The Newt and Demon - Book 7 Chapters 22,23,24 (Patreon)

Chapter 22

Spiritfruit Properties

Gentle waves lapped through the harbor and Broken Tusk. Several ships were currently docked, and several more were being worked on in the shipyard. Theo kicked his legs over the edge, going over his list of potions and combinations with magical effects. Although he had tried, he hadn’t figured out a way to infuse combined properties into a potion yet. He spotted a low ship in the water. He thought for a moment it was the lizard folk ship, but it was a low-running elven ship coming up the canal and setting into port. The buzz of activity in the harbor was practically electric. It was hard to fight off that infection.

Several reagents Theo had cultivated, both in the mortal world and his own personal throne world, produced incredibly powerful effects. There was the Dragon Apple, the Xotl Orange, the Fairy Plum, and the Soul Bloom. With the ability to replicate these properties without actually growing them, Theo wanted to discover what other properties they held. They were impossibly difficult to grow now that the time scale and the heavens had been adjusted.

The alchemist withdrew one of the few dragon apples he had from his inventory. He held it, considering a bite for a moment before resisting the urge. Instead, he injected his mana inside and watched as the fruit’s structure broke down. While it turned to ash in his hand, what remained was the primal essence containing all information about the first three reagents. Because of the item’s complex structure, he could not discover the hidden fourth property.

After consuming the properties from the apple, he inspected the item.

[Dragon Apple]

[Alchemy Ingredient] [Spirit Fruit]

Mythic

The favored food of dragons older than time itself, these fruits are said to increase the strength of whoever eats them.

Properties:

[Dragon’s Breath] [Dive] [Overwhelming Power]

As always, it was impossible to know exactly what the properties did, but both sounded interesting. While he was eager to figure out what each one did, he first wanted to get the properties from the other reagents. He started with the orange. This orange was themed around underwater fish people. The two properties he had yet to discover would no doubt follow the same theme.

[Xotl Orange]

[Alchemy Ingredient] [Spirit Fruit]

Mythic

Lurking in the deepest places of the world, an ancient race of fish-people cultivated this fruit. Imbued with the power of the things that lurk in the darkest reaches, the Xotl orange embodies what it means to live at such depths.

Properties:

[Xotl’s Undercurrent] [Spume] [Water Walking]

“Ew, what the hell is ‘spume’?” Theo asked, wincing as he read the two new properties. The system rarely gave him properties that were outright nasty, but he wasn’t eager to figure out what the word meant. Yet, the third property on the reagent looked valuable. Who wouldn’t want to walk on water, after all?

Once he finished the orange, he moved on to the plum. This possessed an incredibly powerful property. Although he wasn’t sure he wanted to replicate it in a potion using his infusion method. He watched the plum turn to dust in his hand and then inspected the item.

[Fairy Plum]

[Alchemy Ingredient] [Spirit Fruit]

Mythic

Found near sites of intense nature magic, Fairies lurk and wait for those worthy of their blessing. Hanging from the boughs of those magically enchanted trees are these fruits. They are a favorite of the fairies and are often eaten during celebrations.

Properties:

[Fairy’s Blessing] [Fairy Court] [Shrink]

Theo remembered something he’d heard a very long time ago. When it came to potions that altered the size of the imbiber, they were often considered dangerous. Potions with strictly magical effects applied their blessings with nothing more than magic. But when altering a person’s body size, it also altered the organs, which could lead to disastrous effects. Therefore, he considered the Shrink property dangerous and didn’t plan to use it. But the second property was interesting enough. Even if he didn’t know exactly what it meant, it was worth trying out.

Last came the Soul Bloom, which, if Theo was honest with himself, he was least eager to check out. Anything that affected the soul could quickly become necromancy, and he wasn’t certain he was willing to be the one to unleash that on the world. The only thing that pushed him forward to discover the property was that only he could see the list of properties. Every individual alchemist needed to discover those properties on their own. They couldn’t use the properties unless they decomposed a reagent or ate it.

