The Newt and Demon - Book 6 Chapters 25,26,27 (Patreon)

Chapter 25

Twist in the Wind

A pulse of light burst from Sulvan, sending both Jan and Twist tumbling back. Theo placed a boot on Jan’s chest while both Sarisa and Rowan restrained Twist. Golems patrolling the town lumbered over, taking the powerful elf and holding him there. The alchemist looked between both parties, watching their future movements with interest. How the hell did they know each-other?

“Let’s hear some explanations,” Theo said. “You first, Twist.”

“I’ve never seen this man in my life,” he said, pushing against the golems to no effect.

“Yes, you have,” Jan struggled under Theo’s boot. But someone with classes didn’t stand a chance. It was like a toddler fighting against an adult. He could only do so much.

“Silence him,” Theo said, jerking his head to Twist as he drew more golems in. One stood between Twist and Jan, ready to flail their metal limbs if things got out of control. Sarisa drove her fist into Twist’s gut. The alchemist winced. “That was a bit much.”

“Agreed,” Twist said, coughing into his mask.

Sarisa shrugged.

“How do you know him, Jan.” Theo looked down, expecting the worst.

“A masked man,” Jan nodded, jabbing a finger at Twist. “One eye, pale skin, twin blades. He was on Earth. When he tried to kill Fate, Omen was the only one who could stop him.”

Theo turned, feeling someone without hearing them land. Fenian stood there, dusting his ruffled shoulder pads. “What? I sensed I was needed. I have a sense for naughty boys.”

“Time to talk, Twist,” Theo said.

A long silence set in between all parties. Twist eventually gave a shrug and released a steady breath. “Is this the part where I reveal my nefarious plan? I have none. I’m only surviving.” His masked face flicked between those gathered. Almost as though he was calculating something. “Remember the help I’ve lent you, Theo. We are not enemies. But the way is clear. When the time comes, you’ll need me.”

Theo saw Twist move, projected in the afterimage of his high Wisdom attribute. He made one motion and was gone, leaving nothing but a confused golem behind. The alchemist’s aura flung outward, searching the area for Twist’s signature. But there was nothing. A round stone fell to the ground where the masked elf once was. It clattered to the ground, breaking the silence between the group.

“Ah, that’s interesting,” Fenian said, tilting his head. “Location-swapping magic.”

Theo’s eyes shot to Jan. He removed his boot and held a hand out for him to take, which he did. After hoisting him up and dusting him off, the alchemist handed the knife over. “You’ll need a better knife.”

“Hello, can someone explain what just happened?” Sarisa asked, waving her hand through the air. “For those of us who are completely lost.”

“I saw him. Back on Earth. I swear I did.” Jan looked at the place where Twist once was. “A pale, masked elf with two weapons. Called himself Twist. He attacked my team, but was beaten back by another kid.”

“How is that possible?” Theo asked, looking at Fenian.

“Don’t look at me. I’m not from your world. You released this one, so why not a few more?” Fenian asked.

“Location-swapping magic. Do you think he’s making a run for Qavell?” Theo asked.

“We’re in Qavell,” Fenian reminded him.

“No, he was talking about the place where Qavell was.”

“There’s nothing there, Theo. Just a crater in the ground and a lot of undead.”

“I don’t like this, Theo.” Sulvan folded his arms.

“Jan, what happened to Twist on Earth?” Theo asked.

“He vanished after fighting the kids. Omen took care of him, sending him somewhere. I really don’t know. The others were ahead of me by a longshot.”

Theo thought back to everything he knew about when Jan vanished from Earth. He had mentioned something that stuck out. “The eye. Did you see that eye when Twist vanished.”

Jan narrowed his eyes at the alchemist. “You think they’re connected?”

The last thing Theo wanted was another loose end. But he thought about Twist’s words. The elf had only been helpful, maintaining his status as a mysterious figure. He could kick himself for now grilling him about his past, or why he wanted to help Broken Tusk so much. Unlike Fenian and Khahar, Twist had performed his subterfuge perfectly. He acted as though he needed something from the alchemist, but that was likely far from the truth. His true intentions could have been anything.

“You’re no longer Sulvan’s problem,” Theo said, jerking his head toward the city’s exit. “Mind walking with me, Fenian?”

“Certainly.”

“Thanks for your hard work, Sulvan. I’ll take him from here.”

“Just make sure he slots that Glantheir core!” Sulvan shouted after him. “He has the potential to be one of the faithful!”

After they were clear, Theo had Jan walk back with Sarisa and Rowan. He extended his shadow bubble, encasing him and Fenian in a field of silence. “What’s your take on this?”

“Did Earth have elves?” Fenian asked.

“Nope.”

“Your newest member is leaving information out.” Fenian said it as though it was fact. He might have been right.

“Is he from some alternate Earth?”

