The Newt and Demon - Book 8 Chapters 28,29,30 (Patreon)

Chapter 28

Migration

Tendrils of Sledge’s soul whipped out, reaching to make a connection with Tero’gal. The world itself was ready to accept her without question, but the power of her soul wasn’t strong enough to establish a link unaided. Theo had pulled a chair up to the bed, smiling to himself as he saw the roaring fire burning in the fireplace. The interior of the house provided by Belgar was done to the preferences of a Broken Tusker.

“Her soul is weak,” Theo said, pressing a hand into Sledge’s forehead. “But Tero’gal is eager to accept her. The only question we have to answer is what happens to her mortal body.”

“Tero’gal shivers,” Belgar said, smiling to himself the entire time. “This is a big moment.”

It should’ve been simple. This was the same exact problem Xol’sa faced, even if it presented differently. When the space elf had come to the mortal plane, he had existed there for quite some time. His soul was attuned to the void island, and needed to be reforged. That process was lengthy, but Theo didn’t understand it as well as he did now. If he was more confident in his ability to manipulate soul energy, he would reach out and make the connection himself. But the Reforge Soul potion was a surefire way to make it happen.

“Ready to drink?” Theo asked, holding a 2-unit vial of the potion out.

“Sure I won’t die?” Sledge asked.

“Yup. I’m sure,” Theo said.

“Know what’ll happen to my body?” she asked.

“Not a clue,” Theo said. “But Tero’gal seems confident.”

“If the planet says so… Let’s do it.”

Theo shared a look with Belgar before they both nodded. The alchemist presented the vial to Sledge and watched as she brought the liquid to her lips. He didn’t want to mess this up, so just before she drank the potion, he cast his juiced-up version of Haste on himself. Then he watched the process unfold in slow motion.

The first stage of the transformation happened deep within Sledge’s soul. The center was a packed ball of energy, buzzing with her innate potential. After swallowing the potion, the change happened within that ball first. It flared out, encompassing her entire soul before snapping back inside. Then it spread out like a wildfire, consuming the thinner part of her soul and pulling those tendrils back in.

Sledge’s body burst into flames of soul energy. It raged out at an impossible speed, flooding force and heat throughout the building. With his absurd reaction time, Theo erected barriers, containing the blast. The marshling’s skin cracked and reformed, fissures forming and closing immediately.

Laying atop a charred bed, Sledge had only blinked once since the process started. From the moment she swallowed the potion to now, barely a second had passed. And it was done. Theo cut his Haste spell off, then watched as Belgar tumbled backward. Sledge’s eyes flicked open and she jumped to her feet on the bed, flexing.

“Oh, yeah!” she shouted. A moment later, she looked down. “Did the bed catch fire?”

“You caught fire,” Theo said, pressing down on her shoulder to force her into a seated position. “I see the connection between your soul and Tero’gal. I think the process worked.”

“It feels good to me,” Belgar said from his position on the floor. “I think the planet is singing.”

“Yeah, Tero’gal is excited to have more residents. And this is a method I can use to bring mortals here. I think this is a first, actually.”

“If you don’t count the ascendants,” Belgar said. “Then, yes.”

“Their connection was different. But this seems stable,” Theo said, examining the thread some more. It seemed pure, just like the one he spotted snaking its way out of Belgar. “I think we did it.”

“Thank the gods for that! Nah, screw them,” Sledge said, throwing Theo’s hand off of her and jumping off the bed. “Thank you!”

“There she is,” Theo said, watching as Sledge stomped off, exiting the building without saying another word. “That’s the Sledge I remember.”

“Where is she going?”

“No one knows,” Theo said. “Likely to find the nearest tree and chop it down. Although, her cores won’t be working yet. But that’s not going to stop her.”

“Really?” Belgar asked, the joy from his face dropping. “I must go. Just ask around for the baby cage when you need it. I have a team ready to care for the marshlings—old bantari and all that.”

Theo watched as Belgar rushed off. He doubted Sledge would find the nearest forest and chop it down. It was more likely that she just needed to stretch her legs for a while. She had been caring for those critters for a while now, and had only recently felt confident enough to leave them without biting someone. She needed to adjust to this new life.

