You and Anya investigate the noise coming from outside. Where you expect to see Fidri butting heads with Celia, you instead find Leronil in his place. The man's excitement strikes you as jarring, especially for the elf who was recently named leader of the Elderwood Warriors.

You then hearken back to Celia's story about their history together, and suddenly this personality shift, when he's alone with her, makes sense.

"Can you two simmer down for a bit?" Anna has her full attention devoted to her alembic. "Precision is needed when brewing this potion. If I get the timing wrong on this, we all blow up."

"W-what?! You were working on something that dangerous this entire time?!" you yell, flabbergasted by the out-of-nowhere news.

"It's fine, I've done this about a thousand times! Divided by a thousand. With an extra one in there!"

"You've only done this two times?!"

"Yep! This is the second time."

"That doesn't count yet! Also, don't say that so matter-of-factly!"

Anna shrugs off your concerns and continues observing the nature of the product her volatile experiment produces.

First, the Mystfox misbehaving, now this. You feel as though this isn't your day. With that in mind, you shift your attention to the two elves glaring at each other over a potion in Leronil's hand.

"And? What's the deal with you two?" you say to them as you fold your arms.

"L-listen to this Garden Beast!" Leronil makes no attempt to mask his displeasure. "So, I wanted to get back into alchemy after finishing up my administrative duties and dusting off my old potion-making apparatuses right? And while I had some trouble in the beginning, I eventually created this healing potion!"

"Yes, I can see that."

"Well, Celia over here decided to rain on my parade and tell me this potion was a failure!"

Celia butts in with a fed-up look. "That's because it is a failure! Just look at it Leronil, you thick-headed oaf!!"

"It's a little iffy, but far from unusable. If you were low on health points there was no other healing potion you'd drink this in a heartbeat!"

"That's not a good measure of success, doofus!"

You trudge past Anya and step between these quarreling elves. Taking the potion from Leronil, you tell them off and inspect the liquid closer.

"Knock it off you two, especially you Celia," you uncork the flask and peer through the hole. "This healing potion can't be that bad—"

[Poison Potion]

Description: NOT a healing potion.

Quality: Normal

Weight: 0.5

A foul odor seeps out of the container and invades your nostrils. And the dubious green liquid within fizzles and pops as though it were trying to escape its glass prison.

"Mm. There are no two ways about it," you think to yourself as you blankly stare at this concocted abomination. "This is more a killing potion than it is a healing one."

"So? What do you think Garden Beast? Want to sample this fine work of mine?"

"You're not still trying to kill me are you?"

"W-what is that supposed to mean?!"

Celia laughs at the man. "Hahaha! What did I tell you?! You just suck at potion-making Leronil!"

"Curses! And I thought I had the formula down to a tee."

In that instant, you feel an arm wrap around your back and a hand resting on your shoulder. Anna stands beside you, gazing at everyone with a vague smile on her face.

"So, gang..." she nervously scratches her cheek, "we have a situation on our hands..."

"Oh, are you done with that test batch of yours?" you turn to her.

"Yeah... about that..."

You redirect your attention to Anna's alembic. Steam rises from the apparatus, and purple foam leaks out from all holes. It is a horrific sight that reminds you of the monsters you'd encounter at your homestead.

"Could you guys help me move my research material outside? And fast?" Anna says calmly.

"H-how long do we have?" your heart races and you sweat buckets.

"Hm... it was a minute, but now it's half that time I guess..."

"Why the heck didn't you say anything sooner?!"

And you and the elves move swiftly, removing any and all important-looking items out of the building. Potions, recipes, calcinators, retorts, apparatuses of all shapes and sizes—you use the Supersonic Speed talent to get them out in a jiffy.

The pressure builds up in the alembic as you do this though. By the time you clear out the entire room, it reaches its limit.

The resulting explosion can be heard from miles away and the inside of the apothecary overflows with purple sludge. Watching this all unfold is your Mystfox friend, who lies beneath the tree shade and once again laments having met such irrational lunatics.

"Welp," Anna stands by as the foam oozes from the doorway. "Here comes another month of working in the outdoors!"

"You're awfully unaffected by this..." you carefully place the fragile apparatuses in your hand on the ground.

"Let's just say, this isn't my first rodeo."

Leronil chuckles at her remark. "Glad to see you haven't changed, Elder Anna. You're just as eccentric as ever!"

