Tools of the trade

[you have completed the epic ranked potion (breath of darkness)]

[completion rank: perfect]

[quality rank: epic]

Arjuna looked at the potion in his hands. A bottle with a black liquid with swirls of dark green in it. Arjuna carefully looked at it, just to make sure nothing looked wrong about it. He looked at it appraisingly for a few seconds, before he walked over to Cadmus

He handed it over to Cadmus, a small grin covering his face. Cadmus looked at the potion, he gazed at it for a few seconds before looking back at Arjuna and smiling.

"it looks, just like how I designed it to be, well done Arjuna"

[you have completed the mission!]

[level up]

[level up]

[level up]

[you are now level 74]

Cadmus walked over to his desk once move shuffling through it. Finally, he stood up holding a piece of paper.

He walked over and handed it to Arjuna with a proud smile

"With this, you are now a certified dawn alchemist, I wish I could have given you a bigger ceremony but unfortunately, I don't have the ability to do so "

[your class has now been updated to Dawn alchemist]

[+10 intelligence]

[+10 wisdom]

[+10 affinity with light]

[+20% chance of creating a high ranked potion]

[+10 affinity with alchemists]

[you will gain a salary of 4 gold pieces every month]

Arjuna looked at the paper, on the very front of the paper was a small picture of a rising sun. There were words underneath it. Golden ones that shone in a mysterious light.

"a new dawn always comes" Cadmus read the golden words out loud. "It's our motto, even though the worst of times, the darkest of nights dawn always comes, it's a hopeful motto, but it can also serve as a warning don't expect that the darkness will hide everything away forever, trust me both I and Tohim learned that the hard way"

Saying that Cadmus pointed to the tools on the wooden table that Arjuna had just used for the breath of darkness.

"Well anyways, all of these are now yours, use them well, also take that bag of ingredients on the left"

[you have acquired a set of alchemy tools]

[you have acquired a bag of alchemy ingredients]

" I want to give you two more things, and they are a bit more special"

Arjuna followed Cadmus as he lead him outside of the office. As the two walked down the corridor Cadmus started to explain.

"a dawn alchemist is different from a normal alchemist because of these 2 reasons. The first one is sheer skill and talent," Cadmus turned to look at Arjuna in the eye.

"The skills I have taught you, from basic potion making to mixing, all of these are a higher quality than any regular alchemist. It will at least guarantee that you will get above an average quality ranked potion every single time."

"The second reason," Cadmus said as he flicked a hidden switch on the wall. "is the items"

The walls in front of Arjuna and Cadmus slowly opened to reveal an underground tunnel. As it opened, torches started to light up and as Arjuna peered into the tunnel he could see it wind deeper underground

Cadmus took one of the torches on the tunnel wall and beckoned Arjuna further in. "come," he said "let us choose a good tool for you"

And so teacher and student walked down the tunnel. Both knowing that this could be the very last time they see each other. Well, actually Arjuna wasn't sure about that, he felt like setting up his home base in the city of dawn would be a good idea. After all, what was the point of an adventure if you didn't have a warm cozy home to return to?

The tunnel stretched further and further down. And soon Arjuna found himself in a large chamber that looked like an armory. Weapons of every kind could be seen lined up shields, amour stands and so much more. People dressed in alchemist clothing walked through them checking on them making sure that they were well kept and maintained.

Cadmus explained to Arjuna as they walked through.

"This is the dawn armory the last bastion for this city, we are the ones tasked with maintaining it, but that isn't important, this part is," Cadmus said as he lead Arjuna to a little door that he opened for Arjuna to step in.

Arjuna walked in and let out a breath of amazement. Beautiful glistening alchemy tools were laid neatly on racks. Each of them glittered and shone like stars in the night sky. As Arjuna walked through the racks of tools as he kept an appraising eye on each one of them.

They didn't seem like exact copies of each other, in fact, Arjuna hadn't found a duplicate in any tool. Some gave off a deathly pale look, others glittered in the gold and gems that they were adorned with.

