Edwin M. Griffiths
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The Newt and Demon - Book 4 Chapters 31,32,33
🕑 Added 2023-09-15 11:00:06 +0000 UTCChapter 31
Apprentice
A rush of memories flooded through Theo’s mind as he woke the next morning. The last person to have prepared breakfast for him when he woke up was Tresk. That felt like a lifetime ago. The Marshling had already torn off from their new room, jumping from the second floor landing and rushing into the dining room. The alchemist could feel her excitement through their connection. He and Alex waddled from their beds, heading downstairs with no haste.
Those who had stayed late at the manor last night had already cleared out. Sarisa and Rowan had already cleaned up the mess. The assistants were waiting near the dining room table, a spread of Xam’s cooking laid out. Theo took his spot at the head of the table and let out a sigh. There was enough food there for everyone.
“I understand the servant aesthetic. I really do,” Theo said, gesturing to the spread over the table. He pulled a teapot close to himself before going on. “While we’re not putting up appearances, you guys are welcome to be chill.”
The siblings shared one of their looks then nodded, taking seats at the table.
“I’ve prepared a report,” Sarisa said, clearing her throat.
Theo couldn’t tell her not to continue. She was already rattling off information about the nation before he could stop her. Instead, he busied himself with his breakfast. Sipping his tea, he digested the information the assistant provided. The newly elected leader of Rivers and Daub was scheduled for a visit today, but that would be handled by Alise and her gang. One of Laedria’s boats was ready to sail, but their only boat, The Cork, had experienced issues in the bay that required a meeting with Aarok and Xol’sa. Salire also had new orders for him to fill.
There was more information, but the alchemist was left to ponder how the assistants had gathered so much. He wanted to question it, but pushed that out of his mind. This was a good thing. Now Theo didn’t have to run around town, chasing everyone down to give him reports on whatever they were working on. He let out a sigh of relief.
“Sarisa, tell us about yourself,” Theo said.
“I was born here. Raised here,” Sarisa said without missing a beat. “I remember the day you fell into the Zee fields. Then how rapidly everything changed.”
“She’s always wanted to be an adventurer,” Rowan said, chuckling. “But she never had the heart for it.”
“Then it was impossible to get a decent core after getting stuck with my [Servant’s Core].”
“Hard labor like the rest of us,” Rowan put in.
“Honestly?” Sarisa asked, shrugging. “I always thought you were an idiot, Theo.”
Tresk snorted, shooting streams of tea out of her nostrils.
“You took massive steps to move this town in a direction, and I still don’t know if it was the right direction.”
“It certainly isn’t,” Rowan said. “But that’s not the point.”
“No, it isn’t,” Sarisa said, nodding to her brother. Theo felt like a listener in the conversation, rather than an active participant. “The point is you’re a Broken Tusker, because we’re all idiots. We’re just groping in the dark, hoping for the best.”
“Damn right,” Tresk said, holding her hand up for Sarisa to high-five. The assistant left her hanging.
“While I appreciate the sentiment, I’ve been lacking a few things for a long time,” Theo said.
“He needed help,” Tresk said. “I think I was suppose to help him, but you know. I’m just too spunky.”
“Stop being so self-aware,” Theo said, glaring at Tresk.
“You’re self-aware.”
Honk!
“Anyway, I’m excited for Sarisa and Rowan.” Theo took a sip of his tea. “Make sure you guys aren’t working all day. Once I get my reports, I don’t really care what you do.”
“We’ll be guarding you,” Rowan said.
“And what about you, Rowan?” Theo asked. “Tell me about yourself.”
“Not much to say. Hard-working Broken Tusker. That’s me,” Rowan said. “I was too young when Luras and Aarok ran off to their adventures. Always thought I’d grow up to be a military man like them. Nope. Laborer.”
“Do you enjoy long walks on the beach and the scent of lavender?” Tresk asked.
Theo groaned.
“The beach is full of monsters and I don’t know what lavender is.”
Theo shifted the conversation away from introductions as swiftly as he could. He made sure the assistants knew how important the boats were. Aside from the introductions, the morning’s breakfast was calm and relaxing. Once everyone was done eating, the alchemist left with Alex to sit in the back garden. Rowan accompanied him on guard duty, sticking to the shadows.
The order Salire needed done today wasn’t large. It was the same standard thing that adventurers needed. Mostly healing potions and stamina potions with the occasional pill. Another style of potion that had become extremely popular was the elementally infused attribute potions. There was one element for each attribute, and the effect seemed obvious. They enhanced the effect based on the attribute. So, dexterity made someone faster on a scaling factor. Strength made them stronger. And so on.
After his rumination in the garden, he headed off for the Newt and Demon. Salire was, predictably, sitting in the shop below. She wore a floral summer dress today, something Theo had never seen worn by someone in town. He cocked an eyebrow and stared for a while.
“Aren’t you married?” she asked with a chuckle.
“Kind of,” Theo said, not averting his gaze. “Is that imported? It looks great on you.”
A hint of blush turned the Half-Ogre’s pale orange skin a darker shade. Citizens in Broken Tusk had no mind for fashion. This was the first time Theo had seen someone try harder than just simple shirts and slacks.
“You think so?” Salire asked. Despite her shyness, she did a twirl which made the dress billow out.
“Absolutely,” Theo said, looking down at his own clothes. His outer robe had almost mended completely. There was the smallest pucker where the fabric was knitting itself back together. The hat he wore on his head still bobbled everywhere he went, the feather trailing and making him feel like an idiot most of the time.
“I don’t know. That trader from Partopour was an expert salesman. They knew well enough to bring dresses that would fit a Half-Ogre.”
Or they could magically resize the clothes. Theo felt Rowan lurking somewhere nearby. He couldn’t get an exact location like he could with Tresk, but he was there.
“Well, I meant to ask you if you want to live in the Newt and Demon.”
