The Newt and Demon - Book 5 Chapters 53,54,55 (Patreon)

Chapter 53

Deadly Toxin

Theo reached a hand out, helping Ziz remove himself from the deep quarry. The wooden ladder strained under his weight, but held. The half-ogre clapped a hand on the alchemist shoulder and beamed a smile.

“Don’t delay,” Ziz said. “You don’t get that look on your face often enough, Theo.”

“It requires some explanation,” Theo said, gesturing for the man to follow.

“I get it,” Ziz sighed. “Gotta ease into it.”

“One might think that a Level 2 core would be useless for most things,” Theo said, picking a path through the stonecutters’ camp. He angled north, toward the rolling hills that turned into mountains in the distance. “But I found an interesting exploit in the system.”

Ziz rubbed his hands together. “What is it?”

Theo wanted to show Ziz how he could move dirt around, but that wasn’t something he practiced. Instead, he found a massive pile of gravel left by the stonecutters. The alchemist reached out with his Sorcerer’s Core, not even gesturing to wrap his will around it, then invoked his skill. He jerked his head to the side and the entire pile moved as one, hovering over the ground and falling in a heap ten feet to the left.

“Damn, Theo,” Ziz said, laughing. “Level 2? What are you gonna do with that thing at Level 10!?”

“It hardly matters,” Theo said. “I’m exploiting the fact that this core runs on willpower. I could keep it at Level 1 and be just as effective.”

“Well, damn. You want a job?” Ziz asked, chuckling. He gestured to the various hills within his work area. The land was hardly flat. “Could you even out my workspace? We were going to shovel it by hand, but never had the time.”

Theo reached out with his Earth Sorcerer’s Core, probing the area that Ziz had gestured to. It was a mix of stone and earth, which might be a problem. But if the alchemist needed the ability to manipulate the terrain. This had been something he wanted to do since they started doing projects around here. If he could move large amounts of dirt, he could even speed up the river dungeon project.

“Let’s have a try,” Theo said, approaching the rolling hill.

The hill itself was a mound of dirt and stone that sloped at a low angle. Theo imagined that the best way to take care of this back on Earth would have been to use a tractor with one of those big scoop attachments on the front. He never learned what they were called, but had seen them being used before. The alchemist checked his mana before proceeding, popping a Mana Potion and centering his mind.

Theo estimated the hill to be about twenty feet wide. It wasn’t as large as some of the other hills, but the amount of dirt in that five-foot rise was substantial. He imagined that big scoop, spreading his will over the length of the hill. The alchemist gathered his willpower and mana, pressing against the mound of dirt and pushing as gently as he could.

“Wow! Look at that!”

A mostly invisible force drove the dirt forward, flattening the land as it went. The dirt gathered upward, extruded from the hill as Theo worked. After only a foot of pushing, the force of the hill was too great, and the alchemist was forced to rethink his strategy. He wrapped his will around the dirt that had been piled up, and flung it to the side. Repeating the process, he leveled the land and removed the hill. Each time he ran into a boulder, he had to extract it and continue on.

“That wasn’t so hard,” Theo said, wiping sweat from his forehead.

“No kidding! Look at this!” Ziz shouted, stomping on the ground Theo had cleared. “That took you five minutes. We would have been here all day. I have a question about the limits of the core, though.”

Ziz put Theo through a battery of tests. He wanted Theo to remove a cube of dirt from the ground, which was easier than the alchemist expected. He then wanted him to carve a pattern into the ground, which was a bit more complex. The alchemist had to break the pattern down into chunks, imagining each of the parts as individuals.

Theo held a length of ground in the air, just over the section of ground he had extracted it from. He placed it on the ground nearby, allowing the form of the dirt to disperse. Clods of dirt tumbled to the side, some returning to the hole where they just were. The alchemist could tell what Ziz was testing him for. The river project needed some precise cuts in the earth. While the Tunneling Potion might have gotten the job done, this new method was better by a long shot.

“One last thing,” Ziz said, withdrawing a large stone block from his inventory. Thanks to one of his skills, the half-ogre could hold the block in the air for a moment, placing it right where he needed it. “Can you move that?”

The stone was roughly the side of a half-ogre in height, and twice as wide. Theo had the impression that the block was just out of his reach, but he tried anyway. Wrapping his willpower around the stone, he tugged. It moved up slightly, but no amount of mana or will could get it to move. He gave up after a few attempts.

“If this is for the river project,” Theo said, taking a deep breath. “Why would you need my new power?”

