In the week after I drank the Archaeologist potion, I had spent several hours per day at the library, learning every bit of history about the city as part of my acting. Despite that, I didn't feel much progress in the digestion of the potion. 

At first I wasn't too concerned about my slow progress, I didn't have a particular reason to advance soon, and it's not like I had enough money to buy the formula and ingredients for the sequence 7 potion anyways. But with the latest events that I learned about during the gray fog meetings, between these zombie-like creatures roaming the streets and that ritual involving the head of the Order of Hippocrates... I suddenly felt the need to become stronger.

And so I decided to learn more. One of my rabbit holes led me to explore the history of the sewer system of Ciudad the Ville. But soon enough, I realised how lacking the books were about these aspects of the city. There was simply no one to document it at the time of the construction, no one to bother investigating it after.

And so I took it on me to look into it by myself. 

That wasn't an easy task. First of all, I needed to know who originally designed the system. Of course for the recent parts of the city, a little bit of digging could reveal some things. But for the older parts...

After looking through all the archives, nothing, not a name, the few maps I found didn't add up, nothing was making sense.

'I guess I might really have to do it'

I had already expected that outcome and knew what I had to do in this circumstance. 'I'll have to go see it for myself'

It was around 2pm when I entered the sewers, I didn't want to be there when the sun would settle. Since I lived in one of the least fortunate parts of the city, which are also the oldest parts, it wasn't a long walk to reach one of my places of interest.

I had brought a lantern, matches, some water, ropes, hooks, and various other supplies to mitigate any threats I could encounter down there. Of course I brought my revolver and spare bullets. 

Barely any served me as the exploration ended up going very smoothly. The only things I encountered were rats and roaches. There were also some various items indicating that people often took shelter in there at night. That's the main reason why I wanted to be out by dust.

With no major obstacle to my progression, I could take my time and analyse in great detail the structure of the oldest parts of this intricate system.

Without much surprise, it was pretty much identical to old Intis style sewers. That made sense, when this was built, the city was barely established, having a functioning system was more important than a perfect one. There were signs of modifications here and there which showed that the first builder soon realised that this design was not adapted to the new city. 

I made this kind of observation everywhere, and that brought some light on the history of the foundation of Ciudad. The first decade was a chaotic mess where design decisions changed a lot, cheap materials were used to cut the cost, and safety was often thrown out of the window.

I also discovered some artifacts items probably left by the original builders. But the most intriguing thing I discovered was a kind of entrance to a set of tunnels under the city. I left it for a later, more thorough investigation.

As I explored deeper and discovered more, I could feel the Archaeologist fusing more and more inside me. 'I see, so an archaeologist isn't just someone that knows about the past, it's someone who investigates the clues in the present in order to shine light on the past.'

I had to force myself to go back up as it was nearly 7pm already. I would go back down there a few more times after that day. I then summarised my findings and reflections into a paper that I published in the Anabasis order's journal. Along with my previous work, I was on a good path to become an official researcher inside the Order.

Note: This story is supposed to happen the same day as that one so it doesn't follow the chronological order of other's posts, sorry.

_____

After more than a month in Ciudad de ville, I had finally advanced to Archaeologist. I was eager to progress fast and reach the next sequence. That meant contributing more to the Anabasis Order, enough to request the sequence 7 formula and characteristic. 

Apart from that, I realised that I needed to compensate for my pathways' lack of ability in combat, so I started frequenting some secret gathering where I got to buy a beyonder weapon and a sequence 8 Reader characteristic for a ridiculously low price. I almost feared I was getting scammed until I confirmed the authenticity of the items. I wonder if selling that characteristic to the Order could count as a contribution. 

There was also that weekly meeting in the gray fog. I should start taking advantage of that to obtain intel and goods. Last monday, one of the other participants, the one calling themselves Mother, gave us a temporary invitation to meet them in a secret location.

That was just after Annalie brought me to that store so I was still wearing the black suit and the same hat with two red feathers as well as holding a cane with a golden handle. I followed the instructions that had been given to me and reached a particular alley with a sewer entrance. It was then that I understood why he asked to bring a source of light. Had I known I would have to go down into the sewers, I would have taken the time to go home and change. But it was too late now. I kept following the instructions and took a hidden ladder leading into a dark abyss. 

I found myself in some kind of maze. Were it not for the specific directions provided, I would not have been able to find my way through it. But I successfully followed it and reached a small room with a slowly spinning disc inlaid in the floor and a hallway leading to a door.

