The Newt and Demon - Book 5 Chapters 43,44,45,46 (Patreon)

Chapter 43

Reagent Splicing

The Herbalist’s Workshop was far too stuffy for most people. Salire was sweating even before they got to work on the experimental reagent splicing. Theo was perfectly comfortable thanks to his Coat of Rake, but he sympathized. But those concerns melted away under the weight of recent changes. Not only his ascension to the next realm in both his alchemy and herbalist cores, but also the workshop itself and his acceptance of the Drogramath Dedication ability. His thoughts felt as though they teetered on things he already knew, and the seemingly limitless knowledge of Drogramath himself. It was a heady experience that would take getting used to.

Theo was adept at pushing past this mental discomfort, and laid out the first two reagents he planned to experiment with. Earth Wheat, and the local Spiny Swamp Thistle. Both had a deep alignment with earth and held something similar to the Holy element. But not quite. Using the Research upgrade of the workshop, he confirmed his suspicions.

[Wheat]

[Alchemy Ingredient] [Food]

Common

A common plant often milled into flour.

Research:

Infused with a mixture of Drogramath and Dreamrealm power.

Medium growth cycle with excellent healing properties.

Will easily provide the base of a splicing operation.

Hidden fourth alchemical property.

Properties:

[Healing] [Regeneration] [Sow]

The Research upgrade provided information that Theo had seen before. The Wheat was aligned with Drogramath and Tero’gal, which wasn’t surprising. It had a slower than normal growth cycle, which he had seen in the small farm. But the newest bit of information claimed it would provide a good ‘base’ for reagent splicing. The alchemist drew on his innate knowledge, understanding that one plant would be the base, and the other would be grafted on. Both plants would be cut just above the root. The top of one would be grafted onto the other with mana. Easy enough.

“What do you think?” Salire asked, pulling Theo out of his thoughts.

Wheat and Spiny Swamp Thistle was on her list. Theo expected the combination to work fantastically. With two complete samples, roots and all, the alchemist cut both plants just above the roots. He took the roots and part of the stem from the wheat, placing the spiny stem from the Swamp Thistle on top. The alchemist held his hand over where they joined, closing his eyes as he focused on his Reagent Splicing skill. Even before using it, he felt how similar it was to Reagent Deconstruction. Unlike the destructive skill, this one would bind both plants together. Mana welled into his fingertips, eager to magically weld the two plants.

“Should work like this,” Theo said, pressing his fingers onto the seam. Flaming purple mana flooded the space between the plants, stitching the two pieces together in an instant. He opened his eyes, looking down at the plant.

“Interesting,” Salire said, watching as the mana worked its way up and down the plant. It didn’t just form the two samples together. It changed them both entirely.

“Very interesting. Ah. More interesting things.”

As the purple flames danced over the spliced plant, a system message appeared.

[Reagent Splicing]

Attempting to splice Wheat with Spiny Swamp Thistle…

Splicing success chance: 95%

Wheat properties:

[Healing] [Regeneration] [Sow]

Spiny Swamp Thistle properties:

[Healing] [Regeneration] [Flourish]

Perfect match for [Healing] property. Generating evolved property.

Shuffling all other properties…

The fire intensified, forcing Theo to shield his eyes. While he was blinded, he thought about the prompt. An evolved property was interesting, and he remembered seeing one on the plant that Azrug named Throk’s Weed. The mana died down, revealing the completely changed plant. It was somewhere between a tall stalk of Wheat and the stout Spiny Swamp Thistle. It had characteristics of both, but how it produced the usable reagent would take some time. The plant would need to grow first.

“Neat!” Salire said. “But it's all question marks.”

Theo inspected the plant, finding that his assistant was right.

[????]

[Alchemy Ingredient] [Hybrid Plant]

Epic

A unique hybrid plant created from a Wheat plant and a Spiny Swamp Thistle.

Properties:

[????] [????] [????]

That was an annoying aspect of hybrid plants Theo wished wasn’t real. Anything that someone had yet to discover showed up with the question marks. It made sense that a hybrid between Wheat and Spiny Swamp Thistle resulted in an unidentified item. No one had access to Wheat before it created itself in Tero’gal. The two other times the alchemist had seen this happen was with plants that were local to the area. Since Broken Tusk hadn’t been developed properly, the local flora hadn’t been explored.

“I’m going to strangle Azrug if he names this something stupid,” Theo said, narrowing his eyes at the new plant.

“Should we get him now?”

Theo looked down at the new plant he had created. Sections of the stalk already showed signs of instability. He had to look close to see those things, drawing on his new knowledge to identify small burned lines that others would miss. The splice was a success, but if he didn’t plant it in his Experimental Garden it would degrade. He explained as much to Salire before heading outside to plant his new creation. Once in the soil and the proper settings toggled on the build expansion, the plant stabilized.

“We’ll wait until there’s a few of them for him to check,” Theo said, standing and dusting himself off. “For now, we’ll make sure this one is happy.”

Salire had some observations about the process that she verbalized. Theo listened to her assessment and agreed that there would be problems down the line. The system claimed that the splicing should have had a ninety-five percent success rate, but there were obvious issues with the forceful process. The alchemist’s assumption was that he was meant to perform the splice, then place it into a stable environment immediately. They went back into the workshop, selecting the next two plants to work on.

“This one stuck out to me,” Theo said pressing his finger into Salire’s notebook. It was her entry for Roc Berries and Wind Tulips.

“Going with the elemental alignment concept?” Salire asked, putting a check next to the entry.

“They just feel like they match. Especially considering how they grow. They’re both little bushes that enjoy rocky soil. Combined with the Wind alignment, I think they will work well with each other.”

“Let’s do it!”

Theo had to uproot a Wind Tulip and Roc Berry plant from his greenhouses for this experiment. He inspected both, finding the research section of the plant to claim that the Roc Berry plant would serve as a better base than the Wind Tulips. He cut them both near the root, then bound them together with his mana. A system message popped up, detailing his progress.

[Reagent Splicing]

Attempting to splice Roc Berry with Wind Tulip…

Splicing success chance: 100%

Roc Berry properties:

[Feather] [Retreat] [Wind Shell]

Wind Tulip properties:

[Increase Dexterity] ???? ????

Unknown properties…

Your herb lore isn’t good enough to produce a stable spliced plant.

Shuffling properties.

The system could have just slapped him in the face if it wanted to be so rude. Theo thought of his herb lore as more than good enough, but he cleared his throat and carried the plant out to the garden plot as though his pride wasn’t wounded. The resulting plant was a gnarled, question mark filled entry that took to the soil instantly. Since he brought it to the nourishing soil so quickly, there were no negative effects visible on the trunk or the branches of the plant. Just a mildly burned section where it was spliced.

“I’m not so confident about this one,” Theo said, producing an example of the Wind Tulip flower from his inventory. “Make a note that we should examine the properties of a reagent before splicing it.”

“Noted,” Salire said, jotting the information into her notes. She joined with him back in the workshop where he intended to break Wind Tulips down to get better than ‘good enough’ herb lore.

