The Newt and Demon - Book 8 Chapters 4,5,6 (Patreon)

Chapter 4

Math is Useless

“I know a space elf that’s gonna be unhappy about this,” Theo said.

Instead of teleporting directly back to the mortal plane, Theo brought Tresk to his own planet. They had already said hello to Belgar and settled into a small cafe along the main road. The tea was pretty good, but the alchemist had more on his mind than just that.

“I failed to see the problem,” Tresk said, sipping her tea and smacking her lips. “Xol’sa can adapt. We’ve had to adapt to strange things before.”

Yet Theo couldn’t get his mind off the way things might change in the future. Altering how certain attributes worked was one thing, but what if they changed them entirely or added new attributes? The whole situation with his new potions made him think more and more about how the system could change. The possibility of multiple systems of advancement made his head hurt to consider.

Eventually, Belgar came to join them at the table, ordering himself a cup of tea and settling in with a heavy sigh. “Things have been busy,” he said, running his hands through his hair and shaking his head. “We finally have our power sets developing, but nobody has system messages to inspect what their powers do. We just have to figure it out by trial and error.”

“That tracks with what just happened on the mortal plane,” Theo said. “I made some potions that did not have a system prompt attached to them. I figured it was connected with the way a Tero’gal is developing its own system, but it might not coalesce until after the switch.”

“What about Tresk’s own realm?” Belgar asked, dipping his head toward the marshling.

“My realm is lazy,” Tresk said, waving the question away. “You’re going to have to give it more time before it comes up with anything solid.”

“I doubt Yuri would tell us anything about it, and I haven’t received any word from Fenian on how his situation is developing. We’ll just have to wait and see. For now, at least you guys have some powers you can work on. Did you develop anything interesting, Belgar?”

Belgar shrugged, holding his hand out, palm up, to produce a small flame. “Basic elemental control powers. Kinda like sorcerers back home.”

“That’s a great place to start,” Theo said. “Just fire?”

“No clue. It works sometimes. Others it just feels too far out of my grasp,” Belgar said.

Theo knew Belgar could make it happen if he tried hard enough, but if he were honest with himself, he didn’t really know much about the man. Sure, he inhabited Belgar’s body, but that was long after the man had died. What he knew about him had more to do with his dedication to Drogramath and his alchemical abilities. While Belgar had never risen to the heights Theo now occupied, he had been working with far less and under the scrutiny of the Cult of the Burning Eye. He was dedicated to his craft, and would one day see his way to the other side of this.

Tero’gal was developing on its own. The people who inhabited it had some say in how the landscape was transformed, but if the planet itself didn’t like where the plan was going, it would change it. The example of the elves who attempted to start a war was at the forefront of the Alchemist’s mind as he sipped his tea. Perhaps the willfulness of the planet meant that to create his own system, he simply had to sit back and wait for everything to work itself out.

“We should really get back to the mortal plane,” Tresk said, tugging at Theo’s coat with a nervous look on her face. “I really don’t know how the space elf is going to react.” 

“Yes, and I suppose we should catch Sarisa before she destroys the entire town,” Theo said. “I’m assuming nobody has caught her yet.”

“The one good thing is that we’ve been under time dilation for a while now,” Tresk said, giving two thumbs up. “It should have only been a few minutes on the mortal plane, depending on how intense Silver’s time dilation is.”

Although there seemed to be something urgent to take care of back on the mortal plane, the interest lingered within the cafe for quite some time. Belgar had stories to share about things that had happened there, and it always felt as though he was missing out. But the alchemist eventually bid farewell to the de facto mayor of the entire world and folded space in on itself. A moment later, they appeared at the base of the wizard’s tower, and it didn’t take long to hear the confusing tangle of screams from within.

“That’s a bad sign,” Tresk muttered, looking up at the tower’s heights. “Think he’s freaking out?”

Theo took a moment to listen in on the screaming. It didn’t seem angry so much as confused. He shrugged, pressing forward and opening the door. About half-way up the stairs to the second floor, he realized no one else saw the message about the Seal of Intelligence. He tried not to laugh as he ascended to the second floor. Xol’sa stood atop a chair, both hands clutched over his head. Zarali was on the ground, trying to talk him off the proverbial ledge.

