The Death Knights immediately got to work. Three dozen moved off to the side, where they began to use condensed Necrotic Mana to carve into the stone floor. Another two dozen began to move or destroy anything in a ten foot radius.

The rest of the Death Knights went back into the Deep Entrance, but Alaster could feel them summoning their own Minions and using them to dig out a large underground room.

Glad to see the work progressing smoothly, Alaster turned around only too see a Death Knight standing there, holding a folded piece of paper.

The Knight offered the paper to Alaster, "He wished to give this to you."

Alaster took the paper, "Is that all?"

"Yes Master." The Death Knight gave a small bow and left to join the Knights underground.

'What is it?' Belgroth asked anxiously.

The Argalon Death Knight had unnerved the Demon more than Alaster had ever seen. He suspected there was something that Belgroth was not telling him about Vulimax.

Alaster opened the paper to see a Magical Recipe so complex he felt a dull ache behind his eyes just looking at it.

"You tell me." Alaster grumbled, lightly rubbing his temples.

'I can't believe it.' Belgroth said in barely a whisper.

'Believe what?'

'He did it.'

'Bel, if you don't tell me what it is, I am going to soak it.'

'NO! Don't. I'll tell you. Vulimax had ultimately one goal in his research of Death. How to create a body.'

'Isn't that what you are working on?'

'Technically yes, but what I was doing is the known method. You first create a body that can hold the soul, then over time, you adjust it to suit the soul, gradually allowing the soul to adapt. Basically, the way I was doing it, it would have taken decades before I was back to full power, and it would still never feel right.

But this, this equation, solves that, because instead of creating a body for the soul to inhabit, it creates a body out of the soul.'

'Wouldn't that make the soul more vulnerable?'

'You would think, but no. Because the soul becomes material, it makes them virtually indestructible against soul damage. It would also mean that if the body was destroyed, the soul would be as well, but so long as…according to the equation…a toe remained of the body, then it would regenerate to perfect health.'

'So this can create your body?'

'Yep! All it requires is the proper amount of Mana to flow through the equation. If we don't have enough, it will be slow, but if we have enough, then I could have a body in mere hours.'

'Could it be used to replace the body of a still living person?' Alaster asked, studying the equation despite the migraine it was giving him.

Belgroth's excited voice turned quiet, 'Yes, but the cost is great. Alaster I know what you are thinking of, but don't. You have to understand that there is reason creating secondary bodies is a last resort. The body you are born with is uniquely attuned with reality.

Colors are more vibrant. Food is tastier. In a second body, reality feels not quite real. There is a real risk of insanity caused because of this disconnect. Creating another body allows you to customize its specialties, but the cost is too great.'

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'Spoken like a true hypocrite.' Alaster joked, chuckling to himself, 'So what do I need to do to get you out of my head?'

'A quite and isolated place. With any complex equation and ritual, a single mistake can be disastrous. And this equation and ritual puts Humanity's most complex rituals to shame. Luckily, Vulimax seems to have simplified the process, automating much of it. Once it is prepared, all you'll have to do is supply it with Mana and it will do the rest.'

'And if he hadn't simplified it?'

'Then it would take several months of constant work handcrafting every single aspect of the ritual where even a centimeter's mistake could level the city.'

Alaster starting walking out of the warehouse, 'Why would Vulimax help you like this? From the way you put it, he should, at most, be enjoying your suffering.'

Belgroth hesitated, struggling to find the correct way to explain as he understood it, 'Vulimax was a researcher. First and foremost. He did not care what he researched. If his curiosity landed on a subject, he would study it until he was satisfied.

But there are some subjects mortals should not touch. Death is one of them. Researching ways to extend life is fine, even halting aging or outright immortality. But even the immortal will one day experience death, just like any other.

Death itself is a forbidden topic.'

'You say that to the guy who spoke to Death and received a gift from it.'

'Alaster, Life and Death are the only constants in existence. Everything has a beginning and an end. Everything. It is the natural order of the Universe. Nothing good comes from trying to subvert the natural order.'

Alaster walked through the streets, listening to his Demonic mentor as boulders crashed through buildings and rubble around him. A casual stroll as the city burned around him.

'Isn't Magic subverting the natural order?'

'Where do you think Magic comes from? Nature. Magic is a tool to explore and learn. At its most basic function, Magic is a pair of glasses that mortals need to see the Universe through. It is a great privilege, but if you abuse that privilege, the Universe fights back.

To Vulimax, his colleagues were hunted and murdered because we feared what they were learning. But that is not why. We hunted them because of what they were causing.

Some, in their study, were creating Monsters that repelled reality, warping it into horrors. Horrors so rejected by reality, that merely observing them could kill.

Others had mutated themselves into corrupted Gods whose mere prenense caused tsunamis, earthquakes, and sinkholes that consumed mountains.

We hunted them because we feared them yes, but there is was a reason to fear them.

They refused to see what their research was causing, and hated us for killing them. Vulimax was the same, but over the years, I suspect he looked back and realized our reasons. He might not support our choices, but I think he understands.'

'And that's why he has given us this recipe?'

Alaster felt Belgroth shrug, 'I think? This hunt happened before I was even born. I mean, we still hunted any who studied the Forbidden Topics, but there was maybe one every few centuries by the time I was born.

Besides, he is a researcher. What good is research if you can't don't do anything with it?'

'And its not a trap?'

'No. I understand the recipe. Its way more complex than I could create on my own, I was not an Enchanter or Ritualist, but I understand enough to know the basics. While the procedure is complex, the result is quite simple.'

'So using the Recipe, how long will it take before you have a body?' Alaster asked, hopping over a large pile of rubble that had once been a bell tower.

'I might take two or three hours to prepare the proper Runes and Enchantments, but once that is done, it depends on how much Mana you can supply the Ritual. You could use enough Mana for a Necrotic Bolt and it would take days, or you could use enough Mana to conjure a thousand Dead Bombs and complete it in a few hours. Or you could even stop channeling Mana through it and it would pause, ready to continue at any time.'

'Sounds too simple.'

'That's only because Vulimax has such a great understanding of this type of Magic. If you did this yourself, it would take years.'

'And what about the Spell you were preparing for yourself? Weren't you getting pretty close?'

'My Spell would have resulted in a body that I would inhabit more like a Golem. And I mean that intentionally. The body itself would have been made out of a material. It could have been steel, stone, gold, or even tin. The material would have effected the capabilities of the body, so I was trying to create a Mana Steel that wouldn't leave me powerless.

What I am trying to say, is that Vulimax's option is infinitely better.'

Alaster nodded to the guards standing outside the City Lord's Castle and entered the building, 'Well, I'll ask Keylan for a room below the Castle, and we will begin. That is, if the Coalition doesn't have any objections.'

'Why would they object?' Belgroth chuckled.

'Come to think of it, will they be able to feel the Ritual?'

'If there is enough Mana? Possibly.'

'So I should warn Keylan?'

'Possibly.'

'Great.'

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