Daniel stood with his hands behind his back in front of three elderly cultivators.
They were in a dark room, with the three elders inspecting a big cauldron that stood between them and Daniel.
"Elders, did you request for me?"
Daniel asked in his usual polite tone, his head was slightly bowed as he spoke.
"Yes. We need you to go to the Bare Dungeon and collect as many Excavating worms as you can. We will reward you and anyone you want to bring along of course."
One of the elders spoke without moving his gaze from the cauldron.
"If I may ask, can't we just give this mission to the Hunters' guild? It seems inappropriate for an alchemist to hunt magical beasts."
Daniel asked, making a bow to emphasize his respect for the three cultivators.
"Daniel, what is the main ingredient for the majority of the alchemic products?"
Another elder questioned him.
Daniel's answer came immediately.
"Magical beasts' blood! However, we should have plenty of that stashed."
"That is correct. Magical beasts' blood is the base on which most of our products are created and yes, we do have enough for of it stashed for our normal activities. Yet, we are attempting in something quite far from the ordinary."
The elder tapped the cauldron in front of him and showed an excited smile to the young man.
The inscriptions on the cauldron flickered and released some of their power, making Daniel take a few steps back to withstand the wave of energy radiated from the item.
That cauldron wasn't a common inscribed item!
"What are you going to concoct with it?"
Daniel asked in astonishment.
Such powerful items were usually used to create pills that had a rank above the third!
For a pill or a potion to be in the fourth rank, it meant that it could affect cultivators in that same rank!
Products that could accelerate the cultivation were extremely valuable, especially if they were effective in the heroic ranks.
"Hehe, interested? We managed to find the recipe for a rank 5 potion and, of course, we are eager to try it out."
Rank 5 potion!
A medicine that was effective on rank 5 cultivators!
Even cultivation techniques were rare at that level, Daniel couldn't even imagine the value of a rank 5 medicine.
"Now that you know what we are dealing with, you must understand the number of resources involved in the process. We can't just stop all the activities of the alchemy division for our experiments so we need to gather more resources. Sadly, the value of the Excavating worms is low in the market of the capital so no hunter would accept this mission unless we pay a hefty sum. Yet, in order to gather all the materials described in the recipe we have already spent a lot of Credits, we can't afford the services of that guild. The only option is to send one of us there."
One elder explained their situation.
Daniel slowly recovered from the shock and put a pensive expression.
"I don't need Credits."
He said after a while.
"Hehe, we know. We also know that your position is quite difficult due to the recent events between the Royal dynasty and the noble families. That's why your reward will be the possibility to watch us concoct the rank 5 potion."
Daniel's eyes widened and an internal struggle was born inside him.
On one side, there was his ambition in the alchemy field: having the possibility to watch experienced alchemists work will greatly increase his understanding of certain procedures.
Also, what they were going to concoct was a rank 5 item!
How many times could someone experience such a sight?
On the other one, there was his loyalty toward his family.
Daniel knew that the alchemy division of the academy was a structure of the Royal family, if the elders were to succeed in the procedure, the item would go to the Royals.
'That is still fine since I can't really stop them. Yet, if I was to personally help them gather the needed materials, what will my family think?'
Daniel thought.
'Maybe this is also a test from the Royals, they want to show me their goodwill in case I was to work for them and they also want to assess my loyalty toward the Cause.'
He was struggling to make a choice.
'Dammit, it's a rank 5 item! How many decades will pass till I will be able to watch a similar event?'
The truth was that Daniel really liked being an alchemist.
The idea of taking various ingredients, mixing them together, and creating something miraculous had always intrigued him.
That's why he disobeyed his family's orders and joined the alchemy division to learn that mystical art, he couldn't just play the good heir in front of something that he liked so much.
After a few seconds spent in doubt, he opened his mouth to ask a simple question.
"Can I bring whoever I want with me?"
.
.
.
A week passed.
A man dressed in a black robe arrived at the bottom of a solitary mountain where a small passage could be seen.
'This should be the place. It's so strange, even from here the density of "Breath" is already below the average.'
That man was, of course, Noah that had just reached his destination.
'I guess the previous Royal family wanted to keep their criminals in a place where they could not cultivate. I don't understand why the Elbas family would let go of such a peculiar place though.'
Noah inspected his surroundings but he couldn't find anything unusual.
'It should be something in this mountain or even at the bottom of the dungeon, maybe it's due to some strange mineral like the "Breath" blessing.'
He judged before putting those thoughts in the back of his mind.
He had come there for one reason, he wanted to test the limits of his newly obtained body!
'I can't express my full potential if I don't know what I'm capable of! Also, with my "Breath" blessing, I don't have to fear exhaustion due to the absence of "Breath".'
Thinking that, Noah entered the cavity at the base of the mountain.