“Things might get out of alignment. I can take it back into my inventory, then bring it out… but everything needs to stay in place. If you can hold them in place, we’re golden.”

“Right. I can practice, though. I might be ready by tomorrow.”

“Perfect. We’re gearing up to start the project. Have I explained it to you?”

“No, but I think I know what you’re going to do.”

“Well, listen to the expert…”

Ziz explained his plan for the river project. Theo was surprised to learn that he had consulted Xol’sa on the project. If the river around the River Dungeon was diverted for too long, the dungeon would become unstable. They needed to create an offshoot from the river upstream, diverting it into the harbor somehow. Once it was diverted, ZIz and his gang had to build a tower around the river dungeon. Which is where things got weird.

“The Ocean Dungeon is fine, right?” Ziz asked. “But we keep that thing dry pretty much all day.”

“So, why isn’t it unstable?”

“I asked our local wizard the same thing. We accidentally tricked the dungeon into thinking it was still in the ocean. So long as the water is close enough, everything is fine. The River Dungeon needs water flowing around it most of the time, meaning its more temperamental. So says the wizard.”

“So the tower needs doors or something. That you can open and close?”

“Exactly. I’m going to build a pretty extensive structure over the river to allow for that. We’ll dam the river after carving a section for it to flow into the harbor. Then we’ll build a bridge and the structure over the River Dungeon. Complete with my fancy watertight doors. Well, mostly watertight.”

“Sounds ambitious.”

“Which is why I need your new fancy power.”

Theo thought about it for a moment before responding. It might take him a few days to get himself ready for the project. “Alright. Give me a few days. I’ll expand my willpower, and we can test to see if I can lift those blocks. Every day.”

Ziz reached out a hand for Theo to shake, which he did. “I look forward to it, Theo.”

The alchemist left the stonecutters’ area, feeling renewed confidence in Ziz’s plan. This one was more thought out than some others he had attempted. And the Earth Sorcerer’s Core would add a lot to the effort. Broken Tusk finally had an earth mage, and Theo couldn’t believe it was him who had stepped up. He always expected a random person to appear, sent to the town by Fenian or Khahar.

Theo made his way back to the lab, finding Salire dealing with a customer. He waved at her before climbing up to the third floor. Before she settled into the shopkeeper part of her role, the woman had started four stills with Hallow Ground essence. That reminded the alchemist to check his interface, finding that the Salire herself had scheduled a delivery of Hallow the Soil potions for later in the week. There was even a note informing the alchemist of his responsibilities.

“Huh,” Theo said, not entirely interested in creating the same potion yet again. Instead, he turned his attention to the handful of deadly flowers in his inventory.

The Night’s End plant barely had enough flowers on it for a batch. While he had placed the entire plant in the controlled Experimental Garden, doing so had brought with it a sense of unease. Theo didn’t need to bring the flowers out of his inventory to know they were deadly. A flower that was more potent than the Widow Lily was frightening. He weighed his options, then headed outside. Just in case. Salire gave him a look as he passed, raising a brow as if to ask what the hell he was doing.

Theo found a field with no one else around. If things went wrong with the deadly flower, he would duck into his personal realm to find a cure. It was a reckless plan, but with the option there he might as well. The alchemist withdrew the flower from his inventory, letting it fall to the ground rather than to touch it. He held his hand out, urging flaming purple mana into his palm before allowing it to drip onto the flower. After focusing on his Reagent Deconstruction skill, the flower burst into purple flames, reducing it down to the primal form of the essence.

The first property on the Night’s End flower was called Venom. Theo wasn’t surprised, but the thought of the property came with deadly weight. The more he thought about it, the less comfortable he was distilling the essence in his lab. The cloud of smoke that the flower released stung his nose, filling his lungs with a burning sensation.

“Make sure not to breathe that in,” Theo said, fanning himself and coughing. He waited to make sure the poison hadn’t taken hold. After a few minutes, he decided he was clear.

Theo entered the Newt and Demon once again, getting another confused look from Salire. He smiled and nodded before heading up to steal a still from the lab. After placing one in his inventory, he took it outside. He set it up out back, near the greenhouses and his working golem. The alchemist got the sense that a still close enough to the building would gain the upgrade benefits, so he was happy enough. He placed what few flowers he had, around ten units, and started the artifice heater.

“I need a safe spot to brew dangerous potions,” Theo said, smoothing back his hair. There was the Experimentation Room upgrade for his building. But that always seemed like a waste. And the description said nothing about preventing deadly fumes. It only prevented damage from deadly explosions. Perhaps a custom building was in order. “Another day.”