“I’ll show you ‘good enough,’” Theo grumbled, applying his mana to a sample. It broke down into a primal essence, revealing the first of two new properties. He repeated the process for both the third and hidden fourth properties before examining the tulip.

[Wind Tulip]

[Alchemy Ingredient]

Common

Poppy enchanted with elemental wind. Grows near concentrated wind fonts.

Research:

Infused with a mixture of Drogramath and Dreamrealm power.

Slow growth cycle with heavy alignment to wind.

Binds well with Roc Berries. Serves as the fruit-generating part of the combination.

Properties:

[Increase Dexterity] [Retreat] [Air Blade] [Wind Walk]

Theo had never seen Air Blade or Wind Walk. He felt as though Air Blade was a weapon coating property, while Wind Walk was an enhancement-style potion. The research feature of his workshop also revealed more about how well it bound with the Roc Berry plant, which was encouraging. The two plants also shared a property, which should make the splicing process smoother. As all this information was not revealed to Salire, he read everything out for her.

“I’m mostly interested in the new property,” she said, writing the information down. “It gives me the impression that it would be a great stealther potion.”

“Really?” Theo asked, thinking about it for a moment. She might have been right about that one. “Let’s splice two plants together again so we can observe the difference. For science.”

“For science!” Salire shouted, pumping her fist in the air.

Theo performed the same splicing he had done before, sacrificing another two plants from his greenhouses. He made sure the golems had orders to replant those, drawing from the cultivated living plants he already had. When the Drogramathi fire filled the room with blinding light, the alchemist saw the system message that confirmed his herb lore was ‘good enough.’

[Reagent Splicing]

Attempting to splice Roc Berry with Wind Tulip…

Splicing success chance: 100%

Roc Berry properties:

[Feather] [Retreat] [Wind Shell]

Wind Tulip properties:

[Increase Dexterity] [Retreat] [Air Blade] [Wind Walk]

Perfect match for [Retreat] property. Generating evolved property.

Shuffling all other properties…

That was better. The resulting plant even seemed more stable than before. Theo and Salire rushed it out to the garden before anything could happen. It was best to avoid explosions when possible.

“Oh, that’s strange,” Salire said, kneeling close to inspect the plant. “The first one we made didn’t have an item name, but this one does.”

Theo squinted, then leaned in to inspect the plant.

[Zephyr Berries]

Rare

A curious little berry I discovered while hiking the highland areas near Zalaban. To my surprise, the berry was unnamed and undocumented. Therefore I shall name it the Zephyr Berry after the breezes that blow through these lands. In the land of kings. In the year 280 of the Second War of Ascension, Pugma has discovered this berry.

Properties:

[????] [????] [????]

“That is the weirdest thing I’ve ever read,” Theo said, leaning back from the plant. “Did some random guy wax poetically about finding a berry?”

“From the Second War of Ascension, no less.”

“When was that?” Theo asked, trying to remember the names of the ages. The First War of Ascension took place sometime between five- and ten-thousand years after the world was seeded.

“Twenty-thousand years ago? I’m not sure. I’ve always been bad with history.”

Theo had also heard about the Zalaban empire… or was it Mazzlebar? Bazzlebon? It didn’t matter. He was certain that was the long-lost empire that occupied this continent. Well before it was destroyed by Balkor. Perhaps even longer ago than the rise of Tarantham.

“Pugma,” Salire said, making a sour face. “What sort of name is that?”

“I don’t envy someone with that name.”

Splicing new plants had really eaten away at the day. While it had been discovering new things, Theo wanted to address something with Throk. The hovering platform project should have been well on its way, and he was eager to see what something like that could do. The alchemist departed from his workshop, walking with Salire to the lab before heading off for the artificer’s workshop. He was happy to see everyone going about their daily lives, uninterrupted by whatever nonsense this world sought to throw them.

Throk could hardly be seen in the smithy anymore. He spent nearly all his time in the Artificer’s Workshop, toiling away to make interesting devices. Theo passed by the smithy, waving at Thim. The dwarf had taken the place over entirely, even training several apprentices of his own. Remembering a time when the dwarf had pretended to a novice, the alchemist pushed on to the workshop. It was right around the corner, hugging the bend and across the street from Xam’s tavern.

Theo peeked inside of the workshop, finding Throk pressing a handheld artifice against one of his fake coins. Once the alchemist was certain that the artificer was in a decent enough mood, he crossed the threshold into the workshop. Piles of old artifices were strewn around. The power core to the elven automaton rested in the corner, mostly disassembled by now. Perhaps that was what gave the marshling the information he needed to create self-sustaining batteries for constructs.

“Are you going to lurk, or do you have something to ask?” Throk’s question rumbled across the workshop. Such a small creature shouldn’t have been capable of inspiring such dread.

“Checking on the hovering platform,” Theo said.

Throk placed his device on the table, pausing as though in thought. “I have it working pretty well, actually. The cable idea paid off.” He turned around, revealing the lopsided smile on his face. “Want to go for a ride?”

Theo had never wanted to do anything less than ride the hovering platform. He nodded in agreement, and searched his inventory for the potion that would save him from a deadly fall. His emergency Retreat potions were always close at hand, especially those modified with Refined Elemental Wind. That would grant him the Feather effect for ten seconds, reducing his fall speed if the platform failed. The alchemist followed Throk around the workshop, finding the platform resting in the junk-strewn field behind both the Artificer’s Workshop and the smithy.

“Why are you holding a potion?” Throk asked, adjusting settings on an iron box. The box was connected with the platform by a spool of Tworgnothi Copper wires.

“I’m an alchemist. Ever see an alchemist without a potion in their hands?”

Throk actually issued one sharp, bark-like laugh. “Fair enough,” he said, pressing one final button.

The platform raised into the air slightly, tilting to one side as the engines buzzed to life. There was a bit too much rattling for Theo’s liking, but it was hovering. Tilting his head to one side, the alchemist could almost see something happening near the engines. Just outside of his weak magical sight, there was an interaction between the platform’s magic and the power soaking the air. He pressed his hand on the metallic surface of the platform, activating his Intuitive Nodes and selecting the duration option as he chanted a spell. The marshling grumbled his objections, but within a few tries the Deflect Magic ward activated. A shimmering prismatic barrier sprung up around the platform and the rattling stopped.

“Ah. Guess that works,” Throk said, stomping over to inspect the platform. “I thought there was a problem with the hover engines. Guess not.”

Throk performed a demonstration of the platform’s capabilities. After applying the ward, it hovered like a dream. He had even installed safety railing. It went up smoothly, hovering exactly where the marshling told it to before descending smooth as delicious karatan butter.

“I didn’t think it was ready,” Throk said, scratching his chin. “But I guess the ward was the key.”

“Should’ve guessed,” Theo said, clicking his tongue as he thought.

Theo and Salire had been creating enough Hallow the Soil potion to choke most of the southlands in purifying mist. But it wouldn’t be enough to cover the area they wanted to cover in the north. They could load the thing up with guns, shooting an anti-undead shot at the ground. Or perhaps it was better to air-drop golems in places that were too hard to reach by foot.

“Oh, just spit it out,” Throk moaned. “Are we going to Gronro or not? I gotta hook up the cargo cart to the train if we’re going.”

