Starting from that day, every day, one of the disciples would get dragged away, only to return as something else.

  Sometimes it was exploded body parts.

  Sometimes it was a corpse with tentacles bursting out from its orifices and stomach.

  Sometimes they were half-transformed, with parts of their limbs half-verted before dying.

  None survived.

  Every day, Tharick ate his fellow disciples, being numb to the act of eating humans. He didn't even have the ce to read or practice magic. It was just that. Staying inside a cage and doing nothing aside from tearing off his limbs and waiting for them to heal.

  Tharick slowly felt his sanity slipping as idle thoughts fshed in his mind.

  "I will be the st to die here, hah?"

  "How are Bria and the others doing?"

  "Is Evile holding up?"

  Finally, oh day of fi, Rhalore, the st disciple to be taken away, wore a haggard smile as he looked at Tharid only said two bone-chilling words.

  "Eat well."

  Tharick imprihe image of his straightened back as he walked into the darkness, knowing his impendih.

  Rhalore was 99% transformed into a humanoid monster wheurned as a corpse two hours ter, and Thariearly failed tnize him. Regardless, Tharick ate him too.

  "I ate well..." Tharick sadly thought.

  Finally, the st day arrived.

  .

  .

  .

  Day 135:

  Tharick woke up, feeling somber. He looked at the empty cages in front, as empty as the hopes and dreams of esg this madhouse.

  But in a way, he felt relief.

  "It will be over soon." Tharick soled himself.

  Several mier, Evile arrived at his cell. She looked prettier than several months prior because she had occasionally ed his essence, which gave her an overall boost in her Physique, Magic Power, and Life Force. However, Tharioticed the deep tiredness in her eyes.

  Without saying a word, Evile took out a key and opehe door.

  Cck* Creek*

  Tharick didn't say anything. He merely stared at Evile, waiting for her to take him to his iable fate of being dissected.

  A, what happened surprised him.

  Evile took another key and undid the magic-restrig colr that blocked Tharick's magic, dropping to the ground.

  "Groar?" "Hah?"

  "Transte," Evile said, putting a hand on Tharick's body.

  Hum*

  "I studied it from the moment you turned into a monster. I barely mao finish studying it two days ago thanks to your Energy Eje." Evile said befiving Tharick a tight hug. "I am sorry I couldn't speak to you all this time."

  "Evile... It's alright." Tharick hugged her back.

  They hugged each other for a minute before letting go.

  "What is going on, Evile?" Tharick asked.

  "The Master let us go. We get out of here." Evile said with a fatigued look.

  "Hah? How?" Tharick was astonished.

  "I'll expihing on the way. I don't want to wait until our Master ges his mind due to one of his episodes." Evile said with a hint of worry.

  Tharick shook, knowing they had to escape, and fast.

  "Okay, let's go," Tharick said as he cast serve Energy on himself.

  Suddenly, Tharick became several times shorter, from the size of a giant dog to that of a puppy.

  "Evile, please carry me." Tharick requested.

  Evile nodded, picked Tharick up, hugged him to her chest, and hurriedly walked through the underground maze below the tower.

  As a Transmutation Wizard, Zefaris had an impressive Magic Tower, reag 300m high with a hundred floors. However, that didn't mean it didn't have an underground. On the trary, the entire underground was a guarded byrinth, serving as a foundation for the tower. It was off-limits for all but Zefaris's most trusted aides. And it was evident that Evile was allowed inside sihe gargoyles guarding the halls didn't activate.

  "Where are we going?" Tharick asked.

  "To the teleportation chamber," Evile replied.

  "Are... the women, safe?" Tharick warily asked.

  It was a touchy subject, especially with Evile, who was more than a friend but less than a lover. However, those women carried his children, and although he didn't feel particurly attached to them, he would be unfortable if they died.

  "They are safe. I will expihing once we are out." Evile said, hurrying along.

  Tharick sighed in relief and didn't ask more.

  Soon, they arrived in a chamber with several magic circles on the floor.

  "Are those-" Tharick widened his eyes.

  "Yes. These are teleportation circles. They are lio Master Zefaris's remote bs and escape routes. We should be safe there." Evile said.

  A clever rabbit has three holes, and Zefaris is wise and a. It wasn't surprising he accumuted that much over the years.

  Without saying anything more, Evile walked with Tharick to a random magic circle and stood on it. After waiting for ten seds, the circle lit up, and Evile and Tharick vanished.

  .

  .

  .

  Meanwhile-

  In the experiment room-

  Zefaris had a deranged look as he dissected the carcass of a creature that looked like Tharick. It was one of Tharick's es, and although it didn't gain life, it was enough for the wizard.

  "Hehehe... Yes. Yes! I am such a genius! Who hat runt? I achieve it all by myself!" Zefaris proudly procimed as thoughts about how to plete the serum formed in his mind.

  "Even if I fail, I at least let my magnum opus go. With the spatial ste ring, they at least carry on my legacy if the worst happens..." Zefaris muttered.

  Suddenly, Zefaris started coughing.

  "Cough* Cough* Cough* Cough*..."

  After two minutes, Zefaris recovered and then looked fused.