“What did you do to me, demon!?” Xol’sa shouted, pointing a finger at Theo.

“Wasn’t me this time. SIlver, the God of Water, did it. Blame her.”

“What?” Zarali asked, turning and glaring at Theo. “Sounds like something you’d say to keep the heat off of you. What have you done, vile dronon!?”

“You’re a dronon too,” Theo said, holding his hands up defensively. “Seriously. They put the Seal of Intelligence in place and I had nothing to do with it.”

“The Seal of—Are you serious?!” Xol’sa shouted. His countenance was locked in an expression of rage for only a few moments before it softened. “The Seal of Intelligence?” he asked, this time with a much more even tone. “Oh. Did the god give you the details on how it works?”

“My guess is that the personality-changing effects of the attribute are gone. Along with that, your intelligence relative to your attribute score should also be completely gone. Instead, you’ll find that system-related aspects of the intelligence attribute are enhanced,” Theo said, pausing for a moment. “That’s just my guess, though.”

“He thought he was going crazy,” Zarali said with a soft chuckle. “I’m glad to see it’s just some system shenanigans and not something wrong with my dear husband.”

“I’d be happy to take you outside and test you if you wanted,” Tresk said, cracking her knuckles. “I’ve got some ideas on how we can figure out what happened.”

“Why, in any of the realms, would I trust you?” Xol’sa said, pointing an accusatory finger at the poor marshaling. Of course, Tresk was too hard-headed to take an insult like that on the chin. She simply thrust her chest out and nodded. “Okay, I guess we don’t have any other plans.”

“Perfect, let’s go,” Tresk said, jerking her head to one side. Theo couldn’t help but search her thoughts to see if she actually had a decent plan, but he was even more shocked when he found she had a step-by-step list in her mind on how to determine the effects of the seal. At first, he was impressed, but then he was scared. If Tresk had figured out how to actually use her brain, might everybody on the planet be in trouble?

Tresk’s plan for testing the elf was actually comprehensive. She had him run through a series of normal spells he would cast and compared them to his old performance. Then, she had him go through some cognitive tests, which revealed a decrease in his mental capacity. When she was done, she was holding something like a clipboard with a sheet of parchment on it. She had taken notes the entire time.

“The good news is that your spells are about 10 to 20% stronger,” Tresk said, giving a thumbs up. “The bad news is you’re about 20% stupider. But that’s just taking everything at face-value. We’ve seen this happen with Theo before when the Seal of Wisdom took effect. His memory declined slightly, but it is still near-perfect.”

“Wow. Didn’t know you were paying that much attention, Tresk,” Theo said.

“Yeah. What happened with Theo was his memory leveled out.” Tresk pointed a finger at Xol’sa. “Good news is, doesn’t seem like you’ve been leaning too much on your Intelligence attribute. It’s hard to define exactly what the intelligence attribute did before the seal went into effect. However, I think we can say that it sped up your mental capacity for tasks like spell work, problem-solving, and extrapolation. Honestly, the effect was minimal if you consider how many points you have invested in the attribute.”

“That was an oddly in-depth analysis,” Xol’sa said, scratching his chin. “So, the thing to take away from this is that I did lose some of my intelligence, but I’ll adjust. Is that what you’re saying, Dr. Tresk?”

“Because it’s so hard to define what intelligence is, especially as it related to the attribute, yeah,” Tresk said with a shrug. “I think of it like this: if you take more Strength, you get stronger. But how you use that strength is what matters. Just because you have the attribute doesn’t mean you know how to use them muscles. You need to build up your brain muscles again.”

“What do you think we should do? Should we make him do a bunch of math questions or something?” Theo asked. 

“Math is useless,” Tresk said, waving her hand. “Unless you’re a merchant, there’s no point in learning math. Even then, they have a little calculator in their interface. No, he should focus on things related to spells. Building his spell arrays in his head and bringing them into the world as quickly as possible will help him flex those brain muscles.”

In that moment, Theo realized why Tresk was so knowledgeable about this topic. The alchemist’s primary attribute was wisdom, meaning that when the seal of wisdom took hold, it affected him deeply. Although he had put little stock into it, Tresk had obviously anguished over the idea and had done everything she could to understand exactly how it worked. He was impressed by her dedication to their bond and wondered if he had done anything to consider her various plights as seriously.