“Let’s go,” Theo said. “Let’s put your weird hovering platform to the test.”

“My platform isn’t weird. You’re weird.”

Chapter 44

Just Hangin’ Out in a Dungeon

Throk had quite a few attachments for the train. Theo had thought little of the depot building near the end of the train’s line, but it was filled with different styles of cars for the train. He even had a little artifice that dragged them along the hovering track. Of course, each piece of equipment was made of… Azrugium. Theo shivered as he thought of that name. They hadn’t made laws in the alliance, but perhaps that should be the first one.

“Shouldn’t take but a minute,” Throk said, kicking his artifices to life. The cargo car hovered on the track, and was pulled along toward the station.

Theo double, then triple checked all his equipment for the excursion. He had returned the Retreat Potion to his inventory, as he didn’t ride the contraption behind Throk’s workshop. Both Sarisa and Rowan were coming along for the experiment, but the alchemist spent his time reaching out to the network of golems in Gronro. They were still doing as ordered, marshling along the rocky paths of the mountain to clear away the scourge. The information he got back from them was muddy, as it had to pass through Tero’gal to reach him.

Once the cargo car was attached to the train, Throk ran off to find strong half-ogres to help load it. After that, the four members of the party boarded the train and prepared for another whirlwind journey.

“I’m just gonna crank this up,” Throk said, popping a panel near the conductor’s station and fiddling with the internals.

“You’re gonna what?” Theo asked, eyes going wide as he searched for a way to secure himself. He hooked his arm under a bar, then looked through his inventory for a Strength Potion.

“There we go,” Throk said, slapping the conductor’s panel. “Hold onto your butts.”

Theo’s stomach felt as though it never left the station while the rest of his body hurtled down the track. There was a reason the tram didn’t run at full speed. It was impossible to hear anything, as all members of the party were buffeted by the powerful wind. Everyone held on, closing their eyes as they traveled northward. In between the rush of wind, the alchemist could hear Throk howling with delight.

Eyes wide and dry from the ride, Theo looked upon Gronro-Dir. The trip had taken half the time, and several years from his lifespan. “Please,” he gasped. “Don’t do that again.”

“We have the return journey!” Throk said, cackling as exited the train.

“I’ll just teleport, thank you,” Theo said, joining with Throk on shaky legs. Grot was there to greet them, and he seemed in better spirits than ever.

“Archduke!” he shouted, shoving a mug of beer into the alchemist’s hands. “I didn’t know you were coming today.”

“Either did I,” Theo said, downing the beer in one go. He gasped, then cursed his Vigor.

“So, what are we doing? Your golems are doing well enough,” Grot said. “We had to move the lodestone a few times a day. Every day!”

“That’s good to hear,” Theo said, composing himself as he gestured back toward the train. “We’re going to apply some curative potions to the mountains. Hopefully we can give the golems some help.”

“Works for me. Are your friends going to be alright?”

Theo looked back, finding that both Sarisa and Rowan were vomiting near the train. “Yeah, just give them a minute. Maybe a few minutes.”

“Maybe an hour,” Rowan croaked, vomiting again.

Grot went to get some folks to help with the platform. They only unloaded it from the train car before Throk activated the hovering platform, moving it through the mountain town with ease. Interested eyes turned to them as they marched it through the town, angling for the northern gate. The marshling had to hover it over the gates to get it through, but his new fake coins burned longer and stronger than motes, making the job easy. When they arrived outside of the northern gate, Throk affixed a sprayer artifice to the platform. Theo loaded it with Hallow the Soil potion.

“You know,” Sarisa said, still looking green from the ride. “I was thinking about this plan of yours.”

Theo had allowed his mind to wander through the local lodestone network, pinging the golems that seemed to have wandered quite far to the north. He ordered one to return, as he had no intentions of operating the platform. “What is it?” he asked, dragging his thoughts away from the golems.

“The goose is part of your bond. Isn’t she?”

“Yes, she is,” Theo said.

“So she has access to your shared inventory power.”

“Uh-huh.”

“Couldn’t she drop the potions?”

While that was a good question, it wasn’t well-informed. “The problem with dropping a potion is the spread. The sprayer allows us to cover a wide area. Especially from the air.”

“How high up is this going to go?” Rowan asked. Theo could see it in his eyes. He wasn’t sure which of them was going to operate the platform.

Theo judged how high they would need to go by eye. For maximum spread without sending the potion to a useless mist, they would need to be about fifty feet in the air. “About as high as that crag,” he said, gesturing to a jagged outcrop of rocks.

“That’s not bad…” Rowan trailed off, scratching the stubble on his chin.

“Alright. Up you go, alchemist,” Throk said, jabbing a finger at Theo.

“I’m going to make my golem ride the platform, thank you,” Theo said.

“Too heavy. Get your demon ass up there.”

Theo considered his options. He didn’t want to ride the platform. He would rather do almost anything else, including retreating into his realm and teleporting to Tresk. The alchemist stammered, trying to make up an excuse on the spot. But the longer he floundered, the more he noticed a smile spreading across the marshling’s face.

“Oh, you son of a…”

Throk’s laughter drowned out Theo’s string of curses. “Did you see him sweat?!” Throk howled. “Someone check our archduke’s undies.”

Both Rowan and Sarisa were laughing as well. Theo couldn’t help but laugh at himself. Because Throk had told him the platform would be completely automated. The sprayer was operated from the ground, not the platform. The only reason they had constructed it as a platform was for utilitarian purposes. They could use it elsewhere, but for this task, it was completely remote.

“I only just got the remote operation working,” Throk said, working the controls to raise the platform into the air. “As long as I have a control receiver, I can put any artifice on the platform.”

“Thank god,” Theo said, watching as the artifice ascended.

“Let’s do a simple test,” Throk said, working the control panel like a video game controller. He pressed a button and the sprayer squirted a small amount of liquid onto the ground. He moved the nozzle around, checking each function before he was satisfied. “Now the fun part. Lots of walking. Lots of spraying.”

Grot joined with the group as they walked the cleansed mountain path. Throk operated the platform, watching with satisfaction as it hovered ten feet from the ground. Theo felt a sense of wonder as he walked over the mountain pass. Every single rock, outcrop, and crag had been purified of the necromantic energy. Even compared to last time, there were more wild creatures running around and mountain grasses clinging to what little earth was present. At this pace, they would clear their way through the path by the next season. If they used the sprayer, it would be done far sooner.

Theo checked the wards he had placed around the area as they went. He had Grot run back to town to grab some more junk for him to cast his spells on, and the duke returned in short order. He came back with a team of workers that helped place the junk along the path. It hardly seemed necessary, though. Balkor’s energy was waning by the day, which was interesting to consider. The corruption his undead left behind would be there forever if not dispelled. But the energy acted as a fuel, feeding and causing the scourge to spread. Without that energy, Theo only needed to remove what was there.

The path wound through the mountains. The party walked for about an hour before they found the place where the golems were working. Theo had already ordered the one he had summoned back to work, but he recalled them yet again so he could inspect their wards and power sources. Throk took great interest in that.