  "Wait... Where is the girl? Didn't I pn to use her as a guinea pig a minute ago? And why did I agree to let my creation go? I wao dissect it, too. And what happeo my emergency spatial ring?" Zefaris frowrying to reassemble his failing memory.

  His mind was like a masterwork painting with holes, and he couldn't recall such minor, insignifit details.

  "Bah, fet it. I will think about it once I achieve immortality," Zefaris muttered as he tio work on his final masterpiece.

  .

  .

  .

  In an isoted room somewhere-

  Hum*

  A magic circle lit as a girl holding a puppy-sized tentacle monster emerged.

  "Mage light." Evile ted, lighting the pitch-b with purple light.

  Stepping away from the magic circle, Evile looked at it, "Tharick, you destroy that circle? I don't want anyone following us."

  "Sure, put me down," Tharick replied.

  Evile put Thari the floor, and he crawled to the magic circle before starting to t his spell- Manufacture.

  While he couldn't destroy the magic itself since he didn't know Dispel Magic, messing up the ground underh was enough to disrupt a magic circle unless it was reinforced with magic. Luckily, it seemed like that wasn't the case, perhaps because it is an escape route meant to be destroyed quickly.

  Ten mier, the Magic Circle was scrambled beynition. No one could use it now. Only then did the duo rex.

  "We should be safe now." Evile sighed in relief and picked Tharick up.

  Looking around the room, she soon found a dder. Climbing up the dder, Evile opehe hatch, where they found themselves in a dusty wooden house filled with old equipment.

  "It must be one of Master Zefaris's old hideouts." Tharick mused.

  "Tharick, you the house. I will look around." Evile said, not wanting to stay in such a dirty pce.

  "Agreed," Tharick replied and got to work.

  With his high Magic Power, Tharick quickly ed the house after several dozen ing spells, creating an envirohey could stay in.

  After he was done ing, Evile returned from expl outside aed.

  "The house is surrounded by a 50m radius monster-ward and illusion magid we are situated between a cliff wall and a forest. There is a nearby creek with fish outside, and there are several fruit trees, so it solve some of our immediate food requirements." Evile said.

  "Hm... That would have to do for now. Too bad I didn't study the Create Food spell, or we could st indefinitely here." Tharick sighed.

  "Not quite." Evile pyfully smiled and proudly showed a ring on her finger.

  "Wait... Is that what I think it is?" Tharick was taken aback.

  "Yep. One of Master's Spatial Rings! He was so kind as to give it to his beloved st disciples. After all, he needs someoo tinue his glorious legacy if the worst happens!" Evile procimed with a look of schadenfreude.

  "..." Tharick looked at her, squinting his eyes.

  "Hey, don't give me that look! I'm telling the truth! I swear it on my soul!" Evile said with a solemn look.

  "I believe you, but you omitted how you vinced him," Tharick said.

  "Tsk. Do you mistrust our benevolent master that much?" Evile pouted.

  "..." Tharick merely stared at her.

  "Hahaha! Just kidding. Yeah, it was a close shave. He almost decided to use me as his final b rat." Evile's pyful look disappeared, repced by a deep look of fear. "If it wasn't for a dementic episode, I would likely be your st meal."

  "You had it rough." Tharick sympathized.

  "You said it. But it was worth it. Everything was worth it." Evile smiled again, a look of aplishment in her eyes. "For the first 100 days, I pyed as an obedient and useful subordinate, a yes-man who did everything to the letter and more. I everayed everyone iower just to earn the old bastard's trust. Thanks to that, I became a close fidant. It wasn't enough to manipute him when lucid, but after a dementic episode, he was vulnerable enough for me to manipute him."

  "You mean..." Tharick widened his eyes in disbelief at the gall Evile had.

  "Heeheehee... Yes! I did! And I am so gd I did!" Evile smugly said. "After testing a few times, I mao manipute who he chose first for his experiments. I then tried to get your women out, and he agreed after I vinced him that the pregnant women would be useless to his research, so he let me get rid of them. I freed them in town, gave them some money, ahem go after warning them to not mention anything that happened iower. With their high Physique and Life Force thanks to your stant nourishment, they should live a long and stable life."

  "I owe you one, Evile," Tharick said, feeling relieved.

  "You better! I risked my neck for that stunt!" Evile said and then tinued with a proud look, "After that, I slowly started ving the Master that the es in his b were enough for his genius pn, and that letting you go would be the same as letting his child, his magnum opus, survive even if the worst happened. And I vely added that you would need some assistance, so he let me go to apany you. I also ily said that we would need his vast and glorious knowledge to tinue his legacy, so he gave me a spatial ring filled with a lifetime accumution of magies, researotes, magic equipment, a few golem guards, magigredients, some money, and sundries. I also vely pced the valuables of the other disciples in the ring while at it."

  "You... You just robbed a Titled Wizard's heritage!" Tharick excimed in disbelief.

  "Robbed is a strong word. I would call it ied." Evile winked.

  "Heh! That's what I like about you." Tharick's shock turned iement and joy.

  "Yes, we are now set for a long, LONG time!" Evile smirked.

  And so, the duo started their life in the woods.