“Oh? Oh! Really?” Salire asked.
“You could also live in the manor. Whatever you want.”
“Um… I don’t know.”
Theo opened the door to the shop, listening to the bell jingle. “Rowan, could you grab a bed from Sledge’s place? For the upstairs room in my lab.”
“Right away,” the shadows said, coiling before turning into a Half-Ogre.
“Whichever works for you,” Theo said, returning to the interior. “I’m going to work on these orders.”
“Alright. Thanks,” Salire said, sounding slightly flustered.
Alex did her best to fly up the stairs, but needed help half-way. In the lab, Theo noticed something curious. Upon entering, his intuition went off. Combined with his memory, he realized things had been moved around in the lab. There was a stain on the shrine to Drogramath as well, and his mind swirled. When it landed on a mundane conclusion, he shook his head.
“Have you been praying to Drogramath?” Theo asked, poking his head into the stairway.
Alise’s face, a darker shade of orange, appeared at the bottom of the stairs. “Uh! Is that a problem?”
Theo shook his head. “Come on up.”
Wow! She likes you. I wonder what kinda ‘like’ that is, though, Alex said.
Like a daughter trying to impress her father, Theo said, keeping those thoughts inside. He didn’t want to embarrass the young woman. I don’t know if there’s room in my heart for romance.
Theo continued two conversations, which would have boiled his mind before being transported to this world. Now he found the task easy. He kept his mental communication with Alex while showing Salire the proper way to make offerings to the shrine.
I feel that hole, Alex said. Like a deep pit in your chest.
I’ve filled that pit with other things, Theo said, placing a flower on the shrine. It erupted in purple flames, then vanished. With friends so close, I’d call them family.
Maybe you could tell me about that person who made the hole.
I’d be dredging up terrible memories, Theo said.
Perhaps you’ll realize that ignoring your problems doesn’t solve them.
“Do you really think I could get a Drogramath core?”
Theo snapped his attention to the conversation he was having with Salire. He split his concentration again, focusing on his golems as he considered her question. The golems needed mana tablets, and the woman needed to set her expectations low.
“Not sure how the distribution of cores is going to work now,” Theo said. “I’m certain that Khahar has limited the ability of the gods to interact with us. Zarali kinda confirmed that, so we need to figure it out. Come on, help me with the stills. We’ll do a run of attribute potions.”
Salire clapped her hands together with excitement. To Theo’s horror, Tresk had gotten into the conversation about the alchemist’s love life on Earth.
He had a girlfriend, Tresk said, giggling into their minds. When his sun ate his planet, he was clutching a silver locket. But she died before the end, so she didn’t get transmigrated.
Oh, a girlfriend? Alex asked, honking.
Theo stood over his stills, checking that they were clean for the run. With his three 500 unit custom stills, he could distill vast quantities of potions. They’d focus this run on the most commonly used attribute potions. His garden of [Wind Tulips], [Flame Roses], and [Stone Flowers] would produce essence for each physical attribute. Dexterity, strength, and vigor.
“The most important thing as someone starting out is to understand essences,” Theo explained. This was a lesson he’d already given Salire. “There isn’t a living Drogramathi Dronon who would share this information. Reagents have three or more properties, and you need to have discovered those properties to distill essences.”
“Because distillation requires intent!” Salire said with excitement.
“Right. So, we’re doing two runs today. Gonna take it easy. First run is going to be attribute potions, the next one is [Mana Essence] for my golems.”
“We should do a third run,” Salire said.
“What for?”
“[Hallow Ground Essence].”
While their supply of the essence was vast, there could never be enough [Hallow Ground Essence]. Theo tried not to look at the numbers for how many of the potions Gronro went through. It was expansive, and the alchemist was interested in looking at alternatives. But there was a problem there, too. The Southlands Alliance needed the undead to keep the north off their back. At first, Theo thought Qavell had fallen. New information revealed that to be untrue. He doubted the king would take their betrayal kindly.
Theo agreed to do a third run, and they got to work. He let Salire do everything she could, which mostly involved processing the reagents. She set the shredder up, ran the reagents through it, and added the [Enchanted Water] to the mix. Then she set the lids on, dialed in the temperatures, and set the stills to work. The Half-Ogre was smart enough to ensure the 1,000 unit holding tanks in the lab were full before using Throk’s system of storage. With those tanks, they didn’t need to watch the run the entire time.
Rowan returned with the bed in time. He placed it in the room and informed Theo that he was needed at the adventurer’s guild. Salire made her way back to the shop as the pair departed. Within the guild hall, Aarok was in his normal room on the second floor. Sarisa was waiting for Theo when he arrived, flanking him as he joined the meeting.
“Fancy bodyguards,” Aarok said, shaking his head. “Right. Let’s get to business.”
It was only a meeting between Theo, Xol’sa, and Aarok. The alchemist turned to the wizard and nodded. “Feeling any better?”
“Significantly,” Xol’sa said. But he didn’t look great.
Aarok cleared his throat and began the meeting. There were problems with the [Ocean Dungeon]. The issue was that it was creating monsters that plagued the coast. That wouldn’t have been a big deal, but the dungeon was under water. A sea’s worth of water. The administration staff had been brainstorming ideas, but they hadn’t come up with anything clear.
Someone suggested building a bridge that went out to the sea, but the same old problem remained. There was just too much water, even in the relatively shallow bay. Theo had a stupid idea but he kept it to himself for now. The conversation went on, Aarok explaining every avenue they had pursued. Xol’sa was in the meeting because of his [Dungeon Engineer’s Core]. If they could get the haggard Elf down to the dungeon, he could work his magic. That might cause issues, but it was worth it.
“So,” Theo started, drumming his fingers on the table. “Stop me if this sounds stupid.”
“You shouldn’t open with that,” Aarok said.
“We could freeze the water.”