Theo held one of the last soul blooms in his hand. He watched, even before applying his mana as the flower began to wilt. Before it could turn to ash, he hastened the process, feeling three new properties flow through him. Once he was done, he inspected the item.

[Soul Bloom]

[Alchemy Ingredient] [Spirit Flower]

Legendary

Impossibly delicate flower that blooms only once a moon phase. Improper handling will result in the destruction of this flower. Grows in places containing high spiritual energy.

Properties:

[Poison Spirit] [Empower Spirit] [Phylactery] [Soul]

“Yep, that one is evil,” Theo said, shaking his hand. He stowed the ashes away in his inventory and considered each property. The Poison Spirit property would likely produce a fairly standard poison that affected the soul instead of the body. This reagent was curious. Since the second property would likely imbue the spirit with the ability to resist such poisons. He couldn’t think of another reagent with such a dichotomy. And yet there was a third property, Phylactery—the property a lich required to gain its status as a member of the undead.

Very few people knew that Theo had access to this property. If more than a handful of people knew he could produce a phylactery, errant mages would show up, seeking to write their names in the history books by becoming immortal. Well, not exactly immortal. They had to create an object to bind their soul to, and then figure out a way to regenerate once their body was destroyed. Soul magic wasn’t something Theo was interested in pursuing, so the soul bloom seemed more and more dangerous to work with. He wasn’t sure if he’d attempt to extract its properties and incorporate them into a potion.

Theo rose to his feet, seeing how late he had gotten during his experimentations. While he could feel Sarisa nearby, he didn’t sense Rowan. The man was probably back at the manor, getting dinner ready.

“Would you care to test a poison for me, Sarisa?” Theo asked.

“A poison?” Sarisa asked, emerging from the shadows. “You want to test a poison on me? No thanks. Go ask Rowan. He’ll do anything for a few coins.”

Theo smiled as he turned and spotted his bodyguard/assistant standing there, hands on her hips. He had wondered if she and her brother were happy simply being layabout bodyguards, but they seemed happy enough. He felt that some locals had fallen into a holding pattern, waiting for the world to end, and he couldn’t blame them. It was difficult to think of what they needed to do before the transition.

Before returning to the manor, Theo checked his administrative interface. News indicated that one elf was stirring, but his slumber proved deeper than anticipated. The thread contained chatter requesting time off for the healers between the two groups of space elves, and he understood their request. Unfortunately, he could only offer them a few days off.

On his way back to the manor, he was intercepted by a marshal riding a flying dragon goose. Tresk and Alex landed heavily on the main road of Broken Tusk. Alex roared, honked, and shot fire into the air, while Tresk performed some impressive combat moves.

“We got another negative dungeon,” Tresk said, finishing her statement with a pose. “The Ocean Dungeon went to -1 just a few minutes ago.”

“Oh, perfect,” Theo said. “I was thinking we could get some more horrors from an indescribable world into town. Is the Hills Dungeon still stable?”

“Nope, one monster got out earlier today,” Tresk said. “And it wasn’t even part of a monster wave, so everybody’s nice and confused.”

“Ah, yes. Horrors beyond our comprehension,” Theo said with a slow nod. “Any progress from the wizard’s end?”

“Kinda,” Tresk said with a shrug. “He says he won’t really know what’s going on until he gets in there. And Fenian isn’t answering the phone.”

“The damn elf is up to something again,” Theo grumbled. “If that man has his way, he’ll shatter all our plans before they even happen. I was talking to Elrin, and we think we have a way to prevent the war we were planning in Death’s Realm.”

“Make sure Fenian knows about your plan,” Tresk said. “Otherwise, he’s going to find a way to get there and try to stab the god of death in the face.”

“Yeah, that’s normally your move,” Theo said, pointing an accusatory finger at her.

“Hey, what can I say? I’ve changed,” Tresk said, striking another pose. “I’m just better, faster, and stronger.”

“I don’t think any of those things have to do with your personality,” Theo said with a sigh. “But come on, I’m sure Rowan has some food ready for us.”

