Fuck! Jay roared internally as another concoction resulted in failure.

  **Skill level increased: Basic Alchemy 0 - 1**

  He paused for a moment as the notification showed up. He squinted back at his latest concoction while rubbing his chin. Why had that skill only shown up now? He didn’t have a good answer. Each step he’d taken was exactly the same as every other attempt. It had even failed the same way. He sighed and leaned back in his chair.

  “Maybe enough experience just finally built up,” he pondered out loud.

  He thought it over for another moment before pushing it from his mind at last. He grabbed the stack of papers again, slowly reading each of them over for what felt like the hundredth time. It just didn’t make sense. It was like he was missing something, but no matter how hard he looked, he couldn’t find any other hints. He pushed his way up from the workstation, depositing the failed product into a large pile of other miss made concoctions. Everything in the tower regenerated after he took it, meaning he didn’t need to worry about recycling the glassware. A new, perfectly functional batch of equipment was ready for each attempt.

  Jay pulled the door open that contained the herbs he needed. So soon after, he paused. He had only ever used three of the herbs in the small room, but there were a total of five pots. While he would normally chalk it up to this dungeon using a space that housed those herbs to create this scenario in its creation, that didn’t feel right. Everything in this tower seemed like it had been placed for a reason. The papers were properly arranged. Only the pieces of glassware mentioned in the instructions could be found around the structure. So why would the herbs be any different? He frowned, thinking about it before only grabbing a handful of the two strange herbs.

  He brought them back to the workstation and placed them into a device that would tell him their properties and how pure each was. He noted the reading, unsure of what the squiggles actually meant. But if he took the readings he had for the other plants and cross-referenced them with the notes about each substance…. His eyes went wide. He looked back down at the notes telling him to carefully stabilize the potion while he worked, and everything finally clicked. He had originally thought that line was telling him to make sure the concoction didn’t move around while he was marking it. Now, however, he had a different idea. The two ingredients perfectly counteracted one of the main ingredients he was adding. That was why his potion was bubbling and turning that weird color. He wasn’t properly stabilizing the ingredients as they reacted, causing one of them to overpower the others and the reaction to fail.

  Jay grinned as he shot from his chair, grabbing everything he needed for his next attempt. He didn’t think he would get it on his first try, but it finally felt like he was once again making progress.

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

  Lan watched with a smile as Jay ran around the tower. She had originally been worried when he had entered this dungeon, only to have their communication cut right after such an emotional moment. It was a pleasant surprise when the man threw himself into the challenge. Well, it wasn’t that much of a surprise, but she was still happy to see that his enthusiasm had stayed. He was even finally on the right track. It had been infuriating to watch him just try the same thing over and over again. She had started to fear he would never figure it out, but she had been surprised there, as well. It would have been so much easier if she had been allowed to talk to him. Even so, it was probably better that the human figured it out on his own.

  She sighed and scratched the back of her neck. How long had it been since she’d actually had an interest in a mortal? Far too long. Or not long enough. She had high hopes for the man. If he survived, she was sure that he would one day reach her level. The thought pained her. She could feel the attachment slowly growing. An attachment she’d sworn never to have again. If he died now, it would be devastating, and she would never forgive him or herself.

  Lan stretched out her arm as it morphed into the massive clawed appendage and pressed against the small extra-dimensional space she was to be contained within until the end of the Death March. She could feel its power and the warning that came with it, but she didn’t care. The wall was breakable, and even if the backlash would cripple her for years to come, she wasn’t going to watch someone else she cared about die. Not when she could prevent it.

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

  Jay focused intently as he slowly added ingredients, balancing the potion. He had a good feeling about this one. It was his thirteenth attempt since he had found out about the extra herbs. The concoction began bubbling, and he quickly added some bits of purple root and watched as the concoction stabilized once more. Sweat ran down his forehead, but he didn’t dare take his attention off the concoction. He watched as the color started to change. He’d just begun lifting some more of the second root off the table when he stopped. He blinked a few times before the sight finally registered, and he let out a roar of victory.

  Challenge Complete

  This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  Scenario: The Herbalist’s Tower

  Reward Granted: Basic Alchemy Skill

  Reward Granted: Skill Potion: Tower’s Entrance - Rare

  Jay’s eyes widened as he looked down at the concoction he had just created and used Investigate.

  Skill Potion: Tower Entrance - Rare

  Effects:

  When ingested, this potion grants the Tower Entrance skill. This skill can be used to open a portal to your own copy of this tower (Alchemy equipment and herbs not included). Warning: Once you exit that tower, the instance will collapse and a new one will be opened each time. Any items or people left in the tower without being properly bound will disappear when the space collapses.

  Well, that’s pretty fucking nice, he thought.

  “Way to go!” Lan yelled as what sounded like party poppers echoed through Jay’s head.

  He winced at the sudden noise. Still,as soon as he recognized the voice, he couldn’t help but grin widely.

  You're back!

  “Yep. Did you miss me?”

  Not sure I would put it exactly like that, but yeah. I missed you.

  “Aww.”

  I will throw myself out of this tower just to spite you.

  Lan was quiet for a moment before they both burst into laughter.

  “I’m glad a day and a half in solitude didn’t change you any.”

  Why would it?

  “I don’t know, but I’m glad it didn’t.”

  Jay shrugged, grabbing his potion off the table. He let out a long sigh as he looked at the swelling liquid. I’m glad, too. Thanks, Lan.

