“Mummy Lord Liver?” Alicia asked with some confusion. “What is that and what can you do with it?”

Galin looked at Alicia and answered, “This is an item you’d be most interested in since you want to specialize in the Poison category of Alchemy.”

“Really?” Alicia quickly asked, her eyes beaming with excitement.

“This item helps with crafting high level rot type toxins that have some corrosive effects. Mummy Rot is what it is called, and it is at the higher part of the Intermediate grade close to Advanced grade,” Galin informed.

“Of course, it is,” Alicia said, with a huff.

Galin let out a laugh as he stated. “Do not worry. If you keep up the pace you’ve been going with, you’ll get there sooner or later. Until then though…”

Galin looked at Liam and suggested, “Why don’t you leave this with me. I can break it down and get the materials ready for the both of you once when you reach the level needed to make that toxin.”

Liam thought about it. He really didn’t want to let sit in his inventory till he got to the right level in Poison Crafting to be able to use it. However, if he gave it to Galin to process and he gave it back to him at a later date then how would he be able to find him?

“If I do leave it with you, how are we supposed to know where to find you?” Liam asked.

Confused, Galin looked at him and asked, “What do you mean? You just come to the Bubbling Potion, and I’ll be there.”

It was Alicia’s turn to look very confused as she asked, “Isn’t the Bubbling Potion here in the Tutorial Area? How are we supposed to find this place again?”

“Ah, I see where the confusion is,” Galin said as he shifted himself. “This building is only for temporary use. While I am hear I can conduct business as the Bubbling Potion merchant, but really my store is currently closed outside, waiting for me to return.”

“Oh,” Alicia stated.

“Everyone who came here is not an actual resident of this area. We are either volunteers or people chosen to help with those who are transitioning into our world,” Galin started. “Our businesses and homes aren’t actually here but outside this area. So, you won’t have to worry about trying to find this Tutorial Area to come find me. I can give you the exact details of where my shop is located so you can find me whenever you want to.”

“That’s convenient,” Alicia said. “Especially since my team has already beaten the sixth floor in our dungeon.”

Liam’s eyes widened as he turned to look at her. “You’re already done with your dungeon? Why haven’t you left yet? I thought you were supposed to head out once when you finished?”

Alicia turned to look at him. “My team and I plan on heading out soon, but I wanted to take some more time to work on my Alchemy before leaving. I wasn’t sure if I’d see Professor Galin again after I left so I wanted to get as much knowledge out of him before I did.”

“You both are always welcome to seek me out whenever you want,” Galin smiled. “Whether it is to answer questions, help guide you, or even for to come chat with me. I will welcome you openly.”

“Thank you,” Alicia and Liam stated with a smile on their face.

Before anyone could say anything else the lab door suddenly opened, making all three of them turn to see who it was.

Liam’s heart was racing thinking it was Steve coming to find him, but his guard relaxed as he recognized who it was. That brief moment of relief though also brought in confusion.

“Welcome. What brings you here after hours, Mr. Nabal?” Galin asked as he stared at the man.

Liam looked at Galin and then at Nabal with a curious look.

“Sorry to interrupt you during your lessons, Galin,” Nabal stated. “I just wanted to speak with my student really quick.”

“Oh? One of my apprentices is also yours?” Galin questioned with a surprised look. “I won’t lie to you. I am actually quite surprised you have taken an apprentice. Which one of my two has stirred your fancy?”

“Yes, Mr. Liam is the one who has caught my eye,” Nabal stated as he gave him a smile.

Galin let out a sigh as he stated, “Why does that not surprise me.”

“Hey!” Alicia complained as she looked at Galin. “Are you insinuating that it would surprise you if he was here for me?”

“Not at all,” Galin chuckled.

Curious as to what Nabal was here for, he excused himself and followed him into the shop area of the building, leaving an annoyed yet teasing Alicia to pester Galin.

“Everything alright?” Liam asked.

“I just wanted to see if you had made it out of the dungeon already,” Nabal started. “I also wanted to let you know that you and I will be training tomorrow at the Mage Tower.”

“The Mage Tower?” Liam questioned. “But isn’t that where Steve is? Why would we practice there and risk the chance of running into him.”

“I’ll tell you why tomorrow,” Nabal stated. “For now, just know you don’t have to worry about running into Steve tomorrow.”

Taken aback a bit, Liam grew even more curious. However, he felt like he wouldn’t get any answers if he continued to ask. So instead, he asked, “What time?”

“How about around one?" Nabal suggested.

Liam nodded. “Alright that should work. I was going to see Fia and do some work on leveling my blacksmithing up in the morning and then I have to meet up with my team afterwards for breakfast.”

Nabal nodded. “Alright, then I will see you tomorrow.”

“Sounds good,” Liam smiled as he watched Nabal leave.