“Are the siphons working?” Throk asked, trying to inspect the golems but finding nothing for him to inspect.

“They’re working great,” Theo said. His Drogramath cores allowed him to inspect the creations. Both the siphons and the batteries were functioning perfectly. His golems no longer needed to come back to the lab to be powered up again.

“Can you pull a siphon out for me to check?”

Theo held his hand out in front of a golem, and the siphon just popped out. He handed the artifice to Throk who nodded with satisfaction. After giving his golem its power supply back, the alchemist reapplied his wards and ordered the golems to get back to work. They shuffled off, scouring more of the corruption away.

As the group moved forward, they stepped into the domain still corrupted by Balkor. The landscape, despite being made up of mostly rock, looked sickly. There were no creatures here. No sparse grasses clinging to the stones. Only a pale green aura that made everyone feel sicker than Throk’s train ride.

“Here we go,” Throk said, sending the hovering platform into the air.

The sprayer blanketed the land with a rolling silver mist. Everything it touched was purged of the necromantic sickness, curing it in an instant. Each sweep of the sprayer saw hundreds of square feet of area cleared away in a blink. Theo watched in amazement as Throk walked the platform forward. He covered an area that would have taken the golems hours in a matter of minutes. The marshling was laughing the entire time.

“This is good,” Grot said, the excitement he felt clear in his voice.

It was beyond good. Theo needed this area clear for a few reasons. It wasn’t just that the necromantic aura was making everyone sick, or that they needed more overland trade. He had made a promise to the pale elf Twist. That masked man needed to get to Qavell, and the alchemist wasn’t about to go back on his promises. This was also a chance to expand the holdings of the alliance.

With Throk’s speedy train, he could happily travel from Broken Tusk to Qavell in a day. Maybe two days, depending on which speed setting they were using. Folks had different ways of expressing how long it took to travel overland. Some karatan had enough endurance to gallop for days without rest. The best karatan could go for days, and navigate on their own.

But Theo’s goal would be to expand the nation’s borders along this mountain path first. Then he would establish another town in the north where the mountains ended. That would be a defensible spot that was also ideal for trade.

“What do you think Balkor’s minions are doing?” Sarisa asked, coming up alongside Theo. She poked him in the side with the butt of her spear.

“Honestly? I don’t know. If he wants revenge on Glantheir for his defeat, he’ll attack the elves.”

Sarisa laughed. “Do you think the undead could destroy Tarantham?”

A grimace spread across Theo’s face. They had discussed this in the past. The theory that felt most possible had lingered in his mind for some time. “I think he wants revenge, so he’s going for Veosta. They don’t stand a chance.”

“Ah. That’s grim.”

The group spent some time operating the platform, but they didn’t intend to do all the work themselves. Throk gave Grot and his people instructions on how to operate the platform. He made the duke work the platform for a while, correcting him when he was misusing it. After that, the marshling gave him a sack of fake coins. Theo gave the leader a fair amount of Hallow the Soil potion, but reserved some for himself. Dusk was fast approaching, and Theo didn’t intend to spend the night here.

“Where are you?” Theo asked, sending his mind toward Tresk. He couldn’t feel her very clearly.

“Just hanging out.”

Theo narrowed his eyes. “In a dungeon?”

“Yeah.”

“Alex, where are you?”

“Flyin’ around.”

“In a dungeon?”

“No. In the sky.”

“Could you land? I’m going to teleport to you in five minutes.”

“Sure!”

“Alright, guys,” Theo said, patting Sarisa and Rowan on the shoulder. “Have fun with the trip. I’ll meet you back in town.”

“Lazy. No good. Stupid teleporting… Hey, can’t you take us with you…”

Theo fell between the veil before Sarisa could hurl any more insults. He felt the Bridge of Shadows ripple with excitement as he passed over. Uz’Xulven sensed he was traveling to Tero’gal. A moment later, the alchemist landed in his realm. Before he even looked around, he could sense a lot of souls waiting for his approval. He blinked against the bright, sunless sky above and looked upon a field of souls. Belgar was there within moments, a nervous look on his face.

“Yeah. That’s what I was thinking,” Belgar said, jerking his head toward the crowd. “Lots of elves and half-elves.”

Tero’gal’s interface claimed there were 117 souls waiting for approval. He scrolled through the list of applicants, finding that Belgar was right. Most of them were half-elves. He didn’t need to be told where they had come from, but intended to ask once he had accepted them. Several archways sprung up as Uz’Xulven, Benton, Glantheir, Spit, and Drogramath entered the realm. They waved at Theo, but headed toward the renovated cottage. It had been made larger to allow Spit entrance.

“See you in a minute!” Glantheir shouted, smiling as he waved at Theo.

“Could you fetch me a chair,” Theo said, nodding to Belgar. “And grab me a cup of tea once Benton has it made.”

“Sure thing,” Belgar said, scampering away.

Theo began the interview process, where he learned the truth of Balkor’s assault on Veosta. Almost every soul that arrived had been without a patron. They all had unaligned cores, or had put little faith in their gods. All were eager for a new life. That gave Theo some amount of comfort. Since he had allied himself with Fenian, the weight of the dead had come back. Glantheir’s purging of his mind had eased that, but this sight did more than anything. The dead were being given a chance to live a life where they would have everything they ever wanted. They lived a life of quiet leisure with as much food, water, and entertainment they wanted.

The alchemist got through fifty souls before he found one with more will than the others. He was an elf that didn’t have the same vacant stare and incorporeal form as the others. His appearance reminded Theo of the way Belgar looked a few weeks after he arrived in the realm. Mostly formed, but still hazy around the edges.

“I was a general,” the elf said, pausing to look at the ground. “Although I cannot remember my name.”

“You’re more here than most new souls,” Theo said, inspecting the screen provided by the realm. “What happened?”

“We’ve been fighting the undead for a while now. A foreign trader brought an alchemical solution to our problems and… it was going well for a while. But we had a breach, and I was there.”

“Tragic,” Theo said.

“The army was led by a single undead. Perhaps a lich,” the elf said.

Theo couldn’t shake the feeling that this guy was trying to vomit as much information as possible. He was trying to help the alchemist.

“Could you describe him?”

“Hunched over. Green skin, although that might have been rot. He was intelligent.”

Theo felt a sudden, comforting presence behind him. He turned, finding Glantheir with that permanent half-smile on his face. “And now he knows,” he whispered, placing a hand on the alchemist’s shoulder.

Theo turned back to the soul, realizing what Glantheir meant. He accepted the elf into his realm before turning to another applicant. “Who is it? Who is leading the army?”

“Let’s see if you have put it together. If Khahar shows up, you’re not there yet. Ready?”

Theo couldn’t help but laugh. It was a curious way to test the laws that Yuri had put in place. “Yeah, let’s see.”

“Balkor had three places where he stored his soul,” Glantheir said, looking around and smiling. “No Khahar.”

A loud snap issued behind Glantheir. Khahar stood there, arms folded. “I don’t appreciate you making a game of my rules.”

“But isn’t it fun?”

“Kinda,” Khahar said, coming to stand near Theo and Glantheir. “But the creature leading the undead isn’t Balkor. Think of it more as an echo. He is a different person. Confused. Scared. Angry.”

