The Newt and Demon - Book 8 Chapters 16,17,18 (Patreon)

Chapter 16 Resonance Elrin gave Theo a schedule for destroying the phylacteries. He couldn’t do it too quickly, since that would put more st

Chapter 16

Resonance

Elrin gave Theo a schedule for destroying the phylacteries. He couldn’t do it too quickly, since that would put more strain on the world, but it would only take him a few weeks to destroy all of them. Yet that wasn’t the thing that occupied the alchemist’s mind. After returning to Broken Tusk, he sought out Xol’sa in his tower.

Ever-looming in the swamp, Xol’sa’s tower struck an imposing image. Theo climbed the steps, finally finding the wizard on the top floor. Spell arrays hovered in the air, just over the tower’s edge. The alchemist couldn’t understand most of them, but they were related to the nearby dungeon.

“Working hard?” Theo asked, causing Xol’sa to jump slightly.

“You scared me,” Xol’sa said, turning to offer Theo a gentle smile. “You normally need something when you come to my tower. So, what do you need?”

“Yeah, sorry about that,” Theo said. “I’ve got a magical anomaly.”

“Ah, always coming with so much information,” Xol’sa said, sighing dramatically. He turned back to his magical arrays, swiping his hands through the air to manipulate them. “Let me finish this. With only one dungeon to work on, my efforts have become focused.”

“Is that a good thing?”

“Yes. I have vast control over the Swamp Dungeon. We have multiple instances, difficulty scaling up to a point, and even control over the types of monsters,” Xol’sa said. “The dungeon has become quite the attraction.”

“Wow. Who knew? All we had to do was destroy all the other dungeons.”

“A steep price to pay,” Xol’sa said, nodding. “And a feat impossible without the siphoning effects of the shards.”

Theo lingered nearby while the wizard did his work. The alchemist had a lot to say about the new artifact he had discovered, but pulling Xol’sa off his work would just make it take longer. So he waited, looking over his administration interface and planning some work for the future. He needed to test the Pyro, and Accelerant properties from the Lavashroom and the Ablate property from Spit’s Pumice. He planned to do this the normal way, as it would give him a system description.

“I’m ready,” Xol’sa said, snapping the alchemist out of his thoughts.

“Excellent,” Theo said, clapping his hands together. “Gonna be pretty cold, so… Get ready for that.”

“Allow me to grab a—”

Theo folded the void directly atop the artifact, throwing up his fire bubble the second they landed in the snow. The constant drive of the storm had resulted in a significant accumulation. He had only been gone for about an hour, but that was enough to leave a foot of snow piled in the hole. Xol’sa whistled to himself the moment they landed, seemingly unbothered by the lacking coat.

“I’m glad you brought me from my tower,” Xol’sa said, keeping a healthy distance from the snow-covered stone statue. “That magical flavor on this thing is… strange.”

“Right? That’s what I said. Figured you’d be the best person to ask.”

“I don’t know if I’m the best person… There are likely better mages for the job, but I am the one at hand.” Xol’sa stalked closer to the statue, looking around and shaking his head. He passed his hand through the air, sigils appearing in a trail behind the motion. The surrounding snow melted, revealing more of the statue and the hewn stone platform it rested on. He then summoned some more sigils, some of which Theo recognized as runes designed to search for something. Maybe magic.

“Initial impressions?” Theo asked.

Xol’sa hummed to himself, switching between the melting spell and the one that looked for stuff. A half-hour later, he had created a dome of ice above them, and cleared out most of the snow obscuring the area.

“This requires study,” Xol’sa said, finally daring to get close to the statue.

Perhaps Theo shouldn’t have been so eager to get close to it…

“Are we dealing with a dangerous artifact?” Theo asked. “Maybe something that turns squirrels into cows?”

“What?” Xol’sa asked. “No, nothing like that. The magic feels similar to that of the shards… In as much as one fish is like another. But the exact function of the object is beyond me. If you wouldn’t mind defending me for a few hours, I could find better answers for you.”

With a shrug, Theo crossed his arms and stood guard. And was immediately bored. Automation was the key to most of his life at this point, so he got to work with the snow. The alchemist rolled it into balls, creating a snowman complete with coal eyes. He didn’t have the carrot for a nose, but it would have to do. From his inventory, he withdrew a containment core and shoved it into the chest of the incomplete golem. A flash of magic passed over the creation’s coal eyes, glittering with a pale blue color for a moment before the golem waggled its stick arms around.

