Chapter 89
[[[3 hours later . ]]]
"Stop salivating already . " Alex said as he let out a sigh . "We are in a place of knowledge here, so you should keep it in your pants!"
"But look them! They all look like total beefcakes!" Simon replied as he furtively looked around, with a hint of drool rolling down of his chin . "I mean look at that guy! Daaaaamn!"
"Hey, look at that apparatus! Will it explode if I touch it?" Alice seemed to have ignored what Simon was doing as she seemed to be immersed in her own world . "Will it go kaboom?"
"Hey, no touching too!" Right now, Alex felt like he was an older sister, busy on disciplining two rowdy kids .
"Hehehe, that's what you get for impersonating someone else…" Asteria said as she giggled at Alex . "Now, suffer the hardships of babysitting!"
" . . . " Alex looked once more at Simon, who was now looking at the behinds of every male Mage that passes by, and to Alice that was now ogling at a tank of corrosive elixir .
"F**k, it seems like I got the worse of it…" Alex muttered to himself as he slumped his shoulders in despair .
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"Umm… are you Teresa Glaivewood?" After 3 hours of excruciating wait, Alex finally heard someone calling out Teresa's name .
"Yes, Teresa Glaivewood right here . " Alex raised his arms slightly in order to get the attention of the one that called out to him .
"Oh, there you are…" Alex heard some slight swishing of robes, and before he knew it, he was now face to face with one of the thinnest persons that she saw .
"Hello there, Mage Apprentice Fred . " Alex said as he looked at the mage that appeared in front of him .
"And hello to you too, Golden Knight Teresa Glaivewood . " Fred said as he swept his eyes at Alex and his companions . "You seem to have brought some companions here . "
"Oh, my father allowed them to join me . " Alex said as he heard the suspicious tone in Fred's voice . "Just treat them as friendlies . "
"Friendlies . Got it . " Fred tucked his long, wiry arms at his back as he turned around, and using his legs to walk away . "I have set up your meeting with my master, so we should not waste time here . Please follow me . "
"Ok, ok . " Alex muttered to himself as he pulled both Alice and Simon with him .
"You two should behave later . . . " Alex hissed to the two as he casted a sideways glance towards Fred . "If my guess is right, the Mage that we will meet later is a bigshot . "
"What kind of bigshot are you talking about?" Alice interjected as she looked at Alex with a mischievous glint in her eyes .
"I am talking about Divine Mage kind of bigshot . " Alex replied with a deadpan expression on his face .
"Coool!!!" Simon immediately used his hand to cover Alice's mouth, effectively muffling her shout . "Fred's master is a Divine Mage?"
"Yes, and from what I know, this Divine Mage is the Divine Mage Imago . " Alex said as he observed the walking silhouette of Fred .
"Divine Mage Imago? The creepy one?" This time, it was Simon who talked, and from the timbre of his tone, it sounded like he was somewhat scared . "We are about to meet with that guy?"
"Hey, don't say it out loud!" Alex gave Simon a glare as he pointed his chin towards Fred . "He might hear us!"
"Um, I can perfectly hear what you guys were talking about . " Fred said as he continued on walking . "But don't worry, I know how creepy my master is, and I can say that your fears are all justified . "
"Now ain't that fun…" Alex thought to himself wryly, as he looked over Teresa's memories about Divine Mage Imago .
From what the original Teresa knew, Divine Mage Imago was the type of mage who likes to experiment on different kinds of Monsters .
Breeding, cross-breeding, selective mutation and sometimes even cloning, Divine Mage Imago had done all these stuff already .
The notoriety of all the stuff that Divine Mage Imago did was so great that some of the Divine Knights and Mages actually wanted him gone .
Well, Teresa's father was not one of them, but even he was also wary of the mentioned Divine Mage .
"Stop right there . " Fred's voice jolted Alex from his musings, as he and the others found themselves standing in front of a magical circle etched on the ground .
"That magical circle will teleport all three of you towards my master's office . " Fred said as he gave all three of them a narrowed look . "Just step on the circle, and then I will activate the formation with my blood to send you there . "
"Wait, your blood?" Alice interjected as she gave Fred a curious look . "Why your blood?"
"Because my master told me that it will be better that way . " Fred said as he gritted his teeth .
"But-"
"No more questions, okay?" Fred said, forcefully interrupting Alice . "Just step on the magic circle and get done with it!"
Alice actually became slightly timid as she followed Alex and Simon on stepping on the magic circle .
"Remember, don't make my master angry, or he might do something bad to you three . " Fred said, with most of his gave concentrated at Alice and Simon . "Don't f**k anything up, ok?"
Fred then slashed his palm with a knife, which brought out a steady flow of blood .
The magic circle glowed at the instant that the blood dripped on it, signifying its activation .
"Hong~"
Before Alex could know it, his surroundings shifted, which was accompanied with a lurching sensation .
"I need to puke… . " Both Simon and Alice said as they clutched their stomachs, looking both pale and miserable .
