The Newt and Demon - Book 6 Chapters 52,53,54 (Patreon)

Chapter 52

Newer Stills

Theo stood in the Marsh Wolf Tavern, looking over the glazed eyes of what few patrons had come in. He drummed his fingers on the counter, finding Xam in a similar state. Given time, she produced decently cooked food that would be good enough for the morning. After paying, he headed out and jumped with shock. He let out a breath, looking up at the muscular form of Zarali looming over Broken Tusk. Averting his gaze, he rushed to the manor to deliver breakfast.

Rowan and Sarisa had crawled out of bed, but were still on the floor, groaning and clawing at the floor. Theo placed a bowl of soup by each of them, setting out food for himself and Tresk at the table. Neither of them were as bothered, but they hadn’t hit the mead as hard as the others. It was a matter of volume or Vigor. The alchemist took his seat at the table, spooning soup into his mouth.

“Let’s not visit more dreams,” Theo said, shaking his head. “I won’t soon recover from Fenian’s mind.”

“Yeah, that elf is freaky.” Tresk tipped the bowl back, eating her soup in one go.

“Did you see Salire at the party?”

Tresk shook her head then shrugged. “Once. She was plastered pretty early.”

“That might have been the correct strategy. I thought it went well. Right?”

Tresk shrugged again. “No one died. So, yeah. Good stuff.”

Theo was hopeful for Throk’s productivity today. He wasn’t at the party, so hopefully he wasn’t hungover. There were many things to consider from the recent change, but something that was unaffected was his golems. The alchemist’s army of golems was still going strong, doing their work without a care. He still needed to consider what it meant to work with his [Tero’gal Greenhouse], but perhaps he would now have enough time. The rate of growth within the greenhouse was slower, and there were fewer spaces. Also, there were no upgrades.

Compared to the way the Tero’gal Manor had updated, it was strange. Perhaps there was an advantage to keeping buildings unaligned in this new world. Just like people selecting cores provided by the true gods, or the ones that remained neutral, there were advantages and disadvantages to both. He chose to pause his experimentation with the greenhouses until the first crop of spiny swamp thistle root came in.

“We need to carve time out of your schedule to look at the corrupted core of Qavell,” Theo said, finishing the last of his soup.

“What, am I gonna purge it or something?” Tresk asked. “I’d rather see what the dragon bones do for your alchemy.”

“Dragon bones are fun, but this shouldn’t take long.”

“Bah.”

Theo left Sarisa and Rowan on the ground after covering them each with a blanket. He left wineskins filled with water near each of them, ensuring their hydration when they woke. The issue with Qavell’s corruption shouldn’t have been too hard to solve. The alchemist reflected on that as they rode Alex over to the city, gaining angry shouts from the guards below. He figured the hardest part of fixing the city was wrangling Tresk for a few hours while her Dreamer’s Core interfaced with the Town and Kingdom Core.

“King Hanan,” Theo said, bowing his head slightly as he entered the palace. The king was standing with his arms folded, looking tired. “You attended the party?”

“Yes. Some half-ogre convinced me to drink more than I wanted.” The king rubbed his face, slapping his cheeks. “It will take half the day for me to wake.”

“I hear that,” Tresk said.

“We’re going to look at the core, if that’s okay,” Theo said, waiting for the king’s approval. It was only polite.

“Be my guest.”

Too hungover to care, the king gave the pair access to the lower levels of the city. They moved through the maze, finding their way to the ritual chamber shortly after. Little had changed. Theo had performed regular maintenance on the shielding, and could now use his abilities to enhance it further. But if this worked, they wouldn’t need to contain the corruption.

“The Venom spread further since last time,” Theo said, gesturing with a copper knife to the veins of poison pulsing through the corruption. “My fear is it will infect the city itself.”

“Yeah, that poison was great.”

“Are you getting any notifications?” Theo asked.

“Yeah, yeah. Something about corruption spreading, end of the world, blah blah.” Tresk sighed as little spectral wings sprouted from her back. “You getting anything?”

“Nope.” The corruption had to proceed to a stage where the Throne Cores would recognize it as a threat. Fenian’s core had only reacted to the entity after it manifested, and now the Dreamer’s Core didn’t like the way the corruption was spreading. And it was spreading, if only at a glacial pace. “Work your magic, little lizard.”

Tresk spit into her hands, rubbing them together. “Presto, chango!”

Theo watched as the marshling held her hands out, her eyes pinched tightly. “I dunno what I’m doing,” she said after a while.

“You could try smacking it.”

“I’d rather not.”

