The Newt and Demon - Book 6 Chapters 10,11,12 (Patreon)

Chapter 10

Potent Poisons

Theo walked through the swamp with Sarisa and Rowan for the remainder of that day. Something he learned about this area was the expansiveness of it. The swamp behind Broken Tusk went on for miles. While the mountains in all directions but east were visible from Xol’sa’s towers, approaching them was another matter. The group fell through the wizard’s portal after an uneventful day, removing layers of mud with Cleansing Scrub.

“I’m not cooking,” Sarisa said, flicking her hands through the air. No mud clung to her skin, but it didn’t stop her from acting like she was still caked in the putrid mix. “I’ll grab something from Xam.”

Rowan wasn’t in a talking mood, giving Theo time to plot his next move. There was much testing to be done, and even more scouting of the swamp. He considered contracting the adventurers in town to search the swamp, but that would end poorly. Over-excited half-ogres would pluck the reagents from the ground, blowing themselves up. It was a problem for another time. The Dreamwalk was where he focused his attention.

Sarisa returned some time later with karatan steaks and poached pozwa eggs. Theo chatted with both Tresk and Alex about their day, finding the pair to be more inseparable by the day. When he scanned the marshling’s memories, he found more than a few strange dreams she had visited. Without informing anyone, she was searching the globe and making a list of people she was interested in. That included people she thought would move against them, and others that sought to stop the burgeoning nation.

“Then there’s the cultists,” Tresk said, punctuating the thought by stabbing her fork through the air. “We should get working on the commune before they get here.”

Theo flicked through Tresk’s memories, finding dreams from cultists dedicated to Tero’gal. Unfortunately, they were a doomsday cult. The worst kind of cult.

“This might have been information I could have used earlier.” Theo’s tone was flat.

“Meh. They’re dreams. I can’t tell if anyone is sailing for Broken Tusk or if they’re just dreaming about it. But… Hooray! We have cultists!”

“Hooray cults!” Theo said, almost involuntary. He tried not to be grumpy when things took a turn sideways.

Dinner was excellent. Theo found that his appetite was greatly increased after trudging through the swamp. He was more than a little eager to get into the Dreamwalk to test his theory about exploiting the system. Something deep inside him said it was too much of a stretch for the pseudo realm. But he had to try.

Theo, Tresk, and Alex slipped into the Dreamwalk with no issues. When the alchemist turned, intending to start his experimentation, the marshling stopped him.

“Check out my new trick,” she said, gesturing to the sky.

A shimmering image appeared in the blue sky above. They had landed just outside of an imagined Broken Tusk. The river rushed by and clouds crawled a lazy path above. Theo watched as the image shifted, projecting someone’s dreams. It was in the first-person, but depicted someone on a ship. He didn’t recognize the coastline, but the ship moved at a decent clip.

“That’s one of the cult guys. I don’t know how that works, but they’re feeling your plan.”

Theo grumbled. “What good is a secret plan if everyone knows about the secret plan?”

“Not everyone. Just a few… enthusiastic folks.”

“Speaking of your plan… Can you do it?”

Theo turned, smiling at the goose. He blinked a few times. When had she grown so large? The goose had grown from the size of a small donkey to the size of a horse. How the hell was she fitting into the manor, let alone any other buildings. He cleared his throat, pushing the thought aside.

“I can take us away from the mortal realm right now. All three of us, and maybe a few others. But there’s a missing piece. An anchor.”

“Those damned space elves, huh?” Tresk grumbled. “Why is it always the elves?”

Theo’s plan had been formulated long ago. Only when he heard of the heisted world crystals did he realize what he needed to make that plan work. He suspected those shards were the things that he could use to bind his will to. Like the lodestones he used to control his golems, they were anchor points. Once those were in place, each part of his plan would come together. The core from Zaul, his enhanced willpower, and his connection to Tero’gal would allow him to keep a piece of this life he had come to love. Perhaps he could even clone a part of the system…

Theo cleared his throat. “Does Emperor Kuzan dream?”

Tresk flicked her hand through the air. A dark miasma appeared in the sky. “Home boy knows how to shield his mind from me.”

“If only someone could enter his dreams,” Theo said with a wink.

“Yeah, any luck finding the Dreamwalker’s Throne?”

“I’m almost certain the space elves took it. Or it was cast into the void. I can feel it calling to me, but that’s it. The thread that connects me to it is intense. Which means the thing is distant.”

“So, the void. Sweet. I don’t like the void.”

Theo swiped his hand, shifting the scene. The group floated in his interpretation of the void. The Bridge and a wall of ribbons lingered far in the distance. “We don’t see it the same way.”

“We sure as hell don’t.” Tresk spat, watching as a globule of spit sailed into the distance. “Where are the elves?”

Theo shrugged. He didn’t know. He changed the scene to represent the threads that connected him to various things. The red lines were thick in the void, heading off in every direction.

“That’s a problem.”

“Yep.”

When the discussion about the void and the implications it brought came to an end, the group returned to the imagined Broken Tusk. Tresk was done floating in the void, and Alex hated it from the start. The marshling mounted the goose and soared away, leaving the alchemist to his testing.

The first test was to imagine other reagents he had discovered as their enhanced versions. As expected, the Dreamwalk couldn’t support the concept and bucked around him. Just to be sure, he imagined the Spiny Swamp Thistle Root he had discovered. It appeared without issue and with more testing, he could even imagine the Elixir of Life. The Dreamwalk might have been fast and loose with the rules in the past, but this was a brick wall. The system wasn’t happy that Theo was probing those edges, biting back whenever he did so.

The alchemist split his attention between two things. He started a long row of stills working on more Elixirs of Life before seeking to expand his willpower even further. He had reached a limit as to how many undead he could wrap with his Hallow Ground potion. But a combination of factors had expanded that domain. He held a Greater Hallow Ground Potion in his hand and focused his Zaul core.

Theo laughed as he imbued the potion with the Spirit Weaving skill.

“Zaul handed me an exploit. I should have seen this sooner…”

The Hallow Ground potion imbued with the Embolden effect allowed Theo to increase his willpower by overcoming the will of imagined undead creatures. The issue was that he needed more undead to push his willpower further. The effect on the Spirit Weaving skill was to imbue any item, ability, skill, and so on with his willpower. For the Greater Hallow Ground potion he held, that meant he could increase the radius. It was a feedback loop. He inspected the Spiritwoven potion in his hand.

[Greater Hallow Ground Potion]

[Embolden]

[Potion] [Modified Potion] [Spiritwoven Potion]

Legendary

Created by: Theo Spencer

Alignment:

Drogramath (Minor Bond)

Grade: Excellent Quality

Drink to create a zone of denial.

Effect:

Imbiber creates a two-hundred pace circle around themselves with the [Emboldened Hallow Ground] effect. The imbiber must overpower the will of each undead, in succession. Failure to overpower will result in the user’s mind joining the undead’s collective. Success will put those undead affected under the user’s control.

Spiritweave effect:

Increases the range and effectiveness of this potion.

The potion had jumped from fifty paces to two-hundred paces. Now the real test began. Theo imagined a tide of undead, quaffing the potion and dominating each undead. While the first try failed, he worked himself up to the entirety of the two-hundred pace circle of silver magic. This took about half the night to accomplish. The alchemist took breaks by brewing elixirs, returning to his willpower exploit when he felt rested.

“Show me something good,” Theo said. He imagined the cooldown on his skill to be reset, then imbued another Greater Hallow Ground Potion. The radius had increased from two-hundred to three-hundred. He had increased his willpower by infusing a potion using his willpower. “Someone is going to come yelling at me for this…”

By the end of the Dreamwalk, Theo had raised the distance to three-hundred-fifty. Even without leaving the gated realm, he could feel his overwhelming willpower. Tresk dropped them into the mortal realm, and he couldn’t help but flex. His aura spread over the immediate area, covering most of the southern side of Broken Tusk. He could feel all the people and magical things within his domain and was confident he could drag them through the void.

“What haunting power you have, sir,” Tresk said, bowing her head. “Please don’t go all evil on us.”

“No guarantees,” Theo said, throwing his covers off and jumping to his feet. He sent his senses out, probing the army of golems. There were thirty working in town now, but he was confident he could raise that to fifty without straining himself. His thoughts locked onto those working north of Gronro-Dir and he had never seen them so clearly. Even through the realms, he could feel Tero’gal swell with power.

“One has to wonder if this was the plan,” Tresk said, tapping her chin. “Oh well! Food time!”

Theo jogged down the stairs to get his breakfast. Tresk just shadow-jumped from the top to the bottom, eating her food so quickly that Sarisa didn’t notice she was there to begin with. The alchemist sat, thanking his guardian for the meal before digging in.

“Are we going back to the swamp this morning?” Sarisa asked, her tone completely flat. She plopped down into a seat, sighing.

“No. I’ll create a golem army first.”

“Yay. Authoritarian golem army,” Rowan said.

Once breakfast was done, Theo made good on his word. He created the necessary constructs, containment cores, and piles of metal required for a small golem army. He considered asking Zarali for lodestones, but realized he didn’t need them. His willpower had become vast enough that the nearby golems didn’t need it. With some effort, the army of twenty golems rose in flames. That drew some attention from those passing by, but Theo just smiled at them. He spread his willpower of the group and issued them a series of commands.

“Off we go,” Theo said, following behind the army.

“What’s going on?” Salire asked, jogging out from the Newt and Demon. “By Drogramath’s shiny baubles… Are you going to war?”

