"Hello..."

"You must be Pef. The picture they have on the wanted list must be old." a well-dressed man spoke politely, while examining Pef from head to toe.

*You have learned French. And this time you don't even butcher it.

'Two months old at most...' Pef mused inward. Then again, he had trained his stats greatly since then, and his body and posture looked much better now. Also, the Versace suit gave him a special kind of presence.

*Nicholas Kimmel

Level 271 Alchemist Master, Age 344.

Status: bored, busy, not impressed.

"Very honored to meet you, Alchemist Kimmel. I hope we will both benefit greatly from our collaboration." Pef declared politely, and bowed a bit.

The old man glanced at him and raised an eyebrow. "You can perform telekinesis, I hope. Or any lessons would be useless."

"Yes, sir. Not very well though..."

"At least you know your limits. Miss Lucia has high hopes for you. Don't disappoint me." the alchemist replied sternly, then turned around and climbed into a black Mercedes.

Pef followed, a bit slower and meeker.

In the car, the alchemist produced a large tome and handed it over. "Show me your book digestion trick." he ordered while his eyes glowed red, from some spell.

Pef poked the book and it vanished into motes of light.

*You have learned the Alchemy Basics.

*Alchemy is now level 1.

*Crafting skill is now level 1.

"Hmmm. It is indeed a Natural ability. Perhaps you won't waste my time..." the man mused while closing his eyes.

He produced an even thicker tome, bound in brown leather and glowing with red runes.

Pef picked it up curiously.

*You have tried to learn Ancient Alchemy. You need minimum 1000 Magic and 200 Mind.

He sighed at the huge numbers. About 200 levels, if he only spent point for this task.

"It won't work for at least one year, Master Kimmel. I need to train and grow more." Pef whispered in defeat.

The alchemist snorted in dismissal. "If you do learn it in one year, I would have to bestow a worthy prize on you, young Pef. But know this, it takes a hundred years for most mages."

"Then I promise I will." Pef answered confidently.

*The Gamer has received a new quest. Philosopher's Stone.

*Primary objective: Learn Ancient Alchemy in one year or less.

???

???

???

???

Rewards: Skills, Stats, Exp, Fame, ???, ???.

Accept? Yes/Yes/Yes/Yes/Shame.

Pef pressed Yes with telekinesis. Already the new skill was very useful.

*For taking on a near-impossible task, you gain +1 Mind. Use it well.

He stored the manual and took out the Sarcosis ring.

"Master Kimmel, is there a way to break this curse?" Pef asked deferentially.

The ring flew from his hand and into the alchemist's palm. A red and violet spell enveloped it, full of geometric shapes and glowing runes. "Yes, of course. However, it won't be worth my time or the reagents for the cleansing. It's only a devil toy, useful for young mages only. Perhaps it could be a task for you, to show Miss Lucia how much you've learned?"

Pef drew the ring back with telekinesis, almost dropping it in mid-way. Telekinesis was really hard.

"I shall endeavor to break the curse then." he said with tight lips.

"Hah. You have guts. I like that!" the alchemist said in a mocking voice.

Pef nodded in silence. Compared to the 1000 Magic points needed for his quest, the +30 Magic bonus from the ring was indeed miser.

Soon, the car passed though the boundary of an Instant Dungeon.

*You have entered the Geneva Paracelsus Association Dungeon.

*Your HP, MP and STA recovery is increased by 300 percent.

*Plant based spells gain 50 percent potency.

*Enemies are suppressed to 50 percent of their stats.

"Wow, the mana quality here is amazing!" Pef exclaimed in wonder.

The old alchemist chuckled amused. "I'm glad you think so. Now, let's take you to the reception and have you registered.

Then you can explore and try our famous training hall."

Pef smiled awkwardly. Damn elder was too jaded.

Trying to be polite or child-like didn't matter. He'll have to impress with his combat skills.

------------------

*You have entered the Philosopher Dungeon, Floor 1.

Pef entered Floating Meditation, then flew up and began buffing himself.

Soon a loud growl announced the first enemy.

*Young bear.

Lvl 55. HP 11000. MP 0.

Status: hungry, famished, omnivorous.

Pef raised an eyebrow. It seemed gaining experience won't be an issue after all.

Poking the bear with a cheap arrow, he began collecting a large mob of bears, then froze and roasted them all at once.