Tresk tried quite a few things before giving up. They lingered near the core, unable to figure out how to jump-start her Dreamer’s Core. Giving up, they sent Alex off to find Fenian. A half-hour later, she flew back to deposit his limp body onto the steps of the palace. The alchemist hoisted the elf over his shoulder, marching back to the ritual room. He had passed out on someone’s roof in Stabby Grove, although no one around the area was conscious enough to give a report. If someone wanted to attack the alliance, now was the perfect time.

“He’s not dead, is he?” Tresk asked as Theo placed Fenian in the ritual room.

“He has a pulse,” Theo said, rolling the elf onto his stomach. Wings sprouted from his back, the room filling with a droning thrum. “There we go. Anything new on your end?”

“Yep. System message says we can purge the corruption with love and friendship or something.” Tresk spit into her hands once again, pinching her eyes shut and reaching out. “Oh yeah, baby. I’m feeling the juice.”

Theo watched the process with interest. Mist formed in the air, flowing from both Fenian and Tresk as it entered the city’s core. Floating baubles of light burst against the monolith, removing corruption where they landed. For this purging to work, both members of the mortal realm team needed to be here. The alchemist was reminded of when he met Death, and how he kicked Twist out of the heavens. Perhaps he should spend more time in the realm of the gods, enforcing the rules. Maybe that was Khahar’s job…

“We’re about five percent done,” Tresk said, clicking her tongue. “This is some repair process by the system. It says this corruption is a foreign entity that isn’t allowed on any plane, let alone the mortal one. And I know your theory.”

Theo nodded, finding himself lost in thought. “I have little information about this guy, but I think he’s like the Harbinger from my world. Maybe another one of his kind, or a shadow of the real thing. We don’t know the capacity and will of the entity, so I find it hard to make plans against it.”

“This could be the answer, though. Just cleaning up the mess bit-by-bit.”

“Maybe. It might be the job of the Dreamwalker and the Arbiter to sort this stuff out.”

Theo and Tresk threw theories around, not reaching much of a conclusion. It was hard to find an answer with such little information. The alchemist considered the power of his Tero’gal Mage’s Core, and the things he might do with it after leveling a bit more.

“What if we put a ward over the entire planet?” Theo asked.

“The planet is big,” Tresk countered.

That got Theo thinking. Mostly about the shards he was destined to recover. “What if that’s the purpose of the shards?”

“That would solve your problems, wouldn’t it?” Tresk asked, laughing to herself. She swayed slightly, stopping the repair to wipe sweat from her brow. “This sucks. I need a break.”

It took about half the day for Tresk and the unconscious Fenian to remove the corruption of the core. But they succeeded. Theo even brought Hanan back to check his interface, finding that every trace of the corruption was gone. The alchemist hoisted Fenian over his shoulder when they were done, finding it much harder to move through the palace with those wings. They took him back to the manor, rather than depositing him onto whatever roof he came from.

“Are you sure he’s alive?” Tresk asked as Theo placed the elf onto a soft bed.

“He has a pulse,” Theo repeated with a shrug. He slapped Fenian in the face, causing him to groan. “There. He made a sound.”

“That could have been air escaping…”

“He’s fine,” Theo said, waving a dismissive hand. “Don’t you have more dragon bones to find?”

“I’m kinda sleepy myself. Did too much work today.” Tresk stood there, looking over Fenian with a hooded gaze. “I’m gonna stand here for a few hours and stare at him like a creep.”

“Okie dokie,” Theo said, heading out from the manor. With only half of the day left, he had two tasks he wanted to tackle. Processing the alchemical waste would take too long. But he could discover the properties on the dragon bones and getting his lab in working order again was within his grasp. He wasn’t surprised to find the shop, experimentation floor, and lab of the building empty. But there were some new fancy stills, courtesy of Throk. “Instead of partying, he was working. I can appreciate that.”

The new stills were of an extremely low capacity. There were new fancy gizmos, and the thickness of the still itself had increased significantly. Throk had heard about the explosions rocking through the town, and sought to mitigate that. He created a more efficient bomb, or a safer still. It was hard to tell which. There were also improvements to the iron paddles, which should have made them collect more impurities. He inspected one of the five that Throk had delivered.

[Custom Drogramathi Iron Artifice Still]

[Alchemy Equipment]

Epic

Created By: Throk

A 50 unit capacity Drogramathi Iron still with attached advanced condenser, internal heating elements, protective plating, over-pressure valve, and rotating paddle attachment.

Effects:

Distillation time reduced.

Occasionally produces more essence.

Reduces the chance of explosive reactions.