Without Sledge or Belgar, Theo wandered out into the streets of Boar Hollow. He really should’ve been more familiar with the area, but he simply hadn’t spent much time there. Things had settled down. When the spirits first came to the newly formed middle realms, there was a lot of excitement and confusion. Now everyone was settled, and instead of worrying about adjusting to this new world, folks were now just living their lives.

“Might as well take stock,” Theo said, teleporting to a place of higher ground to get a better look. Tero’gal pushed back slightly, seeming not to care for that method of movement. Perhaps the world wanted everything to work by the book. “Got it. Can I use my void travel?”

Tero’gal confirmed.

“Thanks.”

The area around Boar Hollow had been the first to be generated for the world. It was originally a weird square floating in a void. But over time, it expanded. First, it was the power of the souls that came here. Then the power of the throne had overtaken those things, breaking the cycle of the ascendants for good and forging four new worlds by the end. Tero’gal had developed itself, creating regions and climate zones appropriate for the landscape.

The area around Boar Hollow was idyllic. Low hills rolled far into the distance, with scattered forests here and there. Even the highest hill Theo could find wasn't that high, giving him only a limited view of the area as he considered a better way to see things. His vision shifted, and he was suddenly viewing it from the sky. It took him more than a few moments to realize that the world was helping him see itself.

“Thanks again,” Theo said, scanning the area and nodding with approval. “I can see a lot of lowland grass areas perfect for farming or ranching, and there's a decent sprawl of forests. They won't have any trouble with lumber, and then there are some rocky outcrops over there. That'll be perfect for a quarry. How about mining metal? Belgar mentioned something about that.”

The alchemist's vision shifted, locking onto a hillside with a tunnel dug into it. Wooden braces had been placed at the entrance, denoting a mine. So the locals had already taken it upon themselves to embark on such an endeavor. Theo couldn't help but feel a flash of pride in his chest. The fighting had mostly died down, and now people were just trying to live. Since the planet was large enough to house all of them, competition for resources shouldn't have been a problem. 

"How big is the world, anyway?" he asked, awaiting the planet's response.

Theo's vision shifted again, pulling out until he was in the upper atmosphere and looking down. It was a disorienting experience, as his feet were still firmly planted on the ground. Below him, he saw the sprawl of continents and oceans. Tero’gal was larger than the mortal plane. It might have even been bigger than Earth, but it was hard to judge as he contemplated this idea. He felt a mental tingle in his mind, confirming his last thought. The planet was telling him it was larger than Earth.

“Much larger, huh?” Theo asked.

Of the land masses below, there were four large continents and two smaller ones. Each was its own self-contained island with sub-regions and climate zones. The alchemist could see a place in the north where the bear folk, the Toora, would enjoy staying. There were also tropical areas perfect for the lizards, and more temperate zones for the humans, elves, dwarves and so on. Then there were the scattered swamps near coastlines and in the lowland areas. Folks from Broken Tusk would love those places.

“If only Tresk hadn’t made an entire swamp world…”

But the way his own planet had developed told Theo one thing. Tresk might have liked the way her world looked, but he wondered if it would remain that way. He suspected it would develop on its own, changing the landscape to fit what it desired. Perhaps there was a wisp of that already, but he would leave it between them.

Eventually, the alchemist gathered as much information as he wanted about the world's structure. It would likely be interesting to study the migration habits of the people since all of them arrived on the main continent. There were now ships providing passage to places farther away. Although settlements had developed on several of the other continents, the main one was still home to most people.

Theo’s vision snapped back, causing him to sway on the spot before falling to a knee. “More warning, next time,” he said.

Tero’gal sent a feeling of amusement back at him.

Theo teleported himself back to the town and searched around until he found Belgar and Sledge. He was following behind her like a lost puppy, muttering something to himself. The marshling had found an axe and was making her way to one exit from the town. Jogging to catch up, the alchemist placed a hand on her shoulder.

“Could you listen to the man for one second?” he asked.

Belgar sighed, doubling over as he caught his breath. “The logging camp is that way,” he said, pointing behind them.

“I gotta chop something,” Sledge said, fidgeting with her axe. “Anything.”

Theo tightened his grip on her shoulder, surrounding them in his aura. He folded the void, arriving in a place a few miles outside of town. Before them stretched an expansive logging camp, complete with a sawmill and dorms for workers. Sledge licked her lips, her eyes dragging over the scene as though she wanted to take it all in.