Luckily for them, there was a trio of empty buckets nearby . The poor duo staggered towards the buckets before emptying their breakfast on them .
"Guoh…"
Alex just looked away from the sight, as he focused on observing his new place .
" . . . " As Alex spent more time looking around, he realized something wrong .
No matter where Alex placed his eyes, all that Alex could see were large glass containers, and each of these containers contained something .
And Alex was serious when he said that the containers contained something, as even he was not sure on how to describe the contents of the container .
"Are these organic creatures or something? Ugh, now I feel sick too . " Alex thought to himself as he stepped out of the magic circle .
"Clap, clap, clap . " Alex suddenly heard some clapping sounds behind him, prompting him to look back .
What Alex saw a well-built man, wearing glasses that perfectly fit his eyes .
The man's hands were covered with gloves, and unlike the other mages, the man in front of him only wore white lab gown .
Add the creepy smile that the man was wearing, and Alex felt weirded out by this man .
"You are one of the few who did not feel sick after getting teleported here . That, little girl, is actually impressive…" The weird man said as he extended his left hand towards Alex, as if he wanted to do a handshake .
Alex looked at the hand warily, as he saw some slimy liquid dripping down from the extended hand .
"Umm, are you Divine Mage Imago?" Alex asked as he did nothing to shake his hand . "My father told me to come here and get a check-up or something…"
"Oh right, you are that Teresa girl, the one kidnapped by two Visitor Monsters . " The weird man said as he retreated his hand . "Welcome to my office then, Teresa Glaivewood . I am Divine Mage Imago, and you will be in my care today . "
" . . . . " Alex was not sure why, but he felt trepidation as he heard what the Divine Mage said . "Um, I will be in your care then…"
"Good . " The Divine Mage nodded, as if he was satisfied with that Alex said . He then looked at his side, noticing both Alice and Simon, who were still busy puking on the buckets . "And these two are?"
"Um, they are my companions here . " Alex said as he gave the Divine Mage an apologetic smile . "Surely, there is no problem if they stay here, right?"
"Oh, there is no problem at all . " The Divine Mage said as he looked back at Alex, decisively ignoring the other two . "As long as they do not interrupt us, then it will be fine . "
"Umm, then I guess we should get started now?" Alex inquired as he felt more and more creeped out with the Divine Mage . He realized that the earlier he gets out from here, the better it will be .
"So you are the excited type huh . I like it . " The Divine Mage smiled as he snapped his fingers .
"… . . " Alex waited for a few seconds to see what would happen next, and he was certainly disappointed with what he saw .
Alex saw a large human-sized capsule appearing in front of him .
Alex shivered as he saw countless tubes and pipes running around the capsule, with liquids of different colors flowing inside these tubes and pipes .
What made it worse were the sounds that Alex could hear coming from inside the capsule .
These sounds are not the sounds that should be heard by a normal person .
"Um, what should that… thing do?" Alex slowly asked the Divine Mage as he looked at the capsule with trepidation . "I will not go inside that, right?"
"Oh, that is what you will exactly do . " The Divine Mage replied cheerfully as he placed his slimy hand on Alex's shoulder .
"Once you are inside the capsule, it will monitor all your vital signs, including your power and abilities . If there is nothing wrong with you, then the capsule will let you out . But if you are hiding something… then my capsule will temporarily restrain you…"
The Divine Mage then loomed all over Alex, as he gave him another smile . "Teresa, surely you have no problems on entering the capsule, right?"
"Umm…" Of course Alex has numerous problems with entering the capsule itself . But he cannot just say that, or else the Divine Mage will force him inside .
"Even if I have no problems with the capsule, there is no way that I will enter that monstrosity!" Alex thought to himself as he started to think of the excuses that he can make to avoid the Human Capsule treatment .
"… . "
"Since you have nothing to say, then I guess I should place you in there already . " The Divine Mage said as he tightened his grip on Alex, showing his intention of not letting him go .
But before the Divine Mage could raise Alex's body, the magic circle suddenly glowed, which was accompanied by the appearance of a person inside the magic circle .
"What are you doing here, Fred?" The Divine Mage said as he and Alex saw Fred appearing inside the magic circle . "Didn't I give you an important task to do?"
"Yes master, I know about that task, but there is something big happening right now!" Fred shouted as he approached his master instantly .
"From the panicked look on your face, it seems like what you are about to tell me is extremely important . Out with it then . " The Divine Mage said as he loosened his hold on Alex .
Fred tried to maintain a calm visage as he slowly said,
"Master, a huge army of Monsters suddenly decided to invade one of the Human Kingdom that was near at the outskirts . "
"Oh, its just an army then . What is the problem with that?" The Divine Mage said as he gave Fred a dismissive look . "There have been lots of Monster invasion before, and most of them usually fails . "
"But Master, this time, the army was being led by 5 General Class Monsters!" Fred shouted out as he gave his master a panicked look . "Master, that surely is a bad new, right?"