As Stark turned around, he saw a figure clad in dark robes approaching him. The stranger’s hood obscured their face, but their presence exuded an air of mystery and power.
“New to the world of alchemy, are you?” the hooded figure spoke in a smooth, melodic voice that seemed to echo in the street, Stark was still cautious of whoever this was, but their voice somehow made him feel at ease.
“Yeah,” Stark shrugged, raising his eyebrow.
It was clearly a woman, extremely noticeable from her voice, long purple hair, and also… well… her curves, there was no denying that
“Interesting,” without wasting a single second, the hooded woman used her [Potion Crafting] skill to summon her table.
And it was… well… impressive.
Instead of his wooden table with a badly shaped cauldron and brewing stand, her’s was on a whole other level.
The table was made out of blue platinum, it’s shape glinting in the sunlight, and intricate runes were etched into its surface.
On her table was a set of ingredients that seemed to glow with an ethereal light, emitting a soft hum that reverberated in the air.
The cauldron she had was giant, and made of pure diamonds, while the brewing stand she had was so big and complicated that there were magic circles surrounding it.
But… Stark wasn’t impressed, instead his face turned cold.
“Trying to flex on me?” he asked, tilting his head as there was no such reason to show him any of that.
The hooded woman chuckled softly, her violet eyes gleaming with amusement. “Not at all, dear newcomer. I simply appreciate the art of alchemy and like to work with the best tools available to me,” she explained, her voice soft yet commanding.
‘A tool…?’ did she just call him a tool? Or was she just referring to her brewing station.
“Well, see you later,” she waved her hand before heading in the opposite direction.
“Weirdo…” Stark groaned as he hailed for a taxi and went back to his hotel.
“Goodbye… CHOSEN,” the woman lips grew into a giant smile as soon as Stark left inside that taxi, saying his code name.
She drank a potion and immediately vanished in a trail of blue smoke.
Stark didn’t know it yet, but there were already people aware of who he was.
And his recent conquest of the Secret Rift helped them out a lot with that.
***
Stark went to the market and bought lots of pre-made food, as well as enough fast food and such to last him upwards to two-three weeks.
The reason was obvious: he planned to stay a very long time inside of the ‘Memories Museum’, grinding against the bosses he had already beaten in the hopes of improving his senses and movements.
Being able to take just two of the bosses he had fought and struggled against before simultaneously would prove that he had indeed improved a lot.
After around an hour, he arrived back at his hotel room, having placed everything inside of his [Spatial Inventory] meant he didn’t need to move anything, and that everything would be available once he was there.
“Phew…” Stark sighed, lying on the bed and looking up to the ceiling, “…”
He wouldn’t do anything other than just fight, fight, and fight, for the next two to three weeks, so he was getting mentally ready.
It would surely take him a while before deciding to enter-
“Ok, i’m ready,” he shrugged almost instantly, not even five seconds after getting on the bed, and summoned the black door which led to the ‘Memories Museum’.
It appeared before him, surrounded by a dark aura, and Stark opened it wide, passing through the threshold with determination in his eyes.
The familiar sensation of being pulled through dimensions washed over him, and as he emerged on the other side, he found himself back in the vast, endless hallways of the Memories Museum.
Food inside of the [Spatial Inventory] doesn’t rot, so he wouldn’t pull out anything until he really needed it.
And to add to the immersion, he even bought a ‘small tent’ from the market, which allowed him to sleep wherever he wanted.
Such tents were only used when classifiers knew they would be spending large periods of times inside a rift, but for Stark, he had decided that he wouldn’t leave this space until either his food ran out, or he completed what he wanted to do: defeat all 6 bosses.
[Quest: defeat all 6 bosses at the same time!]
[Reward: +3 skill points!]
In addition to that, as a way to encourage him, even the museum allowed him to get a reward for his efforts.
Frankly, there was a 99.99% chance that he would never be able to complete that challenge because of the sheer difficulty, plus his level wasn’t that high compared to theirs, so almost anything would one-shot him.
Infinite tries sounded powerful, but he couldn’t forget that time still flew normally in this space.
He was too lazy to train his muscles (useless since he had domination), and attempting to beat yet another rift felt boring, so this ‘Memories Museum’ was the perfect opportunity to grow stronger all the while improving his techniques.
This would 100% help him in the future.
But before doing any of that…
“POTION CRAFTING!”
Stark wasted no time in getting down to business.
He set up his makeshift alchemy station, a far cry from the extravagant setup of the hooded woman he had encountered earlier.
Despite the humble appearance of his equipment, Stark’s determination shone through as he meticulously organized his ingredients and prepared to craft his potions.
He took the required ingredients to craft one of each potion, and got to business.
…
[Potion of Strength]
[Effect: Increases the user’s strength stat by 10% for 5 minutes!]
[Ingredients: x2 Wolf Teeth, x1 Ogre Ear, x1 Strength Flower…]
…
He took out everything that was needed and placed it on the table, and immediately as he did so…
[Wolf Teeth 2/2; Ogre Ear 1/1; Strength Flower 1/1!]
[You can craft ‘Potion of Strength’!]
He clicked on that panel without a single hint of hesitation, and suddenly, the equipment on his table began to move alone, mixing and brewing the ingredients with precision.
The cauldron bubbled and steamed, emitting a faint glow as the potion took form under Stark’s watchful gaze.
It didn’t take more than thirty seconds for the potion to be finished.
[‘Potion of Strength’ has been crafted, please touch this screen to make it appear on the table!]
He did as he was told, and just as explained, a red liquid inside of a glass appeared on the wooden table, which Stark took in his hands instantly.
[Perception] showed him that it was indeed the potion he wanted, meaning that the alchemist station and all of the related things were working perfectly.
It was much easier than expected too, meaning that Stark could get to business and craft the remaining potions as he wanted to try them out while fighting the bosses.
He used up all his ingredients, but…
…
[Inventory:] 10x Potion of Strength, 10x Potion of Speed, 10x Potion of Regeneration.
…
And so with everything ready, Stark put all the potions inside of his inventory void and headed toward the displays with the memories on it, ready to select them all and start his training arc.
