Bill looked at the being before him in disbelief, he owed Bill a major solid. Sure Xolotl’s power made bill look like a sick ant, but he wasn’t all knowing. Very few cosmic beings actually were, even Bill wasn’t. It’s just that they enjoy making it seem like they are, And like any malevolent cosmic beings he lusted for more power.

So long ago he used the only way to obtain that power, by linking his power to mortals. When an entity like him does this, their power becomes dependant on the faith of their believers. He had become extraordinarily powerful to, but once the civilization that worshiped him began to collapse, so did his power as he had fewer and fewer worshipers.

Had it not have been for bill teaching him how to sever the link Xolotl would have fizzled out of existence. The event left a large dent in Xolotl’s pride. So now that Bill had come to collect on Xolotl’s debt to him, Xolotl was not pleased as the contract he made with Bill forced him to repay him. But the flexibility of the contract and Bill’s hasty wording made it possible for Xolotl to twist the request.

“A trillion years!? Come on man you owe me!” Bill shouted.

“a̝̥̼ͨ͂̆͛̂̑ņ̝͔̲̿͂ͨd̜̮͙̼̳̬̓̆ͫ̋̅ͦ̍̀ ̩̣͉̖̣̔̀̿ͣn̶͎̝͙o̲̺ẇ̶̝̰̯̝̓ ̩̠̹̺̙͝w͖̙͎̱̅ȩ̖͍̫͎͈̫̏rͩ̉̅̃̕e̵̫̖͚͍̜̥̪ͨ͆̏͂̉ ͖̝͖͔̑ͫ͂͞e̴͚̫̣͍̿̐͌̍̈̈́ͅv͔̫ͥ͗e̠̰̜̖̺͙͞ͅn̹̖͔̤͙͕ͮ́.ͨͯ̍̓̋̒̔ ̒͗ͤ̎̔I̳̫͓͚͈̓̂͐ ̱̊͌ͬs̠͇̠ͪ̑ͧ̎ͪ̀ā̱̀̋͋͑ͧv͔͇̬̠͙̈̀e̯̼̭̹̤̼̯ͪ͆͜d͈͊͐ͦ ̲̹͕̠̻͖̀͜y͛̔̎͏̮̙͕̭o͍̟̠̩͍̞̜͂̾̽̑͝u̜͍̞ͧ̌͟ ̬̻̣̓̔f͐r̗̟̞o̶͍͌̂̾̃͊m͉͜ ̣̣̺͙̓̏͑ͥͩ̚b̸͔͉̲̖̼͆͌͌̌ͨ͗e̫̟̼͇͉̜̬̍͗̌į̫̟̖̠̳̠n͓̭̣͋͝ǵ̮̲͉̘ ̼̯̺̮ͣ͠e̥ͯ̀r͚̪̩͇̒̾̒a͚̙̹̹̱ͫͯ̃́̀̚s͕̤͓ͫ̐̉̀e̖̬͖̓͐ͯ́̌̀̚d̲͙̝̎͒͑͑̓͛̉ ̬͉ͨ̍͂̃̍ͥ̔͡a̧͈͍ͪ̔̍ͤͪͯ̚n͊ͤ͊҉d͎̽̉͐̕ ̷̭̫͉͇͇͉̿ą̻̣̪̤̳̪̐̑̀͑̃m̵̓͐ͥ̂͌̚ ͔ͥ̒a̙̱̟̫͖̥̭̽́̏͆̉ͮḽ̻̻̜̫̺ͣ̔͆̎͑͌l͔̪̠̥̠̼͌̇̒o͆̑w̬̻͙̱̬ͩ̊͂̅̒ͩỉ͓̠̣n̎ͮͫ̽̈́ͬg̬̮̺̫͓ͨ ̢̙̳̮̱̉̃͗̌y̰̦̼͓̽̀̔̆o̫̐̄͛̈̅ͬu͖̹͓̮̼̹͖͂́ͨ̓̓́ ̸̼̩͚͚̼̺̙̊t͍̪̦̹͇̱̪̑̽̅̍̚͜o̵̦̞̰̝̻̱̫ ͔ͦ̐ͯ̓͆̎ͣr̙̲̬̮e̵̯̰͙͖͙̼̽̃ͯt̸̫̳͇̅̍̊͗̿ͭ̚ͅͅu̧̩̝̺̪ͫ͊͒ͫͅr̞̺̺͐ͭ͘ṅ̹ͦ̈ͪ.͉͑ͥͭͫ̏ ̼̬H̎ͮ͌̀͒ͣ̚͜o͈̱̫͎̩͚̽̓͜w̴͈͇̘̯ͤͅeͣ͊͐̓̓v͕̬̳͍̠̖̝͋ͭ̈̀̕e͙̼̲̯ͬ̑ͥ͑r͇̹͘ ͫ̌̋yͥ͌̀o̦͙̲͍̾̃̆̔̅̚ͅu̠͎̿ͪ̿͡ ͙̮̻̪ͩ́̏d̟̋̊i̫͓̽d̮̤̜̲̞̖͎̕ ̶͍̜͓̗͎̯̓n̫̺͙͋̆̀oͫ͟t͇̬͍͎͖̝ ̣̥̲̳ͣ̒̈́̍̿̈͠s̙̆ͣͫͤ̐p͈͈̰̫̤̍ͯ̃͟é̛̝̿c̨̠͂͆́̃́̅i̭̰̠̰͖̹͒f̲̮̻̏ͮͮͣ̐͌̍ỳ͔͂ͫ̍ ̟̪̒̀̐̌ͦ͊w̟̣̖̺h̭̻̯̟̞̭̍̊͐̄̊ͅȇ̤̿͌̌̉̐́n̜̞͈͎͑̆̈̅̑͗.͍̲̼̫͌͜” Xolotl chuckled in victory at getting one over on the insolent reality warper