Attachments:

[Custom Drogramathi Iron Bubble Plate]

[Custom Drogramathi Iron Vapor Pressurizer]

[Custom Artifice Heater]

[Custom Artifice Timer]

[Custom Artifice rotator]

The pressurizer was optional. Theo could remove that to test the baseline operation of the still. If the first step to this new alchemy was so different, he couldn’t imagine the second being any easier. Running first tier essence through a pressure condenser might cause an explosion. Then again, it might not. But he wasn’t going to test that within his lab. The testing chamber seemed more appealing by the day. Perhaps it was time to accept that upgrade…

“After we get this going,” Theo told himself, preparing for a run with his new still. He only planned to run one batch for now. Throk had a way of ironing out problems, though. After a few rounds of feedback, the alchemist expected this to run perfectly.

It felt strange holding the large alchemical grinder over the small still. Theo found it was far easier to mash the reagents in a different vessel before transferring them to the still. He relied on his core and abilities to measure the right amounts out, placing a mixture of essence and water in equal parts into the still. After that, it was a matter of setting the programmable heating and stirring settings to the right spot and letting it sit for about a day.

Fermentation was a problem, but it was a problem for another day. Baby steps.

Theo looked up from his work, watching as Salire stumbled into the lab. Her face went a deeper shade of red when she spotted him. Messy hair, wrinkled clothes, and dark bags under her eyes marked her as one of many who had over indulged.

“You never take a break, do you?” she groaned, shuffling into the lab.

“I try not to. Throk is right there with me. I’ve got a new still running.”

“Good,” Salire said, slumping over a table and hanging her head.

Theo got to work, filling an empty still with some water. He added moss, and poured them both a cup of tea before handing a mug over to her. “Not as good as what Xam makes, but good enough for a hangover.”

Salire accepted the cup, nodding as she took her first sip. “Delicious.”

Theo took a sip of his. It tasted like moss with a hint of citrus. Although he had a cup with breakfast, another wasn’t unwelcome. The slightly sweet scent of the distilling essence mingled with the earthy smell of the moss. Salire perked up slightly, but still rested against the table with her shoulders slumped.

“Are we calling this a success?” she asked.

“Not until this batch finishes unattended,” Theo said. He worked on spreading a barrier of containment around the working still. Now that Salire had mentioned success, failure was on his mind. At least he could use his barrier wards to experiment within his lab, rather than retreating to the clearing behind the lab. “I was thinking about something…”

“Huh?” Salire looked up with bloodshot eyes.

“The first Tero’gal potion I made was twice as effective as Drogramath’s version.”

“Even if it took significantly more time and effort,” Salire added.

“Yeah. But I hope that’s a trend. We’re forced to craft less potions, but we’ll need to craft less. Because these new potions are going to be more effective.”

“Yeah,” Salire said, her head thumping against the table. “Sounds perfect.”

That was the plan… for now. Run the new stills to ensure they were functioning correctly. Next came the need to figure out Tero’gal’s second tier of alchemy. During these experiments, Theo wanted to check the reactiveness of various reagents. That would let him know if the base purity of any reagents could be influenced by his aligned greenhouses. He would play it by ear from there, pushing himself in whatever direction he needed to go.

Theo clapped his hands together. Salire jumped, sputtering. “No sleeping on the job.”

“I’m awake,” Salire said, pushing off from the table. She shook her head, blinking away her tiredness. “What are we doing?”

Chapter 53

Impure Essence

Most of Broken Tusk had recovered by the next day. The happy couple was sequestered in their tower, all drunks had been refreshed, and Theo sat at the table in his manor. Sarisa and Rowan still weren’t well enough to cook breakfast, but they could make it to Xam’s to buy some food. It was soup again, which was good enough for the alchemist.

“Did you two even wake up yesterday?” Theo asked, poking his spoon at both Rowan and Sarisa.

“No,” Rowan said, groaning. “I’m still feeling it.”

“I know. If only our resident alchemist could make a cure…” Sarisa winked about ten times at Theo.

“Oh, there is a cure for hangovers using alchemy,” Tresk said, nodding to herself. “But we don’t have the plant.”

“Of course we don’t. Why would we have nice things?” Sarisa groaned, slamming her head into the table.

“I fell asleep in here.” Rowan had a distant look on his face, as though viewing the events from yesterday. “Forgot about the mini-Dreamwalk. That was some freaky stuff.”

“You control that dream. You know that, right?” Sarisa asked. “So whatever you dreamed of was your fault. What was it?”

“I don’t want to talk about it,” Rowan said, going pale.

“This is why we don’t have more parties.” Theo loomed over the pair like a disappointed parent. “Maybe we should head to the swamp today as punishment.”

“You can go alone. No energy,” Sarisa said, waving the thought away.

“You can’t scare the children like that,” Tresk said, shaking her head. She clicked her tongue and waggled a finger to complete the look of a disappointed mother.

Theo expected another chill day in town. Everyone was feeling better than yesterday, but they would still be sluggish. After finishing breakfast, he headed to the Newt and Demon. He approached the entrance with caution, poking his head in the front door and searching for damage. He climbed to the third floor, doing the same thing. A fifty unit flask of distilled first tier essence sat on the table, and the still was intact.

