The Newt and Demon - Book 4 Chapters 25,26,27 (Patreon)

Chapter 25

Poor Application

Theo had a lot of time to consider Benton’s words inside Tero’gal. His priority was to finish Miltar’s order, but after that he was left with his thoughts and random tasks. The alchemist brewed more potions to sell in the shop, covering the basics of healing and mana restoration potions. But he also completed several batches of attribute enhancing potions.

Alex was content to play in the small pond, even after Benton left. Theo completed a reaction for the last of his potions, then settled down near the pond. He dangled his feet in the water, splashing at the goose occasionally. The image of the real world over the island’s edge focused on Tresk. She did what she always did. The Marshling took her job as an adventurer seriously and rarely went a day without killing a monster.

Theo exited his private realm when his time was done. Alise had waited the five minutes for him to come out, and was happy to accept the potions he’d crafted. Tresk checked in on him as he retreated behind the building to check on his plants. She’d felt him go into the realm and was naturally concerned.

We’re fine. Just completing a few orders, Theo said.

Alright. Keep me in the loop.

She wasn’t as worried as the last time Theo’s life had been threatened. That would have surprised him, but her confidence was growing by the day. While he wouldn’t bring it up, they were both benefiting from their shared realm. It helped keep his thoughts ordered, and reduced the worry that came with his unnatural intuition. It often felt as though his thoughts weren’t his own, and he didn’t know if he should blame the realm or Khahar’s ascension.

Theo checked his administration interface, ensuring his guests were behaving themselves. Gael had taken that project on, writing reports about the vendor stalls the sailors set up in the port. He reported the exchange of a lot of gold. The items didn’t draw people in because they were useful. They wanted to have something from afar. Something that wasn’t produced within the town.

Alise had penned reports about the usefulness of the dock beyond just a means of connection. Miltar was happy to pay a fee to sell his wares within the town. It wasn’t a massive sum of money, but it was enough to line the town’s pockets. More than they’d get without buying the dock, anyway. But the sailors’ arrival had brought with it high spirits. The people in Broken Tusk saw it as a beacon of hope. Theo wandered the streets, listening to those hopeful voices.

Theo walked south, inspecting the smelters for a time. Embers drifted from the open workshop, carrying on the hot air only to extinguish themselves on the ground. The heat was already oppressive outside of the smelter. Even at a distance the smelter’s heat was exhausting to endure for more than a few moments. Nira and her people worked within, drenching each other with water as they worked.

The area around the smelter had built up slightly. Both the mine and the smelter had workers that didn’t want to walk far to get to work. They built their homes in the area. Some didn’t even follow the path of the road, planting their [House Seed Cores] up on hills, or in slight depressions in the terrain. The area wasn’t as organized as the massive neighborhood north of Xam’s tavern.

But there was a charm to that.

An orderly town might be easier to get around, but there was something about the disorder that made it feel more human. Theo walked to the mine and thought about how the buildings were placed. His previous thought about the disorder of humanity faded when he spotted a lone house far in the distance. It was one thing to go against the grain, and another entirely to make one’s house in such a horrid spot.

Theo waited awkwardly outside of the mine. Gridgen usually came out to greet him, but all he saw were random workers. They greeted him well enough, but no one stopped long enough to hold a conversation. Alex had been wandering around, eating bugs, and when presented with the chance to go in the mine, she declined.

Gridgen had made good progress on digging more tunnels. He’d expanded the level that mined copper and iron. But Drogramathi Iron was still hard to get. The alchemist stood outside the holding gate, looking in toward the place where they found Alex’s egg. More than ever, he was certain there was something under the town. But projects were pushed back as time went on, and the mine’s extra duties suffered.

The purpose of the mine was never to find random passageways into the underworld. They were fine hauling absurd amounts of nuggets out.

Theo didn’t have to chase down anyone for a report. Gwyn had posted their last week’s production, and it was looking good. But with only 50 [Drogramathi Iron Nuggets] mined, they wouldn’t have much to export. The alchemist’s other ventures were doing well. The weaver was producing absurd amounts of [Starbristle Cloth], something that Miltar was very interested in. Another thing the trader was searching for was lumber, although he had no desire to buy their stone. Gems were another item he wanted, but Ziz wouldn’t part with those.

The day whittled away as Theo stopped in on all his people. His wandering march through town always ended in the same place. The area between Perg’s tannery and the harbor. Throk had been working on his device for a while. It had started as nothing more than a pile of items strewn around. Before long, the artificer had assembled a length of track. Sledge came in to help set up the wooden cart. Finally, Ziz and his boys built a thick stone wall at the end of the track.

Theo watched as Throk adjusted his artifices. It was just a long bar of iron with artifices embedded within. As the alchemist looked upon the Marshling’s creation, he couldn’t help but say, “looks like a monorail.”

“Dunno what that is,” Throk said, making another change to his devices.

The thing looked like a monorail with an open wooden cart on top. A single bar rested under the carriage, causing it to float as though locked in place above the rail. Throk would need to solve several problems with this setup. He needed to feed motes to the track, but also the cart itself. It wasn’t workable to feed the motes manually. They needed an automated system, or nothing at all.

“Right,” Throk said, finishing his work. He smacked a metal box with a bunch of dials and buttons on it. “This isn’t the final version. But this thing talks to all the tracks at once, but I only have a dumb fire mode right now.”