“I’ve consulted with the foremost expert on duplicate worlds.” Fenian folded his arms in front of his chest, nodding with pride. “That’s not possible. The worlds of the multiverse are forged. They wouldn’t make duplicates.”

“So the Earth Jan is from is my Earth, right? But we never had magic or elves. Yet Jan said there was magic. What is the one unknown factor?” Theo asked. He already had an answer. “The eye.”

“Ah, right. The eye. Oh, perhaps I should make a confession. Are you prepared? Put on your big boy pants, Theo.”

“I’ve got my big boy pants on.”

“I have spoken with one of those world forgers. They steered me to my current course.”

“Good thing I’m wearing these pants.” Theo tried not to roll his eyes, but it was hard. Nothing Fenian could say would surprise him at this point. “I’m guessing the being didn’t give anything away.”

“Of course it didn’t.”

Theo had a lot to think about, but he dropped his bubble and took the core from Jan. It was a common-rank Glantheir’s Soldier Core. Instead of being showered with an amazing class, the god had given Jan something simple to start. That was fine. This guy was lost in a new world, and had been dropped in the middle of some intense conflicts. But he would find his place with the adventurers. Theo was certain of that.

“Got a new recruit for you,” Theo said after opening the door to Aarok’s office.

“Oh, please. Come in.” Aarok glared at Theo from behind his desk. “I wasn’t in the middle of anything.”

“Good. Could you get Jan on an adventuring team. Also sound the alarm, Twist isn’t who he says he was.”

Aarok blinked slowly, mouth hanging open. “You’re the worst,” he grumbled, whistling. An adventurer came in behind them moments later. “Are we killing him, or what?”

“Just capture him. I don’t think he means the alliance harm, but he has some questions to answer.”

Theo worked out some details for Jan’s position in the Adventurer’s Guild. He thought he knew what the man needed. It wasn’t structure, but the freedom to pick his own path. Aarok was agreeable to those terms, inducting the Earthling into the guild with no fanfare. Someone like Jan needed to get out there and see what his new world was about. If he wanted to get himself killed in the swamp, or make a run for it… fine. Keeping him in a cage wouldn’t work.

Old dudes didn’t learn lessons the easy way.

“Does anyone care what I think?” Jan asked.

“No.” Theo and Aarok said the word at the same time. Jan nodded, casting his eyes to the ground.

As Theo left the guild, Jan’s shift in behavior didn’t evade his notice. Fenian trotted along behind him, humming a tune out of key. “Twist means more to Jan than he’s letting on. Some serious stuff went down back on Earth.”

“What a delightful mystery,” Fenian said, clapping along as he continued his song. “I’m going to Tarantham. Need anything?”

“Town Seed Cores if you can find them. A coin mint… what else…”

“Booze?”

“Yeah, booze. Sounds good Fenian,” Theo clapped a hand on the elf’s back, making his way to the Newt and Demon.

A half-ogre man Theo had seen around town a few times stood behind the counter. He looked around, waving sheepishly. “Uh, hey. Just watching the shop.”

Theo nodded to him, ascending to the second floor. Salire spent most of her time on the third or first floor. Today she was cloistered on the second floor, scribbling away next to her artifice printer. She looked up, her brows raising. “Oh! You’re back sooner than I thought. Any progress?”

“I was working on some other things,” Theo said, waving the thought away. “Hardly had time to think about it, but I have basically two ideas. The first is that we don’t have enough information to fix this problem.”

“And the second? Does it have to do with those epic-plus potions we made?” Salire asked.

Theo nodded, leaning over the worktable. “If you think about it, higher rarity reagents have less impurities. The properties are more potent.”

“There’s only one way to find out. We gotta trudge through the swamp.”

If only there was a way to cultivate those reagents in his greenhouses. Theo was almost convinced that those reagents couldn’t be grown in a greenhouse. But he wouldn’t give up until he tried. He shot ideas back-and-forth with Salire, settling on the idea that even if they couldn’t add these reagents to their greenhouse, they needed to try collecting higher-quality ingredients to discover the method for fourth tier reagents.

“For science,” Theo said, thumping his hand on the table.

“Yeah! Let’s go!”

Theo and Salire departed from the Newt and Demon, pausing near the southern gate. Rowan and Sarisa stood outside with their arms crossed.

“Let’s get one thing straight. You’re not abandoning us in the swamp this time. Okay?” Salire asked.

“We’ll drown you,” Rowan clarified. “In the swamp. We’ll hold you down until the bubbles stop.”

“Message received,” Theo said, nodding.

“Swear it.”

“I swear I won’t strand you guys in the swamp today.” Theo pushed past his bodyguards, heading out into the swamp.

“Today?” Sarisa asked, turning to her brother with a look of concern. “What about tomorrow? Or the day after that?”

“We’ll play it one day at a time. You have your club, don’t you?” Rowan asked.

