“Brother!” A middle-aged man with green hair, green eyes, no beard and in a black robe said to Maximillian as he entered the dark room.
“Frank, I am not your brother. Also who is allowing you to do alchemy? There is nothing in this prison room and you still look young.” Maximillian said, very annoyed.
“If you truly want to know, after they took everything I had I was depressed for a while but then the realization hit me, living creatures are alchemy cauldrons of nature so I do everything inside my stomach nowadays.” The man, Frank, explained really happy.
“...Do you realize that is the reason why they don’t let you out? Your punishment was supposed to be 50 years without alchemy, everybody can see you are doing something.”
“I managed to advance quite a lot due to the restrictions so I don’t mind staying here a few decades more.”
“I was going to offer you a job, the prize was going to be your release and the separation of the alchemy and healer’s guild but I guess I can look for someone else.” Maximilian said without a hint of any emotion in his voice, he didn’t care if the man took the job or not.
“Please brother, take me out of here!” Frank said as he kneeled in front of Maximillian.
“I am not your brother! Now get up and follow me before I change my mind.”
“Yes brother!” Maximilian flinched in anger for a moment but let it slide. A few minutes later the man was now dressed in more presentable clothes. Loose leather pants with pockets that could be hidden with a little mana, a white shirt that was always clean and a small straw hat that could change form and become any piece of headwear that Frank could want, from glasses to earrings.
“Has the curse still not run out?” Maximilian asked, pointing to the lack of anything on the man’s feet.
“Sincerely, I don’t know and I don’t want to find out.” Frank said with a lot of fear in his voice.
“Let’s move, I have a lot to explain.” Maximilian said as he began to walk towards the exit of the damn prison he was.
“How is my sister doing? Been a while since I saw her.”
“My wife is very healthy and happy.”
“Don’t treat me like that, we are family now. We used to be such good friends.”
“Until you decided that making a sentient book that corrupted alchemists was a good idea. I still find at least one every year.” He said angrily.
“You could find more if alchemy wasn’t outlawed.”
“YOU ARE THE REASON ITS OUTLAWED!”
“People just don’t understand my genius.”
“Creating a pill that makes you fart fire for a week isn’t what I would expect from a genius.”
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“That thing was to be consumed only by people with a natural affinity for fire.”
“Joseph is a pyromancer, a good one. If someone like him couldn’t use it, who could?”
“Joseph is a pyromaniac and deserves anything that happens to him.”
“He had to learn how to become literal fire to not die.”
“The pill helped him, didn’t it?”
“Let’s not forget Katarina too.”
“Who?”
“Your wife.”
“Pretty sure she left me after I made sure she wouldn’t age anymore.”
“At the cost of becoming addicted to pills and obsessing over you.”
“Didn’t know that. She was always more than happy to test stuff for me and I always thought that she just loved me that much.”
“If she finds out you are free, you are probably going to die.”
“Why?”
“Because I will let her kill you.”
“Please don’t.”
“Then let’s hope you can do your job. We are here.” Maximilian said as they reached the walls of the prison. He quickly made a portal to his office in the academy and both walked through.
“So, what is the job, brother?”
“You know that the only reason you are here is the good will of my wife, right? Call me brother one more time and I will throw you in a volcano.”
“No need to be angry, I will be on my best behavior, sir!”
“Alright. Your job is simple. I need industrial amounts of death ki pills.”
“Didn’t take you as someone who liked to make zombies.”
“I need those for a death cultivator.”
“I don’t see one person consuming so much. For how long?”
“Don’t know, 5 years at least.”
“We are talking about thousands of pills a day. Do you have any idea how many resources will be needed? I would need at least a giant rabbit farm to have enough things to kill to make a decent pill.”
“Besides that there is a cow ranch and a lizard one too.”
“You came to me prepared, didn’t you?”
“Yes, so, can you do it?”
“If I have the tools and resources, yes. But who is this cultivator that needs so many pills? You would usually use one or two a day if things are hard.”
“She is my apprentice and she acquired a death aspect body while still in the Ki condensation stage. She is starting to show symptoms of mana hunger.”
“Ok, and? I still see no reason for the amount of pills. Also, you should have done something before now.”
“Frank, that is the first symptom she is showing.”
“...Oh shit. She is becoming a vampire, ain’t she?”
“No, because you will feed her.”
“When did the hunger start?”
“About a week ago. I confirmed that if she kills what she eats, it fills her somewhat.”
“How much?”
“After she ate the chicken she killed, we cooked it mind you, it filled her for about 5 seconds.”
“Are we talking big ones or normal ones?”
“Big ones.”
“Would it be better to just hasten the transformation and let her lose where needed?”
“FRANK!” Maximilian shouted very angrily.
“YES!?”
“Suggest something like that one more time and I will shove a healing wand up your ass and drop you on acid. Also, if you try anything funny with her pills, no amount of love I have for my wife will save you from what I am going to do with you.” Maximilian said, very seriously.
“I understood loud and clear.” Frank said. Soon after they both went to the lab Frank would be using. Frank was clearly afraid of Maximillian but the crazy side of him wondered who this apprentice was and what fun things he could do with her. He was sent to the worst prison on the continent for more than a century now. There shouldn’t be anything worse that can be done to him. Not like he could die anyway.