It was hard not to compare this flask of essence to the first ones he made after arriving in town. He could now see the details—invisible to most—that distinguished the work of an amateur and the perfection of Tero’gal’s alchemy. It went beyond the old grade markers of Drogramath’s alchemy. Perfection was now measured in the essence's purity, quality of the stills, and skill of the alchemist.

The iron paddle had done its job. After cleaning the leftover reagent mash from the still, Theo removed the paddle and placed it on a clean table for inspection. Using an alchemically neutral copper knife, he removed a tiny chunk, transferring it to a glass vial for experimentation. He stowed the paddle in dimensional storage to avoid any unexpected reactions while he loaded all five of the new stills with Spiny Swamp Thistle Root, topping each with water, and setting them to work.

Theo might have had the confidence to set the stills and forget them, but he still created a small, round shield around each five. Just in case.

Holding his hand over the vial, Theo focused on his Reagent Deconstruction ability. He could feel the small amounts of the whole reagent left behind in the crystalized waste. He pulled on those bits, allowing mana to pool in his hand and drip into the vial. Tilting the glassware container on its side, he expected an explosion. But he focused on pulling the pieces of the waste apart, watching as the mixture bubbled, always on the verge of a more violent reaction. The crystalized waste condensed, tinkling as he rolled the mix around. Both a solid and liquid were left behind, after the mana evaporated. The solid registered as Alchemical Waste when he inspected it, but the murky liquid provided something new.

[Impure Healing Essence]

[Impure Essence]

Common

An incomplete essence with trace amounts of Healing components.

“Interesting,” Theo said, pulling the solid junk out and letting it fall to the table.

Intuition told him this incomplete essence would behave more like regular essence than junk. The solids were still useless, but he could work with this. Those trace elements in the Impure Essence could be used for something. He didn’t know what, but he could do something with it. For now, he would speed his way to the second tier, leaving this for later

Throk was gonna be mad.

Knowing there was something to do with the waste was an excellent step forward. Theo made his way to the aligned greenhouse, patting the Plant Golem as he entered the space. He pulled a mostly grown sample of the root from the garden, watching as the golem rushed in to fill the gap. Since they were harvesting fewer things, the poor fella had less to do. He left, passing by his Experimental Garden Plot at the Herbalist Workshop and shaking his head. He would get back to that project soon enough. Settling in before his research table, the alchemist considered how different this new variant of the plant was.

[Spiny Swamp Thistle Root]

[Alchemy Ingredient]

Common

The root of a Spiny Swamp Thistle.

Research:

Infused with an exceptional amount of Tero’gal energy.

Medium Growth Cycle.

Exceptionally pure sample.

Will not generate a known potion.

Properties:

[Healing] [Regeneration] [Flourish]

The information provided by the workshop contained things Theo was aware of. It made sense that this would be soaked in Tero’gal energy, but he was glad to see it was a pure sample. It would not cause a new potion, much to his disappointment. The system only allowed him to get away with earning so many attributes before it stepped in. That was fine, though. Tero’gal Alchemy was more about working with pure samples, so cultivating these plants was necessary.

Tero’gal Alchemy would be easier with these reagents, but Theo wanted to get it right from the start. He wanted a detailed instruction manual. The more they knew about the hardships future alchemists would endure the better. The alchemist updated the list of orders for his golem, instructing it to harvest from the Tero’gal Greenhouse. Before moving to his next task, he updated his other greenhouses, making the hard decision on which plants to put in each structure.

“Interesting,” Theo said, kneeling to inspect what had been generated for the Flame Rose.

The exterior of the greenhouse looked normal enough. But as Theo poked his head inside, he saw the volcanic conditions within. The ground was a darker shade, and the heat was unbearable. That heat didn’t escape from the building, but the glass on the outside was almost too hot to touch. Theo clicked his tongue, looking over the eight greenhouses he had. He could only cover the three restoration plants and the five attribute plants before running out of room. But those were the eight most useful reagents he had access to.

“Difficult choices,” Theo grumbled to himself, looking over the strange new greenhouses. “I don’t trust the one with lightning inside…”

Maintaining enough greenhouses to service every reagent Theo wanted to use wasn’t possible now. While he could split the space inside, he doubted non-aligned reagents would flourish within. Especially not the greenhouse for the Lightning Poppy. Between his understanding of the new alchemy techniques and the greenhouses, the potions would flow once again.

Theo departed from the tangle of greenhouses, wandering out onto the street. Instead of completing a massive 500 unit batch within hours, he now had to wait at least a day. With more time between runs, he made his way through the town. With more people heading out onto the street, it felt more alive. That narrow window of time where everyone was too sensitive to the light, or completely unconscious had passed in a flash. Before long, he found Sulvan slumped by the town’s monolith.