“Well, that worked for some reason,” Theo said, pressing his hand into the golem’s chest. A system message appeared.

[Lesser Snow Golem]

[Alchemy Construct]

Level 10

Snow is possibly the worst medium in golem construction. Snow golems are short-lived, weak creations that struggle with basic tasks.

Containment Core: [Alchemically Treated Drogramathi Cage]

Monster Core: [Goblin Sapper] (Level 10)

Medium: [Snow]

Alchemy Slates: [Mana Construct]

Power System: [Mana Construct]

Siphon System: None

Additional Modifications: None

It wasn’t a good golem, Theo didn’t need the description to tell him that. But it wouldn’t melt in the frigid environment, and would serve as an excellent watchdog. If Xol’sa thought there was going to be a problem, the alchemist wouldn’t risk it. He worked on more golems to pass the time, sending them off into the desolate landscape to keep guard. It served to make his stay in the ‘Calet’ region more entertaining, and there was soon a scatter of ten golems roaming the area.

The golems ranged out, lingering behind sheets of white like haunting snowmen. Since they were shaped like snowmen, it made the scene even worse. Theo couldn’t help but laugh, even in the uncomfortable conditions. But setting up the guards seemed like a waste of effort when nothing happened. Only when the subtle shift of energy filled the air did the alchemist’s mood change. It went from the random ambient energies of the world to something unique. The power within the statue poured out.

“What was that?” Xol’sa called back.

Theo jogged over, craning his neck to get a better look at the statue. It glowed with a faint light. “That’s not normal.”

Xol’sa turned back to the statue. “No, it is not. Can you see? The statue is casting a spell.”

“Last I checked, statues can’t cast spells,” Theo said, seriously thinking they should think about running, rather than sticking around to see what kind of spell a statue could cast.

By the time either Theo or Xol’sa could collect their thoughts enough to do anything, the spell was made manifest. At first, the alchemist couldn’t see the spell. But an absurdly complex spell array appeared on the ground, glowing with a pale blue light. The circle, which was half-buried under the snow, raced out with enough force to create a howling gale over the narrow passage above. Both men were blown from their feet, the tingle of magic dancing over their skin.

Theo groaned, rolling from the wall of snow and checking his health. The spell had done no damage, but he felt it in his bones.

“You good?” Theo asked, pushing himself to his feet.

“I’m alive,” Xol’sa said.

Theo followed the sound of the wizard’s voice, finally finding him embedded high in a wall of snow. “I’ll dig you out,” the alchemist said, moving snow from beneath Xol’sa to loosen him up. “What even was that?”

“An excellent question,” Xol’sa said, wiggling until he popped out of the wall, only to tumble to the ground with a pained groan.

“My brain tingles,” Theo said, dusting the wizard off. “Do you feel that?”

“Yes, unfortunately. There’s a constant buzzing,” Xol’sa said. “The system magic hasn’t gone. It still lingers. Perhaps coming from the statue itself.”

On the surface, not much had changed about the statue. Only the gentle glow revealed that anything was different. Naturally, Xol’sa casted magic to investigate what happened while Theo reached out to his golem network. His snowmen detected nothing strange in the distance. No monsters, no strange magical storms, nothing.

“We weren’t the ones to activate it,” Xol’sa said after a few more minutes of inspection. “Of the many strange things this spell does, that’s the one part I can understand.”

“So, the spell is still active? How does system magic work anyway? I thought it was simply a natural law.”

“Natural laws governed by magic,” Xol’sa said. “Anyway, I suggest we get out of here.”

“Yeah, no problem… Wait, why?” Theo asked. “Are we in danger? We should’ve been in danger before… Why is there danger now?”

Xol’sa placed his hand on Theo’s shoulder, shaking his head. “My friend, if I fled from danger every time you put me in it, we’d get nothing done. But now we’re reaching a level of danger I cannot control or predict. So, I recommend we retreat to a safe distance before the resonance builds within the statue.”

“Resonance?” Theo asked.

“Kindly teleport us away.”

