He reached his dorm room and found it exactly as he'd left it two days ago. The bed looked impossibly inviting after two nights sleeping on the forest floor.

But before he could collapse into it, he remembered something. Henrik's letter. The Silvermist Warehouse. Marlene. "The winter roses still bloom."

He checked his pocket watch. It was only seven in the evening.

He was exhausted, dirty, and sore, but the warehouse was in the merchant district, not too far from campus. If he went now, he could be back before dark.

Lucas sighed. Rest could wait a little longer.

In his mind, it was better to get this out of the way now because once the exam results were announced, he'd be on his way to Asmir's Keep.

He grabbed a clean shirt, washed his face quickly in the basin, and headed back out into the evening.

---

The merchant district was quieter than usual, still recovering from the Legion attack.

Many shops had closed early, their owners cautious about staying out after dark. But the district wasn't completely deserted. After all, merchants were resilient, and business had to continue.

Lucas found the Silvermist Warehouse tucked between a spice merchant and a cloth trader.

It was larger than Henrik's shop but less conspicuous, the kind of building you'd walk past without noticing unless you were looking for it.

The door was solid oak reinforced with iron bands. Lucas knocked.

After a moment, a slot in the door slid open, revealing a pair of sharp eyes.

"We're closed," a woman's voice said. "Come back tomorrow."

"I'm looking for Marlene," Lucas said. "Henrik sent me."

The eyes narrowed. "Henrik's not in the city."

"I know. He left me a letter. He said to tell you..." Lucas lowered his voice. "The winter roses still bloom."

The slot closed. Lucas heard multiple locks clicking, and then the door opened just wide enough for him to slip through.

The woman who'd answered was tall and lean, with short-cropped hair and the kind of posture that suggested military training. She wore practical clothes: a leather vest over a simple tunic, sturdy boots, and Lucas could see at least three visible weapons on her person.

"You're Lucas," she said. It wasn't a question.

"I am. How did you..."

"Henrik described you. Said you'd be young, probably beat up from whatever trouble you'd gotten into, and too polite for your own good." She smiled slightly.

"He also said you'd try to be exactly on time, so I've been expecting you for the past two weeks."

"I'm sorry about that, I was busy taking the academy midterm exam," Lucas explained.

"Hmph, I suppose I can forgive you. After all, I'm pretty sure those crazy bastards at the academy would amp up their test after the Legion attack. What kind of test did they give this time?" She asked.

"They made us survive in the Arvsen Forest for two days." Lucas said.

"Arvsen Forest survival test? Explains the scratches." Marlene locked the door behind him. "Come on. What Henrik wanted me to give you is in the back."

Lucas followed Marlene through the warehouse.

The interior was larger than it appeared from outside, with high ceilings supported by thick wooden beams. Crates and barrels were stacked in organized rows, each marked with symbols Lucas didn't recognize.

"Henrik's been a good friend for a long time," Marlene said as they walked. "When he told me he was closing the shop and heading to the countryside, I knew something serious had happened."

"The Legion attacked him during the festival," Lucas explained. "Broke his leg, dislocated his shoulder. He's healing, but it'll take months."

Marlene's jaw tightened. "Those bastards. Henrik never hurt anyone in his life. He's just an old alchemist trying to make an honest living."

They reached the back of the warehouse where a reinforced door stood, secured with three separate locks. Marlene produced a key ring and began the process of opening them one by one.

"What exactly did Henrik leave for me?" Lucas asked.

"You'll see." The final lock clicked open. "Henrik was very specific about who could have this. Said you were the only person he trusted with it."

The door swung open, revealing a small, climate-controlled room.

Inside, on a simple wooden table, sat a leather-bound book and a wooden box about the size of a loaf of bread.

Marlene gestured for Lucas to enter. "The book is Henrik's personal alchemy journal. Years of research, experiments, formulas he's developed. Some of it's fairly standard, but there are sections in there that could revolutionize potion-making if the right person knew how to use them."

Lucas approached the table very carefully, almost reverently. He could feel the weight of what Henrik was entrusting to him.

"And the box?"

"Open it," Marlene said.

Lucas lifted the lid. Inside, nestled in velvet padding, were three vials of shimmering liquid. One was golden, the other one was deep blue, and the last one seemed to shift between colors as he looked at it.

"The golden one is a Greater Healing Potion," Marlene explained. "Not the watered-down stuff they sell in shops. Henrik's personal formula. It can heal injuries that would normally require weeks of recovery in a matter of hours."

"The blue one is a Mana Restoration Elixir. Complete mana recovery, no matter how exhausted you are."

Lucas thought of Celeste collapsing from mana exhaustion. "I do."

"And the color-shifting one..." Marlene paused.

"That's something Henrik created specifically for you. He called it an Adaptive Enhancement Potion. It temporarily gives you a big boost in energy that can be focused into whichever stat you need most in the moment. If you want strength, just focus the energy into your arms. If you want speed, just focus it into your legs. If you want magical power, just focus it into your core."

Lucas stared at the vial. "This is... these are incredibly valuable."

"Henrik knows. He also knows you'll probably need them, given your tendency to find trouble." Marlene's tone was dry but not unkind. "He left a note too."

She handed Lucas a sealed envelope. He broke the seal and carefully unfolded the letter that was inside.

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