He entered through the door and made his way inside the grand chamber where he had his awakening. The old woman was sitting next to the sphere of mana, wearing glasses; her gaze was fixed on the book which remained in her grip.
Emil continued walking towards her, each step calm and unhurried. Even as he approached, the woman remained engaged in the book resting on her lap, her eyes never leaving the pages.
Only when the soft rhythm of his footsteps reached her ears did she finally pause. She lifted her gaze from the book and met Emil’s eyes.
A faint, amused grin curled across her lips as she let out a light chuckle. "Ho ho ho~ You’re back this early, newbie?!"
Emil studied her for a second before replying. "Yes, I’ve," he paused for a slight while and continued. "I also came with the desirable materials to make a subspace pouch for myself," he said.
"What?! You came back with materials that quickly?" A bead of sweat appeared on her temple as a quick thought crept inside her mind. ’How can I forget that this child had a summon of tier 4.0...’
A warm smile tugged her lips as she walked towards Emil. "Show them to me, child."
He gave a polite nod as excitement erupted through his stomach because he subconsciously knew that he’d finally get rewards for his first quest.
A panel appeared in front of his eyes, flickering brightly with characters written across it:
═══════════════════
[Inventory]
Owner: Emil
Slots Used: 3/20
───────────────────
ITEMS STORED
[Novice’s Wooden Sword] ×1
• Grade: Common
• Durability: 100/100
[Loaf of Bread] × 5
• Restores a small amount of stamina.
[Small Water Flask] × 2
• Restores Hydration.
[Goblin Skin] × 8
• Grade: Common
• Material harvested from Goblins. Can be sold or used as a crafting material.
[Goblin Tooth] × 8
• Grade: Common
• A sharp Goblin fang. Can be sold to merchants or used in basic crafting and alchemy.
═══════════════════
He tapped on the panel a few times, withdrawing the items from his inventory. The air rippled and tore apart, and out of it appeared the items, which dropped into Emil’s hands. He stopped a few feet in front of her and took out the items from his inventory, laying them out for her to see.
"I brought a little extra," he said with a faint smile. "I figured it’d be better to have more than enough than not enough at all."
A faint smile lingered over her face; finally, she grabbed the items and directed her hand towards a passageway which connected other rooms with the current chamber.
"Go through here, and do not go to any other connector which leads to different locations. Just walk straight, and then turn to the left; you’ll arrive next to the Alchemist’s chamber," she said.
Emil’s head shook lightly because the directions given by her were quite vague; the words jumbled inside his mind, but he didn’t ask her again. ’Do not go to other connectors... go straight and left... such a confusing place it is, but I can’t expect less from a tower.’
Emil was about to walk towards the passageway, but before he could, the system panel flickered once again, but this time with different entries.
═══════════════════
◇ SYSTEM ◇
═══════════════════
[Sub-Quest Appeared]
└ Deliver Materials to the Tower Alchemist
───────────────────
[Objective]
• Take the gathered dungeon materials to the tower alchemist.
• Hand over the required materials
• Receive your Subspace Pouch
───────────────────
[Materials Required]
└ Goblin Tooth ×3
└ Goblin Skin ×2
───────────────────
[Rewards]
└ Subspace Pouch (Basic Grade)
└ 10 copper leaves
└ And the rest of the rewards which were granted in the quest.
═══════════════════
Silence fell over the surroundings as Emil read through the entries; he stood motionless for a while until he finally composed himself. ’Wait... copper leaves as an additional reward? How’s this game being so favourable to me?!’
A bright smile which reflected pure happiness crept onto his lips; he clenched his fists in sheer excitement. ’Is this what they usually refer to as ’Beginner’s Luck’?!’
"Child, the alchemists of our tower are always busy. If you delay for long, you’ll not get to see them anytime soon," she said.
Emil didn’t look towards her but gave a slight nod and walked towards the connector without wasting any more time. He didn’t spare any attention towards the paths leading in other directions; he simply walked forward.
After a while, he found himself standing in front of the Alchemist’s Chamber. Loud bangs and strange noises echoed from within, hinting at the experiments taking place inside. He pushed the door open and stepped through it; the room was filled with polished marble slabs, each one covered with various glass instruments and equipment used for creating potions and performing experiments.
The air was heavy with the scent of chemicals and unfamiliar substances. Two people stood beside the slabs, carefully working with their flasks while wearing protective masks. Their eyes were covered by a thin layer of mana, forming a barrier to shield them from any dangerous reactions.
One of them lifted their attention from their work and looked at Emil, who was standing there with a confused expression on his face. A faint chuckle left the person’s mouth, which sounded like it belonged to a female.
"Oh!!"
She gently placed the flask on the slab and took the mask off, and the layer of mana that covered her eyes disappeared. Her features appeared: eyes which were of a light blue shade just like that of the bright sky; her blue hair was wavy; she wore a long white robe, and the length of it touched the ground.
"So you’re the newbie whom Valera was talking about?" the woman asked.
Her words made Emil raise a brow in confusion because he didn’t know whom ’Valera’ was. ’Valera? Is she talking about that old lady from before?! She surely is,’ he said inwardly.
’She has already spoken with her, which makes things much easier. I won’t have to go through the trouble of introducing myself from the beginning.’
A faint flicker of relief crossed his face, but he still lowered his head and bowed respectfully. He knew that she was someone who held far greater authority than him, and showing proper respect was necessary.
"Yes, that’s me, senior."