Tresk had to put Alex in the stables for the night before she joined them. This gave Theo time to inspect his administration interface and see that a problem existed: the dungeons were still operating at a negative power level. Xol’sa was doing his best to stabilize them, but there was only so much he could do. The amount of power leaking from the recovering elves spread out, no matter what they tried.

Elrin had hinted that the shards were designed to absorb some of that void magic, and since he had placed one in the correct place, it was doing part of the job. But even the combined efforts of the wizard and the shard weren’t enough to contain all that energy. Theo was worried. It would soon boil over.

Theo was delighted to see that Rowan had created something moderately similar to jambalaya. It was sausages, zee that had been processed into granules, and some spicy liquid, all mixed into a pot. He recalled meals he had back on Earth that mimicked this dish, although those preserved meals in a bag didn’t even come close.

Trask eventually returned after settling Alex down for the night. She joined them at the table and spooned a large helping of the spicy food onto her plate. Theo had already taken a few bites, and light perspiration had appeared on his forehead.

“This reminds me of something,” Tresk said, tapping her spoon against her plate. “Do you remember when we were eating those salamander eggs in the lab? I think Luras was there.”

The Alchemist couldn’t help but smile. He remembered that moment very well. Spicy food was an amazing distraction from the weight of their responsibilities. He remembered that moment fondly.

“I remember a certain lizard girl who hoarded her salamander eggs for quite some time,” Theo said.

“Yeah, you don’t even know about half of my stashes,” Tresk said with a self-assured chuckle. “Actually, I don’t even know about half of them, because I keep forgetting where I put them.”

Tomorrow, Theo planned to do a lot of testing with his new properties. The only issue was finding the perfect vehicle to imbue them. He was confident he could get a good idea of what they did from that. For now, he enjoyed his meal and the lively conversation that sprung up around the table.

Chapter 23

Dainty Little Alchemist

Theo yawned as he woke from the Dreamwalk. He saw little use in gaining many more levels and had instead been focusing on expanding his abilities outside the context of levels lately. But he still managed to push himself to level 34 in both his alchemy and herbalist cores, which caused his personal level to grow as well, although he still wasn't sure what he was going to do with it. With a shrug, he placed his free point into Strength. It was the only attribute he had less than a hundred, aside from Intelligence, and he dared not push that further than 30.

Breakfast was a simple meal of sausage and eggs. He was grateful that his new body could process so much fat without causing a horrible heart condition. Or perhaps it did, and he was simply unaware. Tresk seemed overly excited about something today, although she wouldn't tell him what it was. He thought it was because their Tara’hek core had risen to level 39 and would likely reach 40 any day. That would provide them with another skill or an evolution of an existing skill—that was pretty fun.

Just as Theo was preparing to spend his day working on his new properties, he groaned. The bell outside sounded, and he reflexively pulled up his tactical map of the town. He didn't see any overflowing dungeons, and there was no note of monsters escaping from the negative dungeons. That didn't stop Tresk from immediately teleporting away to figure out what was going on.

Instead of rushing up from his chair and joining her, he simply watched the events unfold through her eyes. Aarok was assembling the troops, not as a defensive action, but as an offensive one.

"Looks like we're going to be forced into the dungeons," Theo said, finishing the last of his sausages and leaving a bit of egg.

"Are we actually going to fight something today?" Sarisa asked, with an exasperated sigh. "I haven't been able to kill a monster in quite some time."

Theo lingered at the table for quite some time, not expecting to be drawn into whatever offensive action was unfolding. When a message flashed through the administrative interface, the alchemist gawked. Of all people, he was the one summoned to the battle. He was being pulled against his will.

"I'm the town's dainty little alchemist," Theo said, folding his arms. "I'm not supposed to go and fight."

"First off, we're a city now," Sarisa said.

Rowan roared with laughter. "Secondly, or anything but dainty. Actually, I don't even know why we're still guarding you. You could beat both our asses with your hands tied behind your back."

Theo sat grumpily in his chair for some time, but eventually Tresk came to collect him.

"What are you doing, lazybones?" Tresk asks. "We need your predictive powers in the dungeon."