Theo turned to see Sarisa brandishing a club. Salire looked on in horror. The alchemist was almost certain they would do it. He pulled a Potion of Limited Foresight from his inventory, tipping it back before the others could notice. One could never be too careful.

“Are we targeting Spiny Swamp Thistle Root?” Salire asked, catching up to Theo. She looked back at the siblings, narrowing her eyes. She lowered her voice. “Keep an eye on those two.”

“Spiny Swamp Thistle Root would be best. We used up the epic-plus essence we had back in the shop, but we really only need enough for experimentation.”

“What do you think? Ten units?” Salire asked.

Theo clicked his tongue, running his fingers through his hair. “At least ten. I’d like a live sample, too. Ah, did you figure out anything about evolving buildings?”

“Not really. The locals have stories they’ve heard from traders who heard something from some elf’s cousin. Nothing solid.”

Theo laughed, patting Salire on the back. “Locals? You’re a local.”

“I don’t think so. Broken Tuskers are a different breed. Which means they’re weird.”

“While that’s fair, I consider you a local.”

Instead of taking the portal to Xol’sa’s tower, the party made their way through all of the swamp. When Theo had first come to Broken Tusk, the swamp was much more dangerous. There were still Ogre Snappers that spawned near the dungeon, but they were far fewer compared to then. That increased traffic that drove away the monsters was also bad for the reagents. The Moss Nettle seemed picked clean, while the Spiny Swamp Thistle had been trampled. Theo wasn’t happy to see this, but he was unsurprised. This diversion resulted in a long trip to the western side of the swamp. Most of the day had faded by the time they caught sight of the mountains.

“We’ll circle around to the north.” Theo gestured, tracing his finger along the shape of the hilly region ahead. “Same deal as last time. Keep your eye out for Swamp Thistle.”

“Keep an eye on him,” Sarisa said, whispering to Rowan a bit too loudly. “You know how he gets.”

Proximity to the dungeon had something to do with the rate reagents grew within the swamp. Those slopes to the west and northwest of the dungeon were a good area to hunt for those reagents. Salire’s eye for reagents was getting better by the day. She spotted the first decent Spiny Swamp Thistle Root growing in a soft patch of earth between two rocks. Other soft grasses grew in this area, but it was mostly barren. Only the sections of the landscape closer to the hills, and far away from the muddy swamp bore more reagents.

The group combed the area until the sun threatened to set on their adventure. Sarisa and Rowan had enough fun running around and killing monsters where they found them. There was something interesting to be observed from the growing strength of the Swamp Dungeon. Theo wished it would have more of an effect on the reagents. An alchemist could dream, anyway.

Theo kept his promise, and walked with the party to Xol’sa’s tower. He had already shut the portal down for the day, but was happy enough to open it for them once again. After stepping through, the alchemist sprinkled Cleansing Scrub on everyone, washing away caked layers of mud and leaving behind a pleasant scent.

“He held to his word,” Sarisa said, cupping her chin. “Interesting.”

“He’s just luring you into a false sense of security. Don’t let your guard down, sister.” Rowan glared at Theo, jabbing an accusatory finger. “We’re watching you, buddy.”

“You guys wanna get takeout tonight? Get some mead from Xam’s and just pig out?”

“Uh, yeah?” Salire said, scoffing.

Theo didn’t mean her, but he was happy to have more guests. “Let’s go. My treat.”

Chapter 26

Void

The Dreamwalk was temperamental tonight. Theo stood over a collection of imagined alchemy equipment, scratching his head as the dream refused to bow to his will. Even Tresk couldn’t get it to listen. She tried for about an hour, but left in a huff. The alchemist couldn’t cheat his way through this bit of progress, and he had a theory for why. There was no alchemy after the third tier, and the system was adapting as he went.

It was the only thing that made sense right now, even if Drogramath didn’t want to give it away. It wasn’t as though the demon god was keeping information from him, but that information hadn’t been written yet. Theo’s mind went back to the Potions of Significance he had crafted. Those had given him trouble in the Dreamwalk. As always, he was left with more questions than answers. Since he was planning on doing some wild stuff soon enough, he wanted to have a better understanding of what the system was.

With a sigh, the alchemist imagined another field of the dead. He thought about his next step while he increased his willpower, sending it to heights he doubted existed in the mortal realm before. He was at a point where he struggled to understand how many golems he could summon. Khahar couldn’t even lay claim to this much willpower, and it was getting out of hand. The alchemist reminded himself of what going through the void meant and redoubled his efforts. If a cheat existed, he planned on exploiting it.

Although Tresk ended the Dreamwalk, forcing him to enter the waking world, Theo remained in his thoughts. Sarisa said something to him but he didn’t hear as he ate his breakfast. Only when he had enough moss tea in his system was he willing to entertain the day, wandering from the manor without looking back at who was following him. At least the reports in his administration screen were pleasant. It hadn’t been long, but Jan was adapting to his life with the adventurers. 