“Rough couple of days?” Theo asked, withdrawing a Stamina Potion from his inventory and holding it out.

Sulvan took the potion with a feeble grasp, downing it in one go and hiccuping. “Alcohol poisoning counts as poisoning. Just in case you needed to know.”

Theo laughed, helping the man to his feet. “I didn’t know that. How many people were affected?”

“Something like half,” Sulvan said, rubbing his face. “I hope you’re creating more potions.”

“We just nailed the process down. It might take a week, but we’ll have everything we need.”

Sulvan clasped his hands together, muttering a prayer. “I’ll be more prepared for the next party. Perhaps you can brew some potions to cure the poisonous effects.”

“The effect comes from zee, so I don’t see a problem with that. We could mix it in with the booze.”

“Really?”

“No, it might explode. You should take a break for the day.”

Sulvan shook his head, rolling his shoulders. The effects of the Stamina Potion were immediate and potent. “I feel better after drinking the potion.”

“Yeah, but you’ll crash later. Just keep that in mind.”

Theo departed the company of the town’s main healer. Bilgrob was a new brand of healer, too. But the ogre had trouble understanding how his Tero’gal Healer’s Core worked. While the alchemist wished he could infuse the man with some insight, he knew as much as anyone else. His connection with Tero’gal was strong, but the Throneworld wouldn’t give him the keys to each of its cores. With most of the town now with cores of his own making, that was a problem.

The bright spot in the saga of old cores losing their power was the workforce of the town. Most had unaligned cores—typically called laborer cores—that experienced nothing when the shift happened. Gridgen at the mines, Ziz in the quarry, Nira at the smelters, Perg from the tannery, Throk and Thim at the smith and artificer, and even the infirmed Sledge that worked the woodcutting station all had unaligned cores. There was a point where folks were considering aligned with Drogramath. They had dismissed the idea at the time, but happily accepted Tero’gal cores later.

Faith in the false gods was thin, even before they had been discovered as such.

Theo listened to the chime of the bell at Whisper’s butcher shop. She didn’t look up from the sausage stuffing artifice Throk had built her.

“How are the new cores working?” Theo asked, leaning over the counter. Without the Coat of Rake, he would’ve been too cold. She kept the air conditioner as low as it would go, resulting in a layer of frozen condensation on the window.

“Very well,” she said.

“Could I get some sausages?”

“Of course.”

Whisper tried to refuse payment, but Theo used an old tactic. After placing the cured meat in his inventory, he threw money at her and ran out the door. He made his way to the Weaver’s Workshop on the other side of town, taking his time to appreciate the sights of the dying summer. The weather was improving, if only a little. Constant rain in the Season of Blooms, unending heat in the Season of Fire, and now a pleasant breeze that blew from the north for the Season of Death. If this season mirrored those on Earth, there would be celebrations. Perhaps he should focus on those Cure Poison Potions…

“Hello,” Theo said, entering Kaya’s workshop and bowing slightly. He spoke in a broken version of the elf-tongue, only ever picking up a few words. “Having fun?”

Kaya looked up, shaking her head. “I’m learning Qavelli.”

Theo shrugged. “It’s close, right? Just checking in on everyone.” He cleared his throat, switching between languages again. “New cores good?”

“Very good. Thank you,” Kaya said, bowing her head.

Theo gave her a healthy thumbs-up before leaving. He had learned Axphashi for no reason, but couldn’t bring himself to learn the most popular language in Tarantham. Taranthamese? Whatever. The elf-tongue. In a twist of irony, Russian was more useful. Especially if one were going to the Khahari Desert. For his next stop, the alchemist wanted to check on a very important member of the town. Broken Tusk had the Synergistics upgrade which had done little since Sledge was laid up.

The alchemist approached Mudball Fundamental, watching as the children played in the massive yard. While the fence kept the kids inside, it also provided a crude form of a defense for any errant monsters. Not that a monster had been sighted inside the walls for a while. They had enough patrols to put a stop to that risk. Bob was teaching a class about the shifting politics of the world. He had been hit as hard as anyone else, his Zaul cores transforming into Shadow cores overnight.

Theo found the room Sledge had claimed in the back. He cracked the door, his eyes going wide as he spotted a sight too cute to believe. Three tiny marshlings that could fit in the palm of his hand, were running around the room. They shrieked, bit, and hissed at just about everything. Sledge sat in the corner, watching her children with pride. After spending a short time in the eggs, the marshling babies were finally here.

“I’ll kill you!” Sledge shouted, withdrawing a knife from nowhere.

Theo snapped the door closed before the angered marshling could charge him. He turned away, catching a knowing look from Bob.