Theo pointed a finger in the air. "I am a dainty little alchemist," he said.

"Oh, shut up," Tresk said. "Come on, we had a dungeon break from the Hills dungeon. And we need to thin out the number of monsters inside. You two are coming, too.  Since, for some reason, you're stronger than most of the adventurers.”

While Theo wanted to object, he knew it made sense. With two negative dungeons in town, things would get dangerous if they didn't clear out the monsters. They hadn't yet taken action against the dungeons because they feared a dungeon break, but now that one had happened, the seal was broken.  It was more important to reduce the monster numbers than anything else. With a sigh, he stood and shrugged.

"How many people are we taking?" he asked.

"A decent-sized strike squad," Tresk said. "Mostly stealthers, but we're going to do this the old Qavelli way. You know how those old war boys think."

Theo grumbled a few more times, but he joined Tresk. Sarissa and Rowan trailed behind them. In the city square, they had assembled fighters for the effort. Theo wasn't really sure how this was going to go, but if they were going to do so without casualties, they would need his predictive powers. More than that, he supposedly had quite a bit of defensive magic he could add to the mix. Not only could he summon powerful barriers, but he could also cast the haste spell on people. He had been practicing it, after all.

"Finally," Aarok grumbled, casting Theo a nasty look. "Time is of the essence. We're going to need to clear this dungeon as quickly as possible. We're bringing the wizard so we can destroy the core if we get there, but if the dungeon proves too vast, we'll settle for taking care of some monsters to alleviate future waves."

Theo spotted Xol’sa and Zarali across the way. They were mingling among the soldiers, who numbered at least fifty. Aarok had more information to give about formations and all that fun stuff. He didn't need to listen much, because he would be in the rear, focused on using his future sight to forestall any attacks and relay that information directly to the commanders.

"Theo in the field," Luras said, coming up alongside him and jabbing his oboe into the alchemist's ribs. "Never thought I'd see this."

"Yeah, yeah. I had big plans for today, but I guess I'm babysitting a bunch of weaklings in a dungeon."

"Oh, Mr. Big Pants Archduke over here, throwing his weight around," Luras said, producing more of a smile than Theo had seen in quite a while.

Theo was instantly reminded of the friendly jabs he exchanged with Yuri back in the day. That put a big smile on his face, and he ended up laughing with the other soldiers as they prepared to depart. Truth was, he wasn't certain if they were ready for an excursion into the negative dungeon. From what he had observed, from Tresk's perspective, it was a nasty place with an unforgiving range of monster levels. He went over his spells as they prepared to leave.

His barrier spell would be the most effective, but he certainly could adapt a few others to fit their needs. He could also create a field of anti-magic, preventing monsters from casting offensive spells.  And he could craft a ward preventing any specific type of magic from harming them.

Theo realized he might actually be a very powerful support mage, even if he had often neglected his mage core. Oh well. They were bringing him for his ability to predict the future, and his magic would just sweeten the deal. After a while, the troops were ready to go and began their march toward the dungeon. The alchemist brought up the rear with the casters, but he was also flanked by his guards and Tresk.

"You know, it has just been a lifetime since I delved into a dungeon," Zarali said with a wistful sigh. "I hope my strong husband can protect me."

"We both know you're more powerful than me," Xol’sa said. "I'll do my best to defeat the monsters, and you just make sure everybody doesn't die."

"How are the space elves, by the way?" Theo asked.

"They're doing well, actually," Zarali said. "That one man is finally waking up, but he's slow to do it. Don't worry, the other healers are taking very good care of him while I'm away."

Even the entrance to the Hills Dungeon looked cursed. As Theo stood outside the portal, peering inside, he could only think that what lay within was more than this small group could handle. He wondered if they had actually intended to go in without him, and shivered at the thought. I wasn't surprised when his small group was sent in first. They delved headlong into the portal and arrived in that endless landscape moments later.

To his surprise, Zarali summoned a barrier that dropped everybody into an obscured stealth mode. He nodded in approval, then looked back at the floating portal exit. The other soldiers came pouring through.