“Alright,” Theo said, stepping back and crossing his arms. “Why don’t we start out slow? Just make it go to the end of the track. Don’t hit the wall.”

“I think we can do that,” Throk said, pressing a few buttons on the panel. “Stand clear of the wall. Just in—”

The cart vanished. Well, part of the cart vanished. The boards that created a platform at the base had remained on track, secured to the hovering artifice. The rest of the cart was torn away, falling to where the track started. An ear-shattering crash filled the area. Theo’s hands went reflexively to his ears, covering them as the stone wall exploded. Shards of rock fell from the sky, peppering those gathered. Everyone took cover under trees, shielding their heads from the deadly rain.

“Maybe a bit fast!” Throk said, wincing as a shard hit him in the head.

“Ya think?” Theo asked.

Once the dust had settled, they inspected the stone. The militia arrived moments later, investigating the sudden explosion. Theo waved them off, checking out how the wall had been turned to powder. There was no sign of the cart, or the device that sat under it.

“Yeah, way too fast,” Throk said, inspecting the stone. “Thought I did all the math right.”

“Clearly not,” Theo said. “We’ll need some safety measures. But this is good. It’ll work as a weapon.”

“I wanted it to work as transport,” Throk said, crestfallen.

The crowd that had gathered to see the maglev experiment’s failure chatted. Theo turned to look at their reactions. Most seemed to think it was interesting, not expressing an aversion to the new method of transport. But he spotted a strange sight among the group. Miana stood with a [Marsh Wolf] at her side. The same creatures that roamed the swamp, attacking adventurers whenever they could. He waved her over.

“Alright there, Theo?” Miana asked. “Heard this was going to be transport. Not a weapon.”

“Both, actually,” Theo said. At least the rails underneath seemed undamaged. Even if Throk lamented, kneeling near them to assess the damage. “You have a wolf.”

“Ah, yeah,” Miana said, patting the creature at her side. It whimpered, closing its eyes as she stroked the monster’s fur. “I got myself wrapped up in a job for Aarok. He’s convinced we can breed a domesticated version of the wolves, then stick Marshlings on their backs for cavalry.”

Miana had a [Monster Tamer’s Core], but Theo didn’t think she was doing anything with it. He was under the impression she’d use it to capture monsters like the [Fire Salamander], using the domesticated version of them to harvest their delicious eggs. Mounted Marshlings was the furthest thing from his mind, and he doubted their usefulness. Aarok had more experience here, though. If the commander thought it was a good idea, the alchemist wouldn’t step in the way.

Alex didn’t care for the wolf. She held her wings out, honking repeatedly. No matter how annoying she was to the creature, it didn’t even glance at her. Miana had trained it well. Perhaps the goose could learn something from the program.

“How hard is it to tame them?” Theo asked.

“Not hard at all,” Miana said. “They need to be equal-level with my core. That was the hardest part, but the levels came quickly after I found a few nests of salamanders.”

Theo warred with himself on how he felt about the tamed monsters. He watched as Miana lovingly stroked the wolf, showing it as much affection as she did her farm animals. His first thought was to use the animals as fodder, exactly like how he treated his golems. But watching the wolf push into the Half-Ogre woman’s hand changed his mind on the spot. They’d work better as bonded pairs with citizens. As creatures meant to comfort folks and provide something more than just a weapon of war.

“They’re cute,” Theo said, kneeling to inspect the creature. He lifted the wolf’s lip, inspecting its sharp teeth. It was more plump than the wild monsters in the swamp. Pinning its ears back, the wolf whimpered at the alchemist. “Bet you could do some damage, huh?”

The [Marsh Wolf] let out a yipping bark, licking Theo’s hand.

“The process is kinda annoying,” Miana said. “I have to tame them, then bond them to me. If I want to transfer them to another person, I then have to do the bond all over again. And I can only have one tamed monster at a time. Releasing them reverts them to their monsterized state.”

Throk came trundling over. He spotted the wolf and narrowed his eyes, then took a few steps back. “Found the problem. My control panel made a feedback loop. It made all the rails use their stored power at once.”

“Which is perfect for the railgun,” Theo said.

Throk grumbled. “Well, I’m ready for another test. Although, we’ll just be floating the connector rail instead of a full carriage. Sledge is mad that I destroyed her ‘creation’.”

“Naturally,” Theo said, approaching the testing area.

Instead of the full carriage on top, Throk used his backup bar of iron. Like the last one, this had various artifices attached to it. When the Marshling set it over the rail, it floated like before. When he pressed a few buttons on his control panel, it moved. Slowly. He cranked a dial until the speed increased, then stopped it before it hit the end of the track. The thing could even reverse.

“I’ll get it to a point where it doesn’t need a person manning the controls,” Throk said. “Other than that, we’ll start working on the ‘monorail’ soon.”

“And my weapon?” Theo asked.

Throk gave the alchemist a flat look. “Come on, you needy bastard. Let’s work on some designs.”

Throk ordered his people to clean the area up, and prepare for large-scale production. They were his assistants from the blacksmith. Like most people in Broken Tusk, they desired to specialize in one thing. What ended up happening with everyone was a generalization. Blacksmiths did a bit of artifice work, even if it was just in a helping capacity. Theo went off with the Marshling, ascending the walls to sketch out some designs.

“So it needs to spin and tilt?” