I became a legion lich

Chapter 4: Chapter

After the little run at home, everyone went to clean up for dinner.

“God, I still can’t believe you two smeared me with- what was that goo on you?” Agatha asked irritably as she set the table.

“It was a little bit of everything. I planned to teach Athos the basic potions during the week, but he learned so fast that we almost finished everything today. The smell was only “a little strong” because of the mixing of ingredients.” Robert responded as he helped her.

“I think your nose has already stopped working if you call that putrid stench ‘a little strong’. How did you not feel it?” Agatha asked with a slight eagerness just to remember.

“I couldn’t call myself an alchemist if I let a bad smell stop me.” Robert puffed out his chest with pride as he answered.

‘I think it’s not just his nose that’s the problem.’ Agatha thought.

“I’m done! Is dinner ready yet?” Athos burst into the kitchen and interrupted their conversation.

.....

“You took your time son. And yes dinner is already on the table.” Robert said.

Athos quickly sat down at the table while Agatha served the dishes. But before he could eat, his mother stopped him.

“Hey, you forgot to thank God before you eat again! How many times do I have to remind you of that?? You should thank Eishin before every meal!” Said Agatha fighting him.

“Okay, okay. Mister Eishin, thank you for the meal,” Athos had long ago given up trying to fight his mother when it came to religion, so he tried to change the subject. “So what’s for dinner?”

“Today is stew.” Agatha replied dryly. She never liked her son’s lack of appreciation for his religion.

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They spent the next few minutes eating in silence. Everyone at the table wanted to say something to lighten the mood, but they were always at an impasse when it came to church.

‘Damn, whenever I think they’ve taken a step forward something like this happens. If I don’t do something to lighten the mood now, they’ll be like this for days.’ Robert thought quickly.

“Honey, I talked to Atos about botany classes and he agreed to learn from you, didn’t he, Athos?” said Robert.

“Eh? Are you serious son?” Agatha asked, quickly getting excited.

“Well, you know a lot about that and Dad will already be busy teaching me about potions, so I think it’s good to learn from you.” Said Athos shrugging his shoulders.

“You’re right! It would be too much for your father, wouldn’t it? So you can leave it to me!” Agatha said with a huge smile and totally motivated.

‘Why do I have a bad feeling about these classes?’ Athos can only swallow the bad feeling after seeing how happy she was, Athos can only smile and wave.

“About this son, I’ve thought about it and I think you should learn more than just potions.” Robert said looking into his son’s eyes. “I intended to wait until you were older, but I believe that as soon as you finish learning about potions and botany, I can start teaching you how to deal with poisons and monster parts as well.”

“What? What do you mean, Dad?” Athos was surprised by his father’s change.

“Yeah, what do you mean Robert?? He’s only 9 years old! Are you crazy to teach a child something as dangerous as dealing with poisons?!” Agatha slammed her fist into the table as she screamed. She couldn’t believe the nonsense she was hearing.

Robert knew when she called him by name it meant trouble, but losing his composure would be even worse. He steadied himself and quickly explained himself.

“Love, until yesterday I would also have thought it crazy to teach Athos about poisons, but what he showed me today was far beyond what I expected. Athos’ ability and speed of learning is something I’ve never seen before. He absorbed everything like a sponge.

And most importantly, he was always extremely careful while making potions. Always avoiding silly mistakes and not feeling ashamed to ask for help when I didn’t know how to proceed. I truly believe that with me around, he can learn about poisons.” Robert tried his best to convince her that Athos could handle this, but it had all gone in one ear and out the other.

“I don’t give a damn if he’s ready for this or not! He’s too young to be dealing with poison and you know it!” At that moment Agatha got up and started walking slowly towards him.

“Of course we’re not going to start practicing right away! I just wanted to make it clear that under supervision we could include lessons on poisons as well.” Robert also got up and started circling the table always making sure to be on the opposite side of her.

‘I would like to take classes on how to prepare poisons, but the mother is very furious at the moment and I don’t want to be the next in line. It all depends on you, father!’ Athos thought, rooting for his father internally, but made a point of circling the table too, staying in his blind spot.

“But what if he gets it wrong? Or he tries to go behind our backs like he did last night??” Agatha was already imagining worst-case scenarios and that only made her walk faster.

“That’s exactly why I want to teach him! To be there and instruct him when he messes with dangerous things and not take any risks doing it behind our backs!” Robert stopped walking and stared at her showing how serious the matter was.” We both know he’s inherited your temper and with his intelligence, it won’t be long before he learns everything we have to teach.

“It’s better to teach him at once than to risk him breaking into our room again, only this time holding a paralyzing drug instead of a healing potion.” Robert pointed to the son who was still trailing behind her.

Agatha turned and glared at him for a few seconds before sighing. “Okay, you’re right. I can easily see him walking into the middle of the night grinning ear to ear with a pot full of poison.”

“Does that mean I can study how to make poisons too??” Athos said trying to run away, but she grabbed him by the back of the head and lifted him in the air as if he weighed nothing.

“BUT! I have some conditions! First: you are prohibited from handling anything related to poisons without your father’s supervision. Second: This must not interfere with other classes. Learning how to deal with poisons has to be an addition to yours learning, not a hindrance.”

She paused to take a deep breath before holding her son’s face and saying, “And third, you have to promise me that you’ll be very careful when doing this.”

“Okay, I promise!” Athos said.

Something was telling her that he was going to ignore all her rules and do whatever he wanted, but it was too late to go back.

“Perfect. Now Athos, we’d better go to sleep before she changes her mind.” Robert signaled him to leave and he promptly complied.

“Are you sure we’re doing the right thing?” she asked a while after Athos had left.

“No, there’s no way to know if that was the right choice or not.” Robert said in a gentle tone. “What I can be sure of is that now, if anything happens I’ll be there to help.”

******

The next few months passed uneventfully. Athos learned about potions and botany when there were no customers in the shop and about poisons and how to extract the right parts from monsters after the shop closed.

Athos was learning more and more and had already completed all the learning about intermediate potions to the point of creating his own.

He had started to work actively in the shop making and selling his own potions.

Athos felt better with each passing day. He needed the potions less and less to stay healthy.