It was hard to imagine a better person to be bonded with.

Theo, Tresk, and Zarali came up with a few simple exercises for Xol’sa to start with. However, they soon realized that the wizard didn’t really need their help. He only needed a starting point to work from, and once the fear of losing his most important attribute faded, he could construct a workout regime that would bolster his mind.

As Theo and Tresk were departing from the tower, the alchemist scooped the little marshling up and placed her on his shoulders like a child. She laughed, holding onto his horns as they walked through the swamp. Of course, they could just use the portal to get back to town, but the alchemist was so impressed with the way his partner had responded that he wanted to take a pleasant stroll through the squelching swamp.

“You know, that was really impressive,” Theo said, the smile still hanging on his face.

“I know it was,” Tresk said, playing the drums on Theo’s head as they walked. “I’ve done more thinking about attributes than most people, probably. I’ve always had a problem with the way they change people’s personalities. The worst of it is how intelligence makes a person too logical. The wisdom one isn’t so bad, but I’m just thankful that the physical attributes don’t suffer from the same issue.”

“So, what are you doing for the rest of the day?” Theo asked.

“Scrolling around and flying on my dragon-goose, probably,” Tresk said.

“Sweet. Let’s go.”

Chapter 5

I’ve Created Drugs

Theo had fun palling around with Tresk and Alex for the rest of the day. However, as the day wound to a close, they headed back to the manor to have dinner. They only returned after capturing a naked Sarisa in the bay, and putting her under a magical sleep. Rowan wasn’t happy making dinner alone, but he did it. Of course, the alchemist had trouble thinking of anything but testing within the Dreamwalk, so he struggled to focus on the meal after eating. After enjoying a nice hot bath in the bathhouse, the duo proceeded into their dreams, where the marshaling envisioned a scarred battlefield and an army of orcs. Apparently, she had moved on from dragons, at least for now.

While Tresk and Alex wrought destruction over the imagined army of orcs, Theo got to work on experimentation with his new style of potions. He was immediately faced with a fundamental problem. When he tried to generate one of the potions from his imagination, the Dreamwalk pushed back immediately. Then he tried to go through the steps to create one, ending up with absolutely nothing for his efforts. This forced him to take a step back and consider what was going on.

Although it was confusing at first, Theo determined the problem was simple enough. The Dreamwalk wasn’t real. No matter how he looked at it, the Dreamwalk was a realm they were imagining. He understood that the realm was as real as a person’s dreams, which in the world was kinda real. But it was a shadow compared to any of the planes. Since it was connected to Tero’gal, things could get weird. Until Tero’gal defined its own rules for these potions, the dream-version of the realm might not get the memo.

Although he couldn’t recreate the potions here, Theo could at least think about the principles. His newest skill allowed him to ‘bend’ the rules of alchemy. This meant he could avoid distilling potions, favoring his willpower to simulate the effects. What that meant was he was working directly with the reagents, forcing them into a shape of his own making. The downside to that was his overpowered Willpower resulted in absurd effects. But if he could simulate one leg of the process, he could do others.

Infusions were the most interesting and novel form of alchemy Theo had access to. This was a process where he infused an essence with the power of a spell laced in his mana. Although he couldn’t test it out in the Dreamwalk, he was confident he could make it happen in the real world after some practice. The first hurdle to overcome would be taming his willpower, resulting in a more stable potion. Stability for Tero’gal’s potions didn’t mean a lack of explosions, but rather a reduction in the potency of the effects. The alchemist was certain his high willpower was sending the power of those effects over the edge, causing unexpected side-effects.

“So, you’re just too good,” Tresk said, taking a break from slaughtering orcs. Her progress with her cores was going well, and she’d already gone past Level 40. This was after a bit of a blocker on her part. “You’ve gotta figure out how to dumb down the power of your potions, huh? Guess that’s what happens when you spend a billion years in hell.”

Theo shrugged. He wasn’t sure how much his willpower had grown in that realm, but that brought his thoughts back to the issue with King Leon. Perhaps it was too much to hope to find the man, but he could try. Even if it was futile.

“I think I can make it work,” Theo said. “The problem is I started from the top. My goal is to create a base-level Lesser Healing Potion with this new method. Once I do that, I’ll know I have command over my new skill.”