“You…. You…. That isn’t fair!” Bill fumed.

N̛̞̝͂̐ͤ̃͌͊̈e̓̿͊͑̾i̷̼̹̊t̛͑̅̌̆̾̽h̶̟ͫeͩṛ̝̬ͬ̿ͯͭ́ ͐ͥͦw̹͉̾͋ͭ̉ͧͫa̛͙̟̜͋ͣ̈̌̌ͭ͗ṣ̥͉̪ͦ͘ ̭̜̬̻̈̏̐f͖͔̜̬͈̭̻ͭͮ͋̈̾̚o̘̭͉̰͕͊ͨ͌͗͘r̖͍̥͓̰̪̖̎͋͛c̴͙̮͇̝͕̫͌̏̓ͬ̓i̸̘̝͚̎ͅṇ̖̭̅͋͂g̘ͦ̏̃̓̽͟ ̰̲̫̝̀̆͆͘m̱͒͂͟ḙ̹͔̞̟ͤ̉̉ ̱͙͈͖̩̏̀ớ͒͋̐̀ṳ̤̤̩̲̄ͣͩ͐̀ţ̦̘͓ ̡̟̻̘̬̮͙͙̚t̯̥̙̹͆̎h̺̘̭̺̤̻ͧ̄͡e̬̰̗͊̂͆̉͗̒̚ͅ ̞̙̫̟d̦̣̫ͩǐ̲͕͕͕̼͇̐̎͑̂̏͋m̥̭̅͌̋̅ͨ̏͡e̢̤̩ͬ̊ͬͦ̔n͓̪͈ͬ̿ͫs̸̳̙̞̣̟͕ͅi͕̟̳̤͉̝̓̐̀̔ͩ̀o̡͊̇ͧǹ̜̠̖ͪͪͩ̑ ̫͇͈̮̟̫̩͑ṯ͎ẖ̢͍a͇̭̻̟̰̱͇͋́̕t̥̩̎̓̔̆̇ ̥͉͖͋͑͐i̸ ̯̜͒̕w̻̲̮̮̹ͥḁ̟͘s̲̙͔ ̭̗̭͓̑ͯ͊̾̎̎g̹̭̭͇̤͚̮ͩͣͨ̉͌̍ŏ̰̜̼͕͔̮ͅi̬͕͍̫ͣ͛̃̓ͣņ̟̱͖̟̙ͮ̅͒g̙̖̎ ̜̆t̪̩͈̣̪̤ͪͦ̋̀͗́͑o̱̰̽ͣ̽ͣ ̝͗̅ͦͤ͊t̰̪̥̝̾̃ͪa̫̺̣̫͎ͮ̓͑̑̿̎͜ḳ̵̟̿́́͗͋̂e̜ͫ̃́̋͗̍ ̳͍̟̠̻̘̻ͥͩ͆͒o̜v͋̃̿̆̍ę̻̺͇̥̪͊̑̓r̹̘̼̤ͨ̂͒͐.̤̺̃͗̅̌̀” Xolotl retorted