“Stop. That sounds stupid,” Aarok said.
“Just give me a chance here,” Theo said. “The problem is you can’t build a weird waterproof tower around the dungeon so we can access it. Why not just freeze it and we’ll tunnel our way to the dungeon?”
“I’ve heard worse ideas,” Xol’sa said, laughing then coughing.
“He’s still recovering. We can’t expect Xol’sa to swim to the bottom of the bay. So, we’ll freeze it.”
Aarok grumbled a little, but nodded. “That’s the worst idea I’ve heard so far. But it might actually work. I need to talk to Alise about it, though. We’d pull people from your other project.”
“The maglev?” Theo asked. “Freezing an ocean should be easier than building the maglev.”
“Somehow I doubt that. Come on, let’s head to the sea,” Aarok said, standing from his seat. “You’re staying Xol’sa.”
The Elf frowned, but nodded. He put on a brave face, but he was in pain. At least he wasn’t dead.
“I’m guessing the goon crew is coming with us,” Aarok said, jabbing a finger at Theo’s new assistants.
“You’re a goon, old man,” Rowan said.
“Yeah, I am. You got your crap to freeze seawater, Theo?”
“Yup. Let’s go!”
Theo sent a mental message to Tresk about where they were going. She feigned confidence in his new bodyguard’s abilities, but he felt her jumping through the shadows. When the group passed by the harbor, the alchemist’s breath caught in his throat. There was a boat bobbing around in the harbor. Ready to sail with those bright blue sails. He stifled a scream of excitement, following Aarok along the canal to the southern beaches.
As expected, they ran into monsters along the way.
Apparently, the spear that Sarisa displayed in the manor was for indoor use. The weapon she produced out in the open was a massive thing. It looked like an ax and a spear had a baby. During the fighting, she stuck near Theo to protect him. Alex stayed back, too. That left Rowan and Aarok to take care of the vile Fald fish-people. The Guildleader of Broken Tusk’s Adventurer’s Guild wasn’t as impressive as the Shadowstalker.
Rowan locked the Fald in place, denying the small group any movement. It was then the simple task of killing them where they stood. They worked their way to the beach, clearing along the way and looting [Monster Cores]. When they arrived at the beach, Theo removed his shoes and dipped his toes in the water. As expected, the bay’s water was extremely warm.
“Stop playing in the surf,” Aarok grumbled. “See if your potions work.”
Theo didn’t want to. He took time to look out onto the bay, and back up into the canal they’d made. To both the east and the west were hills that quickly became mountains. The westerly hills were closer than those far to the east. There was plenty of space to expand the town that way. The alchemist concerned himself more with the texture of the sand between his toes. The scattered shells and little sea creatures that skittered just under the surface. Alex honked, swimming in the shallow water. He took a deep breath before Aarok yelled at him again.
“Right,” Theo said, withdrawing a [Freeze Solution] from his inventory. “I need to see how viable this is. Let me measure out how much it takes to freeze a fixed section.”
The alchemist experimented. The [Freeze Solution] froze the ocean water easily, despite the salt content. He started with a small patch near the shoreline, dripping his solution out until a chunk of ice formed. Then he worked his way deeper into the water, escorted by everyone gathered. He felt Tresk’s nervous eyes on him as he waded deeper.
“Interesting,” Theo said, dripping his solution as he stood up to his thighs in the water. The potion gathered on the surface of the ice, and seemed to push itself down through the column. Instead of freezing outward, it was freezing downward. “The problem comes with volume. How far out is the [Ocean Dungeon]?”
“Pretty far out there,” Tresk said, appearing from Theo’s own shadow. She already held a large rock in her hand, tossing it with precision into the ocean. “About there.”
Not that far. 100 paces, or so? “How deep does it get?”
“Hard to say,” Aarok said. “Ten man-heights?”
Theo imagined ten Half-Ogres stacked one on top of the other. The [Ocean Dungeon] was fairly deep. But there were other concerns. He could always brew enough potions to freeze the entire ocean, given enough time. They would need to excavate a stairway into the ice, giving Xol’sa a path to work his magic. For his proof of concept, the alchemist created a walkway from ice. It was sturdy enough to hold everyone gathered without issue.
“Because the [Freezing Solution] works by freezing the water below the currently frozen section,” Theo said, standing atop his ice bridge. “We can drill down to the [Ocean Dungeon].”
Aarok rubbed his chin, nodding with approval. “How many of those potions are you going to need?”
“A few thousand,” Theo said with a shrug.
“I can have it ready by tomorrow,” Tresk mocked, cutting Theo off before he said it.
Theo cleared his throat. “Yeah, whenever you guys are ready.”
Chapter 32
Tara’hek Command
Salire waved her hands in the lab, desperate to clear the air of the smoke. Theo had entered the lab moments ago and simply stood there as she fought against the billowing clouds. When she spotted him at the entrance, she gave him a sheepish smile.
“You touched the essence, didn’t you?” Theo asked. “Are you alright?”
“I’m fine,” Salire said, coughing.
Theo crossed the room, opening a window and fanning the smoke outside. “Good. That stuff can be explosive. Good thing it was just an attribute essence.”
“I’m sorry,” Salire said, still coughing.
“Never be sorry for trying to do something you want to do. Except if you blow someone up,” Theo said, turning to Rowan. “Could you get Zarali for me?”
Rowan simply bowed, then left the room. Sarisa stayed behind, helping with the fanning efforts. Once they got the room cleared, Theo distributed the stored essences into flasks, storing most of them but leaving some out for brewing. Instead of lingering on the mistake Salire made, they got to work on the next set. [Manashrooms] were far easier to process than any other reagent. The soft mushrooms fell apart in a person’s hand, removing the need for the grinders.