“Are you picking up Drogramath-themed idioms?” Theo asked, looking back to smile at his apprentice. He could barely feel the strain of so many golems on his willpower. “No. Not war. Just prevention.”

Theo’s plan was to insert the golems into Qavell. Not to suppress the people there, but protect them. Maybe that’s what all dictators said, but most Earth-based despots didn’t have weird morphing creatures to deal with. The troupe marched along the coast, passing through the harbor to reach the causeway. The alchemist guided them up the ramp that had been built and into the city. The guards near the entrance gave him a look, but could do nothing to stop him.

“If you could just tell us what you’re doing, archduke,” one guard said, jogging up alongside the procession. “Maybe I won’t get thrown into the sea for letting an army in.”

Theo smiled at the flustered guard. “They’re going to defend the people here. And keep an eye on… the king.”

“Right… uh… okay.”

Salire followed Theo all the way to the palace. He had given orders to certain golems to patrol the city. And they could do so forever, so long as Throk’s generators didn’t break. The group approached the palace. One golem threw open the door and marched in. King Hanan shot to his feet, producing a sword from nowhere and lunging at the first metal golem. The sword scraped against the golem’s skin harmlessly.

“Calm down, king,” Theo said. “I’ve got some guards for you.”

“For me?” Hanan asked. The advisor that he was talking to had already fled. “How… kind? Is this kind? Are you going to kill me?”

“Of course not. I’m assigning two golems to watch you, two to patrol the palace, and one to remain in the control room. There’s another fifteen patrolling the streets. Just in case, you know?”

“Just in case,” Hanan repeated, wiping his brow.

“I’m going to check on the kingdom core. Oh! Have you met my apprentice?” Theo said, gesturing to Salire behind him. “She’s quite good.”

Salire blushed, bowing to the king.

“Oh, I’m quite certain I haven’t,” the king said, slicking back his hair.

Theo pressed forward as Salire stammered. Maybe she was taken aback by the king’s grace, or just nervous about talking to a leader. Whatever the case, it gave him a chance to inspect the kingdom core. He marched with two golems, feeling that both Sarisa and Rowan were near. They delved into the depths of the city, arriving at the ritual room before long. The wards held firm, but dark energy still radiated from the corrupted core.

“What do you suppose that means?” Theo asked, passing through his shimmering ward to inspect the core closer. His golems, Sarisa, and Rowen remained outside.

“What exactly do you mean?” Rowan shouted from afar.

Theo gestured the half-ogres closer, and they came. They got a good look at the core’s monolith, but retreated. The alchemist gave them a flat look, clicking his tongue. Moments later, the pair were skittering back, jaws clenched as they passed through the shimmering barrier.

“Did it look like that before?” Rowan asked. He spoke as though he was holding his breath.

Theo traced his finger along the length of the monolith. The dark energy remained, but there was something strange. Purple striations had spread through the corruption, cutting it in places. The alchemist stepped back as a Wisdom of the Soul message popped up.

“Oh, yeah. I think you’re right… Seems like my Venom potion is more potent than I thought.”

Chapter 11

Spheres

Xol’sa stooped low, almost pressing his face against Qavell’s monolith. The king stood beyond the barrier, shooting furtive glances at all those gathered. The wizard moved his hands through the air, controlling a series of floating arcane runes. Theo had summoned both Zarali and Xol’sa to check things out, but it became clear this was a problem for a healer. After that, both Bilgrob and Sulvan came to lend a hand.

“One thing is clear to me,” Xol’sa said, snapping his fingers to dismiss his arcane arrays. “Tresk infected the entire city.”

“Nonsense,” Sulvan grunted. “Poison effects cannot transfer to core buildings.”

“Yet here we are.” BIlgrob had to crawl to get into the room, and crouched as he inspected the monolith. “Allow me to cast Spit’s magic. I’ll clear it in moments.”

“I’m not interested in another plague of frogs,” Theo said. “No offense.”

Bilgrob shrugged.

The group assembled to study the strange development on the monolith came up with nothing. It became a curiosity, more than anything. But whatever that thing was doing, it was weakening the magic’s hold on Qavell’s core. Soon, the king would have control of his city once again. Once that was cleared up, he would decide what to do with the alliance. Theo hoped for vassalship, but full membership into the Southlands Alliance would be fine. So long as he could hold Qavell close in the coming month, he wouldn’t mind.

As with all things that went weird, Theo had to write a report and submit it to the administration team. They couldn’t do anything about it, but he was already impressed with the way Alise had handled the situation. Everyone within the city was fed and watered. Some had even descended from Qavell, coming down to investigate their new home. Others remained in their homes, weapons in hand as they expected an attack at any moment. Given time, they would come out of it.