“It’s not my fault you got power hungry and linked your power to your worshipers.” Bill huffed.

“W̥͔̼̭͖̻̺à͖͊̋́͊̏͘t̻̲̑̿̑ͦc͐ͤh̸̼ͫ̈̔͑̽̉ ̗̼͚͍̩̲̺̌ͬy͉͂͗̎͊o͉͙̖̟̊ͣ͒u̱̟͕ͪ͗̔̂̎r̡̪̲̮̝͖̝̉̈́̒ͮ̚ ̬͚͔̫̥͔̃̿ͮ̀t̙̜̤̐̿ͧ͋͗̃̔͢ö̳́͞nͦ̑͊̽͞e̛̮̱̬̹̼̮ͯ̔ ͆ͤ̀͐͋̊҉͔̻̝ͅw̢̞̬͎̬̳͙͎͗̈̄ͬ̋ͮ̚e͚̬̞̞̮ͯ̏̂ͤͮ͂l̲̼̻͖̪p̜͆.̶͉̊ͯ” Xolotl growled.

“Yeah yeah just complete the contract so we can be done here, the readers don’t want to hear us bicker forever.” BIll waved boredly causing the death god to look around confused. They shook on the deal insuring Bill's inevitable return.

Now done with his embarrassing obligation, Xolotl returned to his home leaving Bill to his own devices. He thought of what he would do with is abundance of time he had on his hands. He could enter most universes/dimensions via the mindscape, but under his current circumstances he wouldn’t be able to last long as the contract with Xolotl would eventually push him out.

“Hell with it. I’ma see who I can mess with over there.” Bill shrugged and went over to a cluster of universes. He entered a binary universe system via the mind scape to see who he could mess with.

Zangetsu paced in his creator's room. One of the downsides to being Tulpa was his inability to do much without Nick letting him take over for awhile. He could just hop into Nick's head and enjoy the dreamscape for a bit, but he wasn’t really feeling like that right now. If he made things too exciting he could accidentally wake him up.

And since Nick had to work a 12 hour shift the next day, he didn’t want to risk getting put on lockdown. He often wished it was possible to explore the world beyond his boundaries, but he could only go so far from nick before he fizzled out and reappeared in nick's head a week later.

The farthest he had actually made it was to the middle factory on the other side of the street before he began to fade. He was about to go see if there was anything interesting happening in the factory, hopefully get a look at the latest game informer early when he suddenly felt something enter Nick’s dream.

He quickly shot in after it and prayed it wasn’t another demon. Not all demon’s were as evil as they were often betrayed, in fact some were even more benevolent than some angles. But then there were the bad and right out evil ones that reviled in tormenting humans.

If it was a strong enough one then both he and Nick would have to call for the help of an angel. When he entered the dreamscape, he froze at the horrors he was seeing. It was like a scene out of silent hill! Lovecraftian horrors lumbered about the foggy streets of the dream, cracks glowed red throughout the city leading to a massive hole in the center that spewed out black smoke.