Instead of handling the flowers, even through his gloved hands, Theo allowed them to drop straight into the still. He found a stick and crushed them, which took little effort. Flowers were always the easiest to mash. Well, Living River Water just melted, so there was that. With the attached vapor condenser on Throk’s custom still, the alchemist focused on a second tier potion for testing. Tresk would be happy with whatever new poison he produced from the Venom property.

Theo pulled the lid shut, snapping the latch down. He observed the still for a while, judging how much of the fumes from within got out. It wasn’t as bad as he expected, but still enough to be worrying. The vents within the lab might have been good enough to clear the air, but he wasn’t interested in taking chances.

While he waited for the still to do its job, the alchemist practiced with his new core. He didn’t focus on his willpower, instead going through drills to understand the connection between his will and mana. But the still finished with the Refined Venom Essence faster than he expected. The alchemist looked at the vial of seething green essence on the ground, reluctant to approach. He summoned the nearby Plant Golem over, ordering the construct to move the vial into an empty field.

“Thanks,” Theo said, transferring one unit of the essence into an empty vial. He stepped back after pouring it, expecting the essence to react. While it smelled like death, it didn’t react. The alchemist added a unit of Enchanted Water then dropped his catalyst inside. The reaction was immediate and violent.

Theo kept his distance from the plumes of green smoke, moving to either side when it billowed toward him. When the reaction had calmed down, he moved in for inspection. The liquid was a shimmering green with bands of black running through it. The alchemist read the description on his new poison.

[Venom]

[Poison]

Epic

Created by: Theo Spencer

Grade: Excellent Quality

Alignment:

Drogramath (Minor Bond)

Coat your weapon with a deadly venom.

Effect:

Venom floods through any target afflicted by this poison, dealing slight damage over a great period of time.This poison is likely to persist for days at the lowest quality, and years at the highest.

Venom is persistent and difficult to remove. Removal attempts are less likely to succeed.

“That’s just horrific,” Theo said, stoppering the vial and pulling it into his inventory.

That potion might not have been useful for Tresk. Perhaps there was a situation where she encountered a monster that was hard to pin down. Or if she wanted to assassinate a person and ensure the job was done no matter what. The alchemist pushed those thoughts out of his mind and moved on with his day. There were more reagents to test.

Chapter 54

Veil

Theo pinched a fluffy, sand-colored piece of Khahari Cotton between his fingers. Despite the spines underneath the blossomed flowers, this plant felt much more inviting than the one that produced the Venom property. That small, cotton producing bush had many more flowers than the Night’s End plant. It was a fact the alchemist was grateful for.

The plants Theo had bought from the trader weren’t in their proper spots yet. He could place the cactus and cotton bush within a greenhouse without issue, but had concerns about the Night’s End plant. The alchemist turned away from his Experimental Garden Plot, plucking the tiny seeds from the underside of the cotton. He pulled those into his inventory before making his way back to the Newt and Demon. The scent of something foul wafted from the lab upstairs.

“What is going on?” Theo asked, waving his hand to clear away the thick smoke. Alise was coughing in the corner. The alchemist popped a window open, allowing some of the smoke to escape.

Once it was clear, Alise could finally speak. There were tears in her eyes from the acrid vapors, and she had a guilty look on her face. “Sorry. Tried to do something I wasn’t ready for.”

“No kidding,” Theo said, approaching the offending still. It was hard to tell what had gone wrong, but the piece of alchemy equipment was covered in a layer of soot. “Did you try something out of your reach?”

“Yeah. I won’t make that mistake again.”

“Interesting reaction,” Theo said, running his finger through the soot. He could feel that the resulting reaction was alchemically inert. There were no traces of what this once was left behind. “What were you going for?”

“Hallow the Soil. But the Suffuse step threw me off.”

Theo withdrew his knife, scraping some of the crud from the side of his still to place in a glass vial. He stowed it in his inventory, not sure if he would ever have a use for it. Being a packrat meant filling one’s inventory with as much crap as possible. He placed the Custom Drogramathi Iron Still back where it belonged, having shoved that in his inventory before coming in. The alchemist then withdrew some Cleansing Scrub and cleaned away the equipment tainted by that soot.

“I’m really sorry about that,” Salire said.

“We need a list of rules on the wall. Rule one… Alchemy is messy,” Theo said, winking at his apprentice.

Salire nodded, regaining her confidence. “I was close, though. It almost worked. Maybe I could get a hand?”