“Welp,” Theo said, clapping his hands. “I’m off to the swamp.”

Theo turned, leaving the horrid place and preparing to use his Tero’gal Dreampassage ability. He felt a tug at his elbow and turned to find Zarali with an expectant smile. Without a word, he wrapped his will around her and brought her along. He went directly for the Bridge, fearing the effects of the void on the dronon woman. With a nod of approval from the keeper of that bridge, he set foot in his private realm. It was night time and four moons were visible in the sky. The shone bright enough to cast the landscape in a light greater than one moon could ever do.

“Oh! Night time?” Zarali asked. She yelped when Belgar knocked her over, leaping at his sister and hugging her tightly.

Theo turned away from the siblings, heading for the cottage. He spotted a few archways and chuckled to himself. He checked in with Drogramath and Glantheir, who were chatting in the cottage before sorting out the new souls. There was one he thought he recognized, but it couldn’t remember who it was. A few souls became a few hundred. As the alchemist sorted through the twenty spirits waiting, more appeared and got in line.

There were no recent world events, so he couldn’t be sure why they had come. With a shrug, he went through each of them for a brief interview. Perhaps it was his enhanced willpower, or his increasing Wisdom, but he had a good read on all of them. This time there were ten rejections, compared to 300-some souls accepted. The ground beneath his feet rumbled as he accepted them. Tero’gal grew in strength, reaching level 37 and offering a new upgrade.

Theo thumbed through the list of upgrades, finding nothing interesting at first. He had spent a lot of upgrade points on things that would protect the realm. But other upgrades made life better for the spirits within the realm. He spotted one that stuck out to him, although the name was silly. The alchemist inspected it, intent on taking this as his newest upgrade.

[Sphere]

Your realm is now a planetoid! Your pocket dimension now has a proper atmosphere and space around it emulating the real world! Grow your realm strong enough, and the ‘space’ will become more real.

This wasn’t a big upgrade for the realm, but it would allow him to keep with the theme of making Tero’gal a “real world” rather than a manufactured one. The upgrades that allowed him to make the realm more like the real world were the most appealing, so he was happy to take it. After accepting the upgrade, he inspected the realm.

[Tero’Gal]

Mortal Dreamrealm

Owners: Theo Spencer, Tresk

Faction: Unaffiliated

Level: 37

Souls: 582

Expansions:

[Harvesting Array]

[Defensive Towers]

[Landscape Manipulation]

[Guardians of Faith]

[Bubble]

[Simulated Reality]

[Sphere]

Pending Requests: 0

A few more souls wouldn’t hurt the realm, but he got the impression that the ones he accepted today were from Veosta. It must have taken them a bit to work their way into the void where they could be reincarnated in a realm. Theo was surprised they hadn’t gone to an elven realm, but that was fine. Maybe they were part of the doomsday cult.

All the potion making, golem construction, and general tomfoolery had brought Theo’s herbalist and alchemy cores to Level 31. That had also brought his personal level to 31, allowing him to place another point into Wisdom. He had balanced his other attributes out enough that he could dump everything into Wisdom. Intelligence was the next option, but the cold logic that came with that attribute wasn’t appealing. Not without an Intelligence of the Soul potion. And he couldn’t take another one of those.

Instead, he headed to the cottage for some tea. As he walked the dirt streets, he spotted an archway he didn’t recognize. It had sprung up while he was working with the souls, alongside the other usual guests of the realm. Theo entered the building, finding the owner of that gate. An elderly human sat with his hands on his lap. He was bald-headed and had a long white beard. The alchemist narrowed his eyes on the man and took a seat.

“I don’t believe we’ve met,” Theo said, nodding at the interloper.

“Indeed we haven’t. Ulvuqor. Knowledge,” he said, inclining his head toward Theo.

“You’re a human.”

“Hah! Uz’Xulven said, cackling. “Didn’t take him long, did it?”

“Not long at all,” Drogramath quipped.

“Go on and ask how old Ulvuqor is, Theo. I dare you,” Uz’Xulven said, elbowing him in the ribs.

“How old are you?”

“I’ve existed since—”

“Time immemorial!” Uz’Xulven mocked. “Seeking the knowledge and power of the ages! OoooOoooOoo!”

Each guest at the table laughed. Except Glantheir, who gave a pained look at the human. Once the laughing died down, the elven god of healing smiled at Ulvuqor. “Don’t let them get to you.”

“I really am a time mage. Or I was,” Ulvuqor said, fidgeting with his robes. “Until I ascended.”

“See, it doesn’t make sense. Does it?” Uz’Xulven said. “Humans can’t ascend. I haven’t seen one, anyway. They would have to be extremely powerful.”

“I am powerful,” Ulvuqor said, folding his arms. “More powerful than you, shadow witch.”

Uz’Xulven snorted, choking on her tea. “Shadow witch!” She cackled some more.