“Cool. So, since you can’t do anything… ya wanna stab some orcs?” Tresk asked, a broad smile on her face as she nodded rapidly.

With a dramatic sigh, Theo withdrew some throwing daggers from his coat. “If I must…”

***

Breakfast was an interesting affair. Rowan reheated the food he had prepared the night before—zee pasta with wolf meat and a thick brown sauce—but Sarisa was absent for most of it. When Theo was just finishing his food, she shambled out from her downstairs room. She looked absolutely disheveled, but at least she had her clothes on. After lumbering to the table, she collapsed and pressed her forehead against the table.

“Rough day yesterday?” Theo asked, patting the woman on the back.

Sarisa picked her head up, dark bags visible under her eyes. “I have a theory,” she groaned.

“Please share with the class,” Theo said, placing his fork onto the table and leaning in. With Tresk’s outburst of knowledge, he was far more willing to take in the opinions of others.

“You must dilute the potion,” she said. “However you do that, I don’t care. But you need to knock down the power of that potion.”

“Well, maybe you could describe the effects. Since I can’t inspect the system prompt, that would be very helpful,” Theo said.

Sarisa took a few steady breaths. Eventually, her brother brought some food over for her along with some moss tea. Only a few sips later, she was ready to talk. “My Dexterity went up by 150, but I think it went into my brain or something. My thoughts were moving faster, but they were jumbled.”

Theo raised a brow, squinting as he worked that out in his mind. “I think that makes sense. You’re not supposed to jump that many points at once. It could easily affect your brain. We’ve seen similar things with other potions. And the same thing happened to me when I used the exploit.”

“Whatever it is, I hate it,” Sarisa said.

Theo’s plan was to test the effects of his new potions in the Dreamwalk. But since it didn’t want to cooperate, he had to take his tests to the real world. “Perhaps you’ll be interested in helping me test the potions.”

“Absolutely not,” Sarisa said.

Theo dragged his gaze over to Rowan. When they locked eyes, the half-ogre man looked as though someone had shot him in the butt with an Arrow of Surprise.

“Me?” Rowan mouthed, pointing at himself.

“Nothing crazy,” Theo said. “I’ll dilute a healing potion and we can test the potency of the effects.”

“Wait, does that mean I have to get injured?” Rowan asked.

Theo shrugged.

“I expect some serious payment for this,” Rowan said. “You always rope me into these experiments. Why should I suffer if I get nothing out of it.”

“Sure. Whatever you want,” Theo said. “Money. Women. Power.”

“Ew, why are you talking like that?” Tresk asked, punching Theo in the arm.

“What? He’ll go for the money. He always goes for the money.”

Rowan sighed, hanging his head. “You’re right.”

Theo smiled to himself, creating a mental plan for how this would work. There might be some problems with adding water to the goopy potion mix, but he could work out the details later. His plan was simple, and with a willing test subject there was nothing stopping him but time.

“Meet me outside the giant metal cube when you’re ready,” Theo said, standing from the table. “I’ll get to work on diluting the mixture.”

“Got it, boss,” Rowan said.

“Get your money up front,” Sarisa said before pressing her forehead back into the table.

Rowan held his hand out and Theo paid him a few gold coins before leaving the manor. He walked with Tresk, both of them trying not to giggle.

“With the amount of times I plan on hitting him in the head with a shovel, that was a steal,” Theo said.

Tresk giggled, but soon forced her face into a serious expression. “That’s mean. You’re being mean. Why can’t you just hurt yourself?”

Theo scratched his head. “I guess I could stab myself or something,” he said, thinking about which option was better.

Tresk’s pink face was drained of color. “Okay. Club the half-ogre.”

After parting ways with Tresk, Theo headed to the metal cube. People were still brew booze inside, so he conducted his experiments outside under the protection of a series of barriers. He transferred a fraction of a unit of the healing goop to a clean flask, watching with caution. Splitting a pea-sized chunk did nothing to the stability of the rest, which was the first good sign. His instincts said that nothing but Enchanted Water would do, so he introduced the smallest amount of that into the flask first.