Theo made it to the lab before Salire for once. A crate filled with stuff from the artificers had been placed by the door, so he scooped that up and brought it to the front desk. After having a seat, he rummaged through it to find many parts. Some had Throk’s flare, meaning the old marshling must have been back to town at some point. The thing that interested him the most was the new mixing chambers. The newer artificers were shy about using Drogramathi Iron, but were getting the hang of it.

No matter what the solution to this new tier of alchemy was, one fact remained. It was going to be hard to do industrial quantities of fourth tier potions. Just like the Potions of Significance, these would be small batches. Theo couldn’t fill a large pressure tank with enough mana. Only the smaller infusers would work for his current mana pool. That was a bummer, but it had to happen. Progress was progress.

“Woah!” Salire said, entering the shop. The bell rang above her head. “Didn’t expect you to beat me here.”

“Did you sleep in?” Theo said, holding out a gas mixer for her inspection.

Salire took the artifice, nodding with approval. The artificers made a few key changes that would make working with the devices easier. “Yeah, I guess the night got away from me. All that mead you fed me made things difficult.”

Without the Dreamwalk, Theo was certain he would feel the same way. “Come on. I want to get some things sorted in the lab. We need dilutions for Refined Healing Essence before we can test the new gear.”

Salire ran up the stairs, excited to start. Theo followed, leaving the shop behind. The duo worked until they had a batch of third tier essence running. Once it finished, they would vaporize the essence, combine it with a bound dilution, and infuse the mixture with mana. This would be done on a small scale to avoid any catastrophic explosions. And they wouldn’t perform those reactions within the lab. The result would be damage to the building, and perhaps a fire.

“I’m going to check on some things,” Theo said, patting Salire on the shoulder. “I shouldn’t be gone for long.”

“Sounds good. I’ll monitor the stills and watch the shop. No problem.”

Theo smiled before vanishing from the spot. He was used to the sensation of falling through the void. He used familiar landmarks to dive to the far side of the void, passing over countless orbs on that endless ribbon. Beyond the heavens was something he named the Deep Void. He thought of it was going left from the mortal plane, although that direction seemed meaningless here. But while the void stretched in all directions, things were organized left to right. Perhaps that was just his mind making sense of nonsense…

Pausing in an area of the void that felt thick, Theo gazed out over the nothingness. Something was strange about this area, but he couldn’t be certain. He pushed forward, finding more resistance the further he went. Something pressed back against him, bidding him to go the other way. No amount of willpower could get him through this section, so he turned around to collect his thoughts. The heavenly realms were a faint dot in the distance, while the place that refused him entry was as black as any other part of the void.

Theo headed for the mortal realm, leaving the blockade behind. He approached the orb representing the material plane. No matter what angle he approached it from, he always approached the place where he left, or Tresk. A flash of light blinded him as he descended, giving way to darkness. His eyes adjusted, revealing something other than he expected. Instead of seeing the interior of the Newt and Demon, he saw a plane. A flat field of snow that he waded through, pushing forward out of instinct. Something glowed in the distance, like a waking dream.

The alchemist tried and failed to interdict himself out of the strange realm, feeling the tug of something greater pressing against him. The light in the distance drew close enough that he could make out some details. A massive crystal floated above a white platform, stairs formed in the dais's side to allow entrance. He climbed the stairs, looking up the blue crystal hovering in the air. It was about fifty feet tall. It rotated, humming as he approached.

“Okay. Weird giant crystal,” Theo said, looking around the area.

While snow fell outside of the platform, it didn’t fall here. The polished stone beneath his feet was seamless, except for twelve circles that had been carved along the edges. Each bore an inscription he couldn’t read with a symbol in the circle’s center. Theo stood there, as though the answer to this place would come to his mind if he just thought hard enough.

Theo jumped when a voice filled the area. “You’re not who I was expecting.”

Looking around, Theo couldn’t find the source of the void. He turned his gaze to the crystal, nodding to himself. This wasn’t completely unexpected. He had already been instructed to interact with some foundational crystals, so a giant talking one wasn’t out of the question.

“Who were you expecting?”

“Not you.”

Theo gave his thoughts a moment to gather before speaking. He was certain his will and control of void transport was advanced enough that almost no one could set him off course. “Did you interdict me?”

The crystal chimed, spinning faster for only a moment. “Such actions are for mortals. I brought you here. My will is so.”

Theo’s brow furrowed as he considered the statement. This might have been a more dangerous encounter than he first thought. But the phrasing of those words were weird. “Most mortals can’t interdict someone. That’s an act reserved for the gods.”