  “Don’t mention it. Now, get that potion drunk down, and let's get on to the next dungeon. We are burning time before the next reward becomes available.”

  Jay nodded as he raised the concoction to his lips and drank. It had a taste like straight dirt, and he struggled to keep it down for a few moments. Uh, that was awful.

  “But worth it,” Lan added.

  He wasn’t so sure of that, but at least it was over now.

  **Skill level increased: Basic Alchemy 1 - 4**

  **Skill level increased: Tower Entrance 0 - 1**

  **Experience threshold reached: Level 18 - 19**

  He smiled as he read the three notifications over. He popped open his status and allocated the free point to Willpower,taking a moment to admire how far he had come before exiting the tower.

  Status:

  Name: Jay Anderson

  Race: Human: (Level - 19)

  Class: Unstoppable Force: (Tier - 2)

  Innate Class: Unyielding Drive: (Tier - 1)

  Spirit: 2100/2100

  Stats:

  Physique: 6

  Reflexes: 30

  Intellect: 8

  Charisma: 6

  Willpower: 60

  Tech: 6

  Upgrade Points: 0

  Cyberware:

  Emotional Regulator - Rare - Excellent

  Bionic Liver - Uncommon - Excellent

  Synthetic Bionic Arm - Uncommon - Excellent

  4x4 Internal Space - Common - Excellent

  Skills:

  Defiance: (Level - 3) - Rare

  Tower Entrance: (Level - 1) - Rare

  Translation: (Level - 2) - Uncommon

  Counterspell: (Level - 1) - Uncommon

  Fleet-Footed: (Level - 15)

  Pain Tolerance: (Level - 14)

  Endurance: (Level - 14)

  Basic Knots: (Level - 1)

  Climbing: (Level - 2)

  Basic Digging: (Level - 1)

  Fire Starting: (Level - 3)

  Cooking: (Level - 3)

  Extinguish Fire: (Level - 3)

  Sorting: (Level - 2)

  Jumping: (Level - 2)

  Cleaning: (Level - 2)

  Multitasking: (Level - 10)

  Communication: (Level - 5)

  Nausea Resistance: (Level - 14)

  Firearm Mastery: (Level - 11)

  Spirit Control: (Level - 16)

  Spirit Surge: (Level - 16)

  Basic Berserk Armor: (Level - 16)

  Lifting: (Level - 4)

  Basic Spirit Obscuration: (Level - 8)

  Lock Picking: (Level - 3)

  Misdirection: (Level - 10)

  Regeneration Boost: (Level - 14)

  Breathing: (Level - 14)

  Blood Flow: (Level - 14)

  Basic Motion: (Level - 14)

  Basic Vision Comprehension: (Level - 14)

  Investigate: (Level - 2)

  Spirit Overload: (Level - 3)

  Spirit Shield: (Level - 5)

  Basic Spirit Aura: (Level - 8)

  Weak Poison Resistance: (Level - 14)

  Basic Alchemy: (Level - 4)

  Class Skills:

  Basic Blade Combat: (Level - 14)

  Basic Bow Combat: (Level - 0)

  Basic Crossbow Combat: (Level - 0)

  Basic Firearm Combat: (Level - 14)

  Basic Shield Combat: (Level - 0)

  Stealth: (Level - 10)

  Will Sight: (Level - 2)

  Unarmed Combat: (Level - 14)

  Will Control: (Level - 8)

  Unstoppable: (Level - 0)

  Charge: (Level - 5)

  Grapple: (Level - 0)

  Will Capacity: (Level - 0)

  Basic Weapon Knowledge - Blades (Level - 6)

  Basic Weapon Knowledge - Bows: (Level - 0)

  Basic Weapon Knowledge - Crossbows: (Level - 0)

  Weapon Knowledge - Firearms: (Level - 15)

  Basic Weapon Knowledge - Shields: (Level - 0)

  Basic Knowledge - Unarmed Combat: (Level - 0)

  Basic Knowledge - Will: (Level - 4)

  Basic Knowledge - Barriers: (Level - 0)

  Jay smiled as he did the quick calculation. His next goal was already close to completion. He only needed nine more levels in his class skills to reach Tier 3. Sadly, it wouldn’t be as big of a boost as reaching Tier 2 had been, but that didn’t make it small by any means. He took a quick moment to stretch before leaving the dungeon and making his way to the surface. That plan was good and all, but he still had one last thing he needed to do before fully committing to it. He had some clothes to wash. He was about to take off in the direction he thought the nearest town was in, but stopped as he exited the staircase. It was pitch-black out, and as much as he still wanted to get done, a night run in the middle of a large forest didn’t sound like the best idea to him.

  With a sigh, he activated his new skill and marveled as a doorway appeared in mid-air. He took a deep breath as he entered and found himself back in the tower, just as the description had said. He made his way to the bedroom, and he collapsed onto the heavenly cloud, disguising itself as a mattress.

  One more night won’t hurt.

  With thoughts of his plans for the future stirring in his head, he slowly drifted off to sleep.

  **

  Jay awoke early the next morning and exited back into the forest, feeling more rested than he had in a long time. He stretched and brought his phone out, frowning when he saw no new messages. Still, he opened the device anyway. He pulled up a mapping app, happy that it still seemed to be working, and quickly oriented himself towards the nearest town--a place named Landerite. He was even able to find exactly what he was looking for. A dry cleaner's. Without further ado, he set out to see what his new shoes and the skill that came with them were made of.