It was always best to wait a minute before doing something else when testing alchemical things. When nothing happened, Theo stirred the mixture until it was a paste. He then added more water, bringing it to a consistency more like what he had with his regular potions. The alchemist then did it again, creating different consistencies. When he was done, the one with the most water in it looked most like his normal potions. Normal folks would’ve believed it was a normal potion, if not for the lacking system pop-up.

Theo did the same with another potion, intent on changing his plan slightly.

“I’m here,” Rowan said, jogging up to the metal cube and huffing for breath. “Sorry, had to make a stop.”

“That’s okay,” Theo said, producing a shovel from his inventory. “Ready to get started?”

Rowan’s eyes narrowed. “Wait, you were serious? Isn’t there a better way to do this?”

“Sorry. This is the only way,” Theo said, hoisting the shovel.

Rowan closed his eyes, ready to get bonked. Theo placed the shovel on the ground, instead going with his backup plan. He had wanted to use health as a metric for the potion at first, but he had another resource he could count. Using his mana was easy enough, and it wouldn’t give Rowan permanent brain damage. The half-ogre opened his eyes after Theo cast a spell.

“So… gonna hit me?” Rowan asked.

“No, I thought of something better,” Theo said. He had spent exactly 50 mana. He wasted no time, drinking the mana potion he had created. It restored 20 mana, putting it at the tier of a Lesser Mana Potion. “There we go…”

“What’s going on? Should I hit myself?”

“No. I’m testing against mana instead of health,” Theo said. He cast another spell, expending mana until he was down 100 points.

“So what am I here for?” Rowan asked.

“Moral support,” Theo said, handing over the second most dilute version of the Lesser Mana Potion. “Drink this and tell me if you feel anything strange.”

Both Theo and Rowan drank their potions. The alchemist expected he wouldn’t feel any effect thanks to his high Vigor. Rowan started tweaking immediately. He itched at his chest, scratching at his neck and fidgeting in place.

“Feels like I have bees in my skin,” he said. “Why does it feel like I have bees in my skin?”

“Well, it was just a mana potion,” Theo said. He made a note that the potion restored 50 mana points. So it was doubly as effective as the last one, which made sense. If he kept going down the line, he expected each one would double. Now he turned his attention to Rowan. “Any other symptoms?”

“Bee skin, heart is racing… I dunno. I think I can see colors that aren’t real,” Rowan said.

“Excellent. I’ve created drugs,” Theo said with a sigh. “Back to the drawing board with this one. I think there are some elements of the Manashroom that bled into the final product. This is why the refinement phase of alchemy is so important. Which means I need to replicate that with my new method.”

“Whatever you do, do it fast,” Rowan said. “I’m hearing things. And they aren’t nice things.”

“Let’s get you home before you eat someone’s face,” Theo said, leading Rowan away by the arm. He jogged back to the giant metal cube, putting all the flasks back in his inventory. The last thing he wanted was for some random citizens to get ahold of his drugs.

Chapter 6

You’re a Necromancer

Since it wasn’t Theo’s intention to start a drug empire, it was time to take stock of how this new skill worked. Once Rowan was contained in the dungeon—under the care of Sulvan Flametouched, of course—he took a seat near the cell. The former member of the Burning Eye’s control, and a man who had gone from beefy to scrawny to slightly beefy again, pulled a chair up.

“I have to wonder why you do this,” Sulvan said, glaring through a hooded gaze. “There are easier ways to murder your citizens.”

Rowan howled from within his cell, ranting about the bees.

“It didn’t affect me that way,” Theo said with a shrug. “I needed to understand how the new potions would work on different people. Turns out, there are some side-effects.”

“What’s the theory?” Sulvan said, seeming to get over the moral issues of the matter quickly.

“People with less Vigor can’t take powerful potions,” Theo said. “The negatives are vast, but the boons? They’re going to be intense. I can’t even predict what kind of potions I can make with this. You might imagine I’ve created the most pure form of a potion possible, but that’s not it. I can make them even more pure.”

“Which means you can make even more people go insane,” Sulvan said. “I had to heal Sarisa, you know.”

“I get it. I’m a bad guy,” Theo said. “That’s fine. I need to figure out how these potions affect people at different ranks.”

“Rank?” Sulvan asked.

“That’s what I’m calling the jumps in power. Right now, every 10 levels is a new rank. It reveals a tier for my alchemy,” Theo said. “But when the change comes, I think we’ll have tangible ranks.”