"Let me know if you need some mana potions," Theo said, nodding to Zarali.

"Oh, I've got plenty," she said, smiling to herself. "A few abilities let me restore my own mana, but I appreciate the sentiment."

Aarok laid out the plans. Tresk had done extensive scouting in the area, and she claimed to have a very good idea of where the dungeon core might be. Unfortunately, she believed it was in the giant floating monster that hovered above them—like some great sky whale.

"Hi, Frank," Tresk whispered, waving up at the giant sky whale.

As the plans were laid, Theo allowed his concentration to slip from the conversation. Instead, he focused on his future sight, watching the various monsters in the distance move around. He observed their shadows and the group's preparations, noting their departure in a few minutes. He drank a Potion of Limited Foresight and kept his various shields at the forefront of his mind. As the spectral expedition pushed forward, he watched a party member on the left slip from Zarali's barrier. A flying monster picked the member up a moment later and flew off.

"Stay within the barrier," Theo said, pointing an accusatory finger at the half-ogre who had lingered outside its protective embrace.

"I wasn't going to leave," she said.

"He can see the future," Aarok said, shaking his head. "We haven't even started moving yet, and you're seeing casualties."

"Yeah, so we'll prevent those," Theo said. "Don't worry."

Viewing the world through future sight was weird. Yuri had always talked about it as a thread of fate that was being changed and those potential futures. While Theo wasn't quite at that level, he could view his intended future as though he were scrubbing through a video, fast-forwarding and rewinding. When he made a change, he had to go back and let it play out once again. This time, as the party set out, the errant half-ogre was not scooped up by a flying monster. Instead, he stayed well within the barrier and took advantage of the stealth effect.

"So here's the score," Tresk said, walking alongside Theo. He was shocked that she wasn't in her own version of Stealth, but it seemed as though she had something to say. “Most of the area around here is open fields, giving Frank direct access to us. If Frank spots any of us, we're basically screwed. So, what we're going to do is move into a section with floating islands to shield us from the sky. That will give us a chance to fight them off.”

That made enough sense to Theo. He looked up, spotting Frank high in the sky. The creature tilted to one side and seemed to dive a bit. He raised an eyebrow, fast-forwarding his future sight to see what the sky whale would do.

"Halt!" Theo called, gaining the attention of the commanders, who relayed his order. Everyone stopped on that open, colorless field, looking back at him with confusion.

It took about a minute for the reality he was viewing to catch up to the present, but a massive chunk of something fell from the sky. Frank had tossed something at them, perhaps detecting their location, or maybe it was just random. The object impacted the ground with a resounding crash, shattering whatever material the floor was made of and creating quite a crater.

"We're good," Theo said, barely able to hold his focus on the present as he watched the swirl of futures around them. The group continued marching forward.

Of the monsters that occupy this area, most were strange amalgams—combinations of different things or creatures he hadn't yet seen. The alchemist watched as a rabbit with a pair of antlers hopped past them, just outside the stealth barrier. Despite its appearance, it was level 50 and would likely give them trouble if they engaged it directly. After about half an hour of marching, they finally found something other than a completely flat plain. Hills rose in the distance, and they could see the floating islands Tresk had mentioned.

"Anything else, future boy?" Tresk asked.

Theo scrubbed his future sight, wincing as he saw a small herd of creatures pass before him. They crossed into the barrier, were detected by the group, and began an assault. The monsters were a cross between a llama, a horse, and maybe a goat. It was hard to tell. He directed the group to halt and move to the right, avoiding the encounter entirely.

Light conversations sprung up within his group, but Theo couldn't give them any attention. He felt his mind buzzing as he watched those future maneuvers. Before long, the group was coming under the ledges of those islands, finding a decent space to rest for a moment as they regrouped.

"There's a cat-like creature lurking in the area," Theo said. He watched a massive panther emerge from stealth and assault the adventurers outside the formation. When he focused, he could see its outline in the distance. “I don't think we can avoid fighting it. Does anyone want to put an arrow in it?”

"Oh, come on," Tresk asked, removing a poisoned dagger from their shared inventory. "Why don't you take a shot?"