“Perhaps we should invite our esteemed leader over for a lesson on marshling child rearing,” Bob said, smacking his lips. “Since he’s so clueless.”

The children giggled.

“I didn’t know they had hatched,” Theo said, making his way to the front door.

“And you should be happy about that. She might have killed you if they were still in egg form.” Bob shook his head. “What do we always say, children?”

“Never mess with a marshling,” the children said at the same time.

“That’s right.”

Theo let himself out of the school, thinking about how short of a gestation period that was. Asexual reproduction must have been a boon for the marshling people. Perhaps that’s why they had survived so long without being destroyed. As the alchemist thought about how the marshlings had endured for so long, his mind drifted to the lizard islands. He had wanted a bridge to their side of the world for a while, but every project had failed. Ziz’s bridge was at the bottom of the sea somewhere. More than one bridge, actually.

With his newfound spare time, and abundance of willpower, he could make the bridge. A massive causeway might screw with the way the oceans worked, but it might be fine. He could construct gaps in the middle. Since his plan was to take the entire region with him when they migrated to Tero’gal, none of the work he did would be lost. Instead of seeing this place as disposable, he wanted to see what it could look like if crafted with the tools he had.

Free time meant construction projects. And construction projects were fun.

Chapter 54

Progress Report for the Gods

The point of entry for Tero’gal had changed much since Theo first visited. He stood on a cobblestone road, looking out over the difference with a sigh. It was easy to recall the tiny realm, the sharp decline leading to a sprawling sky. There was a single pool of water fed by a spring, and a field of wheat. Now people passed by, giving him curt nods as they moved from place to place. Perhaps they took the main road west—which was once a trail people used to rollerblade—toward the seas in the west. Or a pilgrimage in the same direction, off to visit the Seat of the Thrones.

“I haven’t seen you this pensive in a while,” Belgar said, placing a comforting hand on the alchemist’s shoulder.

Theo drew another deep breath, turning to the fully realized dronon and nodding. “I’m nostalgic. This is like watching a child grow into adulthood.”

“Well, we have very adult problems to deal with now,” Belgar said, withdrawing a copper coin from a pouch on his belt. “Food, water, housing… money.”

“Ew. Money,” Theo said, feigning disgust. “What happened to my communist utopia?”

Belgar shrugged a response at first, gazing out over a strange landmark. A ring of stone loomed in the distance, perhaps one-hundred feet tall and wide. How the residents of Tero’gal had built it or why was beyond the alchemist’s ability to guess.

“Void stopped by to tell us the time would change, but I don’t know when to expect that. Tero’gal, Khahak, and the Bridge will be synchronized with the mortal world.”

“That’s the end of an era,” Theo said, smiling to himself. It was better that way, though. With how this realm was changing, he couldn’t give support to them as well as he wanted. Slower development would be nice. “You want me to ask about the giant ring of stone, don’t you.”

“Yup! Come on, let me show you,” Belgar said, dragging Theo by the arm.

The path leading west from the growing town had changed little. It had been widened to allow more people passage at once. But the crowd of trees on either side was still there, giving welcomed shade to the trip. A cart rolled by on their right, drawn by an ox. Another man rode the opposite direction on the back of a horse.

“The fauna here… is it all creatures from Earth?” Theo asked.

“They’re not from Iaredin, that much I know,” Belgar said. “Was that bura that went past from Earth?”

“That’s a horse,” Theo corrected. “Are you guys renaming the creatures?”

Belgar shrugged as if to say ‘why not?’

The new denizens of the world were eager to rename or name everything. Since someone spotted a pig near the first town, they had named it Boar Hollow. The road leading to the west was mainly used by people transporting goods, so it was called the Western Trade Road. And so on. The names weren’t imaginative, but it hardly seemed to matter. These were the people making the history of the world, so they had every right to name the stuff whatever they wanted.

The duo walked for a while. Theo could have teleported them to their destination, but he enjoyed the quiet moment along the road. The road spanned a creek with a stone bridge, and covered as many inclines and declines. Drawing closer to the massive ring, the paved area underneath it came into view. The locals had leveled the land, paving it with fat stone bricks before building the ring. The alchemist could finally see the intricate runework carved into the structure itself. Written in axpashi, he could understand some of it.

“Tapping into the Bridge?” Theo asked, shaking his head. “How has that been going?”

“Not well. Even with Uz’Xulven’s help. She’s just over there,” Belgar said, gesturing in the distance. The woman was working with a hammer and chisel at the base of the ring.

“Theo!” Uz’Xulven said, spotting them as they approached. “What do you think?”

“Impressive. How does it stay upright?” he asked.

