Devin blinked and stared at Casey. “Is that true?”

  “I have no idea,” Casey said. “I don’t remember it.”

  “That’s … wait. Milo, you said it took 7 hours.”

  Milo gave him a look that said so much. “That was a level up, not her enhancement. Casey’s enhancement happened a long time ago.”

  “Casey, you’re even more of a badass than I thought,” Devin said. She blushed and looked away.

  “How long did mine take?” Devin said.

  “I don’t know. There must be a reason I don’t. Perhaps the gods think your ego is large enough already.”

  “Well, at least I'm still in the running for the record,” Devin said. He smiled at Casey. “Did you make anything interesting in the alchemy lab?” he said.

  Casey sat up and stretched. “I made four Silver healing potions, some frictionless oil, and an adhesion potion. The lab is incredible. It has everything – all the basic ingredients and even a few uncommon ones. It even reduces the mana cost of making potions by 25 percent! There is one downside though. Potions made in the lab expire after 30 days.”

  Devin raised an eyebrow. “How long do potions usually last?”

  “It varies, but they usually last for years. Well, except for Blessed potions. They only last a couple of days.”

  “Blessed?” Devin said. “Like, actually blessed?”

  “It’s a Boost,” Casey said.

  Boost ‘Blessed Alchemist.’ Allows the alchemist to mix a potion with one of the following traits - (1) removal of any cooldowns (does not work on healing potions); (2) removal of one limitation; (3) able to affect an enhanced person one level higher than the potion; (4) duration increased to level apex; or (5) effects increased to level apex.

  Only one Blessed potion can be prepared per day. The potion must be used by the Blessed Alchemist herself, or it will function as a normal potion.

  Grats! This is a Rare Boost!

  “Why is it so complicated?” Devin said.

  “It’s only complicated if you’re intellectually lazy,” Milo said. “Casey has only mentioned three categories – normal potions, potions made in the lab, and Blessed potions. That shouldn’t be complicated for someone with Silver-level mental Attributes.”

  Devin rolled his eyes. Before he could respond, Casey continued.

  “I got an achievement for getting the lab, too,” she said.

  Achievement Unlocked! Alchemy Lab – Casey added an Alchemy Lab (Common) to the Astral Hall.

  Reward: Casey has gained the Boost ‘Dimensional Alchemist.’ You gain access to a potion storage cabinet in your alchemy lab. It can hold a number of potions equal to your Concentration modifier (34). You can access this cabinet at any time, even during combat, through a dimensional door. You will be able to instantly recognize and retrieve stored potions. Only potions made by you may pass through the dimensional door. Potions made in the alchemy lab will expire after thirty days.

  Congratulations! This is a Very Rare Boost!

  “Hell, yeah!” Devin said.

  “It gets better,” Casey said. “I can use that Boost along with another one."

  Boost ‘Battle Alchemist.’ Allows the alchemist to use potions as missile weapons. This Boost unlocks the Rare ability 'Throw Alchemical Potion’ (Concentration, Deftness and Calculation +3).

  Grats! This is a Rare Boost!

  “This will expand your offensive capabilities by a significant degree,” Milo said. He still had his back turned to Devin.

  “There’s also book of recipes, but it costs 50 Matter shards to access it,” Casey said.

  Devin winced. “Does the book have any potions that are worth it?”

  "I don’t know,” she said. "You can’t see them until you buy it, and the recipe you get is random. It’s too bad I can’t use your ridiculous luck for that.”

  “I think my luck is testing the AI’s patience enough as it is,” Devin said. He checked his shard pouch.

  You have 11 Matter shards, 77 Life shards, 105 Universal Knowledge Shards, 1 Dimensional shard, and 1 Elemental shard.

  “We can’t afford it, anyway,” he said. “I’m sorry. We shouldn’t have taken showers.”

  This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.

  “I strongly disagree,” Milo said. “It was only a few shards, and we needed them.”

  “You just want to keep your coat shiny,” Devin said, but he knew Milo was right.

  He filled Casey in on what he and Milo had talked about earlier. “Any thoughts on how stop this war?” he said.

  “I’m not sure we can,” Casey said. “A lot of people are going to die whatever we do. Our best bet is to kill Felle before things get too bad. If he’s dead, his army will fall apart, and his nobles will give up.”

  “Well, that’s the plan,” Devin said. “Next question. How much do we tell Asha?”

  Casey considered. “I think we should keep that unique luck Boost hidden above all else,” she said. “We should tell her everything else.”

  Devin nodded. “If Milo ever decides to forgive me, I’ll ask him if he can hide it from the party interface.”

  “I won’t neglect my job no matter how shabbily you’ve treated me,” Milo called.

  Devin walked over to where Milo sat. He took out the brush and went to work. The cat tried not to enjoy it, but after a few minutes, he was purring. He bumped his head against Devin’s hand to let him know he was forgiven.

  It was another half-hour before Asha’s enhancement was done. She appeared in a clear spot in the middle of the room, floating about a half meter off the ground. She yelped and fell to the floor with an ‘oof.’

  Asha was enhanced to Copper level!

  Asha’s enhancement took 16 hours, 6 minutes and 29 seconds.

  You’ve used 1 keystone. You can use 1 more keystone before a six-month cooldown on keystones begins.

  Character Sheet

  Name: Asha

  Class: Woodland Scout

  The Scout is formidable in any location, but she excels in the forest or jungle. Her expertise with the longbow is unrivaled, combining physical prowess and control of the winds. She’s almost impossible to find when she doesn’t want to be.

  Congratulations! This is a Rare class!

  “An outdoors stealth ranged class,” Devin said. “Perfect.”

  He bent down to help Asha up.

  “Why can’t I see?” Asha said. “Laneth. Laneth! Where are you?”