“Ssshhhiiiit……” he face palmed as this was undoubtedly the work of a demon. He focused in to try and find the one causing this nightmare. Saving Nick from whatever was happening to him right now wouldn’t help if he didn’t get rid of the source. He look around until he felt the foreign presence. Using his own control of the dream he forced the entity out and proceeded to dismantle the dream.

“What the hell was that!?” Nick shouted in a mix of fear and anger. He was a rather tall caucasian man, about six foot two. He didn’t have much in the muscle department, and if he was honest with himself he was slightly chubby. Not much mind you, thanks to his height the amount of excess fat he had was spread over enough that he only look a little husky. He had raven black hair and deep blue eyes.

“Something else was here causing that nightmare, likely a demon.. I was able to force it out for now, but it was extremely difficult. I don’t know if I could do it again if it expected me.” Zangetsu said sittin on the edge of the lone skyscraper he had created for the rest of the dream.

“What was it exactly?” Nick asked now that he had calmed down. Since he wasn’t normally a lucid dreamer his Tulpa could easily mess with him if he wasn’t already on a mental lockdown. He had thought it was Zangetsu pranking him for halloween.

“I’m not one hundred percent sure, as I said I think it was a demon. Whatever it was it was strong, very strong. We may need to have you lucid dream for a while until we’re certain it’s gone, maybe even call down michael again if we are unable to handle it. ” Zangetsu replied.

“Well that sucks, because now that just means I get less sleep, or we get screwed over and have to ask that self righteous prick gabrial help.” Nick groaned as he laid back with his legs dangling over the side.

“Or we could go with option three.” A third presence said from behind them. They shot up to face the being. Zangetsu and Nick shot towards it launching a punch at it, but were forced back as the being pushed them back without even touching them.

Zangetsu conjured his sword while Nick summoned up his armor as they charged at him again launching energy at him. Bill dodged out of the way and used his power over the dreamscape to paralyze them, forcing them to stop.

“Well, now that we have a moment to talk, how's about we all calm down and have some tea.” Bill said conjuring a cup of tea and a fancy chair.

“What do you want!?” Nick shouted struggling to move.

“Well, I was just having some fun, but it looks like my fun was cut short by tall dark and gloomy over here.” Bill said circling around Zangetsu.

“You call that horror fun!” Zangetsu shouted.

“Fun for me anyway. look, I think we got off on the wrong dream here. Hows about we start over. I’m Bill, Bill Cipher” Bill said with a bow.

“Alright, cool. Now get the fuck out of my head!” Nick shouted.

“Well aren’t you a rude one. You could at least hear me out before telling me to get lost.” Bill huffed

“Sorry if I’m not on my best behavior after having some asshat invading my mind and giving me a nightmare straight out of silent hill.” Nick deadpanned.

“Meh, whatever. Anyway here’s the thing. I’m stuck on a prolonged… vacation shall we call it. So I need to find something to pass the time. I came here on a whim to mess with some random shmuck, but your little friend here has peaked my interest in you. Not many have the imagination to form a proper Tulpa. Especially a fully sapient one.” Bill said twirling his cane and floating away.

“Ugh, please just shut up and tell me what you want.” Nick deadpanned.

“*sigh*… look I’m bored and have nothing to do really, so since you seem to have a good imagination on you, I’m going to make you an offer. I’ll provide you with info on how to become very powerful, how to use actual magic and such. Essentially take you on as a student. You in or what?” Bill asked.

“How would you give me that info?” Nick asked skeptically. The thought of using actual magic had caught his attention.

“Simple, I’ll put it into a book and give it to tall dark and gloomy over there for safekeeping. You can read it whenever you want and once you finish it I’ll give you the next one.” Bill said pulling out the aforementioned book from…. Somewhere.

“What do you think Zangetsu?” Nick asked not taking his eyes of Bill.

“I don’t trust him, but if what he is saying is true, it may be the opportunity of a lifetime. I’m split on whether we should trust him or not. Remember if he double crosses us we risk losing our souls.” Zangetsu warns.

“How can we trust you not to double cross us?.” Nick asked.

