Cautiously, Manco poked his head up from the hole in the floor, then climbed out and looked around.

The front section of the shop was small and cramped. A magically infused gemstone set in a wall-mounted holder emitted a gentle white light, barely illuminating the room. He saw that the section next to the front door were covered with hundreds of darts, bolts and arrows. Against any other player that series of traps would be lethal. Had he not reacted quickly and dived the hole in the floor, he would probably be dead as well.

Occupying most of the store were countless small stands and racks and shelves, most of which were up to his waist in height. Each of them were filled with vials, jars, boxes, containers of every imaginable kind. Gingerly, he stepped closer to a shelf for a closer inspection. These were all alchemical ingredients, old but relatively well-preserved.

The scraping of wood on stone alerted him to the back room door opening. Out stepped a small figure clad in what could only be described as a fantasy hazmat suit. Made of a combination of cloth and leather, the suit completely covered its wearer from head to toe.

Closing the door, the figure approached him, expertly navigating the impromptu labyrinth made of wooden shelves and racks.

As the goggles, hat, and face mask were taken off, Manco realized this was a halfling woman. Standing about 1.3 meters tall, she was of average height for her kind. She had a round face and dark blond hair, her eyes gleaming with curiosity and intelligence.

"Whew!" She exhaled and wiped a few stray strands of hair off her face, then held out her right hand which was missing a pinky finger: "I'm Nina, what do you want?"

After a short introduction, Manco told Nina he would like to learn spells.

"Well, I do know a few spells," she said as she climbed up a stool behind the counter and poured something from her hip flask into a cup. A hint of strawberry wafted up from the cup. "But, I'm really not in the mood for teaching at the moment. You want one?" she said, holding up the flask.

"No, thank you." He sighed. Of course there had to be a catch. "Is it a little early for that?"

"What? Hell no! I didn't touch a drop yesterday! If anything I'm way overdue for a few sips!" Answered the halfling, who drank from the cup.

"Why the traps? Is this Farquaad guy bothering you?"

"I'm getting to that! See, my father left behind this recipe," she drained the cup and poured herself another one, "but I can't seem to get it right. It's missing something..."

"What's the recipe for?"

"WiseBrewer's Breathtaker, guaranteed to make everything you've every drank taste like soap water by comparison!" She waved her arms and miraculously didn't spill any drink from the cup in her hand. "I tasted it once, three years ago. The last batch he ever made before he passed away. It was really… breathtaking…" Nina paused as tears streamed down her face. Putting down the cup, she wiped her face then blew her nose into a comically large handkerchief.

"It's a drink?"

"Yes, what else could it be? It's been driving me crazy!"

"Is that what you've been brewing?" he sniffed the air, cringing at the combination of completely incompatible ingredients.

Nina nodded with a sigh: "I'm desperate. I've spent three years trying to decipher his recipe. His handwriting is horrible, and the instructions were vague! I'm tired of trying and failing! I'm sick of staying in this town!"

"Why can't you leave?"

"That's the thing. My father made an Unbreakable Vow with a divine entity in exchange for the inspiration for this wine. First, he and his descendants can never leave this place, until we have made 999 casks of that drink and offer 99 casks to that entity. My father had made 990 casks. Only one more batch to go, but he was killed in a monster attack three years ago. All I've got left is his notes and my memory of that taste! I'm forgetting more of it by the day!" Nina said, her teary eyes staring at nothing.

"What's the second part of that vow?"

"Nothing much. Just that the store has to stay open until that was done. And the third condition is that we can never divulge the recipe to anyone outside the family."

"Why was that necessary?"

"Beats me. Who knows how the divines think?"

"Is that why you cannot put up a sign that says 'Closed' at the front door?"

"Yup."

"But, why the traps? And who's this Farquaad?"

"He's the owner of the breweries in the tavern district. He somehow got wind of the recipe, and has been hounding me ever since. Offered to buy off the property completely. Offered to pay me a million Ducats. After a few dozen times I said no, he's begun sending these goons over to harass my store! That idiot!"

Manco stopped to process the information. That sounded like at least two quests down the line. However, he focused on his current task.

"So what does it taste like? That breathtaking ale, I mean."

"WiseBrewer's Breathtaker!" Nina bellowed, her breath smelling of strawberry ale.