  “Um …” Devin said.

  “The process of enhancement can cause hallucinations and false memories,” Milo said. “She’ll recover soon.”

  Casey pushed her way past them and took Asha by the hand. She walked the other woman over to a couch and began a physical exam.

  Asha recovered her sight after a few minutes. Her eyes flitted around the room, and Devin suspected she was trying out her new enhanced senses.

  “I should’ve done this years ago,” Asha said. She glanced at Milo. “You’re a full-on cat now?”

  Milo sniffed. “I have always been a ‘full-on cat.’

  “Congratulations, Asha,” Devin said. “You’re in second place. Maybe third.”

  “What the hell are you talking about?” Asha said.

  “I’ve found it’s best not to ask,” Casey said.

  “How do you feel?” Devin said. “Are you tired?

  “Not tired,” Asha said. “Weird. Like my muscles want to jump out of my skin.”

  Devin nodded. “Listen up. Time moves slower in the Astral Hall, but we still can’t afford to waste any of it. Let me lay out the plan I’ve come up with. If you have any different or better ideas, you tell me and I’ll decide what to do. I’d like to take an hour or two to settle on our next steps, then we cut our little mini-vacation short and get back to the farm.”

  Devin spent the next half hour bringing Asha up to speed on their plans, then he turned to Milo.

  “Milo, I recognize my own limitations when it comes to your abilities, so I’m appointing you my intelligence officer. You decide what’s best to use your power on, and what’s best for your big brain to figure out. Can you do that?”

  “Yes,” Milo said. “With the caveat that there are some questions that I can’t ask myself.”

  “OK,” Devin said. “Not sure what that means, but I’ll try to keep it in mind. General Landon gave us a lot of information on the Patriarch’s army. How long will it take you to prepare a more detailed report on its strengths and weaknesses?”

  “Once I have the opportunity to do some scouting and interrogations, I can prepare something in a very short time. Less than a week, for certain.”

  Devin smiled. “Good. I look forward to our continued partnership.”

  “There’s something else we need to consider,” Casey said. “The Order. They’ll be looking for me.”

  “Will they help Felle?” Devin said.

  “Yes,” Milo said. “They’ll have to send lower-level members, though. This is a Silver-level zone, and it would be difficult for anyone higher than Gold to survive here. I doubt they’d spare a Gold for this unimportant region.”

  Casey sighed. “I’m afraid you’re wrong there, Milo. Rainford has informed me that there’s a high-ranking member of the Order in Teth right now. One of the Synod.”

  Milo blinked. Devin would have enjoyed the experience of seeing Milo shocked except the ramifications behind it were terrifying.

  “What’s a Synod?” Devin said.

  “The six Platinum-level Convokers who led the rebellion are known as the Synod, and together they rule the Order,” Casey said.

  “Platinum?” Devin said. “Isn’t that higher than Gold?”

  “Yes,” Milo said. “Casey, do you know who it is?”

  “Yes. It’s the Gatekeeper.”

  “That’s bad news,” Milo said.

  “You mean that it’s this Gatekeeper guy who is hunting us, or that he’s two enhancement levels higher than us?”

  “Well, both,” Milo said. “Each member of the Synod has specific duties. The Gatekeeper is in charge of the Order’s transportation system.”

  “I’m guessing you’re not talking about horse-drawn wagons,” Devin said.

  Casey shook her head. “Dimensional portals.”

  “Then he’s one of the guys who can teleport in bombs?” Devin said.

  “Among other things,” Milo said.

  I see,” Devin said. “I don’t want to be the doom and gloom guy here, but can we beat this guy?”

  “I doubt it,” Milo said. “The mana in Teth isn’t enough to support a Platinum. That’s why they don’t spend time in places like this. The Gatekeeper must be using a source of external power to get around that. It must be very expensive to the Order for him to remain here. He’ll be in a constant state of severe discomfort, and I doubt he’ll be able to operate as anything higher than a peak-level Gold. But if he’s willing to accept those limitations, he can do a lot of damage. For example, if Felle allows him to access his nodes, he can manipulate them to a degree no one else could.”

  “Just a peak-level Gold, eh?” Devin said. “Glad to hear he’s only massively overpowered instead of completely overpowered. What’s to stop him from hunting us down and killing us all the next time we’re back in the real world?”

  “All we can do is trust in Rainford,” Casey said.

  Devin opened his mouth to argue, then closed it. It was clear that there was something Casey wasn’t telling him. That worried him. Milo had insisted that nothing could listen to them in here. If Casey was hiding something, it meant she didn’t want either him or Milo to know.

  Unless … did Milo know? He didn’t seem to, but that could be an act. Could the two of him be keeping something from him? He wasn’t worried about their loyalty, but he knew that they both thought he was too impulsive, and too protective of Casey. He wouldn’t put it past them to come up with some dangerous scheme involving Casey and hide it from him.

  “Fine,” he said. “We’ll leave that to the gods. Anything else?”

  “Yes,” Casey said. She stared off into the distance. “You were right. Felle’s done this before. Some more of my memories came back while we were talking about it. I don’t remember all of it, but … it was horrible. So many people died.”

  “I …” Devin said. “Wait, when was this?”

  She shrugged. “A few hundred years ago, maybe?”

  Devin stared at her. “How old are you?”

  His stomach knotted up as soon as the question came out. That wasn’t something you asked a woman on his world.

  “I …” Casey blinked. “I don’t know. Really old, I think.”

  Devin sighed, then chuckled at his own anxiety. Of course, the priestess of a god of healing wouldn’t care about questions regarding her age. He remembered Milo saying that Coppers could live around 500 years, and he wondered how close Casey had been to that age when he found her.

  “Well, you don’t look a day over thirty,” Devin said.

  Asha snorted, but Casey gave him a half smile.