Even without a core, Salire could handle this part just fine. She just couldn’t touch any distilled essence, and Theo needed to be the one to start the stills. The woman didn’t have the intent created by a [Drogramath Alchemy Core] yet. After they got the stills ready for a [Freeze Essence] run, Zarali showed up.
“Hello, brother,” Zarali said, crossing the room to give him a big hug.
“Hello to yourself,” Theo said, chuckling. “What’s up?”
“Xol’sa is in great spirits,” Zarali said, grinning. “I think your little trip did him good.”
“That’s great,” Theo said, pushing his adoptive sister to arms-length. “So, I need to have a word with Drogramath.”
Zarali scoffed. Her expression soured considerably. “Good luck with that. It feels as though my prayers fall on deaf ears nowadays.”
Theo stood there for a long moment. He tapped his foot nervously, lost in his own thoughts, as both Zarali and Salire sulked. Having a perfect memory didn’t mean recalling everything unbidden. The alchemist had to will himself to access those things, and something that Drogramath said had slipped his mind for some time. They needed to select patrons for the town, but when did that come in? He didn’t want to consider the implications that Khahar and Drogramath were working together, but there it was.
“I’ll be back,” Theo said, rummaging through his stores.
“He’s gonna disappear,” Salire whispered.
Theo stuffed various reagents into his inventory. “Wanna come, Alex?”
Oh, yes!
Both Theo and Alex fell through the [Tero’gal Dreampassage] ability, passing over the Bridge and landing on their familiar island. He got to work on his stills, expecting Benton to arrive at any moment. The alchemist wanted to run as much [Freeze Essence] as he could, even if that wasn’t the purpose of his visit to the realm. The bear god might have answers on how he could dedicate his town to a patron. Until the Toora arrived, he worked on his stills.
The upgraded version of Throk’s stills were a joy to work with. Alex played in the pond while he worked, and once those were filled, he shifted his gaze to the plot of land containing the wheat. He inspected the crop, unsurprised at what he found.
[Wheat]
[Alchemy Ingredient] [Food]
Common
A common plant often milled into flour.
Properties:
[Healing] [????] [????]
Benton’s archway rose when Theo was halfway done with clearing the wheat away. He was stuffing it all in his inventory when the bear god appeared with booming laughter.
“So good to see you, Theo! Want some tea? Perhaps a few scones?”
“Yes, please.”
The pair settled into the cottage and brewed some tea. Benton seemed more excited than normal to see Theo.
“I have a question,” Theo said, nibbling on his scone. “Do you know how to select a patron for a town? Or a nation?”
“You need a temple,” Benton said. “It can be any old thing. A proper seed core temple, or just some shack that a priest has blessed. I think you also need a shrine in the temple.”
Theo nodded. Of course it was that simple. He appreciated that the system would let him designate any building as the temple. That made things easy, assuming Fenian didn’t have the right seed core with him. And of course he didn’t, because he would have offered it. Khahar, Drogramath, and Fenian were all working together on something. That was obvious.
“That makes things easy.” Theo nodded, sipping his tea. “How are things in your realm?”
“Oh, we’re plodding along. Expansion is hard when you don’t have many followers,” Benton sighed. “But we’re having a great time as a lower realm. No drama from the big guys. Just scones and tea all day.”
“How does that work, exactly?” Theo asked. “Time moves differently here, right? Can people reproduce?”
“No, they cannot. Not at my level, anyway. Any of my mortal worshipers that want to ascend to my realm can. And anyone who worshiped me that dies comes on up to the land of eternal winter. My followers don’t age in my realm, but your mind works differently once you leave the mortal plane.”
“I had noticed that,” Theo said.
“Except you’re still a mortal so I bet that’s weird.”
“Pretty weird. So, can a soul die once in your realm?”
“They can die. Unfortunately.”
“Interesting. I wonder how I can get followers up here…”
“Who knows? More scones?”
“Yes, please.”
One of Theo’s experiments was still brewing in the realm of Tero’gal. His suffuse potions should have taken a year to finish on the mortal plane, but up here they’d be done in a few days. They sat on the table near the pond, bubbling away in their flasks. Just like those potions, the alchemist planned on planting the spirit seeds given to him by Khahar. That was the ascended man’s intentions from the start, but Theo hadn’t caught on. Once he was done with his tea with Benton, he approached the plot of land.
“I have these spirit seeds,” Theo said, withdrawing the box from his inventory. “They’re supposed to take a long time to grow.”
“That’s interesting,” Benton said, picking up a [Fairy Plum Seed] for inspection. “Yeah, plant these here. Grow some extremely rare spirit fruit.”
“I’ll do a few to start. There’s no need to get crazy,” Theo said.
“I mean… maybe. What else are you going to plant here?”
“Good question. I don’t have an answer,” Theo said, jabbing a thumb back toward his stills. “I’m gonna freeze the ocean, though.”
“That’s a plan I can get behind,” Benton said, rubbing his hands together. “Freeze the entire planet while you’re at it. Should grow my power.”
Theo gave his companion a discerning look. He doubted that. All that didn’t matter. It was time to plant the various fruits. Theo started with the [Fairy Plum Seed], planting two a good distance apart. He tilled the soil with his hands, burying both seeds at the same depth. While he didn’t know if it was correct, he went with his intuition.
Each seed that Khahar had gifted him had a different name. Theo managed to plant 5 types in his cleared area, 2 of each. [Dragon Apple Seeds], [Xotl Orange Seeds], [Gorgon Cherry Seeds], [Fairy Plum Seeds], and [Devil Peach Seeds]. Each one radiated power, even after planted in the ground. Benton was excited to see what they would become, but had his doubts as to their growth rate. That left the pair to mind the stills, drink tea, and muse threads left unexplored.
The [Wisdom of the Soul] potion had been a strange thing the moment Theo discovered it. The description claimed there was a meta barrier between a person’s soul and their [Wisdom] attribute. But no one knew what that meant.