Theo agreed, but wanted to start the small batch of the Khahari Cotton first. While his plan was to use this stuff for textiles, it didn’t hurt to investigate the properties first. He shredded several bulbs of cotton by hand, reserving one for his Reagent Deconstruction skill, and filled the still with enough Enchanted Water for the batch. The alchemist held the single fluffy piece of cotton in his palm, injecting it with Drogramathi mana and watching as it went up in smoke. The scent it produced was strange. Sand didn’t really have a smell. But the smoke it produced smelled like sand.

“Strange,” Theo said. The property revealed was Veil, and he couldn’t wait to test it out. He carried the handful of Primal Veil Essence to a Dimensional Storage Crate, dumping a few other items in while he was there. He turned back to Salire. “Let’s get working on those potions.”

While Salire could create the base components for the Hallow the Soil potion, she couldn’t complete the batch through the last step. She had ruined a good amount of the essence, but it hardly seemed to matter. The Plant Golem managing the caves worked day and night to make sure they had enough truffles to choke a dragon.

At least the Sow property was easy enough to source. Theo’s Small Farm had been destroyed before, but it didn’t bother the golems. When he ordered them back to work, replanting everything that had been lost, they did so without complaint. As the alchemist worked on preparing the Hallow the Soil potion, he thought about expanding that farm. He had picked every seed from the Khahari Cotton, giving him enough for a starter crop. As long as he kept a sample of the cotton within his Experimental Garden, he would be fine.

Theo and Salire worked for several hours on a batch. The alchemist found the act of working on potions meditative, and fell into a groove with his apprentice. Her skill with the art came from patience. Unlike Theo, who always wanted to run head-first into problems, she took a step back to evaluate what was going on before committing to anything. When she reached the same level as him, she would do great things. Even without being a champion.

“Come on,” Salire said, laughing as Theo sealed the last brewing barrel of Hallow the Soil. “Let’s see what the new essence does.”

Theo removed the flask containing his Refined Veil Essence, holding it up to the light to get a better look. The essence within was, unsurprisingly, sand-colored. It swirled with the glass container, seeming to move as though blown by those warm desert winds Khahar used to talk about. The alchemist took the ornate vial handed to him by Salire and began mixing. He added a unit of the essence, a single shaving of Drogramathi Iron, and a unit of Enchanted Water.

“Let’s see what we get,” Salire said, taking a healthy step back but watching with an intense gaze.

The mixture swirled within the vial, turning a transparent color of the same shade. Both Theo and Salire didn’t wait, they inspected the resulting potion.

[Potion of Veil]

[Potion]

Epic

Created by: Theo Spencer

Grade: Excellent Quality

Alignment:

Drogramath (Minor Bond)

Shield yourself from prying eyes.

Effect:

Imbibing this potion shields the drinker from unwanted attention, magical or otherwise.

This potion encases your soul in a thin veil. While it doesn’t make the imbiber invisible, it does make it less likely for anyone to notice them for any reason.

Mages performing scrying-style magical actions cannot detect you, unless their magic significantly overpowers the effect of this potion.

The description on the potion was beyond interesting. It was very specific with how the veil worked, stating that it absolutely didn’t make a person enter a hiding state similar to stealth abilities. Theo thought that this might have been the thing that Khahar wanted him to find from those Khahari traders. But there were still more properties on the cotton, and all of those on the cactus fruits.

“I wonder if this works with that fairy potion,” Salire said, drumming her fingers on the table.

Salire was talking about the far sight potion. Theo had a decent idea of how the Fairy’s Cunning Potion worked. While it might help him use the far sight potion, he wasn’t confident it would protect him. Unless it guarded him from Soulslay, or Mindhunt actions it wouldn’t be worth the risk. Xol’sa had yelled at the alchemist enough to make him reluctant to use that potion again. But the ability to see far-away places was alluring. He wouldn’t deny that.

“I’m certain it would shield a person’s soul during the far seeing,” Theo said, picking the vial up and holding it against the light pouring from the windows. “But the thread that connects a person’s projected consciousness and their soul would be visible. I wouldn’t risk it in areas of high magic.”

“Ah. Theo learned his lesson,” Salire said, tapping her chin and nodding. “Curious!”

Theo clapped a hand on her shoulder and shook his head. “I’m going to check on my farm. The lab is yours.”

“Yes, sir!”

Before leaving the lab, Theo sent his senses wide. His will traveled through the lodestone network, where he found his Plant Golems working hard at the Small Farm. He took it a step further, sending his senses far to the north. The last time he had tried this, it was impossible without tunneling his will through Tero’gal. This time was different. The alchemist’s will spread far to the north with ease, connecting with the golems there in moments. One had been destroyed through an accident, but they were still going strong.