She then spent five minutes describing what the drink was supposed to taste like. As she had begun to get drunk, Manco had to filter out a lot of useless chatters to get any useful information. The described taste and the peculiar name gave him a hint.

"Have you tried Strangler Vine Berries?" he asked.

"Wuh? Stranger Vines? No… Most folks aren't too fond of traipsing into the swamp so no. Wazzit taste like?"

"Try for yourself!" he handed her three berries.

"Hmm…" Nina popped a berry into her mouth and chewed. Immediately, her eyes widened: "This! This must be it! Do you have more?"

"Not that many. Only about a hundred…"

"That… That has to be enough! I'll buy them all! What do you need? Gold? Rare ingredients? I'll give 'em to you. Just give me those berries!"

"Okay, okay, relax! I just need to learn whatever spells you can teach me," Manco said as he took out a cloth bag filled with the berries and put it on a table.

As Nina was both drunk and overexcited, he could have extorted a lot more from her. However, from experience, he knew that having a good relationship with such a character was much more useful than material rewards. When she sobered up, she would appreciate him not taking advantage of her.

"Spells, huh? Okay. Stay here, I'll be right back!" Snatching the bag of berries, Nina jumped down from the stool and disappeared into the back room. A few moments later, she emerged with a thick, dusty book: "My spellbook! Been a while since I last touched this. You a mage?"

"Yes, I am."

"Oh! Good for you! Then you can probably learn all of these! I just dabble in some magic, though, so nothing too impressive!"

"I appreciate whatever you can teach me!"

"Alright, here it goes…"

Seated back on the stool opposite him, Nina opened the book and read through it once, then held up one hand and touch Manco's forehead.

As she closed her eyes and concentrated, Manco felt a familiar sensation, a tickling in his head, as if new information were wiggling their way inside and settling somewhere within his brains.

Then a plethora of notification popped up.

〔Spell learned: Fireball 〕
〔Spell learned: Icebolt 〕
〔Spell learned: Mana Shield 〕
…
〔Mastery improved: Foraging〕
〔Level: 7.15 ► 15.30〕
〔Mastery improved: Alchemy〕
〔Level: 19.15 ► 31.30. Level cap exceeded.〕

His mind spun at the notifications, which showed no less than three dozen spells being added to his collection. Even more impressive was that at least half a dozen were offensive spells which could be fired from the gun!

"All done!" Nina said, "I threw a little extra in there!" Lowering her voice, she said "If you need anything here, I'll sell to you at acquisition price. But don't go around telling people that!"

"I see, thank you!"

"And, uh, if things go well, can I trouble you to acquire more of those berries? I could ask those mercenaries that sometimes stopped by for a drink, but I'm afraid they'll just get themselves killed!"

"No problem! I've got some business there anyway," Manco replied.

〔Quest Accepted: An Alchemist's Woe 〕

〔Quest: An Alchemist's Woe 〕(Unique)
> Type: Acquisition. Difficulty: C
> Given by: Nina WiseBrewer 〈Show details▼〉
> Location(s): Broken Hill, Sighing Swamp
> Details: Help Nina fulfill her father's vow by gathering enough ingredients to brew 9 more casks of WiseBrewer's Breathtaker.
> Requirement: 900 Strangler Vine berries (103/900)
> Reward:
1. Improved Standing with Nina.
2. Discount at Nina's Potions & Concoctions
3. XP
4. ???
—.—

"Fantastic! Do stop by from time to time, 'kay?"

"I will! Thank you for your help!"

"Hey, quid pro quo, right? Now I gotta go back to brewing! Hey, you want a sample of that last batch? It wasn't breathtaking by any means, but it's still pretty good!"

"Sure, if it's no bother!"

〔Item received: Alchemist Kit (Intermediate) 〕
〔Item received: Failed Experimental Wine Flasks x 3 〕

Manco left the alchemist's shop, giddy with excitement. He had truly stuck gold this time! Normally, that many spells would have cost him over a thousand Ducats. Earlier he had to "donate" to the church almost 100 Ducats just for a handful of spells. Just now he just got three dozen, almost free of charge!

Hurrying, he went back to his room in the tavern to meditate and prepare the spells.