With a shrug, Theo folded the void on itself, only targeting himself and Xol’sa. They vanished from the snowy planes of Calet, appearing on the outskirts of Broken Tusk a breath later. The bell that had been ringing in the alchemist’s head went silent, leaving behind a hum that wouldn’t stop.

“Well, that sucked,” Theo said. “What were you saying about the resonance?”

“We’ll have to wait to see,” Xol’sa said. “I’ll be in my tower. Just find me if something finally happens.”

Theo blinked, mouth open as the wizard walked away. From what the alchemist understood, this was a big deal. For something to be so conceptually heavy, it had to be important. When the statue cast the spell, Theo was certain Xol’sa would do something about it. Maybe a fancy space elf spell or something equally impressive. Yet there he was, standing and staring toward the harbor in confusion.

“I think he’s hiding something,” Tresk said, appearing from nowhere behind Theo. “Doesn’t want you to know how serious it is.”

“You think?” Theo asked. “But what could the statue be?”

“Magic? System? Gotta be some kind of control device. I expect there will be others in the world,” Tresk said.

“For what purpose?” Theo asked.

“That’s the tricky part. The system won’t tell us what they do. It’ll just keep them there. Forever.”

Theo sighed, slapping himself in the face. The last thing he needed was a paranoid marshling. On his end, nothing much had changed. He wasn’t nearby to the statue, but he had a faint idea of what was going on. As the alchemist had left behind his snowmen, he could feel occasional wisps of their thoughts. The magic might’ve been increasing in the air, but nothing had physically changed about the location.

“So, if he’s hiding something from us, what are we dealing with?” Theo asked.

“Something weird and systemy.”

“Thanks for absolutely nothing,” Theo said. But he paused, feeling some of that energy he had felt in Calet come back. “Do you feel that?”

“Yeah. That’s the same sensation you felt before.”

“This one is different. Almost as though it's ringing a lot more than before.”

“Like resonance?” Tresk asked, raising both brows.

A moment later, a message appeared. Theo wasn’t surprised by the message popping up, but it was the contents that alarmed him.

[World Anchors Engaged. Monitor System Activated]

Chapter 17

World Anchors Engaged

“Well, that’s new,” Tresk said, clicking her tongue.

The message wasn’t just new. It was something Theo hadn’t expected to see in the development of the end of the world. This was something that was supposed to happen after everything reset, making him question what they were doing. Although the alchemist had committed the information to memory, he examined the screen again.

[World Anchors Engaged. Monitor System Activated]

As a holder of a Throne of Power (The Dreamwalker’s Throne), you have received the following message from the Monitor System:

Relative position of local sector calculated.

World anchors maintaining local void field.

Establishing link… Granted upon restart.

Please assist the local system during the reset to grant sovereignty to Sector A582 (Rael’gen).

“The gods are gonna be mad,” Theo said, turning his eyes skyward. Yet he didn’t feel the familiar pull from any of them. They didn’t know or didn’t care and the alchemist couldn’t decide which was more concerning. “Maybe not…”

“Time for a meeting of the thrones?”

Theo turned, finding Fenian jogging over to the place where he and Tresk stood. The elf had a concerned smile on his face, as though burying a grin would help ease the blow of whatever was going on with the system. They didn’t have many options. Of course it made sense to meet with Khahar, even if that man’s world was a paved nightmare.

“Let’s go,” Theo said, wrapping them all in his aura. “Can’t wait to see what the grumpy cat has to say about this.”

Theo brought them into the void this time, rather than teleporting straight to the Arbiter's Realm. He sensed what was going on in the heavens and didn't feel anything out of place. How the gods couldn't know about this was beyond him, but he had little time to think about it and soon folded them over into the Citadel, where Khahar waited.

“Took you guys long enough.”

Khahar stood behind a desk, his back facing the group as they entered his massive office. It was empty of anyone else, but the way the chairs were arranged suggested that a meeting had taken place moments before. When the Arbiter finally turned around, he shook his head.

"I mean, I thought we got here pretty quickly," Tresk said with a shrug. "It takes a couple of seconds to move across the void, you know?"

“Not that I don’t enjoy a good verbal spat, but don’t we have business to talk?” Fenian asked, flipping his hair dramatically.

“We sure do,” Khahar said, striding around the desk. He leaned against a chair, shaking his head. “This was not in my predictions.”