“Tell you what, I’ll swear on my existence that I will not take your souls.” Bill said lighting his hands to affirm it into the contract.

“Alright, but I’m watching you.”

“Alrighty then. It’s a deal!” Bill said stretching out a burning hand. Nick looked at it cautiously and slowly took it, the fire extended onto his hand. Once they separated Bill tossed the book to zangetsu. “Well it looks like my time is up. Remember, Reality is an illusion, the universe is a hologram, buy gold, bye!!” Bill said as he disappeared in a flash of light.

“Well, that happened.” Nick said bluntly.

“Indeed. I’d say let’s have a look at this book but it’s about time to get up.” Zangetsu said as the Dream began to fade.

“Tell me why I work there again?” Nick asked as he plopped onto his bed exhausted from his last shift of the week.

“Because you get decent health care, full time and a paycheck that you can actually live on properly? And you get to see game informer two months early?” Zangetsu said.

“Still sucks that I get twelve hour shifts every day, for four days and every night for three.” Nick groaned.

“Oh quit your whining, you get seven days off after.” Zangetsu said pulling the book from his cloak. “Now let’s get started on this shall we?”

“Might as well.” Nick said as he looked at the first page. The instructions seemed simple enough. The most expensive parts probably being the silver dust, gold dust and a flawless ruby.

“Alright so what we need we can get around town. I’ll need to buy a few beakers, a bunsen burner, and mini fridge.”He said going over the list of equipment that he didn’t already have.

“We’ll have to order the silver and gold dust online.” Zangetsu said as he wasn’t sure where they could get it or how to make it.

“It’s ok, that’s part of the last step anyway. And it’ll take a year before the potion is ready for that part anyway.” Nick said and left to go find what he needed.

“How much longer on the timer?” Nick asked.

“About Twenty minutes. Remember we need to add the silver dust and gold dust to their respective beakers simultaneously.” Zangetsu said staring at the potions in case they changed before the timer went off.

“Alright. The crucible is ready, the hole for the ruby is properly sized and centered.” Nick said double checking his work.

“Are you sure this time?” Zangetsu asked glancing over at the knee high pile of failed attempts.

“Uhh… let me check one more time.” He said sheepishly and checked his measurements again. To his relief it was all in order.

“It’s almost time Nick, get the crucible ready.” Zangetsu said as he glanced over at the timer to see they only had about two minutes to either finish the past years work, or waste a year's worth of work and thousands of dollars in expenses.

“Alright let me get the silver and gold dust.” Nick said carefully grabbing the vials that had the precious metals. He set the crucible into the apparatus that contained their hard work. If everything went smoothly than he would have everything he needed to start his studies in magic.

“Three….. Two… One…. Now!” Zangetsu said as the liquids turned from a vibrant pink to a deep red. Nick tipped the vials pouring the dust into their respective beakers and mixed them with glass mixing sticks. The Beaker that received the silver dust turned to pitch black, while the beaker that received the gold dust turned pure white.

“Alright, now we just need to pour them into the crucible and it should absorb into the ruby.” Nick said and carefully poured in the black liquid first. When it was all in they waited and watched it bubble. After about five minutes of nothing happening Zangetsu sighed.

“It didn’t work.” Zangetsu said placing a hand on his face.

“Wait! Look it's doing something!” Nick said as the bubbling started to increase. Finally the liquid started to sink down into the ruby. Once all of it was gone the ruby sat in the center no longer a vibrant red, but now a deep black with an oily rainbow being reflected off of it wherever the light touched it.

“Sweet, now all we need to do is add the other potion.” Nick said and went to pour the other beaker in. The liquid didn’t buble like it’s counterpart, but rather formed a whirlpool as if it was being stirred. As it swirled it started to change colors rapidly, until it finally settled on having a rainbow effect.

“I’m really glad you're not epileptic.” Zangetsu joked.

“Me too…” Nick said as he watched the swirling gayfest before him. The liquid began to sink in as the black liquid had done until all that was left was small red bead that looked as though it had a small blood red flame inside of it.