“Huh. Interesting. I’m still lodging a formal complaint about testing these potions on people. At least put them in a cell so I don’t have to see their naughty bits.”

Theo looked over his shoulder, craning his neck to see that Rowan had indeed stripped all his clothes off. “Why are they always naked?”

“The bees!” Rowan shouted.

“Please go back to sleep,” Sulvan said with a sigh. He waved his hand through the air, and Rowan collapsed to the ground. He snored immediately. “I’m begging you, Theo. Bring them here when you do this experiment. It’ll be easier to make them nap.”

Theo nodded, turning his attention to some reagents instead. He figured that studying the raw stuff would give him a better sense for how they worked. So long as he focused on replicating first and second tier potions, he could push it pretty far. Eventually, he would master infusion with this new skill, but for now he wanted to take it easy. The alchemist turned a few reagents into the familiar gelatin, observing the way it behaved under several scenarios.

The biggest thing going for Theo was his instincts with all things alchemy. He had been through it, putting his hours in the lab to understand exactly how reagents, properties, and essences worked. Now he could use the skill to create some goop, and have a general understanding of what it did and the dangers that could come with it. Yet no matter how much of the thick essence he made, he couldn’t tell exactly what it would do. Each potion was a mystery, but after a few hours of trying and chatting with Sulvan, he made a minor breakthrough.

Instead of only extracting the first property from a reagent, he forced the second to manifest. After that, it was easy to get the third to show up. It was as though he was going through the learning process all over again. Understanding the subtle way reagents functioned with this new skill was a domain that made his brain hurt, his knowledge of the topic expanding more rapid than it had his first go through alchemy. Thanks to his base of knowledge, and his absurdly high willpower, he was confident he would zip through it.

After flexing his new muscle for a while, the alchemist felt a strange itch in the back of his mind. He let out a heavy sigh, assuming at first that a god was calling him again. But the more he inspected that feeling, the more he realized it was more familiar than that. It wasn’t the gods calling him, but his own realm. Something was happening on Tero’gal, and it required his attention.

“Sorry,” Theo said, narrowing his eyes as he looked at the ceiling of the dungeon. “Something strange is happening…”

“Don’t let me stop you,” Sulvan said with a shrug.

Theo folded the void over onto himself, appearing in an instant on Tero’gal. He squinted against the sudden change in light, scanning the area before he found Belgar jogging over.

“Hey! I didn’t know if that would work,” he said, a broad smile on his face. “Balkor wanted a word.”

“Really?” Theo asked. Belgar didn’t wait, trotting down the path toward a low stone building. “I’m working on his problem, but I need time to gather the reagents.”

“Yeah, he knows,” Belgar said. “I just think he’s getting bored.”

Within the stone building, behind an iron-banded wooden door, was the grump once-god. Balkor stood up, dusting off his robes and scowling across to the alchemist. “Finally. Can I leave?”

“I don’t think so,” Theo said, shaking his head. “I need you to stick around until we destroy the pieces of you. Can’t have you fleeing into the other realms.”

“Why not?” Balkor asked.

Because I’m pretty sure King Leon ignored the rules of the void and went past the local area, Theo thought. This was a fear he wouldn’t share with the dronon. He wasn’t sure if he could trust Balkor to remain within the local area, suspecting anyone could break out of their prison if they tried hard enough. He had no proof of this, but the dronon gods held a lot of secrets. Why not this one?

“You’re a cosmic jerk, and I don’t trust you,” Theo said. “Don’t think the demon gods left a good impression on me. Just because you’re no longer an ascendant, doesn’t mean you don’t have something hidden. We need the switch to go over well.”

“At least let me leave Boar Hollow,” Balkor grumbled.

Theo turned his senses away from the interior of the building, allowing his mind to join with the planet he stood on. He couldn’t talk to Tero’gal, no matter how hard he tried. What he gained from this communication was emotions. Sensations entered his mind, letting him know the limits of the planet.

“Okay. Tero’gal says it can hold you here, restricting your access to the Bridge and all that,” Theo said. “I don’t mind if you run around the planet, but do you have a location in mind?”

Belgar turned to Balkor, giving two thumbs up. “There’s an island nation he was interested in going to,” he said. “They’re studying practical applications of necromancy.”