Theo shrugged, taking the blade from his companion and flipping it in the air. He caught it deftly before whipping it forward. His dexterity made the motion almost effortless, and the dagger slammed into the side of a hidden beast. It was a dagger tipped with one of their nastier poisons that went to work right away, The massive panther surged forward for only a breath before it tumbled to the ground.

“Wait, why don't we take Theo on more adventures?” Luras asked, chuckling from the front of the formation.

"Because he's a dainty little alchemist," Tresk shot back. "And he's a precious baby."

Chapter 24

Hairbrained Dungeon Schemes

Theo stood watch idly as the others formed a plan. He was watching the various monsters outside the stealth bubble when he overheard part of a conversation. At first, he thought Tresk's idea about Frank was a whim, but the more they spoke, the more it seemed they were planning to actually get onto the creature.

"Pardon," Theo said. "Did you just say we're going to jump on its back?"

“Tresk scouted a fair amount of his dungeon," Aarok said, folding his arms. "And it seems like the most logical place for the core to be, inside the giant whale thing."

Theo pinched the bridge of his nose and released a heavy sigh. "The most logical thing," he said, "is that the dungeon core is on or inside a gigantic flying goop monster."

"Well, it isn't unfounded," Xol’sa said, joining the conversation. "My dungeon engineer class gives me vague information about where the core might be, and the giant goo monster gives me the strongest signal."

Theo clicked his tongue, poking his head out from under the covers. He could see the creature flying around in the sky above. Although it was dimly lit, it stood out against the darkness of the sky, somehow catching what little light there was. The monster was roughly the size of a city, or larger. It was hard to tell at this distance. But he wasn't sure if he agreed with the assessment.

Since this wasn't Theo's rodeo, he shrugged. What more could he do than offer his concerns? The best he could do was to keep the others safe as they went.

"So here's the skinny," Tresk said. "These islands are like small stepping stones for us to gain altitude. We're going to move as a group to the top and then wait for Frank to pass by."

This was a plan only broken tuskers could conceive, and Theo didn't know if he was angry about it. If the party were smaller, he would have absolutely no complaints. But with so many people to protect at once, he wasn't sure how well they would do.  But he still hadn't used his barrier magic to protect them, so one insane plan didn't seem too far-fetched. He waited for the party to be prepared. Tresk vanished into the shadows and scouted their path ahead. Half an hour later, she returned, giving a thumbs-up and confirming that she had a straight route to the highest floating island.

"Same as before," Aarok announced. "Keep your senses open, Theo. I don't want any surprises as we ascend."

Something about the design of these floating islands seemed intentional. It appeared as though somebody had just torn chunks from the land and allowed them to float there in place. But there was logic to the way they were arranged. Between each island, there seemed to be either a stone ramp or roots connecting them. Whether that held them in place, the alchemists couldn't say. But as they ascended the first ramp and set foot on the first floating island, they felt as though this might have been easy.

"Pause," Theo said, gaining the attention of the commanders who relayed his order. "Frank's going to approach very closely and nudge one island, so everyone should brace."

The adventurers hit the ground and grabbed handfuls of dirt. Theo watched as Tess wrapped her arms around a rock and nodded to him with unexpected fervency. As predicted, about a minute later, Frank came too close to the island.  He nudged an above island, triggering a chain reaction. The connected islands shook, and the resulting earthquake sent many adventurers tumbling to the ground. But no one was sent over the edge, as he had foreseen in his vision.

"Just a minute," Theo said. "I think Frank can sense us, and he's not happy about our ascent."

The group resumed traveling once the creature settled down. The plan was to avoid as many monsters as possible on the way to the top.  However, some inevitable fighting occurred on the second floating island. A group of flying, bird-like monsters waited near the ramp to the next island, and the group had no choice but to engage them. It was nice to see Sarisa and Rowan finally in combat.

Since Sarisa's class allowed her to take many hits with her tower shield, she found herself on the front lines, drawing the monsters' ire and keeping everyone else safe.  That left things clear for everyone else to chop down the bird monsters and clear the path. But Theo noticed how the sky whale reacted to monsters dying. It seemed to enliven the creature, allowing it to float around the sky with more ease.