“Ah, that’s interesting,” Theo said, probing forward.

The golems had taken advantage of Theo’s increased willpower. The good folks in Gronro hadn’t moved the lodestone for a while, as it had gotten so far away as to be annoying. But with the increase in the alchemist’s willpower, their range had also increased. They were ranging farther to the north than he could have expected, and that ‌ led to another interesting fact. The Wanderer was making good on his promise. The necromantic energy in the area was lowering on its own. It became less persistent, and more willing to be removed by the various holy effects acting upon it.

Theo stopped by Miana’s ranch on his way to his Small Farm. She had let her creatures outside the graze. That included the wolves, which didn’t graze so much as they ran around and played. When she spotted him, she came over for a quick chat. Things were going well at the ranch. She was making money. People were happy with her products and trained monsters. Miana Kell’s life had turned around after being in an impossible situation.

Theo departed after chatting for a bit, making his way through the northernmost eastern gate. Right outside of that gate was his little farm filled with wheat. He approached the small building, which acted as a farmhouse and opened the door. Two adolescent marshling were sitting inside, nibbling on unprocessed wheat stalks. They looked up at the alchemist with wide eyes before sharing a horrified look with each other.

“Hello,” the biggest of the two said.

Theo blinked a few times, then shut the door. Marshlings were weird, a fact that came with living in Broken Tusk. He turned to the building, shoving cores into the wooden structure. The Small Farm, named Honky if you’re Hungry by Tresk, only had two fields at level 20. The alchemist hoped bringing it to level 30 would add at least one more field, as he didn’t want to get rid of his wheat.  While his operation didn’t rival Banu and his Large Farm, it produced enough labor-free food to provide for the town. He sold it to Banu and Xam at rock-bottom prices, often never coming to collect. A few copper coins here and there just weren’t a concern.

The building rumbled as the farm expanded. Two little voices shrieked in terror from within the farmhouse. Theo was certain he heard one of them shout, “I’m being eaten alive!” He smiled to himself, kicking the side of the building a few times to get more shouts of horror. The alchemist then inspected the new upgrade option he was presented, finding it to be more than suitable. It was exactly what he was looking for.

[More FIelds]

What a Small Farm lacks in size, it makes up for with character. Adds an additional field to your Small Farm.

Theo selected that as his Level 25 upgrade. The two marshlings burst from the building, scurrying away into the hills. One paused at the top of the hill, making a few rude gestures.

“That’s our home!”

“Go live in the orphanage!” Theo shot back, reaching out with his will to rumble the ground beneath the child’s feet. It dashed off, screaming some more.

“You’re not very good with kids,” Tresk said, speaking into Theo’s mind.

“I’m great with kids,” Theo said, shoving more cores into the building.

“Most people don’t delight so much when they see a child running away in terror,” Tresk said.

Theo laughed, but didn’t respond. He watched as a fenced field appeared near his other two fields, sprouting from the ground like a plant. He continued expanding the building, sending it off in whatever direction seemed most suitable. The Scaling Expansion upgrade for the building came into effect turning the three fields of the farm into four. The last upgrade of the day appeared, and he read it.

[Persistent Water]

All fields require half as much water as before.

The upgrades were almost a second thought. Theo just needed more fields, rather than interesting upgrades. He selected the Persistent Water upgrade before inspecting the Small Farm.

[Small Farm]

[Honk if you’re hungry]

Owners: Theo Spencer

Faction: [Southlands Alliance]

Level: 30 (5%)

Rent Due: SUSPENDED

Expansions:

[Speed Planting]

[Enhanced Growth]

[Scaling Expansion]

[Drogramathi Cultivation]

[More Fields]

[Persistent Water]

Theo found one of his Dimensional Storage Crates he kept nearby for supplies, adding the Khahari Cotton Seeds. He accessed the nearby lodestone network, adding new instructions. The two new fields would house the Khahari Cotton, leaving the original two fields for the Earth Wheat. After fiddling with those settings for a few minutes, the alchemist noticed a group of people coming down from the wall, led by Luras. The alchemist waved as the half-ogre approached.

“Some kids said they were nearly eaten by a demon,” Luras grunted.

Theo shrugged. “I’m not sure how everyone doesn’t know who I am. I’m not a bad demon, Luras! I promise.”

Luras tried not to smile. But he did. “Are you scaring kids now?’

