It was at this moment that Liam knew he was a fish on the chopping block. Powerless to resist, it was likely that he was important resource that the humanoid creature wanted to use. Thankfully the next few days, or what felt like days, passed by uneventfully. Liam could not understand the gibberish that the tall humanoid was speaking about, but he did observe his daily actions. Although it seemed that both him and the humanoid were living in subterranean conditions, where one could not tell when it was dawn and dusk, the humanoid had a strict cycle that he stuck to. In the 'morning', he would check on Liam, log his progress, as well as add some sort of powder that magically entered the crystal ball, as if to feed him. When Liam tried to escape during the 'feeding sessions' he slammed his head once again into the glass barrier. It seemed as if the crystal ball was only selectively permeable, allowing for certain things to enter the ball but no souls to be able to exit. After 'feeding' the creature would go over to his setup of beakers and other related products, his 'alchemy station', to concoct some sort of viscous fluid, which he would consume noisily. Then he would turn back to pore at his manuscripts once more. In the 'afternoon', he would begin casting what Liam could only describe as a spell towards the table filled with crystals arranged in a pattern, after which a black hole similar to what Liam had experienced before would open up at the center of the crystal arrangement. Perhaps the humanoid's luck was not too good, but Liam observed that the only things that were coming out of the hole were faded white particles that disappeared within a couple seconds, and the occasional mournful wail, but no sign of any creature/soul similar to himself. Everyday the creature would leave the altar, scowling, before burying himself in the manuscripts again. In the 'evening', he would once again add powder to the crystal ball again. Liam did not know what the powder was, but he did feel energized after the powder touched his soul. Hence he assumed that the powder was something that was beneficial to souls. After which he would dig through the pile of manuscripts the corner of the room until he was at the floor, removed some of the pelt and opened up a secret compartment and fiddle around with it before repacking everything and leaving the room for the rest of the night. Perhaps the creature felt that Liam was a dead man anyway Liam found that as a soul, sleep was not something required, but it did help preserve his energy. Liam found that without a body, he was slowly deteriorating, getting more sick and tired just by existing. Only with the help of the white powder did Liam find himself energized, and it almost felt like his body was becoming whole again. However one 'morning', the creature broke his schedule. Liam watched as the humanoid picked up the crystal ball, eyes shining with insanity and nostrils flared and a grimace on his face so large it was almost as if Liam owed him an arm and a leg. Finally with a shout, he grabbed Liam and placed him gingerly on the alchemy station.
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"This cannot go on!" Negal shouted in dismay. "The rejection is getting so strong that I can't even maintain the illusion formation... cough cough… Not even anti-rejection fluids can stem the tide... Luckily I decide to create a base in the Cassus Isles... cough.. This place is so bereft of mana that only regular humans would live in such a remote area..." His voice was raspy, punctuated by violent coughs. "Looks like I have no choice but to risk creating Dollo's brew without any experimentation or adaptation... Its truly a shame I don't have another set of ingredients." With that, Negal started to prepare the ingredients for the ancient potion.
Unfortunately, not long after he began preparations, a violent explosion impacted the cave, causing silt and dust to rain down from the ceiling above. Immediately following that were two more explosions, causing the whole cave to shake as if they were experiencing an earthquake. "Dark Magus Negal Locant, we know you are in there! You are wanted for the murder of Derrick Augustine, son of Lord Magus Augustine! Now will you come out peacefully or do we have to force our way in?!" A male voice shouted from outside of the cave. "Damn! Those accursed Light Magi were on my tail! I-I gotta go!" Negal was shaking in terror. He was currently suffering from the effects of his own organs rejecting his body, and was no where near fighting shape. He knew that if the Light Magi were to find him, there was no way they would let him leave alive. With that, he dropped whatever he was doing and began quickly packing away all of his valuables in order to escape using a hidden tunnel he had constructed. However not long after, One of the 2 Light magi waiting outside commented: "What's the point talking sense with him? He's a bloody Dark Magus! Let's just kill him and take his stuff. That old man is probably so weak he might be dead already. He didn't even put up a illusory formation to mask his presence. We can split his stuff 50-50, how about that?" "Uh... Sure? Sure. Anyway Lord Augustine is a cheapskate. Might as well say we couldn't find him and take his stuff." And with that, both Magi stormed into the cave abode. Negal was surprised to see the 2 light magi storming his cave abode without a second word and panicked. He was still in the middle of packing away his valuables! With their shadows looming closer, Negal calmed down and realised there was only one option left. To fight decisively and try to break out! With that in mind, he began preparing his potions for the fight of his life...
The two light magi were leisurely strolling towards the bottom of the cave, both them grinning from ear to ear. "There's no response at all. I think he's already dead or so incapacitated he can't do anything to us. Haha! This is great! We get to loot an Alchemy Master's den barely doing anything. I wish more of our trips are like-" "Watch out!" One of the Light Magi interrupted, pushing the other out of the way, faced his back and shouted "Flying Shield! Protect my body!" As he turned his body, a huge shield floated from behind his back and flew outwards, blocking the hidden projectile that was flying towards them. Upon impact with the shield, with a woosh a huge fireball exploded on the surface of the shield, flinging the two magi backwards, but not claiming their lives. After being thrown backwards, they quickly scrambled and got themselves back up, taking much greater caution than before. Negal grimaced, now that they were alert, it would be much harder to take down one of them, not to mention two. Taking in a deep breath, he began chucking potions from his satchel towards the two Light Magi with reckless abandon, trying to smother them with just sheer firepower. The two Light Magi quickly responded, and by reciting a string of unintelligible gibberish, fired two balls of fire towards Negal. Jumping out of the way, the two fireballs exploded, creating a huge crater on the ground. Negal thought to himself, 'If I can stall them out and force them to waste their mana, I just might survive,' But within 2 exchanges, it was clear who had the upper hand. Negal had already lost an arm to a corrosive acid spray that the 2 Magi lobbed at him, reducing his potion chucking speed by half. 'There's no way out... So be it... If you want to take my life, I will use my life in exchange of yours!' With an insane look in his eyes, Negal stopped throwing potions with his remaining hand and sprinted towards the two Light Magi, screaming "HAHAHAHA SINCE I"M GONNA DIE YOU CAN JOIN ME TOO!" As he sprinted towards the two dumbfounded individuals, his body began to bloat, inflating until his body turned into a balloon before colliding into the two magi...