'How many times am I gonna black out...?' Milo felt aspirated, literally. Each breath he took, he felt a liquid flow into his being. The feeling of tiredness overcame him as Milo tried to open his eyes. It felt like no matter how much strength he used, his body was just too tired to do so. Quite frankly, Milo was getting sick of the darkness, but the sound of talking could be heard. The sounds were gurgled and distorted, but he could roughly understand.
"We've...it!" the gurgled voice exclaimed. The voice sounded snide and sinister, but perhaps that was due to being underwater. Soon the voices seemed to fast forward, and Milo could physically feel his body come further into being as it aged. Soon he was able to open his eyes, and he was able to confirm his conjecture. Time was fast forwarding as he saw what he assumed to be giant alchemist inside of a laboratory, but it was all a blur — endless glass vats with what he believed to be miniature humanoid figures floating. Within the glass vat, Milo could see his reflection and what he saw astounded him! Instead of the handsome figure he had carefully modified to resemble his youth, a disproportionate monster stared back at him.
'Is this me? Holy sh*t! I'm ugly! Am I that small?' Milo thought vainly as he stared at his large hands and feet that were attached to his small arms and legs. His head was almost the size of his entire body but to make it even worse...his hands and feet were the same sizes as his head!
'Hell, I don't even think I could walk with this body, let alone fight!' Milo thought as he felt cheated.
Every few minutes, he would grow more tired, and his eyes would close again. Whenever he opened his eyes, he would try to make out the details of his surroundings. So far, Milo gathered that he was at least underground as he never saw sunlight and only the light of burning torches or candles. Even with the flickering lights, he was able to see shelves upon shelves of books. Vials and other glass equipment littered the tables with unknown liquids that bubbled. Paperwork was scattered about roughly, yet upon closer inspection, there were alchemic patterns drawn on them.
His gaze was drawn to the other vats that contained what he believed to be another homunculus, but they were so different from himself. Some had wings and beaks while others looked bestial. If anything they looked more like...chimeras than homunculus he thought, but perhaps that was part of the absorption skill that was mentioned. At times the researchers or alchemists would notice a particular vat while shaking their heads. After what I assumed to be failed experiments, they would get something that looked like a fire poker and drove it through the head of the creatures. The greenish liquid that was in the vat would slowly be dyed scarlet red with blood until they were then pulled out and dumped into a nearby furnace like trash.
'What if those were players? What if they think I'm a failure too?' Milo panicked and tried to observe why the others were considered failures and why other vats were left alone. As often as he had consciousness, he would try to create a mental checklist of do's and dont's and slowly cross-reference them with what he saw.
It was hard. The feeling of not knowing if he was going to be the next one skewered like some shishkabob. It was fear. Fear that had palpitated into the atmosphere as their muffled gurgles and flailing limbs begged for mercy. It was anxiety. That moment where every hair on his body raised and goosebumps tickled every fiber of his being as the alchemists turned towards him. The only thing that kept him from logging out was the adrenaline that he felt. It was hard to explain, perhaps because he knew it was a game that he didn't mind his current feelings. Maybe it was the spirit of being a gamer that propelled him to advance despite the dim circumstances. He endured the fading of consciousness and horrific murders as he tried to apply logical explanations to the situation. Milo kept telling himself that he couldn't possibly be a failure and that the game developers wouldn't leave players without a way to move forward, so he kept observing.
The homunculus wasn't considered as people to the alchemists. They were like a bad souffle that didn't rise, so the chef threw it away to try again. The alchemists experimented on the homunculus by injecting them with random things to see if it would turn out for the better. He noticed the alchemists throwing animal parts into the vats before moving them onto an alchemic circle. They would gather around the tank and chant in an ominous tone until the pieces would slowly mend itself on the homunculus. The process seemed so primal and brutal as the homunculus would always scream in pain and faint, but no one would listen to their pleas.
The most frightening experience he had was when he awoke one time to see the alchemists surrounding his vat. Time seemed to be flowing at a regular rate, and his sight seemed less blurry, possibly due to being fully developed. His gaze immediately locked onto the fire poker that was held by a young man who appeared to be around his late teens.
"Show me results of your experiments, and it better be good." a younger child said with a skeptical tone. His appearance was very memorable as he was wearing a robe that was highly decorated with alchemic runes and gold trim. It was so odd to see the other researchers bow their heads and tend to his every need.
"Yes, we created the base with the semen of a human, but from that point on, we used the brain of an elf to ensure its mind could perceive magic. From there we took the bones of a dwarf and covered it in iron. The muscular tissue has been replaced with an orc's." another researcher said with a bowed head and hand over his heart.
"Quite ugly. " said the dignified child said with a smirk that showed two long fangs.
'A vampire!' thought Milo as he tilted his head in amazement.
"Aye, we've yet to stabilize it fully, but it has shown signs of sentience. We've been waiting for your arrival, Lord Archus before we graft the alchemic heart to it." said the nervous researcher.
"Oh? Interesting...sentience you say? How fast can you make more and when will be ready?" said Lord Archus with curiosity as he glared at me.
"It's a delicate procedure, and unless the homunculus has fused with the alchemic heart, it'll die within minutes outside its vat, my lord. This one was crafted using the techniques of all the research facilities combined efforts, and if we succeed today with the alchemic heart we can start mass producing them." the researcher spouted as fast as he could.
Lord Archus slowly approached the vat and tapped its finger on the glass before saying, "Too much time has been wasted, and the war still rages on. Prepare the heart and sacrifice; I want it ready before the night ends. If you fail, I ensure you that your deaths will be as excruciating as possible."