"Your predictions are old and crusty," Tresk said. "Things went off the rails after you ascended, so we can't assume that any of your future sight nonsense will work for current events."

"That's just it, though. Something like this should have shown up in my predictions. Makes me think the whole anchor system was created recently, but I don't believe that's the case." Khahar mulled what he’d say next over, grinding his teeth. “I can’t… Wait, do you feel that?”

“How annoying,” Fenian said, looking up and narrowing his eyes. “Every time I get interdicted, I have a bad time. It normally ends in puke.”

Theo could do nothing about the interdiction event. If this was a god drawing him somewhere, he was certain he could evade their grasp with the power of his aura. However, it wasn't just a god; it was the system itself. Drawing them up to the heavens onto that snowy platform, with the sigils representing each god, the throne holders were sucked through the void and deposited onto that snowy landscape. They had to walk the remainder of the way to get within the warm bubble that seemed to protect the platform. As expected, the system was standing at the center, with crystalline arms folded.

“What did you do?” the system demanded. It was the most emotion Theo had heard come from her.

"Theo did it, not me," Tresk said, pointing an accusatory finger at the alchemist.

“I didn’t do a damn thing, you traitorous lizard.”

“No one did anything,” Khahar said. “Yet since you’ve summoned us, I assume you were unaware of the anchors and the full activation of the Monitor System. I have one question: Were you aware they existed.”

The system took a long moment before answering. “I was aware. But there are many facets of this place that remain unused. I assumed that was one of them.”

“Now we’re getting somewhere,” Khahar said. “Theo might’ve caused the activation, but it was likely a matter of time.”

“Nah, that don’t make sense,” Tresk said, turning to point an accusatory finger at Khahar. “You could see a few thousand years out, right?”

“Vaguely.”

“So you would’ve seen something like this if it was ‘a matter of time’, right?”

“Time can stretch pretty far.”

“Hold on a moment,” Fenian said, snapping his fingers. “You’re saying this would’ve happened, eventually. As in… We’d be locked in another cycle?”

“I think so,” Khahar said. “If this is as big as I expect it to be, there’s no way I would’ve missed it. An event this big related to the reset? It can’t be a coincidence.”

“I suppose no one cares what I think of the matter,” the system said, sounding even more annoyed.

“By all means,” Fenian said with a flourishing bow.

“There are some things I need to sort out. Once those are established, I’ll need your help.”

“What about the gods?” Theo asked.

“Their involvement comes later. For now, simply wait for my command.

Theo shared a look with the others. This was less information than he had hoped for, but he supposed it was good enough for now. As long as they didn't have to do anything, he would be happy. The problem was that there were simply too many questions and not enough answers. He had trouble imagining what they would be doing to help the system. He had always seen her as an omnipotent entity, but perhaps that wasn’t exactly correct.

Theo was happy to introduce the group back to Khahak and the Arbiter's Citadel, landing them directly in the large office once again, while the others discussed whatever it was they were gossiping about. He made his way to the window and looked out upon the endless sprawl of the metropolis. There were pieces of this puzzle that had already fallen into place in the alchemist's mind, but he couldn't be certain. The end was truly close, and he needed to make sure that everything was in order. Before he left the mortal plane permanently, that required a fair amount of study on his part and experimentation. There was no small number of potions he could craft to help him along the way, and he was certain of that. For now, he was content enough to listen to the conversation behind him and to watch people going about their business far below on the streets of the Arbiter's world.

"Theo, are you listening?" Tresk asked, snapping the alchemist out of his thoughts. He turned, finding the other three members of the party looking at him in confusion.

Instead of admitting he hadn’t been paying attention, he scanned her memories. “Problem is, we can’t know what we don’t know,” Theo said. “If the system wants us to wait, we wait. Otherwise, we plan for the switch.”

“And what are we doing for that?” Khahar asked.

“Do you have any administrators?” Theo asked. “This is the kind of work I’d assign to one of them. Maybe I’ll give the task to Belgar on Tero’gal.”

“I really dislike logistics,” Khahar said.

“You two are very eager to give the task of rehousing the entire world to an administrator,” Fenian said. “I’m disappointed.”

“You’re welcome to take the task,” Theo said.

“I’m far too busy doing… stuff. All my things,” Fenian said. “I have so many things to do before the end.”