But the monster's attacks between islands weren't what concerned Theo most.  Most concerning was Frank's scale as they ascended. It became clear exactly how large this monster was. Since they were fairly certain the dungeon pulled from existing things, the alchemists couldn't help but think that somewhere in the world, this monster could exist, waiting to be released. He had certainly seen strange things, but nothing on this scale.

That's when it hit him. As the group was walking along one island, high above the ground, Theo pulled Aarok aside.

"I'm almost certain that's an ascendant beast," Theo said. His Wisdom of the Soul message claimed he couldn't determine it one way or the other, although the monster's size certainly pointed in that direction.

"Right, right," Aarok said. "Remind me, what does that mean?"

"To put it plainly," Theo said, "the beast is on the verge of godhood, or at least candidacy for godhood."

"Oh, damn. Really? Maybe we should rethink the plan."

"We're already halfway there," Theo said. "We may as well go through with it. I just wanted you to be aware that we were looking at something far more power than we previously thought."

"The plan isn't to fight it," Aarok said, nodding to himself as though assuring himself of his plan. "We just need to get on its back and find the dungeon core."

This might have been the most daring plan Aarok had ever come up with. Theo was still concerned about the safety of the people here, but he trusted them to be smart enough. And if they weren’t very smart, he could do his best to intervene and save their butts.

Several hours of climbing later and the group approached the highest of the islands. The landscape below them stretched out as one endless smear of gray. It was hard to believe the size of the dungeon’s interior. In the distance, Theo could see the remnants of towns, cliffs, and even half-ruined walls of unknowable cities. Every new landscape feature he noticed was another brushstroke of nonsense to add to the pile. The alchemist flinched as he saw something large enter his future sight.

Theo reflexively invoked his Defense ward, channeling it instead of his normal ward mode. A willpower-fueled barrier erupted around them, covering the large island and draining his mana away. This drew the attention of the others—particularly Aarok—who looked back at him with concern. A few breaths later and the alchemist felt something massive impact his barrier. But it wasn’t Frank. He still had eyes on the whale far in the distance.

“What was that?” Zarali asked, fear staining her voice.

“Holy moly!” Tresk shouted, jumping with excitement. Her daggers were in her hands before anyone could stop her. But she didn’t surge forward, instead locking her vision toward the edge of the island. “Did anyone else see that?”

“I saw it,” one elf spoke up. Theo didn’t recognize him, but there were so many elves in Broken Tusk nowadays. “But I don’t trust my eyes.”

“A big ol’ shadow dragon!” Tresk shouted. “He was kinda invisible, but not really. Well, he wasn’t invisible for a blink after he hit your shield. Permission to stab, sir.”

“Permission denied,” Aarok grumbled.

Theo felt another thump against his barrier. This time it felt more like an inquisitive attack, rather than one meant to inflict real damage. He balanced his concentration between maintaining the barrier, and watching the monster’s attacks. While he hadn’t seen the dragon they were talking about, he wouldn’t risk it. The beast beating against his barrier certainly felt like a dragon.

“I can attempt a spell to reveal the monster, but it may draw unwanted attention,” Xol’sa said. “Or perhaps I should just teach the spell to Theo, since he has seen fit to steal the stage from everyone else.”

“Let’s not risk it. How long can you hold the barrier, Theo?” Aarok asked.

“Literally forever,” Theo said with a shrug. “This isn’t even the strong version.”

“Right… Tresk, are you certain Frank swoops below this island?” Aarok asked.

“I saw him do it a few times, so yeah,” Tresk said. “Although perhaps we should consider a trigger condition. He seems to react to the stuff we do while within the dungeon.”

So the plan was hair-brained. Theo should’ve expected it, but whatever. While he could support his claim about holding the barrier up forever, that required a decent amount of focus. Of course, that didn’t take care of the invisible dragon outside of the shield. It slammed against the edge once again as though probing for a weakness. While Frank seemed uninterested in moving lower, the probing dragon got faster. Or it brought a friend.