“When I get confused, I also destroy the world,” Theo mocked, winking at Khahar.

“Har har. I don’t like this loss of life either, Theo. But I have seen where this ends. And the world is better for it.”

“‘Trust me! I won’t blow it all up!’” Glantheir said, clasping his hands together. “That was your promise from the start, wasn’t it?”

“Are you not satisfied with what I have accomplished?” Khahar asked, glaring at Glantheir.

“I’m over the moon,” Glantheir said. “Sometimes literally. Things are going well, even if there are casualties. Most of the elves who died in Veosta entered my realm, where they will be happy forever. Some came here, although I don’t know why.”

“I know you’re right, Khahar,” Theo said, accepting another soul into the realm. “When are we going to claim the next throne?”

“Soon enough. They’re still cooking.”

“What’s mine gonna be called?”

“We’ll dub you ‘the Idiot Who Asked Too Many Questions,’” Khahar said, flipping Theo the bird.

“Oh that has a certain ring to it,” Glantheir said.

Theo laughed with his godly friends for a while. Belgar brought him some tea and a chair and Khahar and Glantheir went to go have tea in the cottage. The new souls brought the total count of souls to 292, but it only gave him one level in the realm. The alchemist felt the power of the realm expand, but he didn’t get any new expansions. When he was done with the souls, he joined with his companions in the cottage. Heavenly tea was just so delicious.

Chapter 45

Glantheir’s Tears

Theo almost felt bad about leaving Throk, Sarisa, and Rowan behind in Gronro. But the train ride was far too uncomfortable, so he had simply teleported to Alex back in Broken Tusk to wait for his assistants. They had shot him a look, but softened after finding the catered food provided by Xam’s tavern. The alchemist now sat in the Dreamwalk, looking over an endless list of skills that he couldn’t hope to pick from. He had picked the skills for his herbalist and alchemy core, but had also gained a free pick for his personal level hitting Level 30.

To make matters worse, Theo had to find a core to fit his new core slot. When considering new cores, his mind centered on the idea of both synergy and passive management. His alchemy and herbalist cores worked together directly, the gathering class feeding into the crafting class. His Toru’aun core was then fed by both cores, providing him the means to craft more powerful spells. The Governance Core was entirely passive, providing both the town and the nation with improvements. Those bonuses ranged from better administration panels to battle maps and even the contracts they relied on to keep order within the town.

The only odd core slotted into his soul was the Tara’hek Core. It was based entirely on his bond with Tresk, which set it apart from the others. Rather than providing a defined set of powers, it gave a blanket of useful things to make life easier. It didn’t pass Theo’s notice that the core also contributed to his mental stability and control over Tero’gal.

Theo’s impulse was to select an aligned core. Since he could just go to the realms and ask a god for their core, that would be simple. But the description on his Drogramath Dedication ability claimed he could turn normal cores into Drogramath cores. That was tempted, even if the god himself wasn’t willing to describe the other cores he issued. The alchemist knew about the priest-style cores. He had seen Zarali in combat, and noted that she was a support mage. There was no need for a second support mage core.

Broken Tusk had at least one skilled artificer, smith, smelter, woodcutter, stonemason, and miner. So most production-based cores were off the table. That left esoteric cores.

“Perhaps there’s a core for golemancy,” Theo mused, falling back onto the soft mosses of the forest. He gazed into the boughs of the trees above, spotting the unmoving sun above. Tresk was somewhere near. Fighting the damned horned snake.

A core that increased the power of his golems would be welcome, but that got his thoughts on another track. Xol’sa had a core that made him mostly immune to the effects of spatial travel, which was quirky for a core. Willpower was another one of those hidden attributes, and seemed to affect just about everything. If there was a core that increased a person’s willpower, the alchemist would feel the effect far more than an ordinary person. Even if this world’s people were anything but ordinary. His control over Tero’gal would increase. He could have more golems and operate them more efficiently. The alchemist would even have greater control of both his passage through the void, and his control of Tero’gal outside of the void.

“Willomancer,” Theo whispered to himself, nodding.

That decision also lined up well with his need to pick a new skill. He rose from the mossy floor, dusting off the bits of vegetation that clung to his coat. Tresk and Alex were fighting in a clearing. The snake’s tail swept through the forest, shattering the trunks of trees as though they were toothpicks. Theo withdrew his knives, chugged a few potions, and joined in the fray.

Theo stood on the streets of Broken Tusk, flicking through administrative reports. There were a few annoying things, but also something that excited him. Alise had been setting aside Monster Cores for upgrading the alliance. She also wanted a meeting about combat preparedness, which Aarok had responded to with enough creative curses to fill a book. She backed off after that, finally getting the hint that the administrators administered and the adventurers fought. He put those town politics aside and made his way to the town hall. It was as bustling as ever.

Alise had made herself an impressive office on the top floor. It gave her a decent view of the town. Theo let himself in, finding her poring over a stack of papers. At least she smiled when he entered.

“I’m ready to upgrade the alliance,” Theo said, sauntering over to take a seat opposite her. “I didn’t know you were hiding away Monster Cores for the job.”

“Indeed, I have been,” Alise said, gesturing to a dimensional crate in the room’s corner. “The level of the buildings is bound to the level of the town. And the town’s level is bound to the kingdom’s level. But there is also good news. Throk’s new coins can contribute to the alliance’s energy, which saves us a big headache.”

Theo nodded. Buildings could go ten levels above the town, but a town could go twenty levels above. He guessed. They hadn’t done enough testing to say it worked exactly that way, since both the alliance and the town had population counters that gated upgrades. As always, Alise was thorough with her daily reports. There was something else the alchemist was interested in.

“I saw an increase in weapons on the walls. Is that because of Throk’s new tube system?”

“That was Zan’kir’s idea, actually. As the Captain of the Sandscourge Company he was given sweeping powers over the town’s defense. And he has taken his job seriously.” Alise sighed, shaking her head as she smiled. “It has actually been a weight lifted from my shoulders.”

“I’m glad to hear it. Shall we upgrade an alliance?”

Alise shuffled some papers, stowing some away in her desk drawer while leaving others on the table. “Absolutely. The other upgrades are useful, but I want to see something amazing.”

After leaving the town hall and approaching the town’s monolith, Theo was reminded of how strange the object was. Other towns had wooden monoliths, made of the same stuff he saw when a new building was sprouting. This one was a solid black rock that shone like obsidian. It held both the Town Core and the Kingdom Core. The alliance had two upgrades. Zorp, which allowed them to transport resources between any town in the alliance. Controlled Fire was an upgrade that made wall-mounted towers far more effective. They required less energy, and fired faster.

Alise withdrew some notes, gesturing for Theo to shove the cores he brought in his inventory into the alliance. Unlike a building, which required five equal-level Monster Cores, the alliance required an absurd number. From testing, they found it was fifty equal-level cores plus the level of the alliance. That meant it would suck down sixty cores for a single level.

“This is going to be expensive,” Theo said, watching the pile of Monster Cores diminish in his inventory. “How much of our budget should we put toward this effort?”