“It appears it changed the size and shape of the ruby.” Zangetsu observed.

“No shit sherlock.” Nick deadpanned. The philosopher’s stone was about the size of a large marble. “So now all we have to do to make more is drop it in water correct?” Nick asked.

“Correct. The stone should absorb the water and convert it into more stone.” Zangetsu said checking the book.

“Alright. Now then let’s test it out shall we?” Nick asked happily. He picked up the stone and placed it in a mold filled with water. The process was slow at first, but quickened as the stone grew. Slowly but surely the stone took the shape of the mold as the water was absorbed.

“Alright, now all we have to do is break it up so we can make more later. For now let's just break it down into four pieces. I’ll grind the last part to use.” Nick said dumping it out of the mold and breaking it over the edge of the table. He set three of the pieces off to the side for later and started grinding the fourth with a file into a measuring cup that measured half a cup.

“Remember once you take it the process of the first time is extremely painful.” Zangetsu warned him.

“I know, but it will only last a week.” Nick said as he went to pour the ground philosopher's stone into some chocolate milk, but stopped before he did, “umm… it won’t absorb the milk will it?” Nick asked.

“No, it says here that it will only absorb very thin liquids like water.” Zangetsu said checking the book.

“Alright. Well, bottoms up I guess.” Nick said mixing it in with the milk and drinking it all in one go.

“Well? How do you feel?” Zangetsu asked.

“It’s not going to take effect immediately dumbass.” Nick deadpanned.

“Well fuck you to asshole.” Zangetsu huffed, but rushed to his side when Nick double in pain. “You were saying?” Zangetsu said.

“Shut it asshat.” nick said through clenched teeth.

Nick laid in his bath trying to ease the pain with the warm water. Last night had been rough, the pain was so unbearable he blacked out for several hours before it jolted him awake again. When he had woken up he had found that half of his teeth had fallen out and his skin had grown sickly pale.

“Just six more days of this. Just six more days and it will all be worth it.” He assured himself as another tooth fell out, the third one since he had started his bath. He got up as the water started to cool and dried himself off. Ass he pulled his toul off his head he found most of his hair was sticking to it.

He tossed the old toul into the hamper and used a new one to dry off before putting on some boxers and making his way to his room.

Nick shivered in his bed as tears streamed down his face. The pain had only increased as time went by. The last of his teeth and hair had fallen out taking his ability to eat solid food, and his hearing was starting to go. He was blacking out every few hours only to be jolted back by the pain. His bones felt like glass and his blood like acid, every second was agony as he felt like he was going to die at any moment.

“Juth fiffe more dayth. Juth fiffe more dayth of thith leff” He said unused to speaking without teeth.

Nick jolted awake screaming in agony. As loud as he was though, he could no longer hear himself scream as he had lost his hearing halfway into the night before. The pain had continued to increase as his skin began peeling layer by layer. His entire left shoulder, right knee and left side of his face was completely bare of skin exposing the flesh beneath.

Nick screamed until his voice was gone leaving him silently screaming in pure agony as he felt like he was in hell. Suddenly the pain skyrocketed as his groin began to stir and his left testical exploded.

Nick laid on the floor wheezing in agony. Some time in the night he fell out of his bed as his other testical burst making him jolt to much from the pain, as he hit the floor almost every bone on his right side was either shattered, broken, or fractured. His left lung had been punctured by his ribs making breathing incredibly difficult.

The only reason he had not died yet he should have died by now thanks to that last part, but by some miracle, or perhaps curse, it only served to increase his pain. His skin continued to peel leaving most of his flesh exposed except for a few patches of skin of various sizes, the largest being the one covering up his right thigh. Like his hearing, his vision had began to fade.

Nick laid on the floor helpless and unable to move. The pain so unbearable that the very movement of his blood through his veins, whether it was through his body or out onto the puddle of blood that covered half the floor of his room by now, felt like he was being burned alive while being shot at by chainsaw cannons.