“Look at them trees,” Sledge said, her grip tightening on the axe. “Ripe for chopping.”

"Speak with whoever's in charge first, Sledge," Theo said, still not releasing his grasp on her shoulder. "I don't want you to upset the locals before you've settled in. You know the way back to town, right?"

“Yeah, yeah, I can find my way back,” she responded, licking her lips as she sized up a particularly large tree. “Can I go now?”

Theo released his grip on her shoulder and watched as the eager marshling rushed off. But she didn't go for the tree first; instead, she approached one outbuilding and knocked on the door like a maniac. A moment later, she was speaking to somebody. Hopefully, the overwhelmed human was in charge of something.

A moment later, Theo was back in Boar Hollow.

"I hope she isn't too much for you," Theo said, causing Belgar to spin around and shriek. He let out a heavy sigh and shook his head.

"No, she'll be fine. I've dealt with far rowdier people than her. And I've got a team of people to sort this stuff out," Belgar said. "This is a big step, though, isn't it? She was a mortal only an hour ago, and now she's part of the middle realms. How does that work exactly?"

"The details are purposefully vague. I'm not certain if this is a technique I'm actually supposed to use, but here we are. And don’t think I don’t appreciate your work. You’ve done more for this world than anyone else,” Theo said, reaching a hand out for Belgar to shake.

“Not a problem,” Belgar said, giving Theo a firm handshake. “Just happy to give back to the world that saved me.”

Chapter 29

Interpretive Layer

The last of a gaggle of marshling babies caught fire. It giggled, rolled on the ground, then attempted to bite Theo’s leg. The alchemist scooped it up under the arms and held it at length. Each baby had adapted to Tero’gal perfectly, and he detected no issues with the way their soul bound to the realm.

“Into the cage you go,” Theo said, opening the door and tossing the marshling inside before the others could escape. “Hope you guys calm down a bit.”

“They’ll be fine.”

Theo turned to the matron designated to care for the marshlings while their mother was off doing whatever it was she was doing. She reminded the alchemist a lot of Whisper. Maybe that’s because she was a soft-spoken toora woman with a gray-white coat and blue eyes. Her name was long, but everyone called her Snow. Of the few toora he had met in his world, this woman had adjusted very well.

“Can’t thank you enough for taking care of the marshling babies,” Theo said. “I know they’re a handful, but once Sledge has time away from them, she’ll come back.”

“Not necessary,” Snow said, kneeling by the cage. She closed her eyes, and the screaming rabbled settled. After about a minute of whatever this was, each baby was completely calm. They gathered near the cage’s edge and stared at Snow as though she was holding something delicious to chew on. The woman then opened the door and each marshling filed out. “I have a way.”

“Or a hidden power,” Theo said, kneeling and extending his finger. A purple-gray marshling grabbed his finger and shook it before squeaking. “Seriously, you’re the marshling whisperer.”

Snow simply smiled, patting each marshling on the head before nodding. “Let’s start with the basics. Manners. We don’t bite. We don’t push. Most of all, we behave. Got it?”

Each marshling peeped a response in turn.

“Off we go,” Snow said, filing out of the small house with the babies in tow.

Theo could only watch in amazement as the animalistic children followed close behind the woman. He didn’t sense any mana usage from the woman, but there was clearly some kind of power going on there. Perhaps the toora had figured out how to develop their system fully within Tero’gal. Or there was something else going on that he wasn’t aware of. With a shake of his head, he teleported back to the mortal plane.

“All done,” Theo said, finding Tresk lurking somewhere in the manor.

“Did it go well?” she asked. “Is them babies okay?”

“Yeah, children are fine. A nice toora woman is taking care of them while Sledge blows off some steam.”

“Excellent,” Tresk said, rubbing her hands together. “Who are we going to migrate next?”

“What? No one. I’ve got too much to do.”

“Come on!” Tresk said, stomping her foot. “That was neat. We should do it again.”

Theo was under the impression that Tresk was going to head off on another adventure with Alex. Instead, she was waiting in the manor for Theo to return. Truth was, Sledge was closer to her than she would admit. Marshlings weren’t rare in Broken Tusk, but both were outcasts from their respective group. Tresk had never wanted to be a blacksmith and had fought desperately to become an adventurer. Sledge was an orphan who had to forge her own path, and it was hard not to see the similarities between them.