“I’ve been leveraging our trade deals to stock Monster Cores. A few hundred cores here and there really adds up.”

“How about Tarantham? Have we had another ship from them?”

“We’ve had small boats dock at the port. Curious civilians.”

That sucked. The trade deal with Tarantham was expensive, and it needed to pay off. But it didn’t escape Theo’s notice that the deal itself was an olive branch, rather than a profitable venture. He trusted Gael to do the right thing, and since the elves hadn’t attacked, he considered it a success. The only way this world would get better was if people stopped blowing each other up every other year. Tarantham had been an amazing example of how that could work, even if they blew each other up to accomplish it. At least they didn’t destroy the entire continent. Instead, they had an impressive string of rulers that seemed unchanged since anyone could remember.

“This is laborous,” Theo said, sighing dramatically as he put cores into the monolith. As always, a small crowd had gathered to watch.

“It isn’t as glamorous as people expect,” Alise said, clicking her tongue.

“Ah. Level 15. Finally,” Theo said, reviewing the upgrade options. There were two options left over from the start, and a new one for them to review. He didn’t even need to read it out for Alise. It appeared in her administration interface.

[Trade Boost]

Carts traveling between towns within the nation will travel 1.5x faster, so long as they are designated for trade.

[Share Information]

Allows leaders to send mental messages to each other. Limited number of messages per day, based on nation’s level at a rate of n*10. E.g. At level 1, you may send 10 messages, at level 2 you may send 20, and so on.

[Disaster Shield]

Expend great amounts of energy to divert or disperse a harmful weather situation, and other natural disasters. This upgrade works on hurricanes, earthquakes, mana storms, tornados, etc.

Alise grumbled, shaking her head. “None of these are great. Both Trade Boost and Share Information are useless to us. And I’m not certain how often we’ll use Disaster Shield. How would we know if a disaster was coming? Does it activate automatically?”

“I’d take Disaster Shield over anything else. But I agree. It isn’t great.”

“Select Disaster Shield. Pray for something better at Level 20. So long as I did my math right, we can get the nation that far.”

Theo agreed completely. The first two upgrades solved problems they already took care of. At least Disaster Shield would be useful sometimes. He also didn’t know what a mana storm was, but was quite interested in having a shield against it when it came. He selected the Disaster Shield upgrade and got back to inserting cores into the monolith. Before long, the next upgrade option appeared.

[Defensive Barrier]

Any town in the nation may draw on the stored energy of the nation to shield their town or city. The strength of this barrier depends on the level of the alliance, town, and the amount of available energy stored.

“This is interesting,” Alise said, tapping her foot on the ground. “The nation upgrades haven’t been great, but they all follow a theme. They operate on the idea of providing something to an entire nation. I also suspect there are buildings that allow us to increase the energy storage of the alliance.”

That was interesting enough. But Theo wasn’t impressed with the upgrade. Compared to the things he got for single buildings or even the town, the upgrades were lackluster. It took little discussion to decide on the Defensive Barrier upgrade. Although they had brought the alliance to Level 20, it didn’t change from being a Small Free City Alliance. They didn’t have the population to increase it from there, but at least they weren’t gated from progressing. He inspected the nation.

[Small Free City Alliance]

Name: Southlands Alliance

Leader: Archduke Theo Spencer

Level: 20 (5%)

Core Towns:

Broken Tusk (Capital)

Rivers and Daub

Gronro-Dir

Current Energy:

62%

Upgrades:

[Zorp]

[Controlled Fire]

[Disaster Shield]

[Defensive Barrier]

“Not as impressive as I had hoped,” Alise said, sighing. “At least we can upgrade the town. But I’ll leave that to you.”

“Of course. Hey, before you go… any progress with the underground people?”

“Not really. Pogo has agreed to some basic trade, but that’s all.”

“We need to be grateful that she’s there at all. The more I talk to that Twist guy, the more I realize how brutal it is down there.”

“Agreed.”

The crowd dispersed once Theo and Alise went their separate ways. There was no tone of disappointment in their voices, just excitement that they got to witness the nation being upgraded. From what the alchemist had heard, this was a guarded process in other nations. The Kingdom Core and Town Core were rarely planted where people could see it, giving Broken Tuskers an excellent view of the process. But he turned his attention away from both the nation’s upgrades and the buildings within the town itself. He had to face the horrific idea of chasing down Azrug to name his new plant.

“Thank god Pugma named that other one,” Theo said, a shiver running down his spine. “I couldn’t deal with another Throk’s Weed.”

As expected, Azrug was working in the small item shop. Instead of doing business out of a house, he now had a dedicated building. Theo felt a sense of pride as he looked over the industrious merchant. While little time had passed since the young man took up the mantle, he had created something truly great.

The exterior of the building matched the aesthetic of Broken Tusk. It even further reflected Azrug’s half-ogre roots with stone walls and high-set windows. Sometimes buildings would get wood paneling, while others times they got stone. It all depended on what the seed core wanted to do. The interior had wood floors. A large area with shelves and display cases dominated the room’s center while each wall was filled with more display shelves. Azrug himself sat behind a wide counter, writing something in a ledger.

“Need more monster cores?” Azrug asked, barely looking up from his book.

“I need your Loremaster services, actually,” Theo said.

Azrug looked up, locking eyes with Theo. The alchemist glared. “I won’t name them anything silly.”

“Are you sure? Have you been hanging out with Tresk lately?”

“No. Maybe a little,” Azrug said with a shrug. “What am I naming?”

“A plant. Hybrid of Wheat and Spiny Swamp Thistle.”

Azrug craned his neck, looking at the entrance of the shop. He stood, crossing the room to flip a sign near the front to ‘closed.’ “We could come up with ideas along the way. How about ‘Stinkweed?’”

“It doesn’t stink.”

“Stenchblossom?”

“Still, it doesn’t stink.”

“Something will come to me,” Azrug said, leading the way outside.

Theo feared the worst as he led Azrug to the Experimental Garden behind his Herbalist’s Workshop. The half-ogre crouched near the plants there, nodding in approval as he read Pugma’s entry to the world of herb lore.

“Interesting. This guy discovered a hybrid plant in the wild. The Second Ascension War was over thirty-thousand years ago. Ah, I got a hit from my Loremaster’s Core.”

“About what?”

“The Zalabans. War-like proto-humans, apparently. They were still more elf than human that point and had broken off from… huh. Tarantham.”

“How long has that empire been around?” Theo asked.

“Since the Second Ascension War, apparently. Got a bit of information about Pugma as well. Nothing interesting, just his dietary habits. Now, for your new herb… Oh, interesting. I got some Earth lore!”

Theo cocked an eyebrow. “Really?”

“Combine harvesters, huh? Giant machines that harvested the wheat… interesting.”

“Anything else?”

“Nah. Just some lore about the Spiny Swamp Thistle. The plant is newer than we realize. A result of Glantheir’s rescue of the land. Which makes sense, since it has healing properties. Time for a name and description.”

Theo watched nervously as Azrug worked on the new description. He saw the half-ogre’s eyes flash as he entered information into his Loremaster interface. After a few tense moments, he pulled away and smiled.