Theo jerked his head, beckoning for the newcomer to follow along. The human stood, straightening his robes before following along. Once they were away from the cackling group, they could hear each other speak.

“I’ve heard of you,” Theo said. He searched his memory for only a moment. “Popular with scholarly cults, right?”

“That’s right,” Ulvuqor said, brightening up. “Although the other gods don’t want to accept me… I’m here.”

“So, you were a time wizard?”

“Something like that. This is a complicated topic and… Secrets, you know.”

Theo had a strange sense of familiarity with the man. He believed that he was a time mage, but didn’t know what that meant. Had this dude been sending himself through time to do stuff? What kind of stuff did he do and why did that feel so important right now? More hints from his wisdom, maybe.

“When were you born?” Theo asked.

“Does it matter?” Ulvuqor asked, punching Theo playfully in the arm. “I’m here now. At least, I think I am. Yes, I most certainly am.”

Theo placed an arm on the god’s shoulder, feigning a friendly gesture. It wasn’t as though he didn’t trust the man, but that little nagging feeling in the back of his mind wouldn’t go away. Wrapped in the willpower of Tero’gal, it was easy enough to probe Ulvuqor. The alchemist resisted narrowing his eyes as he felt the essence of his soul. It was a blood-stained soul, but not in the way that he had killed many people. More that it was attuned to blood. Fueled by it, maybe.

The god offered him a sly grin. “Don’t go searching if you don’t want to find the answer.”

“Do I want to know what that means?”

“You’ll get it soon enough, Dreamwalker. Time has a way of coming back on us.” Ulvuqor held his hand out, producing the image of a familiar planet. Earth. “What do you think led to the destruction of this world?”

Unique phrasing. Theo cleared his throat. “An expanding sun.”

“Oh, you’re so literal. Knowledge, you see, is my domain now. The fall of that universe is a twisted tale.”

“Khahar isn’t shutting you up,” Theo said, looking over his shoulder.

“You people need to learn how to dance around the truth. Have you read the new rules? I didn’t think so.” Ulvuqor scoffed. “Unknown truths are forbidden, but unknown omissions? That’s the sort of gray area I like to operate in.”

“How about this?” Theo asked, allowing his aura to spread over himself and the god. In a blink, they were standing atop a mountain range far from the cottage. “What happened to Earth?”

“Oh, this is Zaul’s core, isn’t it? Let’s test it. The man who saved Earth the first time was named Mark Pritchard.” Nothing happened. “Interesting.”

“So, you were a time mage. Is that how you ascended?”

“Yes, of course. I mastered my magic after the Second War of Ascension and made a loop after going back to the first war. That gave me the strength to force my way into the pantheon.”

“Well, that’s fun. What happened on Earth? Did that Mark guy do something to the sun?”

Ulvuqor chuckled to himself, picking a stone from the ground and tossing it over the mountain’s edge. He watched as it tumbled down, gathering speed as it went. “I only caught glimpses of him. The magic I used was powerful enough to break through. Back to Old Earth, but not enough to see anything before 2060. There was a fight between those things. You know the ones I’m talking about.”

Theo wished he didn’t know. Ulvuqor was talking about the bird-like people that the Harbinger hailed from. If they were fighting on Earth, what the hell did that mean?

“We’re almost certain we’re dealing with one of them.”

“The problem goes deeper than you think. This creature has been dead for untold eons. Yet it lingers. Outside of our system, and whatever system manages the creatures themselves. Good luck purging them. I don’t envy the task ahead of you, future Dreamwalker.”

“Have you seen the future?” Theo asked. It was the only thing he could think of.

“Maybe. Some knowledge is outside of my grasp. I’ll say that you should use your fancy potions and proto dream realm as much as possible. Before someone gets mad and patches it.”

Theo realized that the wizard-god was being stingy with information on purpose. As if to add insult to that thought, he vanished before the alchemist could ask another question. He let out a heavy sigh and shrugged. Nothing he learned on that mountain would tip the scales for the coming hardship. The failsafes represented by the Thrones of Power would have to be enough to see them through. As Ulvuqor vanished, Theo was left with his thoughts. He fell backwards on that mountain, passing into the void rather than slamming against the hard stone.

Drifting through the void could be disorientating if one wasn’t used to it. Theo allowed himself to drift for untold time, tracing a path along the ribbon of the Prime Pantheon. He saw the demon realms somewhere in the distance, only glancing at them before moving along. As expected, he felt parts of himself breaking away the further he got from the mortal plane. He increased his speed, heading to the outer edges of the two most powerful pantheons. The ribbon here was coiled, containing a line of minor realms that seemed uncountable. Beyond that was only darkness, and he turned back before the last of ‘him’ broke away.

