Alchemy Laboratory!

The hole in the golden door was small, just wide enough for a person to squeeze through. It seemed likely that the monsters had emerged from within.

Leonard hesitated. The unknown dangers on the other side made him reluctant to move forward blindly.

"Master, I'll go ahead and scout," David offered, breaking the silence.

Leonard frowned. Sending David into such uncertainty felt reckless, but someone had to lead. He opened his mouth to protest, but David cut him off with a grin, slapping his broad chest with a resounding thud. "I'm tough, Master. Don't worry about me."

Before Leonard could respond, Serena, the massive lizard, moved. With surprising speed, she spun around in the narrow cave, her tail raised high like a battering ram.

'Whoosh—'

The air whistled as her tail struck the stone wall. A deafening crash followed, and the wall crumbled under the impact. Rubble scattered, and behind it, the rest of the golden door gave way, breaking into glittering fragments.

The cave floor was now littered with chunks of gold and shattered stone. Leonard stared at the scattered treasure, his mind drifting to the miners. If they had managed to carry this gold out, they would've become wealthy, perhaps too wealthy for their own safety. He imagined the inevitable: jealous townsfolk, thugs breaking into their homes to steal it, and the gold eventually ending up in the coffers of some noble.

David crouched beside him, eyes wide with disbelief. He reached out, his fingers brushing the glimmering metal. "It's real," he muttered. "All gold."

He had never seen so much wealth in his life. Memories surfaced, unbidden and unwelcome, as he stared at the treasure. He thought of his hometown, where rising food prices had forced him to raise the cost of bread. People had called him a vampire for "draining the poor," but no one dared criticize the nobles who sold wheat at exorbitant prices.

One night, his bakery was ransacked. Flour, money, and bread; all stolen. Though the culprits had masked their faces, David recognized their fine leather boots, something no ordinary person could afford. That night, he'd understood the bitter truth of his town. He left with his wife soon after, seeking a better life in the port city of Bangor.

David snapped back to the present as Serena moved into the newly exposed chamber. Beyond the collapsed wall lay a spacious, open cavern. Leonard and David followed closely behind the lizard.

Suddenly, a black shape plummeted from above. Serena's tail whipped up in an instant, swatting the falling creature aside. The body hit the wall with a sickening thud before collapsing to the ground.

Leonard peered at it in the dim light. It was eerily similar to the worm-like monster they'd encountered earlier; bloated, with a metallic head. He tightened his grip on his staff, his pulse quickening. Whatever was waiting deeper in the cavern was far more dangerous than gold or shattered doors.

The path beyond the stone wall was short, taking less than a minute to reach its end. Ahead, a faint light illuminated an awe-inspiring scene, leaving Leonard momentarily speechless.

At the bottom of the mine, an otherworldly chamber unfolded before him. It was unlike anything one might expect to find underground. Directly in front of him was a golden-hued expanse emitting a dim glow, shimmering as if caught between reality and a dream. The effect was surreal, almost mirage-like.

The Golden Gate stood as a silent testament to the alchemical prowess of its previous owner. Crafted entirely from gold, it was a peculiar inheritance left behind for the next inheritor. The reason for this unusual creation was simple; while the alchemical laboratory had once housed a vast collection of rare magical ores, the previous inheritor had squandered them all, leaving only the gold behind. Unable to find value in carrying the wealth with him, he decided to forge it into a grand door, leaving it as both a symbol of his power and a token of his legacy.

Though Leonard lamented the absence of the magical ores, he couldn't deny the usefulness of so much gold, beyond the gate was a laboratory of sort.

Peering into the space, Leonard could make out shapes, what appeared to be the layout of a laboratory. There were tables, metal racks, and workbenches, their metallic surfaces faintly shadowed with a bluish hue. As he stepped closer, the details sharpened, coming into clearer focus, and it felt as if he could reach out and touch them. But then, without warning, the vision vanished, leaving only pitch darkness.

Leonard stumbled back, startled. The scene reappeared the moment he retreated.

"Projection magic?" he muttered, frowning. Yet, the image felt unnervingly real, as though it wasn't merely a trick of the light or illusion.

Next to him, Serena, the giant lizard, stared at the phenomenon with uncharacteristic intensity. After a pause, she spoke: "Communicate with mental power."

Leonard turned to her, incredulous. 'Mental communication?' That wasn't something he'd mastered. It was akin to handing him a sword and asking him to fly. His teacher hadn't even introduced this concept, and he felt a stab of frustration.