“I really doubt that, y’know?” Tresk asked. “I don’t know if he’s even been to his world. What was it even called?”

“Eganon,” Fenian said.

“Erradon,” Theo corrected.

“Really? Is that what I named it?” Fenian asked. “Doesn’t seem like something I’d have named it.”

The argument continued for some time, but Theo couldn’t truly say that he cared. It was just something to pass the time as he allowed his thoughts to gather. Once they were done going back and forth, the actual work started. Khahar had his own administrators who would keep track of the refugees from the mortal plane. He even offered to establish a connection between the bridge so people could pass between their worlds easily. However, Theo wasn’t willing to give up control of ferrying people to their homes. It was his job as the Dreamwalker to pull those people through the void and he intended to see it through.

After squaring everything away on Khahak, Theo brought himself, Fenian, and Tresk to Tero’gal. Khahar had business to attend to on his planet, which meant he was too scared to leave since he didn’t know what would happen if he was gone for too long. The alchemist was certain these were unfounded worries, but whatever. If the cat-guy wanted to lock himself up in his tower forever, whatever.

“Hey, Belgar,” Theo said, waving as the local administrator jogged over with a smile on his face. “Want a new job?”

“Not really,” Belgar said, his smile unfading.

“Oh, sure you do,” Theo said. “You can even distribute it to other people.”

“Fine, fine. What is it?”

Theo’s plan wasn’t to lay everything out right away. He knew one fact. If everything fell into his lap, he would drop the ball. When the same thing had happened in Broken Tusk, he found himself unwilling to hold the burden of administration. No matter how hard he tried, he knew he wasn’t the man for the job. Therefore, he had to start them off early. They needed to get the wheels turning, otherwise it would fall apart before it even started. He explained this simple plan to Belgar, who seemed of a similar mind.

“Not a bad idea,” Belgar said with a shrug.

“Oh, while you’re at it… Could you sort out my world?” Fenian asked.

“Me too!” Tresk shouted

“Nope,” Belgar said. He waited a few long moments before cracking a smile. “But I can organize the people to make that happen. So long as Theo gives me the permission to create a structure for running these worlds, we should be fine.”

“You have my blessing,” Theo said. “As long as I don’t have to lift a finger to make it happen.”

“Absolutely,” Belgar said. “We’re in the early stages.”

Yet as much as Theo wanted to see Belgar flourish in this role, he didn’t want to keep his hands off the project entirely. He might not have been the best archduke in the world, but he had seen enough with the development of Broken Tusk and the Southlands Alliance to give some solid advice. Since this was a non-standard format for governing, there would be a lot of differences. And they still didn’t know what this would look like on the other side.

Belgar was an adaptable man. He had lived his life as a dronon on the mortal plane, and spent more time in the void than anyone should. When he came out the other side with his mind intact, that should’ve been enough of a signal to Theo that he would be a man of great potential. It was almost as though he had been designed for this role, and the alchemist couldn’t wait to see what he could accomplish.

“Okay, are we done with this arc?” Tresk asked. “I’m bored. Let’s go kill something.”

“Right. I’ll check in more often, Belgar,” Theo said. “Apparently, Tresk now has a taste for blood.”

“It must be sated,” Tresk hissed.

Chapter 18

I’m a Demon

“What do you mean I have to help?” Theo asked, arms folded as he looked at Alise.

The woman let out an exhausted sigh, burying her face in her hands. She had approached him after the alchemist returned to the mortal plane, coming with big plans about the arena and the start of the games. While those games didn’t have a name, they hardly needed one. They were the games to be played at the end of the world. The one thing to link all the nations before the inevitable end would be a competition.

“I need prizes,” Alise said, grabbing fistfuls of her hair. “I have a few, but I need something big. Something for the grand prize of each category.”

“Okay, I might be able to help,” Theo said, nodding. “How many categories?”

“Athletics, combat, cooking, and crafting. Those are the big ones,” Alise said. “Each prize needs to be related to those things, and I don’t know if you can make potions that reflect those ideals.”

Theo rubbed his chin. This was the perfect excuse to stop worrying about the end of the world and make some extremely powerful potions. As things drew to a close, he found himself without the same spark of urgency related to his alchemy. Everything he had done up until that point was driven by a need. He needed to gain access to better potions, because he needed to fight off some threat or enrich the lives of people in Broken Tusk. Now the Southlands Alliance was running on its own, providing everything everyone needed without his intervention.