“We need to make more potions. And aren’t the games starting soon?”

“They already started,” Tresk said with a shrug.

“What? Then we really need to make the potions,” Theo said. “Like… A lot of potions.”

“Yeah, yeah. Let’s go spend ten thousand years in some boring paper place,” Tresk said, rolling her eyes. “But I’m bringing Alex this time.”

“Fine with me. Actually, let’s head to the paper realm and have a discussion. I’ve got some observations about the system.”

Tresk shrugged as though she was down for anything. After they had gathered Alex, the alchemist folded space and brought them directly to the paper world. The conceptual pressure of it all pressed down on them, up until the point where Theo extended his aura to protect them. Then it was time for a talk.

“I have some observations,” Theo said, clearing his throat. “Something the system said stuck out to me. When I talked to her about my overpowered potions, she said something about a person’s potential.”

“Okay, what are you thinking?” Tresk asked.

Theo thought back to what he had just witnessed with Snow. He thought about how King Leon had broken the defenses within Tero’gal, and the power people like ascendants had. In each example, they were operating outside the bounds of the system. Even the alchemist had worked in such a way, especially with his new skill. He wasn’t following the rules of the pop-ups exactly, but he was still operating with more power than he should have.

“The only answer I have is that the system we use to increase our levels is an interpretive layer,” Theo said. “Everything we know about the way a person advances in power is just one path. When I was in Tero’gal, this woman used an ability. No one in Tero’gal has abilities, because they don’t have classes. I know they’re working on something, but as far as I know there’s nothing concrete. Just rumors.”

“Could be that you’re wrong,” Tresk said. “And people just aren’t sharing.”

“You’re right. But I didn’t feel anything in this woman’s soul,” Theo countered. “As far as I know, she didn’t have a class. But what if I’m just used to looking for classes with our system, and she was using another system? Something more fundamental. What the system said to me keeps coming back. How could a person’s potential mean anything in relation to the system’s attribute cap if not because they can advance outside the system.”

Tresk rubbed her bald head, eyes pinched shut. “You sure?” she asked. “How does that work?”

Theo rubbed his chin, finding a comfortable log to sit on. “Maybe Alex is a decent example.”

“Me?” Alex asked, looking around and breathing a puff of fire. “I didn’t do nothing.”

“No, you did do something,” Theo said, withdrawing the required glassware to get to work. “You steered your development in more ways than one. And each was not part of the normal advancement presented by the system. You started with one affinity, fire, and gave yourself another. Then you changed your physical form by becoming a dragon.”

“He has a point,” Tresk said.

“What’s the point?” Alex asked. “What does it matter if our system is just a… what did you call it?”

“Interpretive layer. Something that lets us understand our true power,” Theo said.

“Okay, what’s the point then?” Alex asked. “Does it matter?”

Theo looked to the pale sky of the paper world. He wasn’t sure if it actually mattered, but that depended on if his suspicions were correct. Leon was the loose end, and there was absolutely no way he just found a pocket of the void no one was aware of. And the system was making no efforts to find him. Which meant he was outside the bounds of the system. The void was finite. It had an edge. That only left one question…

What was on the other side?

“Hardly matters,” Theo said, getting to work on the first potion. “Since I’ve done this before, it should take way less time. Maybe a half-year for each potion. So, strap in. We’re making five of every attribute potion.”

“I’m no mathmagician, but that sounds like a lot,” Tresk said.

“Count on your fingers if you need.”

Tresk did exactly that. Not that six times five was a hard math problem, but she was just a little marshling. No one would blame her.

“Five-hundred potions!?” Tresk shouted. “Just kidding. Thirty potions, which means fifteen years in this place. Okay, sounds fun. Hooray, did you bring something fun to do, Alex?”

“I did not,” Alex said.

“Sweet. How long will pass in the outside world?” Tresk asked.

“A few hours,” Theo assured her. “Now, I’m going to focus. I’ll see you in about six months.”

“Hooray.”

***

Tresk held on tight, riding Alex as they worked their way through the paper world. Last time, she didn’t have the company of the dragon-goose with her, making time pass quickly. With the added stimulation of her companion, time crawled. And it wasn’t a bad thing. This gave them time not only to explore this strange world, but discuss Theo’s theories.