Another chime from the crystal. “Is that what they’re calling themselves? Yes, they changed the title of Ascended Being to God, but that doesn’t make them so. They can still die.”

“And who are you?” Theo asked.

The crystal rotated slightly quicker, seeming to tilt to one side. “The management.”

“You’re the system.” Theo narrowed his eyes at the crystal. “If that’s true, why did you bring me here?”

“Oh, you’re moving too slowly for my taste.”

“You can’t say you were expecting someone else, then act as though you have burdens to place on me.” Theo didn’t look away from the crystal.

The crystal twinkled. “I’ve seen this happen before. The last one failed to fix everything. And here I am. My powers bound by gods. Unacceptable.”

The crystal didn’t answer his question. Theo let his mind unspool the information. This was the system. Wait, which system? He took a moment, deciding it was the system that managed things on the mortal plane. But that wasn’t accurate, according to what the system said. “Why haven’t the gods told me they’re not gods?”

“Why would a false god claim anything but godhood?” the system said. The circles surrounding the area lit up. “In the end, only these spots will be occupied by true gods. Those that sit in false positions will be cast out.”

“What is this?” Theo asked. “Why did you bring me here?”

Another amused twinkle from the crystal. “You’ve had about enough of dealing with the ascendants, haven’t you? When you dislodged the human from Earth from the storage of souls, you set off a chain of events. A ticking clock. I suggest you break through the barrier in the void, and bring the Great Shards back.”

Theo stared at the crystal for some time, keeping emotion from his face. It was easier with his higher Intelligence, and he didn’t like that. “Just so I’m clear, the four thrones have the power to change things. Right?”

“That’s right. If you all agree, you can fix it. This safeguard was set in place, but has been jealously guarded… Ah, that’s a slight problem.”

Theo turned, spotting four figures appearing around the crystal. Each figure was made of light, rather than a solid form. Gold, black, purple, and silver. Three of them were about the size of a marshling, while the silver one was the size of a normal human.

“And what the hell is going on here!” the gold one said, clearly the voice of a young woman.

“Calm yourself,” the black one said. This one sounded like a young man.

“This is unacceptable. We were promised safety.” Silver sounded like a grown adult man, confirming Theo’s suspicion that he was a human.

“Calm yourselves.” Purple had a strange voice that Theo couldn’t place.

“This isn’t Elrin,” Gold said, jabbing a vague finger at Theo. “Why is he here? Where’s the other one?”

“Dead,” the system said. “Well, mostly dead. You four can’t be here.”

“Where are the others?” Black asked.

“I’d like to give Death a few good punches. To the balls,” Silver growled, looking around for something to hit. He looked down at his body. “Wait, why am I a floating pile of light?”

“Things are moving quickly, Theo.” The system’s attention turned to the alchemist, almost apologetic for the behavior of the others. “You may return.”

Theo felt himself being sucked back into the void without his command. A moment later, he was floating back in the void, looking down at the marble representing the mortal plane. He pushed himself forward, feeling heavier than normal. A moment later, he landed on the third floor of the Newt and Demon. Breathing a sigh of relief, he spotted Salire tending to the stills.

“That was quick,” she said, shrugging. “You were only gone for a few seconds. Who is that?”

Theo spun, spotting the person she was talking about. A small man with pointed ears, rosy cheeks, a round eyes looked up at him. He wore a hooded black robe, leaning against a crooked staff. “Hey.” The alchemist waved. “You were the purple one, weren’t you?”

“Nothing gets past him, does it?” the interloper asked. “Yep. This is weird. We’re not in Seral Fet, are we? Or is this that other place?”

“You’re on Iaredin,” Theo said. “Who are you?”

“Just call me Void,” he said, looking around. “Alchemy? That’s cool. Seems like all my powers were cut away. But I still have a knack for the void! I still got it, baby!”

“What’s going on?” Salire asked.

Rowan and Sarisa appeared. “Yeah, I’m pretty confused,” Sarisa said.

“I had a hitchhiker,” Theo said, poking the small man in the head.

“Hey, don’t look at me. Just taking advantage of what I can.” Void shrugged, rolling his shoulders. “Do you know what happened?”

Theo steepled his hands, pressing his fingers against his chin. “No. I don’t know what happened. Are you a god?”

“Kinda?”

Theo withdrew a crystal from his inventory, squeezing it. To his surprise, Fenian answered quickly. He relayed a message.

“I was just leaving! Give me a moment…”

True to his word, Fenian flung the door open a few tense moments later. His swords were drawn, but he shrugged. “Nope. He’s clean, my dear alchemist.”

“Really?” Theo asked. “Little dude claims to be a god.”

“I said I was kinda like a god.” Void folded his arms before his chest. “Emphasis on ‘was’, because I’m not one anymore. Obviously.”

“May I leave?” Fenian asked, jerking his head toward the door. “I have business with the elves.”