A big fat overpowered potion would provide him with a much needed distraction. “Four potions,” Theo said with a nod. “I have a few ideas. If it works, the potions would be insanely valuable. We’re talking priceless.”

“Well, that’s perfect!” Alise said. The smile dropped from her face. “Wait, are you messing with me? Is this just a ploy to get me out of your hair?”

“Absolutely not. I thought you wanted me to organize something with the games. But if you just need stuff, I’m happy to provide it.”

“Thank the gods. That’s a relief,” Alise said with a sigh.

This was the kind of thing one needed to sleep on, though. Theo had a decent idea of what he wanted to do, but sourcing the items he required would be tricky. “I might also have some additional administrative work I need help with,” Theo said, stealing a glance at Alise’s face to gauge her reaction. She raised a brow instead of scowling. He took that as a good sign.

“What kind of administrative help?” she asked.

“Well, we’re going to be moving a lot of people between many planets, and we’re predicting that it will be quite complex. It’s not something I feel comfortable doing, so I wondered if you would be interested in the job.”

“Just to be clear, we’re talking about a job after the switch, right?” Alise asked. “If that’s the case, then fine. I’m happy to take over as your administrator in the sky, even if that concept still seems weird to me.”

Theo would have loved to iron out the details then and there, but the truth was, he was lacking information. His goal was simply to establish the avenues to get things done when they needed to be done, rather than waiting to figure out the command structure while it was happening. This was the kind of paranoia that had served him well over the years, and he was happy to embrace it now. After chatting with Alise about the details for a bit, the alchemist headed out to enjoy his evening.

Instead of having dinner in the usual manner, Theo brought Sarisa, Rowan, and Tresk to the Marsh Wolf Tavern. They found their familiar booth reserved, as always. They had a seat and waited for the dish of the day to be served. The alchemist took the opportunity to consider the best place to start looking for his ingredients, and, of course, the others were eager to discuss the matter.

“So, do you have a plan or not?” Tresk asked, shaking her head. “You always go into these kinds of things half-cocked. I feel the thoughts bubbling in your brain. Do you remember how you need to level your Herbalist core? Just gonna ignore that?”

“I haven’t forgotten about my herbalist core,” Theo said, waving the marshling’s concerns away. She was just trying to get under his skin, as always. “But this is an amazing opportunity to push my skills to their limits. I learned a lot about how these potions work together when I was creating the ablate solution.”

“That isn’t even a word,” Rowan grumbled. “What in the hells is ablate, anyway?”

“A property on a reagent,” Theo said. “But that doesn’t matter. I think I can combine properties on reagents, and if I do it right, the resulting potion could be extremely powerful. Although I’m not willing to talk about specifics quite yet.”

Tresk dug into Theo’s mind, grasping at the information she wanted. But he hid those things deeply, unwilling to grant her access to spoilers just yet. She had to work for those. What she managed to glean still made her excited, though, causing her to jump to her feet and pump her fists in the air.

“We’re going on an adventure!” Tresk shouted. “To hell!”

The confused looks on everybody else’s faces were cut short when the server brought their food. It was a dish Theo wasn’t sure he had seen created before in Broken Tusk. Sitting in the center of each plate was something similar to a hamburger patty slathered with chunky brown sauce. On a second plate was a stack of thin flatbread covered in something that smelled like garlic and butter. To the alchemist’s surprise, it was incredibly delicious. The bread paired well with the unusual hamburger.

Rowan smacked his lips after eating a large bite of hamburger. “So, you’re going to one of the hells?” he asked.

This was a point that needed clarification. Theo had heard people use expressions about hell before, but they were completely unfounded. The closest thing to a hell this world has experienced was the void. The hell dimensions he was thinking about were among the many pocket dimensions he had become aware of after falling into the paper one. He explained as much to Rowan, who’s eyes went glassy about two words in. The alchemist shrugged.

“So, no one wants to go to hell with me?”

“Not even a little,” Sarisa said. “Have fun with that.”

“After you told us how horrible the paper one was?” Rowan asked. “Yeah, screw that.”