*You have killed 122 Young Bears. Gained 1.22 million Exp.

*You have reached level 31.

*You have found 84 bears claws, 12 bear fangs and 1 Mana crystal.

With a wide grin full of greed, Pef yelled in joy and sped towards the next mob of bears.

An hour later, all the monsters were killed.

*You have gained the perk: Brown Bare +1 Magic. Gain +10 percent damage vs Bears or omnivorous enemies.

Groooowwwlll.

"Observe!"

*Brown Mama Bear

Lvl 105. HP 500000 MP 1000.

Status: vengeful, hungry, omnivorous.

-77

-77

*You have been hit by Phantom Claws.

Deciding the boss wasn't really a danger with its weak spells, Pef proceeded to unleash his own spells, which now had 500 percent mana recovery to fuel them.

Although the bear regenerated a bit, it wasn't enough and it soon fell down and died.

*You have killed the Brown Mama Bear. Gain 500000 Exp.

*You have defeated Floor 1.

*You have found 3 Major HP potions. You have found 1 Greater Soul fragment.

Pef smiled and flew towards the next Floor entrance. Killing bears of all kinds wasn't hard for a flying mage

However, on the 5th Floor, he encountered Bald Eagles.

With a frown, Pef decided to call it a day and return.

Perhaps it wasn't wise to push his luck on the first day here.

Plus he had gained 4 levels, which gave him 20 more Magic, or 20 percent more than he had.

For a day's work it wasn't bad at all.

"Young Pef, please proceed to the Administration." he heard directly in his head.

Pef massaged his temple at the new message. It felt like Telepathy, but somehow loud and hurting his brain, unlike the smooth voice of Gaia, which was rather pleasant and soothing to hear.

A small violet icon appeared on his screen, shaped like an eye inside a diamond.

He flew towards it, and soon found Master Kimmel, flanked by three other alchemists.

"This is your protegee, Kimmel? He's only a boy!" A bearded man exclaimed in contempt.

Pef scanned him preemptively.

*Hans von Mackberg

Lvl ???

Status: busy, ???, ???.

Like any decent gamer, seeing question marks send shivers down his spine. How far did these levels go?

Pef landed and bowed politely. "I am here, as you demanded."

"Show us those special potions. One hundred of them." the only woman among them asked in a gentler voice.

Pef arranged 90 Medium, 9 Greater and 1 Major potion for inspection.

Soon the alchemists got busy inspecting the vials and forgot about him. Pef began tip-toeing away...

"Stay! This deep red one. It can regrow limbs?" Master Kimmel asked with a frown.

Pef nodded. "They all can, but you need more of them. 100 Mediums instead of a single Major one, I would guess." he explained with a shrug.

Field testing wasn't a priority til now. Perhaps someday, when he didn't have to run from fights.

"I see you're already benefiting from our training fields. How far did you go?" Kimmel asked nonchalantly.

"I made it til Floor 5. Fighting flying beasts would be a problem for now. I'll try that floor next month."

"Wise too. That Shiva Eagle would eat you whole." the woman said with a giggle. Her long robes didn't hide the bountiful chest bouncing with her laughs.

Pef stole a quick Observe of her.

*Anne-Lise Siegmarinen

Lvl 243 Alchemist Elder. Age 176

Status: charmed, amused, busy.

"I'm too young to die, most wise lady. Perhaps never, Gaia willing." Pef replied with a smile and a bow.

An amused giggle resounded in his head, no doubt from the very Gaia he spoke of.

"Take him to the Garden for now, Lise. See that he truly knows the primer." Kimmel commanded sternly, then nodded at the bearded guy.

"Yes, yes. Excellent potions, I admit. He can stay one year and learn." Mackberg said gruffly, then vanished into a shadow spell.

"Come, young one. Everyone loves the Garden." the woman demanded, flying slowly towards a valley in the distance.

Pef bowed again at Master Kimmel and flew after her.

--------------------

Looking after him, the old alchemist sighed deeply.

"Dealing with witches is not worth it, Master." he spoke with measured words.

"Eh? But our new visitor is not a witch, is he? And Miss Lucia was expelled from the Golden Branch. We're not in any trouble, I think." the fourth guy mused to himself.

"Let's hope so, Master Paracelsus. I don't want to dive into Hell again." Kimmel replied with a shudder.