They had been doing so for about five years, and had reached no new conclusions.

“Places like this give me the creeps,” Tresk said.

Alex banked to one side, giving them an excellent view of the expansive landscape below. Hills rolled far into the distance as groups of the weird monsters roamed. They were once again nearing the edge of the world where an impassable barrier waited.

“It is indeed creepy,” Alex said. “Look, that one is different from the others.”

Tresk nodded, watching as a larger, spider-like creature led a pack. Alex dove, releasing a torrent of fire that burned all the monsters to a crisp. Good thing the fire didn’t spread over the paper landscape.

With a sigh, Tresk borrowed a fraction of Theo’s power and sent her senses into the void. He had a different way of looking at it than her, but their views were close enough. The expansive blackness stretched before her, terminating only far in the distance. That was the place Theo thought about often. The end of the void.

Alex moved on her own in the paper world while Tresk scanned the void. She felt the void islands, the middle realms, lower realm, and even the heavens. There was something beyond this place and she couldn’t help but to think if Theo was hiding something from her. Often he did so to ease her mind, knowing she would worry too much. And he was right. She couldn’t think of anything else.

Instead, she did the thing she had been practicing all these years. “Land us over there,” Tresk said, pointing to a spot within eyeshot of Theo, but far enough away they wouldn’t disturb him. While they had to return to his aura every few hours, they could explore much of this world in that time.

“Maybe you’ll get closer today,” Alex suggested.

Tresk shrugged, taking a seated position and closing her eyes. “Feels like I’m trying to catch dust floating in the air. Every time I get close, it slips through my fingers.”

Alex hummed a response, yawning and she sat on the ground. “I’ll help as much as I can.”

And so Tresk began her meditative exercise. This was a fact made more difficult by her nature. She couldn’t help it if she was excitable and prone to fits of spasms when sitting still for too long. The first year she had tried this resulted in absolutely nothing. But by the third year, she felt something far in the distance.

“Now I feel it clearly,” Tresk said, taking in a steady breath and letting it out. “Can you feel it?”

“Barely,” Alex said. “Like a little speck of mana just out of my reach.”

“Exactly,” Tresk said, taking another deep breath. “So is this our potential, or the power source Theo was talking about?”

“Perhaps we’re going insane,” Alex said. “We’ve spent too long in this place, I think.”

“Nah, Theo was here for 30 years. We’ll be fine,” Tresk said. “Maybe if I just poke it hard enough…”

“Not everything can be solved with poking…”

Reaching out with an invisible hand, Tresk tried to poke the thing she felt. When it didn’t respond to a good poking, she instead snatched it and held it firmly where it was. Her body sagged in relaxation as something flowed through her. The system message that appeared caused her to jump.

[Unveiling]

Tether to local system removed.

Unburdening soul… Removing restrictions…

Unveiling completed. Local system notified. Grand System notified. Monitor System notified.

“What have you done?” Alex asked.

Chapter 30

Who Needs a Beating

Something annoying tickled in the back of Theo’s mind. He had to put all his focus into crafting the 30 potions. Well, he only needed to make 29 since he already drank the one that increased Intelligence. That long-term focus made time fly by, but there was still that nagging feeling. A poke every so often that drew him from his focus. Eventually, he allowed that concentration to fall away, revealing the paper world before him.

“What is it?” Theo asked, blinking away his stupor. “I should be working on these potions.”

“Okay, this is pretty sweet,” Tresk said, dancing on the spot.

It took Theo a moment for his eyes to focus, but he watched as Tresk moved around the area as a blur. She vanished into the shadows, reappearing behind him to deliver a playful chop to his head.

“Did you find drugs here?” Theo asked. “Did you bring drugs?”

“No! Don’t be weird. Okay, this is kinda hard to explain…”

“Tresk figured out how to disable the local system for herself,” Alex said.

Theo blinked a few times. His mind hadn’t quite caught up with what was going on. Once the gears started turning, he realized she must’ve been looking into his memories. “It worked?”

“Took a few years,” Tresk said, flexing.

“Five years,” Alex corrected.

“Yeah, five years of nonstop practice. But we figured out how to disable our systems,” Tresk said. “Pretty cool, huh?”

“That depends on the results,” Theo said, watching as she moved around with ease. “You’re moving as though you still have attributes.”