“They were holed up in my farmhouse,” Theo said, gesturing to the building. “Eating raw wheat. They were basically eating straw, which has to be a choking hazard.”

“You’re feeling smarmy today,” Luras said.

Theo waved the lingering concerns away. “They got scared when I upgraded the building.”

“And the earthquake?”

“Oh, check it out,” Theo said, reaching his will out to a section of dirt beneath Luras’s feet. He carved a square section out, just as he practiced, and held it together as he lifted.

Luras narrowed his eyes at Theo, hovering about three feet off the ground.

“Pretty cool, right?” Theo asked.

Luras grumbled. “Yeah. It is. Does it work on rocks?”

“Yep.”

“Can you throw one?”

“Uh-huh.”

Theo placed the cube of dirt back into the ground, then rooted around with his will to find a good rock. He found one that was roughly the size of his head and pulled it out with his core, pushing dirt away as it went to make the process easier. The gray stone hung in the air as the alchemist looked for a target.

“Can you get it over the river?” Luras asked, coming closer to stand next to the alchemist.

“Absolutely,” Theo said. He let his willpower and mana go wild, dumping everything he had into the rock. It shot through the air, swifter than an arrow, clearing the river with ease. “Hey, didn’t you come out here to yell at me for scaring the children?”

“Yeah. How big can you go?” Luras asked, gesturing to a boulder near the road. “Is that too big?”

“We’re just gonna have to find out, my dear friend.”

Chapter 55

Dam That River

Theo and Luras spent way too much time seeing how far the alchemist could throw rocks. One moment the half-ogre was coming to yell at him for scaring children, and the next he was giggling when boulders soared through the air. That was the core of the half-ogres in Broken Tusk, though. An essence of authority mixed with child-like playfulness. But the day was wearing thin.

“I should have been back at my post a few hours ago,” Luras said, scratching his chin. “Sorry. Gotta go.”

Theo watched as Luras went, dragging his eyes across the landscape. There was a pile of boulders on the far side of the river. “I’m not cleaning that up,” he said, willing himself to fall through the realms.

The alchemist arrived in Tero’gal, finding a few stray souls waiting for his approval. Things had slowed down, especially now that the wanderer wasn’t feeding the void fresh soils. All the gods that frequented the cottage appeared, and he spent twenty-four hours within the realm chatting, eating sweets, and playing whatever games the local souls had adopted. While hiking was still popular, groups of souls splintered from the purists to create fresh activities. Rollerblading hadn’t lasted long, but cycling had. The bikes had four wheels and front and back chain drives. Theo was puzzled as to how they created the machines, but chalked it up to weird spirit magic.

Theo returned to the spot on the road, finding that not much had changed in the five minutes he was gone. The sun was setting over the western horizon, barely poking over the mountain range, signaling that dinner was close at hand. He returned to the manor, chatting with Tresk along the way.

The little marshling had been making more progress in her cores than he expected. She had even pushed beyond the Level 30 barrier, something that Theo still struggled with. Tresk knew it was because he was too distracted with shiny things.

A distinctly fishy smell emanated from the manor. Theo smelled it even before he entered, but when he crossed the threshold he was assailed with a confusing mingling of fish, herbs, and spices. There was also a citrus undertone to the scent. He found his way to the dining table, having a seat and waiting for the meal to be served. Sarisa and Rowa seemed to know exactly when he wanted to eat.

Sarisa emerged from the kitchen after a while, bringing with her plates piled high with food. She set Theo’s portion down, moving on to serve everyone else. In the center of the plate, there was a single cut of fish. The alchemist didn’t recognize what kind it was, but it was layered on top of green vegetables with a green sauce. Resting atop the fish were small slices of a citrus fruit, one he again didn’t know. Scattered around the outside of the fish were more of the greens.

“Thank you,” Theo said, finding that the fish flaked with the gentlest touch of his fork. He scooped some greens and sauce with his first bite. The rich and oily taste of the fish was offset by the green sauce, cutting some of the offensive bite. The greens he had scooped enhanced the flavor of the fish, bringing out the meaty quality. “This is actually great.”

“Did you expect anything less?” Sarisa asked, giving Theo the stink-eye.

“I don’t care for fish,” Theo said, preparing another bite. “But I like this.”