Theo descended to the mortal realm, unsure of this information. The moment his feet touched the ground, he headed out from the ritual chamber in Qavell. Those inclined to practice magic were still studying the effects of his Venom potion, but he had a decent idea of what had happened. Tresk stabbed the Worldbreaker with the poison. It had been enhanced beyond what it should have been designed for. The Venom potion now ran through the Worldbreaker’s spirit, however scattered it was.

“Talk about a nasty potion,” Theo said, passing by the king and his attendants. “Wanna get wet and wild, Hanan?”

“What?”

“I’m going to dig through the mud in the swamp. Wanna come?”

“No? Why would I do that?”

“Suit yourself. Remain in your tomb.”

The king shot nervous glances at his attendant. There was something in Hanan that didn’t trust anyone from the city, and Theo couldn’t blame him. A moment later, he ran to catch up with the alchemist. On second look, he decided that Hanan didn’t look as bad as he expected. A playful smile tugged at the corner of his lips.

“We’re grateful, you know,” Hanan said. “For what Broken Tusk did.”

“Glantheir would have castrated me if I didn’t save you guys.”

“You can’t be serious. He wouldn’t have stopped you if you shot us down. Don’t underestimate your kindness.”

“Ah, maybe you’re right,” Theo said, turning to wink at the king. “Your dad was always my biggest worry. Turns out, he was another person’s rival.”

“Are you certain he’s dead?”

Theo was absolutely sure that Karasan was ‘alive’ but it was hard to define life in this world. If a person died, their soul went to the void. But the former king had died in Balkor’s realm. He didn’t know what it meant for a mortal to die in a realm, or what would happen to their soul. More than likely, Karasan was being kept by the necromantic god.

“I’m certain,” Theo lied. “Now take those robes off. We’re heading to the swamp.”

“Really?” Sarisa said, coming from the shadows swift enough to make Hanan yelp.

“A king and archduke in the swamp. I can’t wait,” Rowan said, rubbing his hands together.

Chapter 12

Zero Percent Goblin

Hanan didn’t care for the swamp. At every step it sucked at his fancy boots. Sticks poking from the mud would grab at his robes. He really should have taken the gilded robes off. They didn’t look nearly as good covered in mud. The king even lost his breakfast when they traveled through Xol’sa’s portal. But that was a rite of passage.

“How do you people live here?” Hanan complained.

“With a lot of Cleansing Scrub,” Sarisa said, smacking a small snapper on the head. It skittered away, grunting as it went.

“I can see the advantage of such a place, though. Look at those mountains.” Hanan was awestruck by the size of those mountains. Since Qavell was on an open plane before it took to the skies, such defensive structures would have been impressive.

The group trudged through the mud, finding their way to the rocky outcrops on the swamp’s edge. The walk took brutalizing hours to reach the nearest shore. Theo cleaned everyone up with some Cleansing Scrub, banishing away the mud. That brought Hanan’s spirits even higher, putting a goofy smile on his regal face.

“Touch nothing,” Sarisa warned. “Or you’ll explode.”

Theo searched the bank’s edge first, kicking over stones to find insects scuttling away. Stone flowers grew in this area, marking the section half-way from the bank to a scree. He was surprised to see the flowers didn’t care for the loose stone, preferring to grow on solid ground. Most of the samples he had found were in areas of intense concentration of earth magic. There were also Water Lilies along in the mud, and even Swamp Onions.

“This is an excellent spot.” Theo knelt, inspecting the first few samples. None were up to the standard of a fourth tier potion, but they were far more potent than the examples he had in his greenhouses. “How are your people doing, Hanan?”

“Your golems have frightened them,” Hanan said, pouting. “They’re fine. They’ll be fine, given enough time.”

“I hope so.”

It took Theo about an hour to find a few samples he was happy with. During that time, Hanan was eager to chat about different things. That’s when the alchemist’s plan was completed. It wasn’t complicated, but the king had to get out of his city. Picking through the mud wasn’t exciting, but it wasn’t the same cursed city he had been trapped in for so long. After this, he could go see other parts of the alliance.

“Throk has been working on something,” Theo said, placing the fine example of a Water Lily in his inventory. “We’ll connect with the north soon enough. Although I’m not sure there’s much to see.”

“He’s already got a length of track set on the mountain pass,” Rowan said, pulling at something on his finger.

Theo looked closer, finding that the half-ogre had an ogre snapper stuck to his finger. It wouldn’t come off no matter how hard he yanked, so he left it there.

“Good to hear,” Theo said. He couldn’t stop staring at the small turtle. “As I expected, there were a few decent samples of Water Lily out this far. If the north hadn’t been destroyed, it would have been a trove of reagents.”

“Alas, it is destroyed,” Hanan sighed. “Can we leave this damnable place, now?”

“Sure. You should stop by for dinner, though.”

“Are you serving mud?”