The last of his skin was gone and his left eye had popped out of his skull. He no longer had the capacity to have any coherent thought as his entire existence was pain by now.his sight was completely gone by now leaving him deaf, blind, and in complete agony.

"How was he still alive?" Zangetsu said as he watched what was left of his creator. Nick was barely much more than a mass of flesh as his flesh had swollen until he was just on big pulsating ball of flesh, bones, and organs. Nick finally blacked out for the last time yesterday afternoon and had not woken up since, likely in a coma. The bloody mass had started to harden to, signaling the final stage of the stones first use.

Darkness. Darkness was the only thing that he was met with when he finally awoke from his slumber. He couldn’t breath, nor did he feel the need to for some reason. He felt warm, and like he was floating in some sort of liquid. But all this wasn’t what his first thoughts were.

“I don’t feel any pain…” He thought with immense relief. Was it over? He reached out hoping to feel something and was meet with something squishy, it gave a bit, but not enough to get through. He felt around for a way out of whatever he was in until he felt something softer and pushed until it broke. He fell out of whatever he was as he was taken with the liquid.

The moment he was exposed to the open air he took a deep breath and accidently got whatever liquid he was in into his mouth, and it tasted metallic. He opened his eyes to find his vision partially blocked by his new hair. He swiped it out of the way to see he was covered head to toe in blood.

“Welcome back to the world of the living.” Zangetsu said with a soft smile of relief.

“Glad to be back… how long was I out?” Nick asked as he stood up and looked at the white pod with a large red opening from where he had exited.

“About a day.” Zangetsu said checking the clock.

“Well, I think I need a shower, a very, very long one too.” Nick said making his way down the hall. After he was done he dried himself off and took a look over himself in the mirror. To say the changes were substantial would be an understatement. Over the year that he had spent making the stone he had gained enough weight to actually be fat. But now instead of looking at a large belly he was now sporting a well toned six pack.

He wasn’t weak, but thanks to the excess fat his muscles were covered up hiding how strong he actually was, and now it was obvious his muscle mass was at least double what it was before, and he felt at least three times stronger than before. His vision had improved drastically as well. Before he had to wear heavy prescription glasses just to see, but now his vision seemed to be better than twenty-twenty.

“What will the guys at work think? They won’t even recognize me…” Nick sighed.

“Actually, you won’t have to worry about that.” Zangetsu said as Nick’s reflection changed to Zangetsu.

“Really? How?” Nick asked scratching his head confused.

“Well, in the recipe and instructions on the use of the philosopher's stone, it says you can interact with the stone and absorb it straight through your skin. Once inside you can mold and shape it to your will. Don’t worry about harming yourself on it, your flesh will form around it.” Zangetsu said as Nick cringed as the thought of jagged pieces of stone cutting him from the inside.

“Alright, but how does that help me?” Nick asked.

“Well, once you have stored some with inside you, a side note from Bill says the best place would be in you're bones by replacing your bone marrow with it. Don’t worry about any negative effects, you can will it to create blood cells automatically. It slowly drains the stone, but a stone in the bone in the tip of your finger could handle that for a hundred years.” Zangetsu said.

“Again, how the hell does this help me with my appearance problem here?” Nick deadpanned.

“I was getting to that. Once you have some of the stone in your body you can use it to change and morph your body at will. You can grow new body parts, change your appearance completely, or even turn into other creatures. You can increase or decrease your biomass at will.” Zangetsu said as he summarized the what NIck could do with the stone concerning his current predicament.

“Huh, always wanted a tail.” Nick said walking out of his room and making his way down stairs.

“Well let’s save the whole adding body parts until you master getting back to normal.” Zangetsu said as they entered the basement.

“Well either way, we should probably get started on cleaning up the mess upstairs.” Nick said walking over to the stone pieces where he had left them. “Is there anything in the book that might help?” NIck asked.

“Not that I know of, after the parts explaining the creation stone and how to use it, there is just different spells. The first being telekinesis.” Zangetsu said looking at the first spell. It wasn’t too complicated.

“Alright, I’ll just stay in the guest room for now.” Nick shrugged.