, yet nonetheless the body appears to be changing. Some of the victim's skin appears to have sloughed off, yet new skin has practically stretched into place to replace it. Although it appears to have a corpse-like color, while his right hand appears to be becoming more claw-like. And yet we cannot detect any biological differences when removing and sampling the skin and tissue. It is a great curiousity.

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Researcher's field Diary, Day 10: Subject O's condition continues to deteriorate. Her left arm began dissolving into a vicuous green ooze at approximately 1 PM today, although she was able to will it into a humanoid shape and maintain it, or manipulate it as an extension of herself. Her skin appears to be losing coherency and visibility and her organs have begun to become visible through her skin. Unfortunately, this led to another round of panic attacks and panicked attacks. One of our guards appears to have suffered permanant crippling of the left leg from the initial lashing out via tendril of her oozing body.

Subject E appears to have begin skeletal changes as well, his right arm appears to be enlarging at an alarming pace and some of the guards have reported an eye-like feature on the shoulder, and his shoulderblade appears to be jutting out of his left shoulder. His eyes have drained of all color, becoming pure white, a most eerie yet seemingly useless adaption. If subject continues change and does not display vital data, I plan to proceed with not-entirely-live dissection of subject. Security will remain high as such a curious case cannot be considered safe blindly.

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Researcher's Field Diary, Day 11: A guard seized Subject B's bowblade today when subject began to get unruly with them when rather empathetically wishing to walk outside the facility and into fresh airs. Subject's body immediately went limp and ceased to function until the bow was returned into roughly 10 feet of her body, at which point subject began an emotional outburst which lasted approximately 22 minutes 5 seconds. It would appear her body's soul and mental capabilities have become tied to and housed inside of her Bowblade, which would perhaps explain later tests which measured her body's temperature as roughly that of colder metals, although it nonetheless functions normally. It would also explain her metalopathic abilities.

However, fellow researcher Roberts has proposed an alternate yet fascinating theory: Rather than the soul of the body, it may be that the Bowblade itself has entered or had its soul, and that it is now the body's dominant soul, with the original soul dead or taking its place inside the metal of the bowblade. A fascinating theory, yet evidence does not bare any fruit of it yet. I hope to take samples of it in the near future.

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Researcher's Field Diary, Day 13: Subject E has not entered observable consciousness or brain activity and has been moved into the morgue for a nightly autopsy, even as their body has become more grotesque, with the appearance of a toothed mouth on the left hand and a fairly large, visible eyeball on the left shoulder. Shouldblade bones have pierced both upper areas of the shoulder, forming an almost horn-like appearance, and subject's entire skin has been replaced by tougher, grey-ish skin, although we are still able to pierce it with effort. We anticipate an autopsy on the Subject's condition tonight and a more full report tomorrow.

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Researcher's Field Diary, Day 14: Results of autopsy astounding. Internal organs measure genetically as unchanged and human, yet are clearly molded into inhuman, almost eldritch shapes, the heart has formed a geometric X while the lungs appear as coiling strips. I will detail a full report in our offical findings, but suffice to say this is opening up many questions with a few answers.