“Doesn’t help that the Dronon are so hesitant to share information,” Theo said.
“I’ve got an idea. Why don’t I head off, talk to some folks around the realms, and see if they know anything.”
Theo shrugged at that. Benton had pulled greater feats out of his ass in the past. He had hours of watching the stills in front of him. Hours still of brewing and bottling his potions. “Why not?”
Benton trotted through his gate, leaving Theo to consider his next course of action. His purpose for entering Tero’gal was to figure out the religion thing. It felt like a quest with several steps. Salire needed a core from Drogramath, but they couldn’t talk to old Drogy. So the alchemist had to go to his realm to talk to a bear god… and so on. It was a welcome reprieve, though. The bear left some scones.
Theo fed Alex some [Nature Motes] as they played in the pond. He swapped out his run of [Freeze Essence] for a smaller run of [Mana Essence]. The goose was disappointed about the lack of bugs, and the constant shoveling of motes into her stomach, so the alchemist withdrew some of Tresk’s store of insects from their shared inventory. He didn’t want to consider how that worked with time moving slower where he was. Over the edge of the island, he saw the Marshling’s face frozen in laughter.
With only a few hours left on the [Tero’gal Dreampassage] ability, Benton’s portal rose up. The bear god stepped through, covered in a layer of snow and laughed. “That was a journey.”
“How’d it go?” Theo cleaned out his stills as his friend walked over.
“Well, there’s a wayward alchemist’s soul wandering the lower realms. I’ve talked to him before, he’s interesting enough. He rambled on for hours, like souls do, but I’ve digested most of what he said. Based on my notions of what something like that would do, of course.”
“Alright. Anything interesting?”
“Think of your soul like a web stretching between your physical body, and your spiritual body. That web interprets the signals from your spirit and cores to your physical being. What would happen if you broke down that barrier?”
Theo didn’t have a damn clue what would happen if this theoretical barrier broke down. The entire system was magic as far as he was concerned. Most things in this world were magic, hardly following rules of physics. Conservation of energy was meaningless here. Objects had more power than they ought to, often stored in impossibly small containers. So if there was a barrier between the meat of his body and the ethereal part of his soul, so what?
Even his intuition, another magical thing here, couldn’t give Theo the answer. “Is the ‘web’ acting like a filter for the system?”
“Well, a little scholarly debate is in order. What does it mean to be more wise?”
“I’ve never understood it. The thing I notice the most is my increased intuition. Which is magic, by the way.”
“Magical indeed. I think that if you drink that potion, one of two things is going to happen.” Benton rubbed his hands together. Theo could tell he had some grand theory about this entire affair. “Breaking the meta barrier means you no longer get the system benefits of the attribute. That’s the bad option. Second option is that it increases the connection, layering your wisdom directly over your body.”
“Both options suck, though,” Theo said. “You’re either denied the benefits from your attribute, or you have too much of a good thing.”
“Really? With all you’ve seen on the mortal plan, you think suppressing an attribute is bad? What would have happened if Khahar brewed this potion? Toned down his fading mind.”
Theo shook his head. “If Khahar could have done it, he would have done it. Pretty sure he had at least one high-level alchemy core.”
“This is the fun part. The only way to figure out what the potion does is to drink it.”
There was a level of excitement to that idea. They could read the description of the potion all day and come no closer to a solution. The only way to know was to drink it, and Theo wasn’t about to do that. He filed it away in his mind with the horrible undeath potion.
“A purely academic discussion.” Theo nodded at the bear god. “Right?”
“Sure,” Benton shrugged. “Not like I’m going around to brew potions.”
Benton sensed the conversation about the potion was over. Instead, they spent the last few hours of Theo’s visit drinking tea and discussing the realms at large. Whispers of the Southlands Alliance had filtered up to the lower pantheons. There were a range of opinions, most concluding that the alchemist was some kind of antagonist in the Qavelli conflict. More worrying was the other whispers.
“Dead gods are rising,” Benton said, keeping his voice low. “Clawing at the high pantheons. They want to return to the world.”
Theo sipped more tea. “I’m not sure they’ll like the way the heavens are now. Maybe they’ll make an attempt on Khahar.”
Benton chuckled. “Good luck with that!”
The remainder of Theo’s time in Tero’gal was pleasant. When the time came, the alchemist tucked the goose under his arm and bid farewell to his friend. They jumped from the side, using the [Approach] ability on Tresk. They snapped into existence next to the Marshling, startling her.
“By the gods, you can’t sneak up on me like that. I’m unsneakable.”
“We thought it’d be funny… oh… well, I guess now is a good time.”
A system message flashed up the moment Theo started talking.
[Tara’hek Core] received experience (2%).
[Tara’hek Core] leveled up! Level 30.
[Tara’hek Core] gained the ability: [Tara’hek Command]
“Woohoo!” Tresk shouted. “I was waiting for that to happen. We’ve been stuck at 29 for a few days, huh?”
Theo inspected the new ability.
[Tara’hek Command]
Marshling Bond Skill
Epic
While within the Tara’hek’s sphere of influence, you gain the inspiration of command.
Effect:
While within the influence of your bond, reduces the negative aspects of increased attributes and cores.
Also increases your ability to command all other Tara’hek abilities.
The description was more vague than normal. But the effects were clear. Theo felt something wash over him once the skill was added to his core. The last bits of his mind that had been clouded by his attributes and various cores were gone. He stood, blinking on the battlements of Broken Tusk. A sense of calm washed over him, and he could feel both Tresk and Alex experiencing the same strange sensation.
“I was hoping for a laser beam, but this is nice,” Tresk said, breathing a sigh of relief.
Theo scoffed at that. This was something he just talked to Benton about. But it was more complex than just a skill that he activated in his core. If the bear god was right, and there was a layer between his body and spirit, he could now feel it. Like a sheet that had been draped over his thoughts, obscuring them from inspection. He could now pull that sheet back with great effort, opening or closing the floodgates of his attributes and cores.