“Hah! Cowards!” Tresk shouted, jumping onto the table and thrusting her chest out. “We’re going to hell. We’re gonna blow hell up! Gonna drink from the skulls of demons!”

Theo pointed a finger in the air. “I’m a demon. You’re mixing Earth lore with Iaredin lore.”

“Shut it! Before I drink from your skull!”

The only reason Tresk was excited about this was that she knew Theo had an exit strategy. When he had been trapped in the paper dimension, things were different. He was unfamiliar with the way things worked down there and couldn’t defend himself against the time dilation. He expected that to still be a problem but understood that his increased willpower and better understanding of how his aura worked would see him through. What he was after were objects that were conceptually heavy, just like the world anchor. He sought something that he could use as a binding agent between two potions to create one that was even more powerful. It was the same concept as the suffuse potion, only cranked up to eleven.

He only had an idea for the combat and athletics potion for now, but he was almost certain something would come to him for cooking and crafting. Knocking out two of the four potions he needed to craft wasn’t a bad idea either, and he figured he could make something for first, second, and third place. Why not give all three winners something cool?

There was a second factor in this next delve into the hell dimensions that wasn’t present during the last one. Theo would have Tresk with him. Discounting her marshaling abilities was easy, but it was their bond that had brought him to such heights in the first place. He didn’t doubt she would be useful. Her connection with the Dreamwalk was deeper than his. No matter how much he increased his willpower, she still had an innate connection to it, which he was certain would be beneficial.

After finishing dinner, the group went to have a revitalizing bath. Both Theo and Tresk could feel Alex’s dismay that she hadn’t been invited. When they were all done and cleaned, they took large tubs of bathwater out behind the bathhouse and scrubbed the dragon goose down. This gave Theo a chance to see just how much her form had changed. She still had feathers, but they had gathered near her wings and tail. Day by day, she was becoming more like a dragon, but he couldn’t stop thinking about her as that little gosling peeking out of the egg.

The dragon-goose was at least happy, and they put her to bed in the barn before heading back to the manor. Theo had a few things he wanted to show Tresk for tomorrow, and they rushed to the bedroom to fall into the Dreamwalk. There they met Alex, who somehow looked slightly cleaner than before, even if her form here was just a mental projection. He was certain she could make herself look however she wanted. Perhaps she just felt cleaner.

“Here’s the problem,” Theo said, shifting the sight of Broken Tusk into one much less inviting. The group floated in the void, but it wasn’t a true representation of the space.

The alchemist had imagined the void in a way that made sense to those with visual senses. They floated near the lower plane of the mortal plane and could see a clear row of planets above them. That represented the middle plane, and beyond that was the Sun and the heavenly plains. However, if one were to gaze down far below the planet on which they currently inhabited, they would see an endless row of seething dots of various colors.

“I don’t know what to call them,” Theo said, gesturing to the dots. “But those are the ‘hell worlds’ I detected. Each is a pocket dimension of unknown origins.”

“So, what’s the issue?” Tresk asked. “Weird dimensional spaces in the void. Sounds normal to me.”

“Truly it isn’t,” Theo said. “I can’t say if this is a problem for the reset, but come on. That ain’t normal.”

“Hold on,” Tresk said, looking around. “Is this accurate?”

“No. Because I’m representing four-dimensional stuff with three,” Theo said. “The dimensional spaces are more like layers. They’re inside the void’s void.”

“The void’s void? Next you’re gonna tell me the void’s void has a void. When does it stop, Theo?”

“Yeah, the void has a void space,” Theo said. “It isn’t weird if you understand the void.”

“Ugh. Okay, whatever. Explain it like I’m a big stupid.”

“Iaredin, Tero’gal, Kahak… All of them exist in void space,” Theo said. “I don’t know what it looks like outside that void space, but you just gotta think about it like layers. Our worlds are in a big ball. Inside that big ball is another big ball. That nested ball has all these little dimensions.”

“There we go. I got it now,” Tresk said, giving the thumbs-up. “So, which one are we going to?”

“Dunno. They all look the same on the outside,” Theo said. “We’ll just have to pick one at random and dive in.”

“Every good plan starts with no information and a whim,” Tresk said. “Anyway, wanna watch me do a backflip and kill a dragon at the same time?”

“Absolutely.”