“I tried hard on this one. Are you proud of me, boss?”

Theo inspected the plant.

[Glantheir’s Tears]

[Alchemy Ingredient] [Hybrid Plant]

Epic

When a demonic god tore an entire continent into pieces, Glantheir was there to stitch it back together. This thorny hybrid represents the sadness he left in his wake.

Properties:

[????] [????] [????]

Theo pulled back from the plant, shooting Azrug a confused look. “I was expected to see ‘Glantheir’s Entire Butt’ as the name.”

“I’m not all fun and games,” Azrug said with a wink. “Sometimes I’m a poet.”

Chapter 46

Fairy Potions

After finishing up with both Alise and Azrug, Theo went to his lab to check on Salire. He was joined, as always, by Sarisa and Rowan. Before he even entered the building, he could smell the scent of simmering mashes on the third floor. From that scent alone, he detected his assistant was working on some standard Hallow Ground Essence. He ascended the stairs, finding the half-ogre moving between the stills to adjust the heat. She looked up with a sheepish smile, nodding to the alchemist.

Theo inspected each of the stills. Salire was working on essences that were first tier, which was well within her skill level. Everything seemed fine to him, but she had been diligent in keeping track of the heating times for different reagents at various tiers.

“Looks good to me,” Theo said, summoning the building’s internal essence storage to check their stock. They always kept at least a few units of healing, mana, and stamina essence on hand. Just in case. As the town and alliance expanded, that number would need to grow.

“Thank you,” Salire said, dabbing sweat from her forehead.

She inquired about the sprayer project Theo had kicked off. It was hard for him to say how it was going. Once the essence consumption reports rolled in, he would have a good idea of how much they needed to produce. His first impression was one of excess. They had stockpiled too much of the Hallow the Soil essence, and wouldn’t need as much as they had made. The alchemist preferred to have more than he needed, though.

Alchemy had become something other than simply helping people. Folks around town relied on the alchemist for many things. Cleansing Scrub kept people and places clean. Restoration potions made sure the adventurers could keep fighting and curtailed any accidents that would render workers bedridden. Curative potions were consumed daily, banishing a long list of diseases created by the swampy environment. Theo imagined the role of the Newt and Demon changing in the coming days. As it had with the problem of undeath, the lab would create potions that solved specific problems. But it was important not to forget the little things.

“Where do you think our lab is going?” Theo asked, falling into a chair and kicking his legs up on a table.

“Our lab?” Salire asked, fidgeting with her hands.

Theo shrugged, smiling up at his apprentice. “That’s my question. This is becoming more of a shared space for both of us. There’s no way I can do the workload required by the town. So, where do you see us going?”

Salire had to think about the question for quite some time. She paced between the stills, placing her hand on top of the boiling hot surfaces a few times. She removed her hand, cursing, but did it again a few times.

“I like the idea of sharing the lab,” Salire said finally. She shrugged as though she didn’t believe her own words. Not that she couldn’t imagine herself being that integral to the lab, but that she didn’t deserve it. “Our cures, enhancement, and restoration potions are vital to the alliance. With so few healers, people rely on us.”

“You’re saying we’re good with what we’re doing?” Theo asked.

“Of course.”

“What about research?” Theo asked. “Advanced potions like the soul potions. Reagents that are hard to find. Or too difficult to cultivate without a skilled hand.”

Salire laughed as though she couldn’t believe Theo. But she was smiling. “That’s the way things are now. I handle the low-level potions while you work on the research.”

Theo nodded in agreement. That was true, wasn’t it? Salire wasn’t useless. Far from it. She had taken to the art of alchemy better than he had. And she doesn’t have any of the cheats that he does. With her help, they discovered several important things. Including the Hallow the Soil potion. At the very least, she was a knowledgeable sounding board. At best, she was an ever-expanding well of knowledge and skill. He pushed himself out of his chair, clapping a hand on the half-ogre’s shoulder.

“I think what I learned is that I’m not doing enough. Doesn’t seem like a lot of time in this lab. But we’re the two most advanced alchemists in the world. By default.”

“That doesn’t sit well with me,” Salire said, shifting uncomfortably on the spot.

“Think about it. Drogramath dedicated himself to alchemy entirely. When he hands out a core, it comes with a Level 50 skill from the standard form of alchemy. People spend decades working on that and we get it day one.”

Salire fell into silence, casting her eyes to the ground. Theo watched as she chewed her cheek, trying to wrap her mind around how important they were. He didn’t want to impart a sense of arrogance into her, but there was a deeper meaning to their purpose here. They held the legacy of Drogramath in their hands. From what the god himself said, there were few or no remaining Drogramath Dronon on the mortal plane. While that was created by the way the race reproduced, it was still a fact.

“We can only do our best. Right?” Salire asked.

“Right!” Theo said, clapping his hand on her shoulder again. “Let’s make an offering to the shrine, then I’ll go down to the second floor to do some research. You stay up here and keep working the stills.”

Salire nodded, joining Theo to the shrine in the room’s corner. Each offering they made to the shrine added to an invisible experience bar. The building maintained the bond with Drogramath, not the alchemist operating the equipment. He placed a Widow Lily on the shrine, watching as it went up in purple flames. For just a moment, he could feel his god draw slightly closer.

After making the offering, Theo left Salire to work on her own things. He went down to the stuffy second floor, clearing away a few tables and lighting candles. Rowan and Sarisa complained about the heat in the room, so they kicked on the air conditioner. It was brutally hot outside today, without a single cloud to help. The alchemist could produce several tiers of potions at the moment. First tier potions were simply distilled, then brewed. Nothing fancy went into those. Next were second tier potions, which required the essence to be put under pressure. The method they used for that stripped the last step, pressurizing the essence while it was still in vapor form. Third tier potions were made by infusing pure alcohol with an essence, then combining that with a second tier essence during the distillation process. The resulting essences were the most pure they could produce, embodying a chaotic level of power.

The last form of potion-making Theo had discovered was through the Suffuse Potion. By breaking down essences into their primal, powdered form, he could combine them together. The resulting potions were often random, but essences with similar properties combined well. The alchemist thought of these potions as default third tier. Although the fourth tier was out of his reach, he considered suffuse potions made from third tier essences to be fourth. Those were the ‘greater’ potions of the world that represented a level of power that was hard to consider. Modifiers worked similarly, producing potions that had parts of both the modifier and the base potion.

Theo withdrew an Ice Quartz from his inventory. It was a pea-sized gem, so delicate it seemed to melt in his hand. The item kept its form, but only just. Catalysts were less important in potion making. The alchemist had decided that fact was because of the lab’s stabilizing features, but it could have been his status as champion. Iron Shavings worked fine, even at the second tier, but Drogramathi Iron worked better. Even if the metal wasn’t alchemically reactive, it still worked as a catalyst.

The alchemist withdrew a flask of Refined Fairy’s Blessing Essence from his inventory, placing it on the table for inspection. Within the flask, the faintly pink essence swirled on its own. Theo could feel the power of the essence pouring from the top of the flask, washing over him with a heady mixture of power and intent. It was derived from the Fairy Plum, which was the spirit fruit that represented the Wisdom attribute. That troublesome attribute. He had used that essence to create the Potion of Return. It made him think about Fenian.