"Yeah, this brings me back," Celia joins in. "You'd always bust up the place, forcing us to work outdoors for several weeks."

"I know right? Grimdal got tired of you using the Elderwood Warriors to clean up the place. I think back to the time he barged in and lectured you for an hour!"

"Yeah, the noise complaints piled up and you always had to write up an apology letter to send to the council!"

Hearing more and more of Anna's problem-ridden past taints the rose-tinted view you had of her. It wasn't her who cleaned and organized everything inside, rather it was the poor members of the Elderwood Warriors.

This woman before you, grinning at Leronil and Celia's stories of reminiscence, was an unhinged maniac in the pursuit of knowledge. And that truth settles into your mind like a bird in its nest.

You heave out a sigh as your perception of her changes.

"Are you alright, Nameless Seer?" Anya notices your jaded expression.

"I'm fine..." you say. "I just learned not to expect anything from anybody..."

The young girl tilts her head at your response.

"Ah, right!" Anna walks up to you. "You wanted to learn alchemy right?"

"Um... yeah..?"

"Well, what you just saw is what not to do as an alchemist. Clever demonstration, no?"

You highly doubt her words but choose to overlook them. "I suppose."

"Now, in order to become an alchemist, you must first understand what alchemy is."

"It's potion-making, right? Darius' book has an entire section dedicated to general information."

"You're only half-right," she picks up a jar of flowers preserved in a sap-like substance and holds them up to you. "It is also the study of how ingredients react with one another!"

"L-like cooking?"

"Yep! That's one way to put it. But instead of making food..." she picks up a flask of pink liquid lying on the dirt. "You make potions!"

[Healing Potion]

Description: A bubbly pink concoction that restores your health. Its quality determines how much it heals its drinker.

Quality: Flawless

Weight: 0.5

"Ooh..!" you admire the bubbly drink.

She simpers at your interest in the subject. "I'm happy with how this one turned out. You'll be cranking out beauties like this soon under my tutelage!"

"So, where do I start?!"

"The ingredients, duh. And I know just the spot."

She beckons Leronil and Celia, as you glance at your Mystox friend. The animal is visibly tuckered out, and you have the urge to prank him in some manner.

"Alright you two," Anna addresses her former apprentices, "I need one of you to take Nameless Seer through Whitewidow Grotto."

"Whitewidow Grotto?! But that place is bad news!" Leronil shouts.

"That cave's a good source of high-quality beginner ingredients. Besides, this girl has defeated our strongest warrior! She can handle that small dank cavern!"

"You're not wrong but..."

As Leronil mulls over whether he should take you to this place, Celia steps forth. "I can accompany her there."

"W-wha—?" the woman beats Leronil to the punch.

"Attagirl Celia!" Anna exclaims. "With you at the helm, I have no reason to feel uneasy."

Out of the blue, Anya squeaks, "I-I-I also want to go..!"

And the elves are surprised by her initiative. The meek and docile Anya would never usually agree to go on these types of perilous trips.

"What's gotten into you, Anya? Did you bump your head on the way out of the apothecary?" Anna saunters up to the girl and checks her head for a fever.

"N-no, I just want to be of use to the Garden Beast..."

"Huh... what brought that on..?

"N-nothing in particular."

The alchemist is suspicious of Anya's refusal to disclose a proper reason, but ultimately lets her go. "The cave is recommended for people who are Level 20 and above... but sure. You can follow Celia and Nameless Seer on their quest in obtaining ingredients. I'll write you three a list of ingredients to find. They're all located in Whitewidow Grotto, so you should have an easy time finding them if you look."

It is at this moment, that you recall something.

"Wait," you raise your hand, "if me, Celia, and Anya are all traveling to this cave, who's going to keep track of the Mystfox?"

"Oh. Good point. We wouldn't want him wreaking havoc around the village," Anna quickly turns to Leronil. "You. You get babysitting duty."

"What?!" Leronil protests. "But I'll be busy relearning my alchemical skills!"

"You with what ingredients?! These three will come back with the stuff you need to properly start potion-making. In the meantime, you damn well better keep an eye on that fox."

"Ugh... fine..."

A mischievous glint flashes across the Mystfox's eyes.

With the roles so clearly defined, you, Celia, and Anya prepare yourselves and make haste for this Whitewidow Grotto, where you hope to find these ingredients Elder Anna talked about.

Unbeknownst to you three though, the darkness that lurks in these caves has evolved since the last time anyone has ever visited them.