The conversation went on for another half hour. In the end, Luz slowly put his cup aside before leaving the room with Jodoc on his shoulder. By now, Luz understood the dynamic between Jodoc and Master Simon.
'Jodoc is an Intermediate mage and Master Simon's soul-bound beast. Currently, his job is to watch over me until Master Simon also feels like teaching me.'
Luz just sighed and asked Jodoc, "What should we do," after arriving at the stairs.
Slowly he walked down the squeaky stairs, and Jodoc said, "Your talent was space magic, wasn't it?"
"Yes, that's my talent," Luz replied while running his fingers along the handrail of the stairs.
The staircase, as well as the handrail, were both made of dark ebony that had a cold matte feel to it.
Jodoc, on the other hand, just stretched out his two wings and cawed, "Perfect then, we'll focus on that today, and I'll tell you a bit about the problems with it."
Luz stopped in the middle of the stairs. The parasites in his body seemed to get too loud to keep ignoring them.
'Meh. I'll give you guys what you want to eat in a minute. Just give me a moment.'
Smiling, Luz turned to Jodoc, who immediately replied: "No."
"But I haven't even asked anything yet," Luz replied with a smile.
"Yes. But I know that your request will not be good, and please put away your grin."
Luz's smile only grew, and he whispered with wide eyes, "Jodoc, this is your chance to help me surpass Master Simon. We'll never get it done if you're always in my way."
"Luz, that won't work, but well, let me hear your request," sighed Jodoc.
"So I need some high-quality meat, and surely you know where Master Simon's fridge or freezer is," Luz asked while rubbing his hands together.
"Alright. I'll just give you a small portion. That should be enough for you. You'll just eat in the cafeteria later," replied Jodoc, who flew in front of Luz and pointed him in the right direction.
Luz hurried the bird down the stairs, and it wasn't long before they landed in the basement. In front of them was a metal door covered with runes that shimmered slightly in the darkness.
"We're here," screeched Jodoc while filling in a password with his beak.
The door opened squeakily, and a cold but strong breeze blew towards the two.
"It's cold," Luz whispered through chattering teeth while shivering slightly.
"YES, that's why I never want to go here," screeched the parrot as it nestled into Luz's work clothes.
'Ok, this feels slightly uncomfortable.'
After the door opened, there was a freezer room with several ice statues of monsters and most parts of monsters that Luz hadn't seen yet.
"Are you sure we can go in here?" Luz asked worriedly.
"Not really, but Master Simon certainly wouldn't notice if 200 grams of flesh were missing from one of the animals," Jodoc replied calmly, and both of them entered.
From monsters that had a fish-like appearance to tentacled land creatures, there was everything. But the two slowly walked to a magical mammal that resembled a bull.
This bull was chopped up in pieces and frozen. Its legs alone were as big as Luz, and its pointed horns were half his size. If you looked closer at the bull, you could see how it was missing some spots of flesh.
"It looks like this thing has been fed nothing but growth hormones since birth," Luz muttered as he slowly moved his hands toward the horns.
"You better keep your hand off of that. That animal alone cost Master Simon thousands in mana crystals," screeched Jodoc poking Luz in the head.
"Ok, ok, ok," Luz sighed as he massaged the spot.
Jodoc cut a piece of the meat with his beak as if it were butter.
'Shit like he's capable of something like that with his beak. Ok, that's creepy...'
"Your beak is so pointy, and yet you still hit me with it," Luz replied while a shiver went down his spine.
Jodoc just laughed with his chest hunched and rubbed his beak against Luz's ear.
"But why does he spend so much on food anyway?" asked Luz while lightly stroking Jodoc's feather with his hand.
"Wel,l eating high-quality meat can help strengthen your body. You buy such an animal only once, and it will last you at least ten years if you have a human appetite," Jodoc told him while holding 500 grams of meat on his beak.
They both left the freezer, and the door closed behind them with a loud thud.
"Man, that was cold," muttered Luz having icicles in his hair.
The bird, on the other hand, nodded, before using a magic spell to unfreeze the frozen meat.
"And how do you want to eat it?" asked Jodoc carrying more meat on his beak than he weighed.
'Grilled would be best, I think,' but his thoughts were disrupted by the loud princes within him.
'We want to eat it raw,' they replied telepathically.
"Alright..." sighed Luz before continuing with, "Just raw... I'll swallow it raw, and that's it."
Jodoc almost dropped the meat out of shock and had to laugh, "You're much more of an animal than I am, hahaha."
They both left the tower with two plates and sat down in Master Simon's herb garden since they would be in the shade there. Jodoc cut the meat into small pieces for Luz.
Luz's plate ended up with 400 grams of bloody red meat.
'Damn you parasites forcing me to eat this' Luz mentally cursed at the princes while slowly putting a piece of the meat in his mouth.
Jodoc, on the other hand, didn't even eat the meat on his plate and watched Luz anxiously. What Luz didn't know was that Jodoc was mentally ready to call Simon at any time if it was too energy-intensive for Luz.
After Luz took the meat in his mouth, he noticed that he was too weak to even chew it.
'What the hell is this...? It's just meat. Why is it as hard as stone?' Luz thought while swallowing it.
The parasites living in the cells of his digestive system have evolved in the direction of energy production of biological matter compared to their equal.
It didn't take long for the parasites in his digestive system to be overwhelmed by the meat. Luz sat at the table, and his stomach ached like anything else. The veins in his hand and face could be clearly seen as well as his almost blood-red eyes.
Panting, Luz muttered, "This is very energy-intensive... They love it...," before resting his head on the table and taking a deep breath in and out.
A notepad and pen appeared in the air, in front of Jodoc, writing down Jodoc's thoughts on paper. He analyzed Luz as he did so, jotting down data such as body temperature.
"Sorry, Luz, but you're my own little guinea pig," he said while forcing water down Luz's throat with a spell.
"If Simon finds out you're more than dead," Luz gasped as beads of sweat rolled down his forehead, and he took the next portion.
"Did you seriously just take another serving?...spit it out, now!!!" cursed Jodoc, who was shocked by the situation.
"No," replied Luz panting like a dog. Jodoc poked Luz in the skull, and he just whimpered.
The second portion also caused a burning sensation inside him, but compared to the first bite it was nothing. Jodoc merely watched everything in silence and raised his wing.
After Luz showed no reaction, he muttered with a sigh, "Guinea pig seems to tolerate high-energy meat from Master level organisms well. More trials are needed to make a final decision."
The meat in front of Luz froze suddenly, and Jodoc teleported it into his inventory.
"But... But my food," muttered Luz, who just stared at Jodoc and reached his hand for the plate.
By now, Luz's body had calmed down a bit. His body was still hot because of all the released energy, but the chance of potential organ failure was now as low as it could be.
"No," Jodoc cursed, ready to bite Luz's hand bloody.
Thx for the chapter!