“Magic,” Uz’Xulven said with too much jazz-hands for such a simple response. “Been trying to tune this thing to the right frequency, but no luck.”

“Yes, we’ve seen some strange things on the other end.” Belgar sighed dramatically. “Not the bridge, though.”

“Watch,” Uz’Xulven said, throwing her arms wide.

Theo could feel the magic pouring from her, stinging the air like a swarm of angry bees. After forming a complex spell, she released it. Light pooled at the stone circle’s center, spreading out like a pond refilling. The blue faded as Uz’Xulven trotted around to their side. She looked up at the forming image, tutting.

“We got him a few times already,” she said.

Theo narrowed his eyes. He made out the image of a small goblin wearing a robe. The creature made a few gestures, but no sound carried through. After a bit of wild flailing, he gave them the finger before swiping his hands through the air. The pool vanished in an instant.

“That’s a strangely powerful goblin mage,” Uz’Xulven explained. “Dunno where he’s from, but I think he has a Gate wherever that might be. But we’re getting closer to using the Bridge.”

“What’s the goal here?” Theo asked.

“We’re connecting Tero’gal with Khahak,” Belgar said. “That way, we can have two worlds united.”

“You don’t have the same iron grip the ascendants had on their realms, but you’re still all-powerful here.” Uz’Xulven tapped her chin, her eyes scanning over the sigils on her Gate. “We don’t expect factions, wars, or any of that nonsense.”

“Well, there have been attempts at that sort of thing. But nothing lasts.”

“Troublemakers already?” Theo asked. “Ya don’t say.”

“No one was surprised. The world itself seems opposed to conflict.” A smile spread across Belgar’s face. It looked as though he was recalling a pleasant memory. “The landscape changed as one group advanced on another. Nothing happened after that.”

“I’ve noticed Tero’gal getting more willful. We’re not really controlling it anymore.”

“That’s a good thing, right?” Uz’Xulven asked. “Yeah?”

Theo shrugged. He would offer to help her figure out what was wrong with the gate, but there was no point. She lost her ascendant core, but still maintained a high-level mage’s core. That core didn’t work as well in Tero’gal, but it still mostly worked. From what he understood, Drogramath was in a different boat. The once-potioneer’s core was non-functional. Perhaps that had something to do with Uz’Xulven’s possession of the Bridge, or an arbitrary response by the Throneworld. No matter what the cause, he knew it would take a while for things to sort themselves out.

“Very nice ring,” Theo said, turning away from the site. “I’m going on a tour. You’re doing a great job, Belgar.”

Theo vanished after getting a big smile from Belgar. The man had assumed a mantle of responsibility he didn’t need to. But without the alchemist there all the time, it made sense to put someone else in charge. He was only in charge of the welcome area of Boar Hollow, but it was an important job. The alchemist found areas to the south that had been cut and turned into farmland. Towns were springing up everywhere, souls given bodies coming to fill the space. Trade flourished, usually in the form of bartering.

Drogramath’s town was looking more like Broken Tusk by the day. Theo walked down the muddy streets, spotting dronon here and there. He knocked on the door of the largest house in town, waving when the man himself opened the door. What he didn’t expect to see was Toru’aun sitting at a table, drumming her fingers on the table with anticipation.

“Never thought I’d see you again,” Theo said, craning his neck to get a better look at her. The shifting color had faded from her appearance, resulting in plain black dronon hair. But she still wore an ornate dress, studded with various gems and glittering in the low light of the house’s interior.

Toru’aun offered a half-hearted smile. “Nice to see you, Theo.”

“Want some tea?” Drogramath asked, gesturing to the interior of the home.

Theo bowed his head as he entered. The threshold was slightly shorter than he had expected. Drogramath trotted off, setting another cup and saucer on the table before pouring him a cup of tea. The alchemist took his seat, smelling something familiar but distant from the cup before him.

“Black tea?” Theo asked, sniffing it again. He took a tentative sip, finding some amount of sugar mixed in. “You guys don’t mess around, huh?”

“Khahar was gracious enough to tell us where to find tea,” Drogramath explained, taking his own seat. “He also mentioned coffee beans, but we could not locate them.”

“Have you settled into Tero’gal?” Theo asked, turning his attention to Toru’aun.

“I float between the two ports. I’m not willing to make a home in either world.”

“She’s been this grump since the start,” Drogramath said. “Now that we’re without cores, that grumpiness has doubled.”

“You can’t blame her. Change is hard.”

“That’s easy to say when you’re the one on top,” Toru’aun said. “Not that you earned what you have.”

Theo could only shrug at the statement. Because he agreed with her in principle. “We can have a fistfight outside if you like,” he said. “But I didn’t do this. I don’t know what’s going on and frankly, I’m confused.”

Drogramath offered a polite chuckle. “She doesn’t enjoy being in the light of day.”