“Yeah, that’s fine. I just need to figure out what to do with this guy.”

“Farewell!” Fenian shouted, dancing out the door.

“Hey, no offense… But I don’t really wanna be here.” Void shrugged. “Just needed a ride to some place that had mana. I’m pretty good at keeping the system off my back.”

A spiral of black and purple energy appeared behind the guy. Before Theo could react, he stepped backwards, vanishing. The group that remained stood there, confusion flooding through each of their minds.

“I may have done a bad,” Theo said, clicking his tongue.

“Oh, gods. What have you done this time?” Sarisa asked.

“Released some tiny horror on the world, maybe?” Rowan asked.

Sarisa, Rowan, and Salire speculated while Theo thought. He had an idea of what just happened, but didn’t like the implications. This was linked to Jan, he had no doubt. Something about the golden figure near the crystal was familiar, as though someone had described her to him before. The gears locked into place as he made the connection. But it was clear what he needed to do.

“Unfortunately, I think that little portal guy might be the guy I need to talk to.”

“Hey, Theo… Do we have enough time to finish our alchemy experiment?” Salire asked, with hope on her face.

Theo nodded. “Yeah. I think we have some time. Not like the world is gonna end or anything.”

Chapter 27

Kuzan’s Scheme

Salire’s dedication to alchemy was admirable. Theo couldn’t get his mind to work fast enough to process what had just happened. Meeting the system itself was weird, giving him a sensation he couldn’t place lingered in the back of his mind. Whoever Void was, he had escaped into the wider world. He shook those thoughts loose for now, more eager to figure out how his new alchemy step worked. They brought their gear behind the Newt and Demon, ready to test.

“This makes sense to me.” Salire attached a mixing artifice onto a small-scale still. She attached the tubes, ready to fill the mixing chamber. “Dilutions plus mana plus essences.”

It was logical, as long as a person kept magic in mind. Taking a third tier essence and infusing it with a complimentary dilution with mana would infuse the resulting essence. Instead of striving to remove the impurities, it would double-down on the good stuff. They weren’t removing those bad parts, but making them less within the mixture. That’s what Theo thought, anyway.

“Let’s go,” Theo said, pressing his hand against the mana infusion chamber. “Are the stills up to heat?”

“Of course. Those little guys heat in a few seconds.”

There was nothing left to do but try. Theo kept his theory to himself until the mana fused perfectly with the dilution, then mixed with the third tier essence in the mixing chamber. Both Salire and Theo hid behind a tree as the mixture combined. Because it should have exploded. But it didn’t. The alchemist removed himself from cover and approached, hooking the condenser up to the artifice and placing a flask under it. Essence dripped out, collecting in the glass flask.

“Did we do something different?” Salire asked, still hiding behind the tree.

“The equipment might have helped, but that wasn’t the only thing.” Theo knelt down, looking at the faintly pink liquid as it dripped into the flask. “This is the software update.”

“The what?”

“I’m almost certain the system didn’t know what to do for the fourth tier. Pretty sure we just invented it.”

Salire approached the flask with caution, her head turned to one side in case the mixture exploded. “How the hell does that work?”

“Drogramath wasn’t performing his own form of alchemy when he was down here. Before he became an ascendant, he was doing the normal kind of alchemy. If I had to guess, he ascended close to Level 100 and built his power from there. Only after he ascended did he make his alchemy cores, and his people never got to fourth tier alchemy.”

“Seems like an incomplete theory,” Salire said, a doubtful look washing over her face.

“Agreed.”

Theo didn’t have all the answers. But he had some fourth tier essence in a flask. One thing he noticed from the experiment was the quantity of essence he got from the reaction. It was less than the standard reaction would produce, but he could feel the magical potency of the liquid even without touching it. He examined the mixture.

[Refined Bound Stabilized Healing Essence]

[Essence] [Refined Essence] [Bound Essence] [Stabilized Essence]

Uncommon

Created by: Theo Spencer

Grade: Poor Quality

Purity: 95%

0.25 units (liquid)

Concentrated, refined, bound, stabilized essence of healing. Used to create healing potions.

The quality sucked, but there was time for improvements later. For now, he was happy to have any amount of the new essence. This was a proof of concept, after all. What they needed now was to industrialize the process as much as they could. While the lab didn’t produce truly industrial quantities of their potions, their output exceeded that of most labs in the world. That was Theo’s thought, anyway. He had yet to explore anything other than what he had created.

Theo tilted his head to the side, feeling something emanating in the distance. “What was that?”

Salire shrugged. “Did you hear something?”

“Felt something. Someone parting the veil. Maybe Fenian?”

Another shrug from the apprentice alchemist. “He said he was leaving to see the elves.”

Theo hummed, looking back at their small-scale experiment. “Time to bother Throk some more.”