“Wrong. I’m even faster,” Tresk said. “The system is training wheels, dude. All that crap you suspected was mostly true. We think the system is a layer that helps you learn how to use this… what would you call it?”

“We’ve been calling it cosmic energy,” Alex said. “Although I’m sure that’s wrong.”

“Yeah. We figured out that Alex has been doing this since the start,” Tresk said. “The way she added alignments and evolved into a dragon… She’s been tapping into the cosmic power since the start, so she taught me.”

Theo rose to his feet, groaning and stretching out his sore back. “You confirmed the existence of some energy, right? Something our bodies can absorb and use to become superhuman?”

“Supermarshling and superdemon, but yeah,” Tresk said with a shrug. “So the system helps us funnel that energy through class cores and stuff. If you break through that system, you can just freeball it. This is a lot harder than using the system interface, and I still have my class and all my abilities. There just isn’t an interface to let me know how to use stuff.”

“She’s underselling it,” Alex said. “We think your newest skill empowered the Tara’hek to unlock this path for us. It allowed us to see past the veil of the local system and tap into that yummy power we still don’t have a name for.”

“Since the description says it allows you to break the rules, it just made sense,” Tresk said.

Most of all, Theo was impressed they figured it out on their own. Sure, five years to figure out how to use some ability was a long time. But they had done it on their own and with very little information. The alchemist had to consider if this was something that would anger the local system. That statement implied there was some other system and searching Tresk’s memories he saw reference to something called the Grand System. He skimmed some more through her thoughts and found the path to exploit this new power.

“This isn’t technically more powerful than using the regular system,” Theo said. “Especially not for someone just starting out. Except for that one detail… What is it?”

“Yeah, you can increase your conceptual attribute cap,” Tresk said. “And you’ll become subject to ranks, which… Actually, those suck.”

Theo nodded. Right now, he had no intention to remove himself from the system’s embrace. Tresk was feeling adventurous, but he wasn’t so sure. Crafting his potions required the system’s help. He knew enough about alchemy to know he wasn’t skilled enough to work with these materials at a high level without the help of the system.

“An interesting concept to ponder,” Theo said, adjusting his position on the log. “Why don’t you work on it while I make the rest of these potions.”

“Yeah. Of course,” Tresk said. “I’m having a lot of fun.”

“Much fun,” Alex said.

Whatever information Tresk could glean from her efforts would have to wait for evaluation later. Theo’s concentration was broken, but he could get it back. He planned to meditate on this as he crafted his other potions… and there was plenty of time for that.

Theo slipped back into his meditative focus, finding something interesting as he fell into that concentrated effort. Tresk had made some serious advancements with the technique of extreme concentration, so he drew from her experience. Days slipped by, but he probed this new path to power. The alchemist came to some conclusions.

Everything they knew as the universe was a bubble floating in physical space. The void was a layer of extra-reality used to help conceptualize where things were relative to each other in an area of real space. And the local authority that made sure everything ran smoothly was the local system, and the monitor system. Those systems might have done a lot of things, but the thing he was most concerned with was how they interpreted this ‘celestial power’ to give locals their training wheels to advancement.

Breaking past their current limits was a matter of tapping into that power and going beyond what they could do. Theo considered all this throughout the years, reaching a few more important conclusions as he wrapped up the potions. The impulse would be to chug those potions right away, going into a coma for a bit and coming out on the other side as an absolutely monstrous beefcake. Instead, he would check this new power out and raise his potential.

After all, the system said he would hit a cap. Since she rarely spoke idly, he figured that was a hint or a slip.

“Done,” Theo said, blinking away the years. His brows knit. He found himself in a house. “Okay. This isn’t weird or anything.”

Looking around the room, Theo spotted all the signs that this had been constructed from local materials. It was all drab, the walls styled in the same dull color as the rest of the world. But there was a fireplace, a rough-looking bench meant to be a sofa, some chair, a table, and so on. There were even open windows giving a decent view outside. The door swung open and Tresk stepped through with her hands on her hips.

“Took you long enough,” she said, marching over to fall onto the sofa. It creaked. “Well, took you about a quarter of the time you had originally expected, but you know.”

“Eight years?” Theo asked. “That’s not bad. I mean, eight years is a long time, but you know what I mean. Any progress with your new advancement?”