“This requires practice,” Theo said, closing his eyes and feeling that sheet in his mind.
“It feels like someone splattered mud on my thoughts my whole life, and I just wiped it away.”
Honk!
There was too much testing to do in order to figure out how it worked. Theo always understood there was an influence from cores and attributes. Especially the mental attributes, intelligence and wisdom. Those did more to change the way a person thought than anything. Entering the Dreamwalk reduced the effects of that sensation by a little. Tero’gal banished it away. But if the moment he exited that realm, the sensation of an outside force pressing in on his mind was always there.
Now it was gone. Entirely.
The shadows burst to life at the base of the wall. Sarisa jumped from the ground to the top of the wall in a single burst of strength. Her massive pole-ax-thing leveled as she scanned the area.
“She said you should have been back by now,” Sarisa said, still scanning the area.
“My bad.” Theo held his arms up apologetically. “We can go back to the lab now. I gotta talk to Zarali. I mean… we could get some tea first. Would you mind making me some tea? Bringing it to the garden at the manor?”
Sarisa blinked a few times, her mouth hung open. “Yeah. Sure. Rowan is watching you now.”
In a flash, Sarisa’s armor vanished, replaced by that maid’s outfit. She jumped from the wall, then ran off to make some tea. Theo and Tresk were left trying not to giggle. But Alex honked, and they all broke out into laughter. After a good fit of the giggles, the alchemist headed over to his lab to help Salire out. Before heading off for more tea, he pulled Zarali aside.
“I want Xol’sa in the manor,” Theo said. “Until he has recovered.”
“Aren’t you sweet?” Zarali asked, patting her brother on the shoulder. “I’m sure he’ll be delighted. I’ll bring him over for the tea.”
Theo stayed behind to help Salire get the next batch of essence going. She knew where he’d be, so there was no reason she should blow herself up. Again. When the alchemist headed off, he was confident she wouldn’t do anything stupid. For now, he needed to sit down with Zarali and iron their temple out. He didn’t know if it was good fortune or bad when he arrived in his garden to find Fenian chatting with Zarali.
“Got any temples in your bag?” Theo asked, approaching the trader.
Chapter 33
Farming
Theo sat with Zarali, Xol’sa, and Fenian in his garden. They had arranged wooden chairs in a semi-circle around a low wooden table. Sarisa had already given them their tea by the time the conversation got rolling. The Elf didn’t have any temples in his inventory, but he was happy to drink the tea and relax. The alchemist got a quick look at his growing limbs. It was a slow process.
“Why didn’t I know about this technique to build a temple?” Zarali asked.
“Not my domain,” Theo said. “I’ll pull the stoneworkers off their job to build something nice.”
“That’s selfish.” Fenian sipped his tea and shook his head. “How many other projects are they working on?”
“Only two. Or three,” Theo said, having a good thing about it. “Maybe four.”
“Just build a shack,” Xol’sa croaked.
Despite the extra-planar Elf’s recovery, there was a long way to go. Theo felt as though he understood more about the man’s condition after talking with Benton. There was that concept of a spirit attaching to a body with a web. The web was the soul, and the potion he was fed rebuilt that connection. The alchemist imagined a process where a person’s mind was rebuilt, synapse by synapse. Neuron by neuron. It would be slow and painful.
“Have you tried using your core abilities since you almost died, Xol’sa?” Theo asked.
“I closed that portal.”
Zarali placed a comforting hand on Xol’sa’s knee. “He’s had some difficulty.”
That was enough confirmation for Theo. He explained the theory about a soul connecting parts of the body. When questioned on how he came up with that, he told them about Benton and his helpful nature.
“Look at this guy,” Fenian said, laughing. “He’s cheating!”
“Doesn’t matter how I got the information. I’m certain we don’t have to worry about Xol’sa.” Theo stirred his tea, glancing over at Rowan hiding in the bushes. He had a request for that sneaky Half-Ogre. “He’s going to heal over time… Rowan, could I ask you to do something?”
Rowan emerged from the bushes, striding over to stand at attention. Fenian clapped his hand against his leg with excitement. “Could you fetch Ziz for me?”
“Right away.”
The Half-Ogre vanished before Theo could say anything else. Fenian giggled. Both Zarali and Xol’sa shook their heads.
The group talked about small subjects for some time. Half-way through their tea, Theo was summoned to the Newt and Demon to swap out some essences. When he returned to his garden, Ziz was standing awkwardly off to the side. The alchemist dragged over another chair for the man to sit in.
“You hired Rowan?” Ziz asked. “I remember this one time, Rowan and his sister… What's her name? Oh, hey there Sarisa. Yeah, he got his head caught in this stump. We were all just kids, but we were laughing so hard. One of the other kids peed their pants from laughing so hard.”
Theo laughed, craning his neck to see Rowan go a deep shade of red. “Excellent. No, Rowan is awesome. So is Sarisa. Ziz, you want a job?”
“I want more jobs like I want a swamp snapper to snip my buttcheeks. Just kidding. I have a few teams now, so we can handle more work.”
“We need a temple to Lord Drogramath,” Zarai said, scooting to the edge of her seat. She still held a comforting hand on Xol’sa’s knee.
“Oh, a big fancy temple? Hand built?” Ziz asked, raising a brow. “Within the walls?”
“Yeah, inside the walls.”
“You want one of my buildings inside your walls, Mister Archduke Mayor Lord Spencer?”
“That’s the idea.”
Ziz rubbed his hands together. Theo saw him doing the math in his mind, reallocating people for jobs so he could make his mark on the town. Almost every building within town was a seed core building. Those that weren’t were shoddy at best. Even the newest construction, the buildings that housed the water system, were built by Sledge. She wasn’t known for her aesthetic choices.