The veil parted the way it always had for Fenian. His enchanted karatan surged forward, clopping over the stones in Broken Tusk that gave way to the smooth ride of the Bridge. He let out a sigh of relief, feeling the energies of Uz’Xulven wash over him like a comforting wave. The Bridge had changed little since the last time he visited it. Those thoroughfares leading from one realm to the other forked off in every direction, revealed to a champion of the Queen of the Bridge of Shadows. He cleared his throat as a familiar weight settled in next to him.

“You’ve been a busy boy,” Uz’Xulven said, shoving him playfully. “Get a leash on that alchemist.”

“My dear, if you can leash him, you’re welcome to do so.”

“Oh, you’re snippy. Something not going your way? Wet your underpants again?”

Fenian turned, glaring at the woman. The anger only flashed on his face for a moment. Like all the other gods, she would get hers. It was only a matter of time. He replaced the anger with joy, his face shifting in a moment back to unbridled joy.

“I have plenty of underpants. Some have lace. Would you like to see?” Fenian asked.

“The day I let you into my chambers is the day the heavens fall.” Uz’Xulven grumbled. “What business do you have in the ruins?”

“I suspect there are forces moving that we didn’t account for.” Fenian thought about the new players. Especially Twist. “What do you know of that small man that appeared in town?”

“Almost nothing.” Although Uz’Xulven’s face was shrouded in shadow, Fenian could feel some of her failure bleeding through. She had no information on Void, or Twist. “That masked elf you mentioned—Twist—isn’t registered with the system as an outworlder. I’m still waiting on information about the new one you told me about.”

“Void,” Fenian said, scratching his chin. “Things were going so well before all these people came out of nowhere. First Theo, then the others. Tresk is a problem, too. The old holder of the throne would have bent to our will easier. Not Tresk, though.”

“You only needed to hold Broken Tusk where it was. That part of the plan worked well enough. We can handle everything else.”

Fenian wasn’t so sure. The other throne-holders might have adjacent goals, but they weren’t completely aligned. They wanted to restart the world, but where did that put his schemes? One god mostly dead wasn’t the same as every god completely dead. Scouring the heavens would only become more difficult as time rolled on, and the ploy to get Balkor to betray his station was hard enough to pull off. He sighed, snapping the reins to urge his karatan down a path on the Bridge.

“The air feels different here,” Fenian said. “Anything you want to tell me?”

Uz’Xulven shrugged. She wouldn’t admit it.

“This is my stop,” Fenian said, nodding to the Bridge’s end up ahead. “Wish me luck.”

“Good luck,” Uz’Xulven said, fading as Fenian crossed the threshold.

The karatan skidded to a stop, their hooves digging into ruined ground in a wide open field. The landscape in all directions was ruined, necromantic energy still laced in the ground. But Balkor’s remnant had pulled most of his power back, coiling for an attack on Tarantham. So long as Kuzan held up his end of the bargain, that should spell the end of the god’s reign on the mortal world.

“Oh, I hate loopholes.” Fenian sighed, dismounting his carriage. “Stay here, Galflower. Daddy has a massive crater to descend into.”

Fenian peered over the edge of the crater. Some remnants of Qavell’s wall remained here, shattered in places from the undead’s attack. Much of the city’s underground area had been scooped up with it, leaving only dead-end tunnels and rubble. The elf fell over the edge, his feet glued to the slope as he descended. Some dark power remained from the Dark Coresmiths. He stopped near the bottom, looking over the water that had pooled where a city once stood. A foul lake tainted with Balkor’s magic.

The sound of feathers fluttering through the air came from his left as something settled in on the rock beside him.

“Are you allowed to be here?” Fenian asked, turning to look at the bird-like features of the Watcher.

“As I planted the seed, so may I water it.”

Fenian hated the way the creature talked. Every word ended in a snap of a beak or the ruffling of feathers. He had never enjoyed the company of the creature’s race, and would never come to enjoy it. They were offensive to mortal existence. Another light to be snuffed, perhaps. But not today.

“Are our newest guests welcome? My core didn’t allow me to destroy Void. Is that another oversight on your part?”

The creature snapped its beak. “I have no oversights. Only mortal intervention spoils my plans. You spoil my plans. Theo Spencer threatens them. He activated the queue prematurely, which has unspooled threads even I cannot know.”

“That was the other guy, wasn’t it? The one who set this in motion. Sorry, I can hardly keep track of your kind.”

“Perhaps this is better, though.” The Watcher hardly seemed to hear Fenian’s words. As always, the entity was in its own head. Always scheming. “I’m surprised you haven’t realized what they are.”

“Just so we’re clear, we’re talking about beings like Void and Twist, right?” Fenian asked.

“That’s right. How can I put this in a way your small mind can understand? The instructions for the systems have hidden parts. I could pull those instructions apart, but it would destroy this universe. Instead, we must take them as they come. Do you understand?”