Once the meal was done, Theo and Tresk dropped into the Dreamwalk with full bellies. The marshling ran off with Alex to fight some more imagined creatures, while the alchemist focused on increasing his willpower. The Earth Sorcerer’s Core was a good excuse to move some rocks and dirt, but the true reason he needed more willpower was the floating city. Those gods that dropped hints told him another god was acting on the mortal plane. Why Khahar didn’t just zap the guy was beyond him, but it hardly mattered. It fell to Theo to increase his willpower so he could trap this god in a bubble of his own realm.

“But how does one trap a god?” Theo asked, watching as the skeletons shambled toward him.

Theo thought back to the time he teleported himself to the moon. There were many things that had to fall into place for that to happen. Uharis had already opened a trail for him to follow with the spell he had cast. The alchemist had a deep connection with both the Burning Eye and Sulvan. Both Uharis and Sulvan were ascendant candidates, which lit their souls up like beacons in the mortal plane. He was almost certain he had no connection with this new god, unless it was a piece of the burning eye.

A field of skeletons came under Theo’s control as he rolled through the list of suspects. When that provided no answer, he backed his line of thinking up. Thrones were a metaphysical representation of a concept. The system often talked about meta aspects regarding how close they were to the system itself. Khahar sat atop the Throne of the Arbiter, which granted him absolute domain over the heavens. Fenian had claimed the Throne of the Herald, which should have given him domain over the mortal world.

“Why hasn’t Fenian acted?” Theo asked himself, tapping his chin.

Fenian’s powers as the Herald could have been stunted. But that didn’t sound like Fenian at all. For the first time in a long time, Theo’s thoughts went back to the Harbinger. That was the name his people back on Earth gave the entity, and he doubted it was the thing’s true name. The bird-like creature had seen him at the last moments of his life on Earth, ushering souls from that doomed planet to their new home.

Theo snapped his fingers. He was almost certain of the answer. If Khahar couldn’t stop the god on the mortal plane because he couldn’t come down, that made sense. But Fenian should have domain over the problem. This wasn’t a god from this world. If the Harbinger could move between dimensions, or across space, or whatever, another being could too. Which led to more problems. Would the alchemist’s domain be enough to stop something that wasn’t playing by the rules?

“I’m overthinking this,” Theo said, rubbing his face. “Khahar said I could stop him with my domain, so I can stop him. Stop second-guessing yourself, Theo.”

Another field of skeletons appeared. Theo flushed his concerns out of his mind, getting back to work. His progress on dominating the undead tapered off through the night, but he was still making progress. By the time dawn came, his progress was stifled completely. He couldn’t stuff enough undead creatures in the circle of his potion to progress. This cheat had resulted in a willpower that increased so great, it was hard to measure. It was like comparing someone at Level 1 to someone at Level 100. There was no metric to compare them.

Tresk pulled them out of the Dreamwalk, scampering down the stairs the way she always did. Sarisa had prepared some oil-fried pounded steaks with Pozwa eggs for breakfast. Theo enjoyed that far more than the fish, but he wouldn’t say so to his guard’s face. Her cooking was getting good enough where he suspected she had taken a core for the task.

To Theo’s surprise, Ziz’s proposal to divert the river had been submitted and approved with ease. Alise had a lot of notes in the proposal, but her concerns for the River Dungeon were great. There was also a request from Gronro for more faux coins and Hallow the Soil potion, although he also reported that it was easier to remove the corruption now. Things were looking up for the reclamation project, but the alchemist had fears that Tarantham would stick their noses into it. Considering what the Wanderer did to Vesta, he was certain they wouldn’t be forgiving.

After finishing breakfast, Theo stopped in at the Newt and Demon to check in on Salire. She needed some help with mixing the Hallow the Soil potion, but only took up an hour of his time. The construction project could wait, as Ziz had to get all his stuff together before they could do anything.

Theo approached the river, placing his hands on his hips as he studied its span. He checked his inventory, making sure he had plenty of Mana Potions to do the job. It wouldn’t be easy carving another canal out, but it had to be done. Sarisa and Rowan lurked nearby as he walked some of the river. It didn’t take him long to decide to divert the river to the far side, instead of the near side. The alchemist crossed the bridge, then inspected the wall around the harbor.

“This looks good,” Theo said.

The harbor had been carved out, extending the river itself in either direction. If Ziz dammed the river before the River Dungeon, Theo could divert the flow of water from that point straight into the harbor. If they did it all at once, the water levels wouldn’t even drop. The workers were assembling on the side of the river closest to the town. The alchemist headed over to check in, finding Ziz ordering his people around.

“Almost ready to start?” Ziz asked.

“I have some questions about the canal I’m digging,” Theo said, gesturing to the far side of the river. “Is it possible to connect it to the harbor on that side?”

