The Golden Cauldron stood there in all its glory. You've probably heard of golden chains and even golden teeth, but ever heard of a golden big-ass pot?

Well, it was pretty similar to an iron one but with a third less heat resistance. This thought made Josh chuckle, even facing the lavish and impressive building. Fun fact, it didn't even have windows.

It was gorgeous and immense, but it lacked the austere charm of the Draconic Dragon. This showcased some 'in your face' wealth'. Glowing golden glyphs were swimming on its surface. Somehow it was gold on another shade of gold. Did these mean anything? Did these serve any purpose at all?

Well, Josh knew that the tourists loved it. Somehow, many humans were taking lots of pictures of it. For a split second, he wondered why these guys didn't plague Draconic with that attention but then figured it out. Taking pictures of that guild full of madmen was a straight ticket to a Darwin award—or whatever it was called in this world.

Now, there was one thing puzzling him. That amazing building had no entrance. Was he supposed to somehow scale it and enter through the top? Seeing him looking all around, someone nearby chuckled: "They'll open the guided tour soon. Just be patient, young man."

A cordial middle-aged man was wearing Cr0cs, right there. Josh sighed. It seemed that this Calamity had invaded this place too. Little did the people of this world know how badly Josh felt like holy crusading against these fashion atrocities.

But then came a sound, a deep gong that went GONG X10. Yes, there was some Echo. It reverberated loudly across the entire area. How had they not been swarmed with noise complaints? How were the people inside not deaf yet? The plot was thickening, and a door was opening in the golden wall.

It simply slid down into the ground, revealing a big entrance and a small man. But he perfectly overcompensated his small height with a long golden robe that even dragged across the floor as he walked. His voice was deep and posed:

"Welcome everyone! Now, as you guys know, this is our holy sanctuary. You guys are blessed to even have the opportunity, dare I say the privilege to lay your eyes on this holy land. Whoever wishes to enter will have to pay a small fee of 100 Credits. Now, let us begin…"

He then slowly walked to everyone, collecting money akin to a religious man begging for donations. It was just for a different cause. Josh transferred a month of rent without batting an eye, and so did all the others with smiles on their faces. This was clearly designed for Climbers.

When one could invest up to 10 000 Credits on a single piece of equipment, what was a small 100? It was but 1% of a single purchase to anyone with a basic grasp of math. But it was a rhetorical question to the others.

"Alright, follow me and watch your steps. From time to time, there will be beautiful glyphs swimming on the floor. Should you guys step on them, you will…" the crowd was holding its breath. Was there any danger? "…you will not be able to admire their splendor. You know with your foot in the way."

Some chuckled, some resisted the temptation to facepalm at this bad joke, and Josh began avoiding them all like the plague. That is when the guide turned toward him and asked concernedly. "What are you doing? I was merely kidding. It is completely safe."

Josh shook his head. The man didn't seem to understand. "Simple, it is a tradition on Earth to avoid the cracks in the sidewalk. This is its golden swimming glyph counterpart. Don't mind me."

At that moment, the handsome-looking guide lost his composure as visitors began snickering. Who hadn't done such a thing in their youth? The villagers too poor to afford sidewalks would be a good guess, albeit perhaps offensive.

Thus the tour resumed or began really. The guide soon brought them to what seemed like a control room. The place had screens, U-bots, a few chairs, and a table— oh, and it was a rapper's wet dream. Gold everywhere!

"This is where the magic can be seen. Each of our alchemists has personal rooms. In there, they can access True-Fire to heat their cauldrons to mix magical ingredients to make potions, salves, and things like that."

After beating the Vine Beetle, Josh had obtained one such cauldron. It was very peculiar that it used such archaic-looking tools. Then again, this whole thing had been designed as a game, so it was understandable. Josh couldn't help but raise his hand.

"Question, here. Are all the rooms the same, or are they different? For instance, do you guys make your alchemists compete in alchemy competitions to determine their ranking and then assigning them a room of varying quality depending on the results?"

Yes, perhaps Josh had read one too many cultivation novels back in the day. But seeing cauldrons and all, he couldn't help but interrogate his guide. How did it all work!

Said guide looked puzzled. "No. Why would we do such a thing? That would be shooting ourselves in the foot. Wouldn't the alchemist need to keep adapting to a different room every time? Talk about a loss of time and effort!"

Josh couldn't help but unconsciously distance himself from the man. Oh god! Were there fans of such literature in the room?! Had the man signed his death sentence?! Apparently not…

Then the guide began fiddling with a flying touch screen before appeared the huge face of a man on the wall. His top was off, and he looked like a total DILF with his graying hair and well-defined muscles.