“Are there two dragons?” Theo asked, interrupting the conversation around him.

“What?” Tresk asked, narrowing her eyes to the barrier’s edge. “Oh, crap. Two dragons.”

“We need to kill the dragons,” Aarok said. “How big are they?”

“Bigger than a house cat, smaller than a whale,” Tresk said.

“About the size of a large karatan,” a random elf said. “So, fairly small.”

Since karatan were the size of a very large cow, that was truly tiny for a dragon. Conversation broke out amongst the commanders about how unthreatening a dragon of that size was. They hatched a plan to battle the monsters outside of Theo’s barrier. At least he didn’t have to do anything. A team stepped out of his range and waited for the inevitable strike.

It was interesting to watch the tactics Aarok had developed over his time leading the Adventurer’s Guild. Sarisa took the lead, swinging her shield and absorbing a hit when the first monster attacked. Theo got his first good look at the monster. It was a mini-dragon with four legs and a set of powerful wings. The beast’s body seemed to be made of pure shadows and it was wreathed in black smoke. When the monster landed its first hit, Sarisa vanished and reappeared behind it. Rowan released an attack that bound it in shadowy chains while Xol’sa drew a line of shifting colors over its body.

The fight happened quickly. As a team, Aarok’s trained soldiers moved in to finish off the first monster as the second attacked. Had Sarisa been running off to train on her own? Theo couldn’t remember her fighting this well. Their coordination was admirable. Perhaps this wouldn’t go as poorly as he expected.

“Above!” Theo shouted.

Sarisa didn’t hesitate. She rotated her large shield, absorbing an attack from another stealthed monster. When the fighting was finally over, five of the shadow dragons were on the ground. Theo smiled when he saw Tresk harvesting parts that would serve as reagents. A dragon’s bones were especially potent for that, but he suspected she would just feed them to Alex. Too bad the dragon-goose couldn’t come for fear of her size messing up the plan.

“Take a minute to recover,” Aarok ordered. “Frank stirs. If Tresk is right, he’ll swoop down soon enough.”

Theo looked up to spot the giant whale-thing. By his estimation, the creature was already swooping. It was just too massive to tell when it was moving. He was reminded of the time Qavell was drifting across the sky in the distance. With objects so massive, it never appeared as though they were moving.

“This reminds me of the boro’tal,” Theo said, looking up at the impossibly large monster. “Why would such a large creature exist out in the world.”

“I’ve never read about something like this,” Zarali said. “You should consider that this might not be something from our world.”

The use of the phrase ‘our world’ made Theo smile, but she had a good point. He had come from another world, as had the dronon. There might’ve been a few other races that came from different planets, and it made sense that they would’ve had their own ecology. A massive gust of wind broke him out of his concentration. It was tinged with a flavor of magic he couldn’t recognize, but Xol’sa was quick to update him.

“Necromancy,” he said, clicking his tongue. “Maybe something adjacent?”

“Death magic,” Zarali corrected. “I believe the monster might be casting a death-aligned spell.”

“Of course, the similarities between the two schools are many,” Xol’sa said. “If you consider the base structure of Death magic and compare it to rote Necromantic magic, you’ll find most of the structures run throughout.”

“This all depends on the casting method, dear,” Zarali said. “Spellsinging is a whole different beast.”

“Well, if we’re going to consider all modes—”

“Hey, did you guys just say Death magic?” Theo asked. “I’m thinking we should be more concerned about that. What the hell is Death magic?”

“Magic that kills you,” Xol’sa said.

“Right, you should make a ward to protect us,” Zarali said, pointing at Theo.

“Cool, I’ll just pull that out of my butt. Hey, Tresk, can you help me pull a magical spell right out of my butt?”

“Coming, boss!” Tresk said, trundling over. “Just right up in there?”

“Oh, you’re so crude,” Zarali said with a sigh. “Come, let me teach you the array for some basic Death magic and you can craft us a ward.”

“Why do you even know Death magic!?”