Arjuna looked around spinning around with a smile on his face. Cadmus called out behind him

"take any one of these, and then choose one of the booklets on the table in the front."

Arjuna nodded and looked back to see a wooden table with dozens of skill books all neatly laid out.

He took a deep breath and walked around. This time looking for the one item that he needed on his adventure. Some of the gaudy ones caught his attention. But he couldn't see any effects they gave beside the flashiness of their exterior. Arjuna passed the measuring tools, the grinding ones, and stopped at the section where the transmutation tablets were placed.

There he slowed down his pace. And then finally something caught his eye. It seemed to just pull Arjuna's gaze. It was a tablet that was split into three colors, black, white, and light green. Arjuna lifted his hand to touch the tablet. As his hands connected with it, his hands jolted at the sudden shock the tablet gave him.

Cadmus walked up behind him and smiled

"that one has a bit of a story to it, that belonged to one of my fellow alchemists, sadly he fell in battle fighting for what he believed in, on the day he died, his tablet originally white and green suddenly turned black. To this day, it fights a bit with any person that tries to use it. Unfortunately, no matter how skilled the alchemist behind it is, that tablet does not work as well as it used to under the hands of that alchemist"

Arjuna nodded but continued to hold the tablet.

Cadmus cocked his head

"Are you sure Arjuna? it will be very hard to wrest control of it"

Arjuna nodded his head even more intensely.

After all who wouldn't with the specs it had.

[the fallen tablet]

[rank: epic]

[effects: 30% increase in the potion's quality, +2 levels to users mana manipulation skill, 10% chance of wind elements being imbued into a potion, 20% chance of light elements being imbued into a potion, 5% chance of darkness elements being imbued into a potion]

[description: a tablet with a grudge, its mourns for its former user, it seeks a new owner to show it what its former one could not show]

This was the only epic ranked tool in the entire room Arjuna had constantly checked the room just to make sure though it seems that the tablet had some problems. Arjuna was willing to help fix them.

Cadmus only shook his head and nodded towards the table with all of the skill books.

Arjuna walked over and looked at them all. He had most of them Cadmus had taught most of them to him personally. But of course just like the item, one called out to him.

[elemental alchemy]

[description: a skill that introduces the concept of elemental mana into alchemy. Though risky it can yield great rewards]

Arjuna sucked in a deep breath. For some reason, the concept of elemental potions seemed to attract him. Things like the speed potions used ingredients that had wind mana, but for some reason didn't use actually wind mana to transmute it only relying on the ingredients mana to give the effect.

It was something Arjuna had thought about. Perhaps the mana in a transmutation tablet shouldn't be just a binding force to mix everything together, but instead a key ingredient that altered the entire formula and recipe.

Arjuna smiled to himself as he gazed at the skill book. Cadmus scratched his chin, "interesting choice" he muttered

"Well anyways" he continued leading Arjuna into an elevator-type room that lifted both of them up to the courtyard.

Cadmus opened to door to reveal the courtyard to Arjuna. The sun was setting on the city of Dawn. And even from the courtyard, Arjuna could see the city sparkling under the soft rays of light.

In the corner of the courtyard, a hooded figure stood in the back. Arjuna instantly knew who it was. She leaned back against the outside wall and smiled while giving Arjuna a small wave.

Arjuna turned back to Cadmus. Who laughed and pushed him forward towards Alanis.

"go" he called out "have an adventure for goodness sake!"

A beautiful smile appeared on Arjuna's face. That was truly what he wanted, deep down knew that he wanted to explore the world and see what it had to offer.

Arjuna turned back to see the sun setting behind Cadmus and the dawn alchemist building. Cadmus was waving and in the background on the rooftop sat a very familiar gnome watching all three of them with a snort.

Arjuna took a deep breath and looked at the setting sun. He gave a nod to both Cadmus and the gnome master archer who was hiding back on the rooftop and turned around and walked towards Alanis.

As he walked away, he muttered quietly

"to adventure"