So there was eye candy for the ladies, or the guy was simply hot. He was operating right next to a burning hot cauldron—almost as hot as himself, or so Josh heard the ladies murmur.

Ever paid 100 Credits to watch some topless guy stir a pot? Josh would have raised his hand. Well, there was also the long and complex explanation that went along with it. It could be resumed to a few paragraphs.

Heat the pot. Pour stuff into the pot. Get rid of the impurities while melting it. Mix well. Turn all that stuff into a pill or a potion. Add salt and pepper. Note the steps of your success cause you'll need the fucking recipe for next time.

Of course, this process would fail many times for various mystical reasons. Things like magical ingredients all being unique from one another. Things like atmospheric conditions. Things like fate itself. Things that were all excuses, really.

The science of it was relatively new, and they weren't still sure what they were doing. It didn't help that the more Tower memories they got and the harder it was to get out of the classic alchemist mold.

Why didn't they use robots for the task? They could even use machine learning or something. About that, the profession required the use of mana to process the Tower materials. Otherwise, everything would be wasted.

This meant that every new discovery had to be slowly humanly made. Ah, there was one advantage, however. They could easily record their entire crafting sessions. This at least made it, so they didn't have to take many notes.

It also clearly meant that somehow someone was live-streaming that shit, for sure! Nonetheless, given how magical it sounded, it really seemed like a guy stirring a pot. There was a camera showing the various ingredients transforming, but even that was lackluster.

It was so lackluster that literally 50% of the group had been staring at the pecs of the artisan instead. Never mind, more than that. A few guys were doing the same, either in jealousy or straight horniness.

Before long it was over and they finally moved to the gift shop. Usually, that would have been the part that Josh hated, but not here. In total, there were 5 pills available. Their price depended on the Grade one desired.

A grade E-Rank pill would work on a Climber of Josh's level, but Kasha would require a D-Rank one. The more people Climbed and the more difficult it became to produce these pills too. Josh carefully checked the prices [In Credits] and the descriptions.

- Fasting pills [E-10, D-100]

Gets rid of Hunger for a day. No side effects. Bubble gum taste.

- Healing pill [E-150, D-1500]

Heals the injuries, superficial and medium ones.

- Antidote [E-200, D-2000]

Cures from poison—only effective on general common ones.

- Healing Dan [E-500, D-5000]

Works like a divine miracle. Heals even serious injuries.

In doubt, Josh bought 10 of them each for a total cost of 8000. Yes, there was a 7% discount for buying in bulk. Had Josh been swayed by such lowly sale tactic? Well, kinda? The thing is, it was already packed and also came with a small satchel to keep it all.

With this, Josh was fully prepared to face Floor 13. But then suddenly appeared free food! Why was it part of the alchemy tour? Well, for some obscure reason, these guys were trying to branch into cooking.

For what purpose? Ah, apparently, cooks had begun using these cauldrons themselves. Now, not to be undone, they had assigned some of their personnel to learn cooking. Pretty petty but understandable.

Josh had just eaten. It was free food. He ate again. There was meat, and it was delicious. As he listened to the random conversations, he gleaned some information.

He heard tales of criminals taking refuge in other Metropolises. He heard of small-time bandits and pirates having a blast stealing or kidnapping travelers. He heard of villages getting laid to waste entirely. He heard of the unrest caused by the Tower evolving.

People were on vacation and were profusely talking about all that was wrong with the world. Then again, many were here to combine the agreeable to the useful. They'd have fun visiting the Golden Cauldron and leave happy with their pills to Climb once again.

This was the life of Climbers. They were incredibly free in the sense that they had power and wealth, but there was a downside. As people climbed, the lazy ones would eventually be left in the dust.

To keep their high position in society, they had to keep Climbing. Credits alone weren't sufficient at that point. Well, some had more concrete concerns, especially the Fallens. You know, small stuff like the desire to live.

Then there were the ones like Josh that would Climb regardless. They didn't care much about showcasing their accomplishments to the world. To them, power, wealth, and all that crap were are too simple to serve as a goal.

Josh finally left the building with way too much gold inside. Fun fact, he hadn't touched a glyph a single time. Impressive, right?

Now was the time to Climb. Except there was just one issue. The Tower was still blockaded. Yet Josh could be seen smiling. How many Black Squad members would he have to kill to be let inside? Well, there was only one way to know…