The valley looked deceptively peaceful under morning light.
Birds with translucent feathers flew in slow, spiraling motions overhead, and distant chimes rang from hidden bellflowers that bloomed along the ridges. The path from the forest clearing where Elena had first awakened now sloped downward into green fields veiled in mist.
Elena took cautious steps along the trail, her sneakers damp from the morning dew. She held a twig like a walking stick and kept checking the pulsing quest marker in her vision.
Objective: Reach the town of Glasmint
Her stomach rumbled again.
It had been more than a day since she'd eaten properly. The herbal tea she brewed the night before had dulled her hunger slightly, but now she felt lightheaded. Still, she walked.
"Note to self," she muttered, "figure out how this world handles food and money. And toilets."
Just before midday, the path gave way to farmland. Low stone walls crisscrossed the fields. Crops unlike any she recognized grew in neat rows—purple tubers, stalks with glowing bulbs, and something like sunflowers but with three faces. A dirt road forked ahead, with a wooden signpost.
Glasmint: 0.4 miles
She sighed with relief and hurried forward.
---
Glasmint wasn't large, but it was picturesque.
A series of gently curving streets led through pastel-colored houses with mossy roofs. People walked about, dressed in layered tunics and short cloaks, chatting in an unfamiliar language—though her system offered real-time translation, albeit with some hiccups.
[Passive Perk Activated: Basic Language Comprehension - Astraean Common]
"Welcome, traveler!" called a stout woman arranging baskets of fruit under a canvas awning. "You look a bit... lost, dear."
"I, uh..." Elena paused. Her brain scrambled to convert thoughts into local idiom. "I'm a bit new around here."
"Clearly," the woman chuckled. "Backpacking? You heading for the Guild?"
"Guild?"
"The Adventurers' Registry, love. You'll need to register if you want to find a place to stay or earn some coin."
That sounded promising.
"Where is it?"
"See that bell tower?" the woman pointed. "Just down the hill, across from the alchemist's shop."
Elena's ears perked. Alchemy? She thanked the woman and set off.
---
The Adventurers' Registry was a stone building with wooden beams and wide windows. Inside, a long counter separated guests from rows of shelves and a board filled with handwritten notices.
A bored-looking receptionist with orange hair and circular glasses looked up. "First time?"
"Yes. I'm... new to Astraea."
The receptionist blinked. "Oh! A summoning? Or—ah. You don't need to tell me. Fill this out."
[System Prompt: Do you wish to Register as an Adventurer? Y/N]
Elena accepted, and the receptionist slid her a thin parchment.
"Put your name and Class. If you've got a Familiar, Guild, or City Pass, list them. You probably don't yet."
She wrote: Elena Virelle – Alchemist Initiate
After a small exam verifying her identity with the system's aura, she was handed a bronze Adventurer's Tag, marked with her name and an alchemy icon.
"For now, you're Rank F. You'll get simple jobs—herb gathering, beast repellent, deliveries. Payment is by crowns. You have a place to stay?"
"No."
"Try the Lantern Rest Inn. Tell Mira I sent you, she'll give a fair rate."
---
The inn was cozy and modest. Wood-paneled walls and blue shutters framed a main hall filled with the scent of fresh bread and stew. Mira, the proprietress, gave Elena a small room on credit for two nights.
That night, Elena sat on the bed and took stock.
Inventory:
Adventurer Tag (Bronze)
3 Starleaf Herbs
1 Healing Decoction (Weak)
Fire-starting Crystal (3 charges)
Spare clothes (obtained from Mira)
She opened her Grimoire:
Skill Progression:
Herbal Brewing I ✓
Foraging (Basic) ✓
Alchemical Analysis (Locked)
Next Quest: Assist the Local Alchemist
Reward: Access to Beginner Recipes + Crown Stipend
Elena smiled. That was exactly what she needed.
---
The next morning, she reported to the alchemist's shop across the square.
The moment she entered, a puff of lavender smoke greeted her. Beakers bubbled on floating stones, and the air tingled with alchemical residue.
A young woman stood at the counter, pale-blonde hair tied back, crystalline goggles resting on her forehead. She turned—and Elena froze.
The woman was beautiful in a soft, brilliant way. Sharp eyes, serene expression, a gentle intelligence in her gaze.
"You must be the new Initiate," she said, voice cool but not unfriendly.
"Elena Virelle," she replied. "Are you the alchemist?"
"I'm Liora. Apprentice Alchemist of Glasmint. The master is away, so I run things here."
Liora looked Elena up and down, then flicked her wrist.
[Liora: NPC – Alchemist (Rank C)]
"Can you brew without supervision?"
"Yes. I know ratios, boiling points, and how to bind catalysts," Elena answered automatically. "I can prepare decoctions and salves if the herbs are labeled."
Liora tilted her head. "You studied before coming here?"
"In a way. My world had... chemistry."
The corner of Liora's mouth lifted.
"Very well. Let's see what you can do."
---
The hours passed quickly. Elena brewed a simple energy tonic and helped categorize dried herbs. Liora asked questions—probing, scientific ones—and Elena found herself replying with confidence. Their methods were different, but their thinking was aligned.
By the afternoon, they worked side by side in silence, hands moving in rhythm.
At one point, Liora reached for a vial, and her hand brushed Elena's. Neither moved away immediately.
"Your hands are steady," Liora murmured.
"So are yours," Elena replied.
A pause. Then Liora stepped back and cleared her throat.
"I'll assign you part-time work. You'll earn 5 crowns a day and have access to the apprentice shelf. That includes beginner recipes."
"Thank you."
"Don't thank me. Impress me."
Elena smiled.
---
Later that night...
Elena used her new coins to buy a bowl of root stew and half a loaf of honey bread. The food was strange but warm and satisfying.
She sat outside the inn, watching fireflies drift through the dusk. In the distance, she could see the faint silhouette of the floating mountains she had passed earlier.
She took a deep breath.
She had clothes, food, a job. Not much, but enough to survive. And for the first time since arriving, she felt less like an outsider—and more like a person who could belong here.
Her system pinged softly.
> Quest Completed: Reach Glasmint
> Bonus Objective Completed: Form Bond with Local NPC (Liora)
Elena smiled and whispered, "One step at a time."
---
[End of Chapter 2]