I did end up getting a couple orders from both Madam Maxime and Flammel for Ark creatures. Madam Maxime had asked what most of the creatures looked like and I used my illusion magic to demonstrate. She ended up choosing a breeding pair of Equus and Jerboa. For Flammel he wanted the most dangerous stuff, a poison wyvern egg, pyromane and rock elemental. For Madam Maxime the price was not terribly high, only a week long access to Beauxbatons own forbidden section in their library. For Flammel however the price was drastically higher. I wanted to see a very specific book he had in his possession once I was ready, The book of Abraham.-
The book was theorized to be the work of Abraham from the Jewish faith but there was no proof of that. What was known about it was that it was thanks to this book that Flammel was able to create the Philosophers stone. The book is one on ancient long lost alchemical knowledge after all. It is written in not only a series of long dead languages but also in code that had to be decrypted. According to Flammel he himself had only decrypted about seventy percent of the book in the six hundred years he's had it.-
Merely getting a chance to look over a single book might seem like an unfair trade considering everything Flammel was ordering but it really wasn't when even the system had the book listed as being over twenty million coins. Not that this was surprising considering the book held the deepest secrets of alchemy like the path to the philosophers stone. There were other secrets there as well beyond merely the stone such as the rebus or better known as the divine hermaphrodite. A being of perfect opposites that existed harmoniously within the same body and possessed an exalted power innately.-
Flammel grimaced in disgust at the things mention, not that I could blame him. The very idea of alchemically bioengineering such a thing was not only horribly cruel but near madness. It took serious time and resources to pull off and the final result had to be tightly controlled or it would kill it's creator and then itself because merely existing was agony to it. Still just learning these secrets were absolutely worth the price to me as I imagined it would make you near unrivaled in the field of alchemy just like Flammel.-
With the deals done finally Flammel led me through the floo to his house. My first thought was that we had gone to the wrong place as the house looked trashed. Scrap discarded carelessly all over the place, strange magical creations filled every inch and more than a few observed me just I did them. There was also a very distinct aroma in the air, like herbs mixed with blood and metal. The place was deceptively large for feeling so cramped too. Dozens of rooms with different purposes along with the normal stuff like a kitchen and bathroom.-
One such room had me stop and stare as it was a literal jungle. Trees, vines, animal noises, the whole experience. I wasn't unfamiliar with spatial manipulation since my suitcase used it but it threw me off seeing someone using it to have a literal jungle in their home.
"I have to ask, what is the point of that room?" I asked curiously.
"Interested? That's a project my wife has been working on for the last four hundred years. I believe she calls it the garden of Eden. You would have to enquire as to the details from her." he said calmly.
"Garden of Eden? Ambitious name if nothing else." I said a bit surprised.
"Ambition is all that keeps you going once the idea of immortality sets in properly. You can't rely on connections anymore because you will most likely outlive or grow distant to them. There's always the chance they too would gain endless life but that is not something you should actively expect." he said with a sad expression.
"You have your wife at least right?" I asked and he chuckled.
"I do. But after six hundred years together the love we have for each other is diminished. Time numbs all things my boy." he said as if it wasn't surprising at all.
That was a dark understanding. Not one that truly surprised me though. Everyone always claims they'd love being immortal but the reality is that most people couldn't handle it. Personally I likely wouldn't have any issues on that front with the system giving me access to the multiverse. There would always be something new to see, to do, to learn. For someone like me being immortal is just a long continuous journey from one interest to another.-
Flammel moved on after that and soon we reached where I would be staying for most of the summer. It was a plain room that felt very out of place with how wacky the rest of the house was. Flammel chuckled at this when I told him so.
"It is intentional. I have had enough guests over the years to understand that my home can be quite stimulating at first. I promise by the start of the school year you'll hardly notice at all." he said amused.
"That reminds me but what will we be doing over this period?" I asked curiously.
"That depends on your performance. I'll guide you through the art of alchemy and how far you get in the time we have will determine what exactly you'll be doing. I must admit I have exceptionally high hopes, perhaps you may even surpass Albus's record from when he studied under me." he said with a smile.