'Focus,' he told himself. Leonard closed his eyes, attempting to center his mind. He poured his energy into meditating, hoping that would be enough to establish some form of connection.

As his thoughts quieted, he noticed something peculiar in his spiritual sea. Beyond the central ground ring and the anchor at its edge, there was a flickering disturbance, an intermittent signal of sorts. It pulsed rhythmically, almost like… a Bluetooth signal, Leonard thought absurdly. The comparison felt ridiculous, but it was the closest analogy he could conjure.

He reached out toward the flickering presence, allowing his mental energy to flow toward it. To his surprise, the connection established effortlessly. Like a faucet suddenly turned on, a torrent of information surged into his mind, overwhelming him. His brain throbbed under the weight of it, a sensation eerily similar to the time he had gained knowledge from the Mutation ritual, though this time, it left him slightly disoriented.

After what felt like an eternity, the influx subsided, and Leonard slowly processed the flood of new understanding. He opened his eyes, his thoughts clearer, yet tinged with astonishment.

"This is an 'Alchemy Laboratory,'" he murmured, the name resonating in his mind. The space wasn't just a chamber; it was a foldable, portable laboratory, designed to be stowed away and moved.

The laboratory's first owner had been an alchemist. Leonard was now its third.

Inside the space were basic alchemical tools and equipment, enough to facilitate a range of experiments. The possibilities were endless, and Leonard's heart raced with excitement. 'This isn't just a discovery, it's a treasure.'

The first owner of the alchemy laboratory had been a third-level wizard apprentice, a skilled alchemist who met a tragic fate. Gravely injured in battle against a powerful foe, he fled to this hidden refuge, leaving behind his life's work and a chilling request: for whoever inherited his legacy to seek vengeance against his enemies, should they have the strength.

Little was known about the second owner. Clues were scarce, but as Leonard explored the laboratory, he pieced together a story. Many of the rare materials and valuable artifacts that once filled the lab had deteriorated or been squandered. The choice of an iron mine as a base suggested the second owner was likely struggling financially, perhaps making do with limited resources.

As Leonard delved deeper, his attention fell on an unusual object, a wall calendar resembling a clock, complete with a scale, pointer, and a striking red line running beneath it. The length of the red line corresponded to a specific year. Holding it, Leonard felt a strange weight settle on him.

The calendar revealed that the alchemist who built this laboratory had died in the year 4121 of the Seventh Wizarding Calendar.

'What year is it now?' Leonard wondered. His teacher, Alfonso, had never mentioned the current year explicitly, but his notes referenced a date: 4610. At that time, Alfonso was still a boy. This meant at least five centuries had passed since the original owner's death.

If the wizard's enemy from so long ago hadn't succumbed to age, they would almost certainly be a formidable formal wizard by now. Leonard sighed in relief at one silver lining: the request for vengeance wasn't binding. The legacy encouraged the inheritor to seek justice only if they had the power; otherwise, their duty was simply to preserve the knowledge and pass it on.

---

Leonard methodically inspected the laboratory. Amid the ruins, some treasures still remained. The most notable were the alchemical instruments, largely intact, and a small library of forty to fifty books tucked in a corner. As he sifted through them, Leonard noticed two distinct categories.

The first group consisted of ancient tomes, their worn covers exuding an air of history. Most contained magical knowledge, with alchemy making up the largest portion. Among them, Leonard found a spellbook with three zero-ring spells; precious remnants of the first owner's expertise.

The second group was a collection of handwritten notes. The rough, clumsy penmanship and frequent typos hinted at the second owner's amateurish nature.

In the corner of the lab, Leonard's gaze was drawn to a three-meter-tall, eggshell-shaped metal device. It was unmistakably handmade, with design drawings scattered on the nearby table. He studied the sketches and froze. The design was hauntingly familiar.

It depicted a creature almost identical to the worm-like monster he'd encountered in the mine. A single name was scrawled across the paper: 'Iron Earthworm.'

The pieces clicked into place. The second owner had been the one to create the alchemical monsters that now roamed the mine. This "Iron Earthworm" was their handiwork, a creation born from desperation, ingenuity, or madness.

The mystery was solved, but Leonard felt no satisfaction. Instead, a deep unease settled over him. The legacy of the second owner wasn't just notes or tools; it was a living, dangerous problem crawling beneath the surface of the mine.