Theo withdrew a vial before pouring a unit of the essence inside and topping it off with Enchanted Water. He swirled it, watching as motes of white formed within the liquid. After a momentary pause, he dropped a single Drogramathi Iron flake inside. The potion swirled and bubbled, putting off the sweet scent of fruit. He made a mental note of the timid reaction of the potion before inspecting it.

[Fairy’s Cunning Potion]

[Potion]

Mythic

Created by: Theo Spencer

Alignment:

Drogramath (Minor Bond)

Grade: Excellent Quality

Drink to experience the Fairy’s cunning.

Effect:

For one hour after drinking this potion, the imbiber may see five seconds into the future.

Only one future-sight potion may be imbibed per day.

Repeated use of this potion may produce lasting problems.

It wasn’t surprising that the potion was dangerous. Five seconds into the future wasn’t much, but it was something. Theo smiled to himself as he considered how he would use the potion to his advantage. In a combat situation, it made sense. The line in the effects section about repeated use was frightening, but the alchemist was already aware of potions like that. Any potion that made a person larger would leave long-lasting heart problems. He was certain there were other potions that caused problems, but had discovered none.

Fairy Plums were rare things. Theo had a garden of them in Tero’gal, but those came with problems. The first issue was that they took forever to grow. The second problem was that the spirits within the realm needed the spirit fruit to survive. He hadn’t confirmed this theory, but any spirit that ate the fruit regained their full form quicker than those that didn’t. Belgar owed his completed form to the fruits, which made it hard for the alchemist to want to use them. There was also a conceptual limit to the amount that could grow within the realm. Some hard-coded thing from the system that prevented him from making a fruit farm.

Theo produced a few more vials, brewing a handful of the potions into vials geared toward modifiers. He would find a solution to the fruit problem later. For now, he wanted to see how the fairy potion took to modifiers. The Holy modifier had joined the ranks of useful modifiers. Anti-mage was his go-to, but for this experiment he started with Holy. The alchemist introduced the golden modifier to the potion and scooted back in his chair. He winced as he prepared for the explosion, but was treated to a pleasant bubbling and a renewed scent of fruit in the air. Both Sarisa and Rowan shot a look as though to say ‘should we be concerned?’ He gave them the thumbs-up, turning back to his experiment to inspect the resulting modified potion.

[Fairy’s Cunning Potion]

[Holy]

[Potion] [Modified Potion]

Mythic

Created by: Theo Spencer

Alignment:

Drogramath (Minor Bond)

Grade: Excellent Quality

Drink to experience the Fairy’s cunning.

Effect:

For fifteen minutes after drinking this potion, the imbiber may view another part of the world of their choosing. Magical counter-measures may impede the imbiber’s ability to see into guarded places.

Only two far-sight potions may be imbibed per day.

Leaning back in his chair, Theo blew out a steady breath. How vague could he be with the potion? And how did it work? The alchemist needed to know how the potion worked right then and there. It was hard to hold back his excitement as he scooped the potion up, preparing to down it.

“Hey, hey, hey,” Sarisa said, rushing over. “Just quaffing a random potion?”

Theo looked at her and shrugged. “Why not? Looks safe.”

“Looks like a swirling, bubbling vial of pink and gold,” Sarisa said, placing her hands on her hips. “As in dangerous.”

“Hark,” Theo said, pointing at the far side of the room. “Rowan is stealing your wineskin.”

Sarisa whipped around, glaring at her brother. Theo downed the potion. The rush was instant and intense. The room around him went black as he felt the potion’s intent. He felt the half-ogre’s hand on his shoulder, but ignored it. The potion was waiting for him to instruct it, which he did. First he gave the impression as though he wanted to see the floating city of Qavell. But that request was rejected. Instead, he imagined the coastline of the continent in his mind. Based on how fast a lumbering city might go, he selected one section of the coast. A shock of electricity ran through his body. Wind rushed by, deafening him as the other senses of his body dulled. He no longer felt Sarisa’s hand on his shoulder.

Theo tried to shout, but nothing happened. He was floating miles above the coast on the eastern side of the continent. He saw why Qavell had never built a port here. The water met against solid rock that rose high into the sky. Waves lapped against the stone below as the ocean spread far to the east, north, and south. The alchemist figured out how to move his vision around, although it took great effort. Far in the distance, south of his floating position, there was a floating speck. A spike drove itself into his head when he looked at it and he was suddenly thrown out of the vision.

“...idiot!” Sarisa shouted.

Theo fell back out of his chair, hitting his head on the ground. He groaned, clutching the back of his skull as Sarisa berated him.

“Was it worth it?” she asked, grabbing him by the collar and shaking him.

“It really was,” Theo croaked. “I’ve spotted Qavell.”

Sarisa released him in an instant, blinking in confusion. “Really?”

“Yes. About half-way between where they started and here. Along the coast.”

“You saw it?” Rowan asked, slapping the side of Theo’s face as though to revive him.

“Stop hitting me,” Theo said, batting the siblings’ hands away. “I saw it for about a second before I was thrown from the vision. Maybe because there was a woman slapping me in the face.”

“I didn’t hit you that hard.”

Theo rubbed his face, feeling the heat on his cheek. “Sure.”

“I need to report this,” Rowan said, rummaging through the satchel he carried with him. He produced a map of the continent. “Show me on the map where the floating city hurt you.”

Theo pressed his finger into the map and nodded. “A few miles south of there.”

“Earth measurements,” Rowan growled. “Don’t worry. I wrote the conversion down.”

And then Rowan was gone, off to report Theo’s findings to Aarok. The alchemist rose, approaching his desk shakily. He sat there for a moment, inspecting his mind for damage. But there was nothing. Someone had created a field of magic around Qavell that interfered with the potion. He didn’t think it was likely that anyone detected him, but did it matter? The city was coming to destroy the alliance. It wasn’t exactly a stealth mission.

“Sarisa,” Theo groaned, holding his head. He let out a ragged sigh. “Could you get a Stamina Potion from Salire?”

“Sure,” Sarisa said, patting him on the shoulder.

“Check to see if we have a Greater Stamina Potion in stock.”

“Of course,” Sarisa said, running off.

Theo looked up from his feigned discomfort, adding more Holy modifier to another vial of Fairy’s Cunning Potion. He swirled it, speeding the reaction up. He could hear Sarisa stomping up the stairs as he downed another potion, then watched as the room went black. Once the potion was ready for his intent, he imagined Vesta on the western coast of the continent. The alchemist was once again thrown through reality until he was floating above a sandy coastline.

This time he wasn’t miles in the air, only a few hundred feet. He looked over the destruction there, finding nothing but undead and ruined buildings. While he wasn’t immediately rejected from the vision, he felt something within the endless ranks of the undead. They were standing around, shivering on the spot or otherwise contorting in strange ways. That same sensation prickled in his mind again. A figure strode out onto the beach, its body covered in dark cloth with a hood concealing its face.

“What a surprise,” it said, looking up to the exact spot where Theo floated. “What can I do for you, Champion of Drogramath?”