In an open field in the middle of a forest stood two figures, one was a tall figure with handsome features, covered by a brown cloak and on his back was something wrapped in cloth. In front of him was a young boy dressed in ragged clothes.

This was Richard and Ryan. Two days passed by since Ryan woke up and now he no longer looked as dirty as he was before even though he still wore his old clothes. His skin had a strong and hearty colour but was still a bit rough, his hair had a soft shine to it and overall he looked a lot healthier than before.

“Why can I not change into something different?”

“It’s better that you wear this until the first experiment is done and then I’ll bring you a new set of clothes, but first let us get started.” Richard replied.

After saying this, he grabbed a sack at his waist and took out two small pills about the size of an adults thumb nail. One of the pills was blue in colour, while the other was a fiery red colour.

Ryan inspected the pills in Richard’s hand, but could not see anything special besides the colour of the pills.

Seeing this Richard smiled, how could a child like Ryan ever know the value of the two pills he held in his hand.

“Ok you will first take the blue pill, it’s called the frost numbing pill,” As he said this he picked up the blue pill with his other hand and allowed it to glisten under the rays of the sun. “This frost numbing pill will numb your nerves and will make it so that your body will feel no pain, it will also fill you with adrenaline at the same time and you will feel as if you could lift a mountain due to its effect.”

He then put down the frost numbing pill and brought it towards Ryan, “I will explain what the functions of the red pill in a bit but first swallow the frost numbing pill.” He said as he handed the pill to Ryan.

When the pill landed on Ryan’s palm he felt the temperature around his palm decrease slightly, is that just a misperception from my part? Ryan thought he did not believe that it would possess such ability as that feeling disappeared the moment it appeared.

Ryan placed the pill in his mouth and swallowed, “Hm?” Ryan’s eyes widened as a freezing sensation passed through his throat and chilling everything it touched. However, this feeling wasn’t uncomfortable; it was like drinking cold water after spending an entire day working outside in an exceedingly hot summer day.

“Now take this pill and swallow it.”

Ryan took the red pill that was handed to him and placed it into his mouth. The moment he swallowed it he felt nothing, no sensation at all. It felt just like swallowing food, natural and no inconvenience.

He felt that this was kind of unexpected but didn’t doubt Richard but rather asked him: “What is the purpose of the red pill?”

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

“Since you’ve swallowed it, there’s no going back from here. I was worried that you’d back out the moment you knew the purpose of the red pill and its properties.” Richard had a mischievous smile on his face that caused Ryan to feel trepidation.

“This red pill is known as Flame Devastation pill, it has one single purpose, and it is a torture pill.” When Richard got to this point, Ryan eyes were wide open in stupor: “What did you say?”

“This pill will dissolve into your bloodstream the moment it enters your body and cause the temperature in your body to increase to an unbearable degree, afterwards you’ll feel as if you’re being stabbed countless times and burned at the same time.”

“Gurgh” Ryan instantly put his hand into his mouth, trying to forcefully vomit it out, but even though he did this only the food he ate came out, the pill had already been completely digested.

“There’s no use, it has already dissolved into your blood stream and as to why you don’t feel anything right now is because the Frost numbing pill has completely numbed your senses. Even though it is like this, your body is currently going through an immeasurable amount of pain that it has never experienced.”

“The pain that is being numbed by the Frost Numbing pill, it will accumulate and then add on to the pain you’ll feel as soon as the effects of the pill wear off.” Richard stated in a matter of fact manner.

Ryan could not believe what Richard was saying; abruptly he noticed that his skin was turning red, furthermore it was changing colour at a visible rate.

Richard also saw the change but did not seem too worried about it, “Ryan, do not take this as a joke. From the moment you accepted this I have never taken this as a joke.” He said in a heavy tone.

The recipient of these words, Ryan’s ears pricked he felt a sense of regret but then his eyes went sharp and became serious: “I understand.”

Richard nodded: “It’s good you understand the effects of the frost numbing pill will wear off in a few seconds because of my tampering so be prepared.”

As soon as he finished saying this Ryan felt a small stabbing pain in his chest and then another in his stomach then he felt as if he was being stabbed all over.

“Argh!” Ryan screamed out because of the stabbing pain, yet this was only the beginning. Without the slightest warning, the build up of stress due to the pain his body experienced while it was numb came together with a scalding pain as it surged through his body devastating his organs.

Tears streaked down Ryan’s face but quickly evaporated, “Aaargh” Ryan shrieked in pain as he fell on the floor, trembling uncontrollably, mumbling undecipherable words.

Anyone that saw his sorry figure would feel pity for him.

Right then, Ryan stopped moving and his body stopped twitching. His brain had shut down all his body functions to preserve Ryan’s mentality or he would go insane under the extreme stress that he was experiencing.

Even though he was unconscious the Flame Devastation pill was still running rampant in his body. Richard bent down and held another pill in his hand, unlike the prior two it was green in colour and a strong medicinal scent was being emitted from it.

If a Sage Alchemist had seen the green pill that he had taken out they would be stupefied by the identity of the pill, its value could not be stated as it was rarely seen in auction houses. They would even be shocked by seeing the Frost Numbing pill as its market value was far too high and would not be used so carelessly on an average human.

Richard placed the green pill in Ryan’s mouth and made sure that he swallowed it. Ryan healed at a rate visible to the naked eye and his skin colour quickly returned to normal, while his internals were being repaired and suppressing the Flame devastation pill at an unprecedented speed.

As everything took place Richard had a calm expression on his face as he picked up Ryan’s small body and carried him away.