La Rocha stared at him as if Damon had just asked whether he could borrow his left kidney for seasoning.
"...Poisons?" he repeated slowly. "You want poisons from me? You barbaric, wall-punching, brain-cell-deficient muscle idiot... what in the thirteen inverted hells do you need poisons for?"
Damon stretched out on the couch, comfortably smug. "Enhancement, experimentation, recreational entertainment, who knows? Maybe I know a little alchemist who wants to brew something fun." šš§šš®šš®šš£šøššš.ššš
Since La Rocha had already moved out of the game world to the real world a long time ago, Damon knew the guy was unaware of his Nine Million Body Poison physique and technique. It was best that it remained like that to get the maximum benefits out of the shrewd artifact spirit.
Otherwise, the cunning weasel might come up with some loophole to get out of giving him the really good stuff. It was also why he was purposefully enraging the artifact spirit. He could already hear him muttering under his breath about how he wanted Damon to die by accidental inhalation.
"Fine. Fine. I shall go through my priceless, ancient, irreplaceable treasury of rare venoms, each harvested under conditions so dangerous they would have liquefied your bones, and I will pick out a selection for you, master."
La Rocha hissed the word master with the same emotional flavor one might use while chewing on a live scorpion. His eye twitched. His jaw tightened. His entire aura radiated the suffering of an immortal being forced into servitude under a glorified disaster in human form.
Damon only smiled wider. "Good. Make sure theyāre potent."
Aurora brightened. "Yay! Thank you, Uncle Rocha!"
"I AM NOT YOUR UNCLE!"
She blinked innocently. "But youāre old."
La Rocha choked. Without bothering to even put on an act any longer, he simply disappeared from the spot.
"Make sure you get the feast ready on time." Damon chuckled as he leaned back.
Aurora leaned toward Damonās ear and murmured softly, "Hubby, he looks like heās about to cry."
Damon kissed her cheek. "That means heās about to be generous."
A faint pop echoed from somewhere in the depths of the manor, the sound of a door slamming open, followed immediately by what suspiciously resembled muffled screaming. Damon smirked. He didnāt need heightened senses to know exactly who was doing the screaming.
He had already expected his soul sea to not be strong enough to access everything in its entirety, but even being able to steal some of La Rochaās possessions was in itself a huge deal. The guy was, after all, another anomaly that was hidden in the game world.
"Hubby... you are really awesome... I have barely made progress in my soul-strengthening technique, and you managed to unlock the problematic soul sea." Aurora continued, cuddling him and whispering into his ear.
Damon laughed and enjoyed the affection. "Itās fine. Go at your own pace." His face then quickly changed as he dropped the fallen angel like a hot potato on the couch and moved several paces over.
Auroraās eyes widened, and the next second she understood what had happened as the door slammed open. "Damon!" His mother barged in, looking quite furious.
"Where did you disappear off to after asking us all to be careful and vigilant? You have been gone for days, and you gave us no messages. Do you know how worried we have all been?"
Aurora sat frozen on the couch, still in the exact position Damon had dropped her in, limbs akimbo, looking like a cat whoād just been tossed off a windowsill.
"Iām not insulting it. Iām simply noting that it violates several laws of nature!"
"Say that again, you decrepit twig!"
"Gladly. Your cooking-"
Damon cut in before his father could accidentally trigger a domestic apocalypse. "Guys! Can we not? Mom, Dad, please."
His mother snapped her attention back to him, warmth and fury mixing dangerously. "Damon, sweetie, you vanished without a trace. Do you know how many scenarios went through my head?"
His father coughed. "Sure, when she has free time from imaging scenarios with that butler of yours. She has a big crush on that man child. Talk about robbing the cradle. Donāt you have any shame, you old hag?"
"Thatās it. You are dead," she hissed.
Auroraās eyes went even wider. "Hubby... are we allowed to leave?"
"No," Damon muttered. He wouldnāt dare, not after disappearing for so long. "Weāre trapped."
Thankfully, the rest of the family walked in, and the two cleared their throats and temporarily retreated from their pleasant conversation.

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