22 Doctor Cortes (2/2)

There was a brief second of silence. And then the door inched open. ”Come on through! I've been waiting for someone to help me.” That same voice from before whispered to me, beckoning me beyond the door it had just opened for me.

”Alright... here we go.” I muttered to myself, as I took my first, careful steps through the barely opened door.

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Beyond the door, the first thing I noticed wasn't a sight or a sound. It was a smell. An odd smell.

Whatever I was smelling had an attitude and a large presence. The smell was strong and it flooded my nostrils and convinced me to keep my mouth shut so as to not taste it.

The next thing I noticed were the sights that revealed themselves to me when I walked in. The room I found myself in after walking through the door I had used to enter the building was a simple hallway, but an incredibly long one.

It was, beyond the shadow of a doubt an impossibly large hallway for the building it occupied, and I sighed and accepted this, accepting that I was in the presence of an unusual individual.

The walls that surrounded me and stretched forward an incredible distance, were made of thick, treated wood. They were a remarkable shade of bright brown and lit up the hallway.

This hallway also contained numerous doors on my right and my left, and the doors on both sides of me were all the same gigantic size. They each loomed intimidatingly as if they could look down on me. I studied them for a second before opening my mouth to speak.

It was at that moment that I realized something. This was likely designed to be a test of some sort. I took a look at my minimap. I saw him, Doctor Cortes, and he was close. But now that I was armed with knowledge I felt secure. So I decided to perform a minor deception.

”Doctor Cortes, I am looking for you. Please guide me to your location.” I said, allowing my voice explode out of my lungs and fly forth, hoping that the strange doctor would allow me to go to him and fall for my ruse.

”Althos! Yes, yes, enter the first door on your right if you would be so kind.” The voice asked of me, informing me of its location from relatively closeby. I easily obeyed it, walking over and then through the door. On the other side of the door, which was lighter than one might have expected, was a series of laboratory equipment and a strange-looking man.

This man stood around a meter tall. He wore a lab coat and had goggles on. There was a messy shock of white hair atop his head, and he had a full white beard. He was facing me and had a big grin on his face as he studied me.

”Why hello there.” He said, greeting me now that the two of us were face to face. I nodded politely at him, and he nodded back.

I walked forward and extended a hand towards the man, making clear my intentions to shake his hand. He looked at me, and though I couldn't see them I had no doubt that he wasn't a fan of physical interaction I was attempting to initiate, because he willingly made himself smaller, recoiling back from my hand.

”No! I don't want to touch someone.” He said, speaking up for a moment. His surprised voice was loud and it carried further than one might assume it would have given Cortes' size. He kept his eyes firmly locked on my hand until I retracted the thing, deftly and neutrally. I even went all out and put my arm behind my back. Once it was out of his sight, he turned his gaze towards me.

He took the measure of me once more, taking time to study me after seeing how I neutrally extracted my hand from his sight. He nodded at me again, a smile beginning to emerge on his face.

”Well now, I suppose you want to know what's going on don't you Althos?” The kooky old alchemist muttered. When he said that I turned to him, my eyes fell on his, and I nodded.

”What's going on, my new friend and accomplice, is that you are witnessing alchemy! Though I know you don't know how to articulate precisely what's going on, that's fine. This is your first day after all.” The man told me, speaking as if I had just accepted or been accepted into an apprenticeship.

For a moment I considered demanding a real explanation. But then I decided to smile and go along with this. For now. If I truly valued knowledge, entertaining the eccentricities of an old scholar and experimenter in a field I didn't know much about would probably prove invaluable in guiding me to true, hidden knowledge.

”Well in that case... Doctor,” I replied, unsure of how to speak to the kooky medical professional. ”I look forward to learning what you have to teach.” I said, speaking obsequiously.

As odd as this was, it was a lot better than going out and killing something. So I could tolerate this. For a time, anyway.