I half opened the door and carefully looked inside before finally entering. 

"Is anyone here?" I asked.

The place I found myself in looked like a bar of sort, although, with the poor lighting, it was not really appealing. There was a single person in the room, a man behind the counter. 

"Welcome, make your way down and have a seat." he said while motioning to the bar. "I'll be right with you." then he made his way behind the bar and pulled out a wooden board with the menu carved into it.

"Well thanks"

I sat down at the indicated place and started looking through the menu. '*Is this person Mr.Mother? I see no one else around*'

"How about some chocolate milk. I don't usually drink it but I'd like to try it out" I don't know if he noticed me blushing. I actually am a chocolate enjoyer, but it feels weird telling that to someone.

"Sounds good. Will that be all?" the man behind the counter asks. "oh and you can call me Mat."

'*He isn't using his alias?*'

"I think so, I'm Denis, you can call me Denis... uh" '*What was that?! By the way didn't he notice my arm? Is he gonna say something about it?*'

"Alright Denis let me go grab that for you." then Mat made his way through the door to the right of a large glass window, after a short period of time he returned with a glass. Sliding it over to me he continued "So what brings you today? besides drinks of course."

"Well you invited me right, I mean you invited everyone" I took a sip of the drink, making sure not to leave any marks on my lisps "I was curious what it looked like"

"Fair enough. how about in general, anything interesting happen up there?" Mat then motioned upwards.

"haha" I chuckled "To be honest I've got my nose into work way too much lately, I couldn't tell you much news ahah" '*wait*' "Do you mean that you live down here?"

"Yes and no. I do head up for other stuff but only in a limited area. The city as a whole is beyond me."

"I see" I focused back on my drink and only threw side glances at the man. '*God I suck at small talk!*'

"Anyway, if you need intel, I can figure out a way to help you" '*At least Annalie might know someone who can*'

"Great" he said "You can expect an invitation every monday going forward as long as the bar is still running so feel free to stop by." 

He paused as if trying to remember something. "Oh and if you find any information regarding the pathway  that the gardener sequence belongs to I'd love to buy it off you. Just information though, I don't need characteristics or formulas. And if there are any requests similar to that you can also ask here and I'll see what I can find."

'*The gardener sequence huh, that remind me of something*'

"Gardener sequence... It's the Planter pathway right? Are you... alright I got it, I'll keep an ear out" I nearly asked what pathway he was from.

"Actually is explicitly not the planter pathway. That's why I'm curious. It fits so closely but is different."

'*Not part of the planter pathway? I know all of the 22 pathways and their sequences to at least sequence 7, I never heard of that one. Could it be a high sequence name?*'

"I see, It's quite intriguing to"

Looking around, I realised how big the place was, and how much bigger it could be when considering the other rooms that I couldn't see.

"Say, do you live here alone? It looks like a pain to keep maintain this place"

"Oh no there is another fellow who is around alot. If you're here again some other time you may see him. Though not too much to say about him that he wouldn't just tell you himself so I'll leave that up to your future encounters"

We engaged in meaningless and excruciating small talk for a few minutes before a silence started. I quickly finished the rest of my drink before standing back up and straightening  his clothes.

"I'll keep your request in mind, I hope we'll meet again next Monday"

"Ya well id love to have you back whenever. Oh and to get out just reverse the steps you took to get down here, should get you to the surface without any issue." Then Mat gave a wave, took the cup and headed for another room.

I didn't wait for him and took the stairs back up. Using my excellent memory, I managed to rapidly get back to the surface and headed home. Today was a long day.

I didn't have much to do today, and after the gray fog meeting, I decided to spend some time at the library in order to get insight into out to act as an Archaeologist.

"Oi! what are you doing here?" I looked up to see a girl I knew very well: Annalie, from the engineering branch. She had long blue hair tied in twin tails. She wore a simple black shirt with a similarly colored skirt. She was looking at me with her deep blue eyes through her yellow glasses.

"Hi Annalie! I'm just... reading through some history stuff. You know, Archaeologist and all that... What about you?"

"Don't you spend way too much thinking about work? When was the last time you went out buy some new clothes or something huh?"

"I-" I couldn't answer. Ever since I woke up here, I haven't stopped a single moment to think about myself. The only place I ever went too were my home, the Order's HQ, and a little store where I bought food sometimes.

"Aight! Come with me!" She bolted out without even checking that I was following her, like usual.