“Got all my potential capped at 1000,” Tresk said. “I had a lot of time to think. And you know who needs a beating?”

“Who?”

“Khahar. Since he likely knew about this and didn’t tell us. Which means he’s hiding more. And I’m gonna stab him,” Tresk said. “Gonna stab him right in his fuzzy face.”

Theo scratched his chin. “Khahar betrayed us? That’s new.”

“No, it ain’t! That’s par for the course!” Tresk shouted. “Actually, I’m not angry about it anymore. I was mad about five years ago, but then I got over it about a year ago.”

“We’ll assume he thought he knew what was best so he didn’t tell us,” Theo said. “And then we won’t say a word about it, because who cares? I’m just gonna steal your memories to learn how to cultivate this new energy. Okay? Okay.”

Tresk shrugged. “Yeah, if we could get the hell out of here first… that’d be swell.’

Theo offered her a concerned look. “You hanging in there?”

“No! I built a house out of paper stuff,” Tresk said, grabbing Theo by the hand and dragging him to the window. Outside there were three figures made from paper material. Were they supposed to be… marshlings? “I had a family! Look! That’s my son!”

“You’re being dramatic,” Theo said, waving her away. “You don’t suffer the effects of the realm when you’re in my bubble.”

“Well, we got bored so we went outside the bubble. Right Alex?” Tresk asked, sticking her head out the window.

Theo craned his neck, sighing as he spotted Alex’s family. A small group of dragon statues lingered in the distance. The dragon-goose herself was standing near them, using her massive claws to puppet one of the figures.

“We’re gonna miss you, mama Alex,” she said, doing her best to pitch her voice up. “I’ll miss you too, babies. I love you.”

Theo extended his aura, pulling them from the paper realm before things got weirder. “New rule. We’re not gonna come back here,” he said.

“That’s likely a good idea,” Tresk said, nodding along. “Back to mortal town?”

“Nope,” Theo said, folding them to Tero’gal. “Time for you to drink some potions.”

Tresk screamed with excitement as they arrived in Boar Hollow. Of course, Tresk would be the one drinking the potions today. Doing it in Tero’gal was calculated. After seeing how well Sledge adjusted after having her soul super-reforged, he was convinced consuming the potions would be less taxing. Or it wouldn’t work at all since this was another realm. But he was confident. Mostly. Maybe.

“Let’s crash at Sledge’s place,” Theo said, ducking into the nearest alleyway and weaving through the town. “This place is growing. We’ll call it a city before long.”

“Where is Sledge?” Tresk asked. “And the babies.”

Theo smiled to himself, finding the house where Sledge and her kids were staying. Opening the door revealed several toora sitting around, marshling babies jumping all over the place.

“Wow, they’re already out of the cage?” Theo asked with a laugh. “No more biting?”

“No biting,” a toora man said, a marshling cradled in his arms. “First children in the realm in a long time. We’re finding it hard to keep people away.”

“Good. These kids deserve something decently normal,” Theo said. “And Sledge?”

“Who knows?”

“Okay, we’re gonna use the bedroom,” Theo said.

A toora woman stuck her head out the window. “Is that your dragon?”

“Dragon-goose,” Theo said. “And yeah. Go pet her. She likes it.”

A few toora shared excited looks then dashed out the door. Theo heard Alex’s excited honk-roars as the people approached her. She would likely become a celebrity if she stayed in Tero’gal for long. Even the little marshlings stomped out to go see Alex. Once everyone was cleared out, Tresk and Theo found their way to Sledge’s bedroom. It was filled with wood shavings and various wood-cutting implements.

“She really only has the one personality, huh?” Tresk asked, jumping on the bed. “Okay. Potion me.”

“Right,” Theo said, withdrawing the first absurdly powerful potion from his inventory. He was planning to start with Dexterity. If anything went wrong, at least she’d have the attribute most useful to her. “We’re going one at a time. No fancy stuff, just drink the potion and report how you feel. The time dilation here isn’t strong at all, so I’d rather not waste time… But we gotta do what we gotta do.”

“Potion me, potion man,” Tresk said, holding her hand out and opening and closing her fingers.

The marshling took the potion and quaffed it without waiting. Her body went rigid, then she passed out. Theo clicked his tongue, coming over to place his hand on her forehead. He had expected a lot more than just that and he could only imagine the wild ride she was currently on.