“I’ll do it for free.”
“Oh, shut up.” Fenian scooped up a stone and tossed it at the Half-Ogre. “Charge him a premium.”
“Uh.” Ziz looked confused. “I’m charging a premium.”
“Attaboy!” Fenian hooted.
“We’ll work something out. As for zoning, there’s a lot of space to the west of my shop. Stake a spot there out, figure out what materials you need and what people, and we’ll get working whenever you want.”
Ziz rose to his feet, nodding. “Alright. Okay. My mind is racing here. This is gonna be so cool. Zarali, how evil do you want the temple to look?”
“As evil as you can make it.”
Theo groaned. “Don’t make it evil. Make it magnificent.”
“We’ll split the difference,” Ziz said. “Half-evil, half-magnificent.”
“Good enough.”
Ziz dashed off without another word. Theo opened his administration interface and added some notes about the job. This would get him in front of his administration staff being upset about his pulling them away from jobs. The stoneworkers were slated to do more work than just the maglev. That group was working on several interesting projects that the alchemist hadn’t heard of yet. He realized how important those other things were, compared to his monument to a Demon God.
“We should get some statues,” Theo said.
Fenian laughed, slapping his knee. “Theo wants statues of himself. How original.”
“I can see it now.” The faintest hint of a smile played across Xol’sa’s face. “Two statues on the canal’s edge. Theo and Tresk. What a nightmare.”
Zarali giggled. “And a giant goose in the middle of the harbor!”
“I want a statue of Fenian.” Theo jabbed a finger at the Elven trader. “Feathered hat and all.”
“You’re wearing a feathered hat too, Archduke.”
“Yeah, but I make it look good.”
Fenian’s brows knit tightly. He felt around at the hat on his head, looking slightly crestfallen. “My hat looks good. Doesn’t it?”
“Hats aren’t really my thing.” Xol’sa waved the question away, averting his gaze before he was drawn into an argument.
“It looks lovely,” Zarali said, failing to hide the patronizing tone in her voice. “You’re a lovely little unique boy and we all love you.”
Fenian tried to fold his arms but didn’t pull the grumpy look off with just one arm. “I’m filing a complaint to your administrators for harassment.”
Once the group had their fill of tea, Theo headed back to his lab to work with Salire. He trusted Zarali’s zeal for Drogramath to lead her in instructing Ziz on the building. While the alchemist had a desire to work on the town itself, leveling it up some more, he lacked the [Monster Cores]. Returning to the lab, he found the Half-Ogre woman working with a customer, so he found his way upstairs.
The runs were almost done for the day. They could have done more, but it felt like a relaxed day for the town. Theo worked on restocking his modifiers, shoving various things into fermentation barrels before heading out back. The stills would run themselves as he worked on creating more [Mana Constructs] for his golems. He communed with them by the greenhouses.
Golems were strange, no matter how Theo looked at them. It wasn’t the weird appearance or their specialization through materials. The way they functioned was strange. As he stretched his senses out, washing over his working golems, something within him said he could have more. His willpower had expanded, and he couldn’t tell if it was from his new ability or something else.
A plant golem emerged from a mushroom cave, seeming to nod for a moment before depositing something in the [Dimensional Storage Crate]. Alex waddled around the corner, honking.
“Come look at this, Alex. I could use a second set of eyes.” Theo approached one of Zarali’s [Lodestones], pressing his fingers against the gem on a pole.
What am I looking for?
The alchemist sent his will into the lodestone network, feeling a prickle on the back of his neck. He felt different from the last time he’d connected to the network. Now he could sense the small bit of himself that rested in each of the gems. Not quite a piece of his soul, but something significant enough to relay commands between the golems. He turned to regard the goose.
“I’ve been trying to understand how to expand my willpower for a while,” Theo said, kneeling to the goose’s level. That was becoming less difficult by the day. Alex was growing. “What would happen if you added your will to the mix?”
Honk! I’m not sure. Alex approached the lodestone, pressing her bill to the item.
Theo was interested in expanding his golem network, that was true. But he was also working on a theory he had discussed with Tresk. “As we grow in power, we become more similar. Tresk and I thought the Tara’hek would make us one person eventually. That might be the case, but we can exploit that.”
While he didn’t understand why, both Alex and Tresk had a higher willpower than him. The alchemist’s idea was that their will was more forceful than his, leaving a longer-lasting impression. Whatever the case, the goose had little trouble forcing her mind into the lodestone network. She made a surprised honk as her mind flooded through the system, splitting between the golems all at once. When she pulled back, something of her was left behind.
“Excellent.” Theo ran his hand over the lodestone again, nodding with approval. The force of the goose’s authority had bolstered the power of the stone, rendering it capable of supporting more golems. “I can support 5 more, I think. Then another 5 when Tresk does this.”
They’re curious creatures. Alex approached the plant golem, poking it with her bill. There are sections in the system prompt for siphon systems and modifications. Why have you not modified the golems?
“A good question. Firstly we need a siphon system that works. That requires a mana battery, and one of those power-sucking cubes. Like the one in my lab. It powers all the enchantments in there.”
Still, they should be modified. Yes?
“Maybe. Any modifications would suck power from the [Mana Construct]. I would implant another construct, and that one would suck power from the [Mana Construct] to activate.”
Have you tried enchanting them with your [Toru’aun Mage’s Core] spells?
Theo held his hand out to the golem, chanting his [Lesser Hallow Ground] spell with the [Detect Enemy] trigger. He was getting better at the wards, leveling that core slowly. It still took him a few attempts to ward the golem, but it stuck. The [Lesser Plant Golem] glittered with white light for a moment before subsiding. What was left was a 1-day duration ward and a confused looking golem.
Yep, that works. No mana required. But low duration. Hmmm.