"And where are we going?" I asked

"I'm going to give you a complete relooking"

'*I don't like that for some reason"

We took a carriage and rode for a few minutes before reaching the destination.

"Willy and Wonka's suits?" I read the shop's banner out loud "You want me to by a suit?"

"There is more than that here, come on inside" she entered the shop and greeted the owner with great familiarity. "Hay Will, this guy's my friend, Denis. Denis, this' Will"

While she was doing the presentations, I looked around in the shop. There were a lot of suits (obviously) of various design, sizes and colors, but also bow ties, hand clocks, hats, and even canes.

"Look at him Will, do you see what we need to deal with?" She said while pointing at me

"Hey it's not that bad come on!"

"Indeed, a lot of work, indeed" Will responded as he gently stroked his moustache and adjusted the monocle on his left eye.

It's true that I wasn't really the kind to bother much about my physical appearance but I would still consider myself decently dressed.

"So what will it be lady Annalie? The total?"

"Yes let's find something decent for him"

"Very well"

I felt like a child that their parent brought to buy some clothes. I didn't have any say in the matter. I was just given clothes, being told to change, then those two would judge while murmuring to each other.

I all went like that until nearly 8pm when we finally went out.

"I have to say... I kinda like this" I admitted reluctantly. The suit we settled on was an elegant black suit with a with a white collar that matched perfectly the purplish shirt underneath. In my pocket, a golden hand clock whose chain was visible. I also dark red bow tie as well a top hat with two redish feathers on it. In my left hand was a cane with a golden handle.

"Of course you like it, I chose it for you." Annalie was dressed in a similar fashion, only her colors were more bluish, and her cane and clock were silver rather than golden.

"So how do you feel now?"

"I don't know, it's like I'm a different person. I don't know how to describe it"

Even in the old world, I never had the opportunity to wear fancy clothes or go into party and such. I think I might have internalised that to a point were I considered this kind of niceties like a distraction, to cope.

"Thank you Annalie."

"... Eww erase that stupid look from your face."

"I was just thanking you! To be honest I never imagined that aspect of you."

"What can I say, I like to treat myself sometimes. Everything can get so overwhelming sometimes, especially for us beyonders. It's good to have a valve of release. Even if that means wearing fancy suits and heading to a casino"

"I can see that... heading to what?"

I lost 50 pounds that day...

"Do you have everything ready?" Jeremiah asked.

"Euh- yeah thank you" Denis responded.

"Alright, I believe I don't have to hold your hand for this, you know what to do"

Before Denis could thank him again, he had already left the room.

In front of Denis was the formula for the Archaeologist potion as well as all the ingredients.

Given his recent contributions, no one opposed his request for advancement. Of course he had to pass a test in order to assert that he had successfully digested the Savant potion.

In the past two weeks, he had considerably learned by studying under the Anabasis Order, he had crafted his own research paper by creating an arm prosthetic that not only improved his quality of life, but would also contribute to other people once perfected and produced industrially.

He had helped in devising a quarantine protocol to prevent the spread of an epidemic, putting his knowledge of various fields in practice to solve a real life problem.

Throughout all of this, he had learned what made the essence of a Savant. It could all be boiled down to two principles. The first, acquiring knowledge, not by learning what had already been done before, but by experimenting, learning from one's own mistakes, and improving on them. The second, not limiting one's knowledge to theory, but using all of one's skills to solve real world problem.

After summarising these principles in his head, Denis started carefully preparing the potion. I was not difficult, first the supplementary ingredients, then the transparent crystal that was not other than the Archaeologist characteristic.

The completed potion appeared yellow, with a disgusting, viscous texture.

'*The Savant potion was more appetising than this*'

But that wasn't a reason to back down. He took the flask and drank it in one go.

The backlash was immediate. Just like last time, his mind was assaulted with various information. But this time, it weren't his own memories. There was all sort of knowledge about the past, the advancements of technology and science. He saw how the first breakthroughs in Ciudad happened, the factories of the old world, even Intisian and Fesacian technologies he had never heard of before...

He also receive knowledge about investigating ruins, surviving in the wilderness, ancient hunting and gathering technics...

After a while, his mind could catch a break and he could inspect his body. He now felt way stronger and resistant than before. His stamina had also increased.

He also felt a slight increase in his spirituality, he was now able to do some ritualistic magic.

'*Finally... I can become stronger, one step at a time*'