“I can speak for myself, Droggy,” Toru’aun said, rolling her shoulders. “Thousands of years of planning for this… I’m comforted by this ending, but restless.”

“That’s to be expected.” Theo considered his own struggles with feeling that sense of restlessness. When things calmed down on the mortal world, he found things to keep himself busy. But he was always that way, no matter what body he inhabited. “Finding purpose after losing a realm sounds rough, and I won’t pretend to understand it.”

“At least he is adjusting well,” Toru’aun said, jabbing a finger at Drogramath as she pouted. “You wouldn’t know how powerful he was before. Now look at him. Rotting in his swamp town.”

“What’s wrong with swamp towns?” Drogramath and Theo asked at the same time.

“They smell.”

“You smell,” Drogramath retorted.

Toru’aun stuck her tongue out at him.

Theo cleared his throat. “What about Balkor?” he asked. “Any sign of Zagmon?”

“Balkor is in Khahak. He’s doing fine, but has concerns about his copy back on the mortal world,” Drogramath said. “Zagmon is mostly dead, but that’s hard to define. Imprisoned is a better word.”

“And we have thousands of displaced ascendants roaming two worlds. Is two worlds enough?” Toru’aun asked.

“Tero’gal is big,” Theo said.

“Khahak is even bigger,” Drogramath bragged.

Theo sipped his tea. Coming to Tero’gal today was about more than enjoying tea. He wanted to see how these people were doing. But his fears were unfounded. Everything was going well enough that he could focus on three goals. Alchemy, bringing the shards back, and terraforming Broken Tusk.

“I’d like some input,” Theo said. “I’m planning on bringing the entire Southlands Alliance into Tero’gal. Where do you think I should bring it?”

“You’re going to drag an entire continent through the void?” Drogramath asked. “Interesting plan.”

Toru’aun scoffed, shaking her head. “Just do a flying city. Everyone enjoys a good flying city.”

That wasn’t an awful idea. Theo could imagine the entire continent hovering above everything else. Logistics might be a problem, but it would look incredibly cool.

“We would need airships or giant magical elevators.”

“That’s a problem for another day,” Drogramath said. “My vote is for a flying alliance. You could call it the alliance in the sky.”

“Damn, why don’t you just make another realm in your world? Put it in a pocket dimension or something—how limited is your power here?” Toru’aun asked.

“No, I want it in the physical space of Tero’gal. Something like the capital of the world.”

Drogramath nodded along. “Drop it in the ocean. One of the many oceans. I think that would be the easiest path.”

“You’ve got big ideas, Drogramath. I think you’ll go places with those ideas.” Theo smiled to himself again as he sipped his tea. “Hey, has anyone seen Benton?”

“Mountains north of Boar Hollow,” Toru’aun said. “Despite his claim, he selected a snowy region.”

“Okay. I’m gonna go check on him real quick before returning to the mortal world,” Theo said, his eyes dragging to the room’s corner. He saw shadows pool there, half-expecting Shadow to pop out. Instead, Void appeared. “Come on, little guy. If you’re gonna yell at me, we’re gonna do it in the mountains.”

“I’m not here to yell,” Void said, coming alongside Theo. “Let’s go.”

The pair were standing in Drogramath’s house one moment, and the next there were knee-deep in snow. Well, Theo was knee-deep in snow. The poor little guy next to him was up to his eyeballs. With a wave of his hand, the alchemist cleared a path for them to walk. Sturdy stone buildings loomed in the distance, shrouded in a gray layer of falling snow.

“Anything pressing to talk about?” Theo asked as they pushed forward.

“I’m seeking a progress report.”

Theo shook his head. “Things are fine, but I’m sitting at a roadblock. Since we need to use mortal means to transport the shards, we’re waiting for a few pieces of magical tech. And my mage just had his wedding, so he’s busy.”

“Ah, wedding bliss. I understand,” Void said, brushing snow from his shoulder. 

Theo raised a brow. “You’re less fire-and-brimstone than normal.”

“Death told me you elbowed Twist in the face, so you’re officially on my good side. By that I mean, you did your job as the Dreamwalker and I’m happy.”

“Why does everyone hate that guy?” Theo asked. Benton spotted them from a distance and waved like an idiot.

“I have scones!” Benton shouted, jumping with excitement.

“He made our lives very hard. Everyone thought he was slain, but I guess not…”

“This is old Earth, isn’t it?” Theo asked. “The nonsense with the other world. Are you ever going to tell me what happened? Hey, Benton.”

“A god and the owner of the world!” Benton shouted. “Come on, I have tea and sweets.”

Theo and Void fell in line behind Benton, marching up the snowy mountain.

“I suppose I can state the basics. As long as the tea is good,” Void said.