Fenian couldn’t keep his fake smile up anymore. He nodded.

“Those instructions allowed the mortals to ascend and play at divinity. While they changed the titles of positions, they didn’t gain the power of a true god.”

Swallowing hard, Fenian read between the creature’s words. “That’s frightening.”

“Mortal, Throne, Ascendant, God, Creator.” The Watcher nodded to himself, closing his beady eyes and sucking in a lungful of air. “I wonder if you’ve put things together yet. Not likely.”

“Twelve gods, two systems, five thrones.” The Watcher allowed the words to hang in the air, sensing when Fenian picked up on the error. Something of a smile graced the creature’s eyes, but not his beaked face. “Heaven, Realm, Mortality, Dimensionality, and… What’s the best word? Null.”

Perhaps that revelation was a distraction. There could have been one-thousand thrones and Fenian wouldn’t care. His mind focused on the implications of the Watcher’s previous statement. The gods weren’t gods. They were ascendant beings that had seized power and created a realm. After the Second War of Ascendancy, they convinced the system to change their title. From Ascendant to God. Twelve gods. Not ten-thousand. The elf turned his eyes skyward, looking at the green clouds that pooled to block the stars.

He could feel it, though it was faint. Like a tug at his navel after a steep drop. As though his connection with the Bridge was in freefall.

“Welcome to a new era.” The Watcher produced something like a laugh. “Welcome to the War in Heaven.”

Fenian felt the being leave, but didn’t respond. He closed his eyes, focusing on his connection with Uz’Xulven. As her champion, he felt the breach. The unsanctioned declaration of war that rippled throughout the heavens. Theo had really screwed this one up. But his hammer heart calmed after a few breaths. This wasn’t what he had in mind, but it achieved the same end. Didn’t it?

“What better to kill ascendants than gods?” Fenian asked himself, chuckling as he scooped something from the water. He sucked it into his inventory, ascending the bowl of the crater. “Come, Galflower. We have something else to grab before we go. Something an emperor will want desperately.”

Emperor Kuzan drummed his fingers on the arm of his throne. His peerless eyes scanned not only the area of his immediate court, but places for miles around. Balkor’s mindless undead were attacking his eastern shores, and he couldn’t have been more bored. He took a steady breath, nodding to his steward.

“Off to Droth Ker Taral Set, my lord?” he asked.

“Something changed,” Kuzan said, standing and rolling his shoulders. His joints cracked with satisfying pops as he reached out to his private realm. “I’ll only be gone a moment.”

The emperor of Tarantham passed through the veil, slipping unseen to his hidden High Elderling Realm. His boots crunched leaves underfoot as he made his way to the forest’s edge. Screens appeared hovering in the air, displaying scenes from the mortal plane and the heavens alike. Four of the five interlopers had made their moves, but something was wrong with the fifth. One screen focused on Fenian’s carriage, which was inbound to Tarantham.

“What do you have there?” Kuzan asked, squinting as though he could see into the elf’s inventory. It would have worked if he was here, but with the remote-viewing ability it did nothing.

“Aren’t you going to join them?”

The twinkling voice that came from behind him felt like daggers dragged over his flesh. He didn’t turn to greet the crystalline entity. The emperor didn’t care for her musings last time, and he wouldn’t suffer them this time.

“I’m staying out of it.”

“You’ll die.”

Kuzan grit his teeth, still refusing to turn. He moved his screens around, checking on his agents and investments. He doubted she was right. There was enough time to plan this time, and his mind wasn’t addled by the old version of this system. Although she was likely right, he didn’t care. The cost to form this realm was too great, and he wouldn’t let anyone have it.

“Have you come to mock me?” Kuzan asked.

“Just a warning is all. Once the shards are in place, you won’t have a choice. You’ll need to ascend.”

Kuzan flipped through more screens, scanning the endless ascendant realms. “Has Eral Dum formed yet?”

“None have. The lower realms must be destroyed first.”

Kuzan always knew it would happen fast, but this was bad. He looked over his realm, allowing himself to smile at what he had worked so hard for. Once Fire, Shadow, Twin, Shifting, and Earth formed it would only be a matter of time. Perhaps he could convince a few of them to take mortal forms again, but that would be hard. But once the anchors were in place, that was possible. He only hoped there was something of an elf left in his ancestors. For their sakes, and the sake of his future children.

“This is what it comes to.” Kuzan let out a sigh. “We go through the same thing as last time. Is he in the queue?”

“Yes, but he was given extra protections. He will not come until conditions are met. The shards must be placed first. Only when they are inactive again will he arrive.”

“Fine. No matter what form I take, I only need to be there when he returns.”

“Is revenge worth it?”

“It’s the only thing I’ve ever known. Leave me to my work, System. We’ll see how many plans these people have in place.”