Sarisa scoffed. “No. We don’t eat mud.”

“I eat mud sometimes,” Rowan shrugged.

Everyone glared at him. The half-ogre just shook his hand, trying to dislodge the snapper.

Theo was happy to see Hanan head off and investigate the town some more. The alchemist made his way to the Newt and Demon. Salire would be happy to see some more powerful reagents. More than anything, he wanted to see another potion that gave him free attributes. His trips into the swamp would become more frequent, and he had plans to hit every area he could think of. Including the underground that had been so neglected.

“Ah! Finally,” Salire said, bounding down the stairs after the bell rang. “I have something to show you.”

Theo gestured up the stairs. “After you.”

She had more bounce in her step than normal. Theo thought he was excited to show her the new reagent, but the half-ogre woman had something bubbling up within her that couldn’t be contained. When they reached the landing of the third floor, she gestured to the lab and smiled at him.

It took Theo longer than he would care to admit finding what she was showing. A tiny version of the 500 unit alchemy stills sat on a metal stand. Four duplicates sat in a row, all with the advanced vapor pressurization artifices created by Throk. In a flash, he realized what her plan was.

“Small batch stills?” Theo asked, unable to suppress a smile. Each was made of Drogramathi Iron and was an example of Throk’s expert craftsmanship.

“Exactly! I’m certain we’re ruining your fancy new reagents when we put them in the big stills. But wait! There’s more!” Salire danced from one side of the lab to the other. She slapped her hand on a large metal box. “A cold box!”

“Temperature control for the new brewing method?” Theo asked, inspecting the dials on the box’s front panel. “Excellent.”

“This is when I ask if you found more of the fancy reagents,” Salire said. The smile just wouldn’t leave her face.

Theo produced a large sample of the Water Lily. The difference between the lily and the Spiny Swamp Thistle was that the flowers would grow back. It might take time, but he could harvest them again to make whatever potion he needed. Fourth tier potions really were something else, and represented the combination of each property on a reagent. He was excited to see what the Wisdom-based reagent produced.

Before proceeding to the distillation phase, Theo found a normal sample of the Water Lily reagent in a create. He decomposed it, revealing the other two properties. He had neglected these reagents for a while, as he preferred to use them for their property that increased attributes. Two samples went up in gouts of smoke, revealing the other properties. The properties were Soothsayer and Intuition. The alchemist had his own intuition about what those properties were. As with all things related to Wisdom, it had to do with predicting things before it happened.

Theo approached one new still, estimating the size to be about ten units. Although he only had enough of the flower to do a batch three units in size, Salire had done well. It needed breathing room to condense the vapor. He inspected the artifices on the side, finding that they were more impressive than anything Throk had made before. Integrating the heating elements throughout the still was impressive. He took care to grind the reagents, adding enchanted water before starting the still.

“The distillation time should be reduced. Significantly,” Salire said, withdrawing her notes. “Oh, did I tell you I found a trader to sell me an artifice? It can make books!”

“Really? Can we finally make books?” Theo asked.

“Yep. I gave it a few test runs,” Salire said, looking up from her pages and winking. “It’s awesome.”

Theo chatted with Salire while the new still worked. He studied the heating phases, following what they had done the last time. The smaller artifice made it much easier to control the heat. The alchemist used his intuition to adjust it as they went, lowering or raising it when the essence it produced seemed off. While the batch produced little essence, the stuff that came out felt potent. Focusing on a property had some meaning for the fourth tier of potion craft, but not as much as normal potions.

“Here are some vials,” Salire said, steering clear of the essence. They both knew how volatile the contents of the flask would be. “I’ll just stand here…”

Theo performed the reaction for four vials, but stopped when something nagged at the back of his mind. He placed three incomplete vials of essence into a crate, only performing the reaction on one. Only one Potion of Significance could be crafted or consumed every five days. The description on the Elixir of Life potion clarified that this was limited on a per-potion basis. Whatever this essence produced wouldn’t affect the brewing of another Potion of Significance.

“Just one. For now,” Theo said, completing the reaction for this new potion. He felt the power of that potion in his hands, and brought it to the fridge as quickly as he could. After stoppering it with a glass, he placed it into the artifice and set the dials. After inserting a few motes, it hummed to life.

“There we go,” Theo said, patting the device.

“Did you find anything else?” Salire asked.

“That was it. After searching for almost an entire day, I only found one.”

“Still… imagine if you get another plus ten.”

“That’s the plan… Among other things.”

Salire wanted some help with the other stills while Theo was there. She had an order for more Cleansing Scrub potions from the alliance. He felt as though she wanted company more than anything. It didn’t take her long to bounce ideas off of him about the future of the lab. The things she shared didn’t surprise him, though. Theo had taken on the role of producing niche potions that took far longer to produce, while she took up the mantle of mass-production.