“Yup. We need to knock out some stones for that to work, but that’s not a problem. It just won’t look as fancy under the drydock.”

“So long as we add stone reinforcements for erosion.”

“Absolutely. You know, the workers are eager to see your new core at work,” Ziz said with a wink.

Theo smiled politely. “It’s less of my core they should be impressed with and more my willpower.”

“Hey, whatever it is, they’ll be impressed. Let me get things ready before you carve.”

Theo watched as Ziz assembled his people. While he waited, the alchemist visualized how he was going to do this. Carving something that was the exact width of the existing river might be too hard. He didn’t know if he could make up for that with depth, but he doubted it. Instead, he planned on chugging Mana Potions back-to-back until the job was done. After another fifteen minutes of waiting, the workers were ready to spring into action. 

Ziz walked with him to the far side of the bridge, tracing a path with his finger. “Take it from there, right before the dungeon. Leave me about five ogres worth of space to work.”

“Are we measuring things in ogres?”

“Doesn’t everyone?”

Theo gave Ziz a flat look. Even the stonemason used halms when he could. “Anything else?”

“Make sure we get an angle that doesn’t create too much turbulence against my dam. And don’t carve from the river, do it about two ogres away. We’ll dam it and cut the connecting section at the same time.”

“Understood, boss,” Theo said, laughing as he turned to the rolling fields before him. They were mostly flat, which made his job easy. Only the area near the harbor was hilly enough to be concerned.

The alchemist reached out with his core, painting a section half the river’s width wide and about four ogres long. He dug into the earth, gripping it with his willpower as he heaved. Mana drained away from him by the moment, ticking off in his vision like a countdown timer. Theo forced the earth upward, carving a perfectly rectangular shape. He lifted the mass of dirt and stone high into the air, pushing it clear of the hole and allowing it to drop with a thunderous thud. The workers went wild, cheering and pumping their fists in the air.

“That was a lot of dirt,” Ziz said, patting Theo on the shoulder. “Do you need a chair? Maybe a cold beverage?”

Theo laughed, chugging a Mana Potion. He reached out, digging an equal-sized chunk of the landscape out. He dropped this mound of dirt on the other, creating a massive hill. “I only drink Newt and Demon brand Mana Potions,” he said, withdrawing another from his inventory. He gave a cheesy smile and a wink. “Available for purchase now at all retail locations.”

“Are you drunk already?” Ziz asked, laughing. “Damn, boys. Bring out the beer!”

Theo realized quickly how good this was for his willpower. Scooping the dirt out and holding there was arduous. Even with his Coat of Rake on, he was sweating by the second scoop. But he was egged on, inspired to go faster and harder by the cheers of the workers. They had created a system to reinforce the oddly square river offshoot with timber supports. But despite his speed, it took the alchemist more than half the day to carve everything out. With his stamina flagging, he chugged a Stamina Potion for the first time in a long time.

“Let’s go!” Theo shouted, hoisting the last section of the offshoot out of the ground. The potion made him feel as though had just ingested a year’s worth of coffee in one sitting.

Ziz’s workers had jumped into the harbor, knocking out a section of the wall to allow water to spill in. The result was a backflow effect, temporarily lowering the level of the harbor to dangerous levels. Once the river was connected to the harbor, Theo went back to the place where he started.

“Ready to drop a dam?” Theo asked.

“Let me know when you’re ready,” Ziz said with a nod. He intended to use his new skill to produce a pre-made dam. The skill allowed him to move prefabricated structures as though they weighed nothing. But the skill only lasted a few seconds.

“Let’s go,” Theo said, reaching out with his core. The moment he seized the section of earth, Ziz produced a stone dam from his inventory. The half-ogre placed it downriver from where the alchemist’s offshoot was. While the dirt lifted, the dam went in.

Ziz, Theo, and the workers all leaned in, watching as water rushed into the new river, draining from the old one. The new river was a churn of froth and dirt that calmed down with time. Watching Ziz’s people get to work was inspiring. They set up artifice pumps to draw water from the river, spraying it over the river dungeon. As long as they exploited the behavior of the dungeon, everything would be fine. That’s what Xol’sa said anyway.

“This is slightly more complicated,” Ziz said with a chuckle. “We need to get this structure built in about… What did he say? An hour? Yeah, no problem.”

Theo swallowed hard, looking down into the river. The pile of stones below was the River Dungeon. A place he had never seen in person. It was nestled on the muddy bottom of the river, its shimmering portal now visible. He watched as the construction effort began.