Liam walked back into the room where Alicia and Galin were in.

During the time he was talking to Nabal, Galin had moved the Mummy Lord Liver and had aired the room out.

He was grateful for that because due to his heightened smell, it was seriously making him feel sick.

“I am shocked and curious how you got that man to accept you as an apprentice,” Galin stated as Liam walked back in.

“Do you know him?” Liam asked.

“I do. Not a lot, but enough to know I wouldn’t want to piss him off,” Galin replied.

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Alicia’s and Liam’s eyes widened at Galin’s response.

“He comes from a powerful assassin clan,” Galin started. “That clan is the Suits Clan.”

“The Suits Clan?” Alicia asked.

Her confusion matched Liam’s.

“They have another name and it’s the Four Suits Assassins Clan,” Galin started back up. “Those marks under his eyes that you saw...”

“That black club and red heart?” Liam interrupted. After saying it, Liam understood what the Suits stood for.

Galin nodded. “Yes, those are the marks that represent which family your parents came from. If you see a heart and a club, then one parent is from the Heart side of the clan and the other is from the Club. I don’t know everything but I think each suit has a specialty.”

“That’s pretty cool,” Alicia stated. “So that is a good example of a clan then?”

“As good as you can get,” Galin nodded. “Many clans are very secretive. Especially the top three Ancient Clan families.”

Alicia and Liam scrunched their brows as they repeated, “Top three Ancient Clan families?”

Galin nodded. “There are many clans out there in the world. However, there are also Ancient Clans that have been around longer than all of the clans. They have more history than the majority of the clans out there. Amongst all the ancient clans though there are three that rule above them all. You do not want to get on any of their bad sides. One is an elite assassin clan that even the Suits take orders from.”

Alicia’s eyes widened. “Holy shit. What are their names?”

“The three ancient Clans that you should never cross or get on their bad sides are the Illithid, the Slora, and the Valdis,” Galin answered. “These three Clans are like the Beast kin where they are technically considered the same race, but are branches of that race.”

“What do you mean?” Alicia asked.

“So, the Arcadian race is the also known as the Beast kin race,” Galin started to explain. “They are basically of the same race, but also not since there are many different races that make up the Arcadian Race. For example, there are Bear-folk, Cat-folk, Weasel-folk, Bird-folk, Dragon kin, and more. However, there are also different types of each of those as well. Another example would be with the Cat-folk. The Cait Siths are of the Cat-folk race, but the Cat-folk do not consist of just Cait Siths. Does that make sense?”

“Yeah,” Alicia said trying to wrap her mind over it. “Its tough to know what is what though.”

“That’s how big this world is,” Galin stated. “There are so many races out there that everyone started dividing them into race categories. For example, a few common race categories are: Beast kins, Demi-humans, Fae, Humans, and even Demon kin.”

“Wow,” Alicia said, looking excited.

“You belong to the Demon kin Category while part of Liam’s race is in the Beast kin category,” Galin added.

“That’s pretty cool,” Alicia stated with a smile on her face.

Galin looked at Liam and noticed he was staring at him. “What’s wrong Liam?” Galin asked.

“You said the top three most powerful Ancient clans are the Illithid, the Slora, and that last one was what again?”

“The Valdis,” Galin repeated. “Those three Clans are also the hardest to find because their clans are hidden away somewhere in the world. If they want you to find them they will reach out to you, but again you do not want to seek them out nor do you want to go against them.”

Alicia shuddered at Galin’s warning while Liam stared at him.

“I thought that was what you said,” Liam muttered as he wrote it down.

“What was that?” Galin asked as he left his gaze on him.

“Nothing,” Liam said. “I don’t mean to change the subject, but I have a question related to Mana Manipulation and Mana Control.”

“Oh? What is it?” Galin asked, curious about what he was going to ask.

“I swear if you ask a question that is related to something you recently picked up that we shouldn’t know yet I’m going to be pissed at you,” Alicia commented as she narrowed her eyes and stared at Liam like a hawk.

Liam turned to look at her. He contemplated on how he was going to respond but couldn’t think of anything good so he just said, “Well it’s a good thing I got that Mummy Lord Liver that will help your Poison Crafting in the future.”

Alicia’s eyes narrowed even more.

Liam turned to Galin and asked, “I was wondering about what the benefits of being able to control and manipulate different types of mana? Like is there a way to incorporate it in crafting?”

“Liam…,” Galin started.

“Yes Galin?” Liam replied.

“Are you able to control different types of mana related to the elemental fields you know?” Galin questioned as his and Alicia’s stare bore down on him.

Feeling their strong gazes on him, Liam thought maybe he shouldn’t have said anything. Feeling a bit uncomfortable now, he answered as his voice squeaked a bit, “Maybe?”