“That works for me,” Theo said, shutting the last lid of the last still. This batch would include healing and curative potions alongside the Cleansing Scrub. Predicting an outbreak of sickness wasn’t fun, but it was better than being blindsided. He poured some Cleansing Scrub on himself, nodding to his apprentice. “Good work. The Newt and Demon is always in expert hands when those hands are yours.”

Theo didn’t miss the shade of red spreading across her cheeks as he left. Dinner was soon, and he was certain Hanan would attend. Sarisa and Rowan had already left to prepare the food, which meant they were taking this seriously.

Arriving at the manor, Theo found a flurry of activity in the kitchen. Yeah, Sarisa and Rowan were going all out. Tresk and Alex were just coming in. The alchemist got to witness how the goose fit through the door. She shoved her way through the door, honking the whole way. The threshold buckled and the house groaned. No one but Theo thought this was weird.

“We haven’t increased the size of the door?” he asked. Alex found a comfortable place to rest, wrapping her slender neck around herself.

“Sledge is busy,” Tresk said, falling into her chair with a sigh. “Fool of a woman starting a clutch. I don’t have baby fever! I’ll never have it!”

“Keep an open mind. I would like to produce giant goslings one day.”

Alex had somehow ascended to Level 35. As Theo thought of it, so had Tresk. When had he been left behind in the dust? The Tara’hek had reached Level 34, but didn’t seem likely to roll over anytime soon. At least his progress with his two main cores was progressing well enough. And he didn’t have to worry about his sub-cores adding to his personal level. So long as his alchemy and herbalist cores were leveling, so was he.

Hanan arrived a short while later, wearing clean robes. Although Theo had cleaned the man with Cleansing Scrub, he had assumed a slightly more regal form of attire for the dinner. The king waited at the threshold for a while, eventually clearing his throat.

“Could someone please introduce me?” he asked, looking meek in his regal attire.

“Introducing…” Tresk jumped onto the table, taking in a deep breath. “King Hanan! Give it up, everyone! Heir to the throne of Qavell, all around cool guy, and pretty handy with a fork!”

Hanan cleared his throat. “Thank you, Dreamer. I meant an introduction to the group.”

“Oh. Right.” Tresk got down from the table, giving formal introductions for everyone gathered. Hanan was familiar with everyone, but Theo assumed this was just a formality. He had thought about inviting other people to the dinner, but decided against it.

“Have a seat, Hanan,” Theo said, pulling a chair out for the king. “Don’t quote me, but I think we’re having steak.”

“Oh, I do love steak,” Hanan said, finding a seat. “I’m not familiar with dishes of the southland.”

“Wolf meat, mostly,” Sarisa said, swooping in to deliver a platter. It was loaded with Marsh Tubers that had been battered and deep fried. Theo felt his stomach grumble as he gazed at the Broken Tusk version of french fries. “But the swamp provides.”

“Indeed it does,” Hanan said, grabbing a fry and promptly burning his tongue. “Ah. Just a bit hot.”

Tresk took charge of the discussion first, filling her plate with fries and eating them like a slob. “Qavell is already doing better. Her people need time to recover, but they’re strong. Just like the southlanders.”

Theo was surprised at her tact.

“I couldn’t agree more. The Southlands Alliance is helmed by some kind souls,” Hanan said, inclining his head toward Tresk. “This wasn’t something I expected, given the stories I was told.”

“What were those stories?” Tresk asked. She didn’t even spit any tuber onto the table.

“Father always talked about the other towns in the alliance as things. Not places filled with people inside. After the city landed, I was happy to see he was wrong.”

Sarisa came by again, serving a mashed version of the tuber. She smiled to herself as she returned to her brother in the kitchen.

“Is that cheese?” Hanan asked, leaning over the mashed tuber.

“Didn’t know we had cheese.” Theo loaded a plate with fries and mashed tubers. “Someone must have imported some.”

“Oh, I like this,” Hanan said, licking his lips after taking a sample. “What’s next?”

Next wasn’t steak as Theo had predicted, but something shockingly similar to pulled pork. It even had barbeque sauce… or something like it. Of course, this wasn’t pulled pork. It was pulled wolf. The alchemist should have guessed from the scent, but as Sarisa brought out a massive plate of the stuff. Tresk’s manners fell away when the plate of meat hit the table. She tore into it, devouring a quarter of the massive pile in a moment.

“Pardon me,” Tresk said, wiping the corners of her mouth. The ear-rending belch she issued didn’t help with her assumed manners.

Theo leaned in, elbowing the marshling. “What’s up with that? Starting fresh?”

“I need to be more like the Dreamer. Which means… well…”

“Being less of a goblin?”

“Yeah. That’s it. Less of a goblin. But not zero percent goblin.”

“Of course.”