“This isn’t a big deal.” Theo reviewed his current golem loadout, thinking about which medium would be best for his needs. Perhaps it was best to reserve those slots for his farming project. “Let’s go extort my friends for items. Then we can work on my other project.”
Tresk thinks about that a lot, Alex said, flapping her wings to keep up with Theo. She thinks you work too much.
“Tresk works too much. I work less than her.”
Yeah. That’s just what she thinks. She’s been happy you’re relaxing lately.
“Yeah. Me too.”
No one had cleared out from the manor’s garden. Theo was able to convince Zarali to give him more lodestones, but it was a fight. Only after he agreed he wasn’t cheating—that he had added Alex’s willpower to the network—did she give up a few more lodestones. Fenian was happy to hand over a [Farm Seed Core] for the new automated farm. There was some teasing about the alchemist’s need to constantly move, but he brushed them off. A true Broken Tusker got things done before they needed to be done. Not after.
Theo and Alex stopped in to help Salire with the stills, setting up the final run of the day and doing a few reactions for the shop. It was nothing the alchemist hadn’t done before, and made for uninteresting work. The pair stopped by Miana’s ranch to find a horrifying sight. Several Marshlings from the Adventurer’s Guild were practicing riding [Marsh Wolves]. The monsters seemed reluctant to have a rider, but the Marshlings were having the time of their lives.
Galflower and her group of enchanted Karatan were grazing in the fields. Theo could feel them sucking the energy from the air, consuming both the power of Drogramath’s realm as well as Tero’gal. That was a can of megalomaniacal worms he didn’t care to open. Not today.
“Not enough cores to upgrade the town, but enough for a low-level farm.” Theo nodded at the guards of the eastern gate. Sarisa and Rowan emerged from the shadows, flanking the alchemist.
“We should have more guards outside the walls,” Sarisa said, casting a concerned look over the open fields.
Theo gestured to the towers on the wall. “We’ll be within range of the towers.”
Rowan grunted a response. Alex honked.
The first thing about planting a [Farm Seed Core] that Theo found odd was the option he got when he buried it. This section of land was within the unincorperated section of the town, allowing him to plant seed cores. It wasn’t something he’d done before, but that wasn’t the interesting thing. A base-level farm started with a few fields of their own. 2 to start, which revealed something about Banu’s farm. The grumpy farmer had tilled most of his fields by hand.
“Interesting enough.” Theo buried the core, then fed it [Monster Cores] until the roots sprouted up. Those roots formed the shape of a small shack, then spread out to create two sprawling fields. “We won’t need more than those two for now.”
I want to help with the golems!
“Alrighty,” Theo said, plopping down onto the damp ground. He removed materials from his inventory, setting out large piles of vegetation, constructs, and [Monster Cores]. While he worked, he chatted with Sarisa. “Where did you guys get the illusion necklaces?”
“A trader,” Sarisa said, holding her big ax at the ready. Theo still didn’t know what to call it. “That fellow from Partopour had a selection.”
“Damn. I’ve been thinking about fashion lately.”
Because he saw Salire. She looks so pretty! Theo wants to be pretty.
“They can’t hear you, Alex.” Theo assembled his first golem, a [Lesser Plant Golem] with a [Fald Interloper] core at level 10. Anything higher than that felt as though it would get away from him. Too much power in one lump of living plants. He used the standardized form of containment core, one made of [Drogramathi Iron]. Those were the most efficient.
“What did she say?” Sarisa asked, watching as Theo worked on the golem.
“She said I want to be pretty, which isn’t wrong. Salire, the woman who works in my lab, just got a new dress. It suits her extremely well, and it made me think about dressing better. Appearances, you know?”
“I’ve got a spare butler outfit, if you want it,” Rowan said, chuckling.
“No thank you.”
Awww. You didn’t lie to them about what I said! That’s so cute.
Theo had to pop a few [Mana Pills] to get the job done with the golems. They didn’t consume much of his mana, but with 5 golems it was enough to drain him dry several times. He bound the new golems to the nearest lodestone, leaving their orders empty for the time being.
It was now time to cram cores into the farm.
The upgrades they had made to Banu’s farm were mostly okay. The only upgrade Theo didn’t want for his automated version of the farm was the [Fresh Tilled Earth] upgrade. That upgrade increased the effectiveness of fertilizer, but the alchemist didn’t plan to do high-volume farming. This was just going to be some passive nonsense he did because he could. Instead, he inspected an alternative which he thought would work better for his purposes.
[Speed Planting]
Any action taken to plant a seed on the farm will be faster.
More seeds planted meant that his golems could concern themselves with other things. Theo didn’t want his golems running around to fetch fertilizer, applying it to the field to consume their work time. He followed the upgrade path for Banu’s farm for the other things, inspecting the farm when he was done.
[Small Farm]
[Honk if you’re hungry]
Owners: Theo Spencer
Faction: [Southlands Alliance]
Level: 20 (0%)
Rent Due: 4 days
Expansions:
[Speed Planting]
[Enhanced Growth]
[Scaling Expansion]
[Drogramathi Cultivation]
Theo frowned, casting a look at the goose. “Did you name the farm?”
Yes. It is our backup plan for food. So people should honk if they’re hungry. You know. Like I honk all the time.
“I’m curious to know how you and Tresk can delve into my memories. More curious to know how you always pull out the nastiest things.”
Honk!
“Find some bugs if you’re hungry.” Theo withdrew some [Dimensional Storage] crates for the farm, setting them in the shack. He filled them with [Mana Constructs] and [Wheat] before issuing his commands to the golems.
The golems would work the farm outside of the walls, planting and harvesting the uncultivated wheat. Theo could have set this project up better, but it was just a test. Once the commands were set in place, the shambling [Lesser Plant Golems] shuffled off to begin their work. Theo stretched, rolling his shoulders to work out a knot.
“Alright. You guys wanna go hang out in my garden for a few hours?”