Galin let out a sigh as Alicia let out a groan of frustration.

“What level is your Mana Control and Mana Manipulation at?” Galin asked.

“Fourteen,” Liam answered cautiously as he readied himself to start running in case Alicia jumped at him.

Galin’s and Alicia’s eyes widened as they stared at him.

“Fourteen? Both of them?” Galin asked.

“How?” Alicia questioned as she dragged the word out.

“Well…a lot of stuff happened in the dungeon and I needed to find ways to be able to attack and defend myself. And since I used my crafting magic in my battle strategies it rose to ten where I learned…how…to….”

Liam’s voice trailed off as he realized what he was about to say.

“How to what?” Alicia pointedly questioned.

“You learned how to control one of the types of manas based on your elemental fields didn’t you?” Galin questioned, understanding what he was about to say.

Liam nodded and replied as he looked down, “Yes.”

Liam quickly jumped out of his seat as his Danger Sense flared up.

“Why are you so jumpy Liam?” Alicia asked, baring her teeth at him.

“Because I can sense your intent to harm me,” Liam answered as he stared at her.

“I would never do such a thing to a fellow Alchemy companion,” Alicia lied.

“Tell that to the aura you’re emitting,” Liam quipped.

“Okay, that’s enough,” Galin scolded as he looked at Alicia.

Alicia huffed and pouted as she crossed her arms and looked away.

“I don’t know how you were able to get it so high already, but you must know that what you are asking is something that you will learn after you leave here,” Galin answered. “But to answer your question, yes. Yes, you are able to incorporate controlling and manipulating different types of mana into your crafting. It is actually something you’ll start doing in Magic Potions.”

“Really?!” Alicia asked as she looked back at Galin.

Galin nodded as he added, “You’ll be able to make potions that can either buff that type of mana’s damage, or gain a resistance to it for a certain amount of time. As for other crafts you’ll learn the benefits for them when you get there.”

“That’s so cool!” Alicia exclaimed. “I need to hurry and be able to do it.” She then turned to Liam and asked, “What level were you able to start learning how to do that?”

“Level ten for both Mana Control and Mana Manipulation,” Liam answered, hoping this would keep her happy.

“That’s not too far away,” Alicia said as she stared at something.

Liam understood she was looking at her status screen since that would have been the only thing she would look at that he couldn’t see.

“I already have one at level eight and the other at level seven,” Alicia muttered to herself.

“If I may ask,” Galin started as he looked at Liam. “What Mana Type did you start to learn how to control?”

Liam stared at him. He wasn’t sure if he should tell him. He knew Shadow magic was a rare type of magic, but he wasn’t sure how he would answer if they asked how he got that Field. At the same time he felt like if he didn’t answer then Galin or Alicia would think he didn’t trust them.

He did trust them, but he wasn’t ready to reveal his Shadow Magic yet to them nor his Lunar Magic.

Even when his team and Alicia’s team did joint training he didn’t use those two magics in front of them.

Before Liam could answer, Alicia asked, “By the way, why are you still wearing your goggles? You’re not crafting right now and its dark outside.”

Shit! Liam thought. He had forgotten he still had his goggles on, but he didn’t want to take them off since he still had that level one Stellar Affliction From Within debuff. He didn’t know if that had any physical affects since he didn’t ask the others about it.

“I, uh,” Liam stammered a bit as he tried thinking of something. “I feel more comfortable with them on.”

Alicia raised an eyebrow as she stared at him. “Really?”

“Yes really,” Liam lied. “I got used to wearing them while I was in the dungeon that I feel like they are a part of me. And since I just recently got out and came here, I forgot they were still on.”

Alicia was about to say something, but was stopped as Galin said, “That’s right. You did just come out of the dungeon not too long ago didn’t you. You must be tired. Why don’t you go and rest up. You’ve had a long day.”

“I will go do that,” Liam said as he slowly started for the door. “I’ll see you guys again soon.”

“Have a good rest,” Galin called out as Liam walked out of the room.

After the front door of the building closed, Alicia turned and asked, “He was hiding something wasn’t he?”

Galin let out a sigh. “Alicia, my girl, you must understand that everyone has a secret or two they are hiding. Maybe he was afflicted with something and he didn’t want us to see and worry.”

“I get that, but it just feels like it was something more,” Alicia stated.

“Give him some time,” Galin said. “If it is something important he’ll share it. It is never good to pester people to the point they run away.”

Alicia’s gaze turned to the floor. She placed a hand on her chest as a memory from her past popped in her head.

The memory contained her yelling and crying at someone. She kept doing it over and over, confused as to why this person wouldn’t do what she thought he needed to do. The memory eventually faded as her constant yelling and crying drove the person to walk away.

“Yeah…I know that…I know that all too well,” Alicia stated.