“Is that a thing?” Theo asked. He didn’t know why he doubted the possibility, but necromantic magic had always seemed so destructive to him.

“I believe it is,” Balkor said. “My experience with necromancy could help their efforts.”

“Someone give me an example of necromancy that isn’t evil, and I’ll agree,” Theo said.

Both Balkor and Belgar shared a look. Theo hadn’t expected Belgar to side with the Demon God of Undeath, but there it was. The alchemist understood there was some connection between death, life, and undeath, but he considered enslaving the undead an evil act. Yet if there was some control they had over the souls of the dead, that might be useful when dealing with Death. Not that Kuzan had been a problem, it was just always better to have a trump card.

“Golems,” Balkor said without missing a beat. “Necromantic magic doesn’t only enslave. It can turn the bones of the dead into a workforce or an army. Experienced practitioners are also a great counter to those who would use the power against us.”

“Us? So, are we allies now?” Theo asked, tapping his chin. “I’m not so sure about that. But Tero’gal is pushing me to agree with you.”

“Well, I’m glad a planet likes me. Even if you don’t,” Balkor said.

Theo wanted to object to the sentiment, but Balkor was mostly right. The alchemist didn’t care for him, and he wouldn’t make it sound any other way. He barely trusted Drogramath. If anything, he felt closer to Toru’aun, who just wanted to live in a swamp world and never interact with anyone else. Even Uz’Xulven had a bunch of motives she wasn’t revealing. He had no proof of this, yet the strong feeling still remained. If he thought about it, his distrust made sense to him.

There were a lot of former ascendants who just weren’t good people. They had to do some gnarly stuff to get to where they were, and were likely pretty upset when they lost their power. Theo hadn’t interacted with many of the ascendants from the Prime Pantheon, but he assumed they were all pretty pissed. But there were people like Glantheir who had seized the higher thrones, but they were rare. The most surprising thing was how much foresight Khahar had to avoid taking a realm. That allowed him the freedom to assume the Throne of the Arbiter.

“I hate to ask,” Balkor said. “But could you teleport me over there?”

Theo shrugged. “Sure. Need anything else while I’m here, Belgar?”

“Nope! We’ve got a rollerblading contest later today, so I’m busy.”

“Glad to see rollerblading is back in style,” Theo said. He turned his attention in the direction of the chain of islands. Tero’gal seemed to feed him information about the area, allowing him to select an area that was densely populated. A moment later, both he and Balkor were standing on a stretch of white-sand beach. The waves rolled over his boots, soaking them through with salty water. The sound of seabirds called overhead as the low murmur of conversation came from over the nearby hill. Small ships sailed around on emerald waters, folks on board craning their necks to get a better look at the interlopers. “Doesn’t look like a necromancer’s paradise. Just looks like a regular paradise.”

“What were you expecting?” Balkor asked.

“A bunch of skeletons, old towers oozing green goop, and a bunch of guys with dark shadows under their eyes,” Theo said. “I’ve been to Gardreth.”

Balkor let out a wispy laugh. He shook his head. “I wish you could’ve seen how it was before we ascended,” he said, letting out a wistful sigh. “Things were different back then. I won’t claim that I was a bastion for ‘non-evil’ necromancy, but there were a few golemancers who were pushing the art as far as it would go.”

“I’m something of a golemancer myself.”

“Are you?” Balkor asked.

“Yeah, I have a small army of them. They’re very useful.”

“Then you’re a necromancer. Sort of. When you bind a golem with a Monster Core, you’re using a proto-soul,” Balkor explained. “Those souls could have become sapient one day, but you imprisoned them.”

Theo frowned. “Well, thanks for ruining golems for me.”

Balkor shrugged. “I’m not here to make you feel better. But I’m happy to discuss the finer points of magic with you. Even if you hate me.”

“Hate is a strong word,” Theo said, walking along the sandy shore. Balkor followed behind as the duo marched toward the hill. Behind it was a town, the alchemist was sure, but he had yet to see any of it. There was evidence of the citizens, though. Folks were coming out from a tropical cluster of trees, jogging down to wave at the two strangers. “But fine. I have a few questions about magic in general. Especially now with the Seal of Intelligence.”

“Tell me about this seal,” Balkor said, raising a brow. “I’m very interested.”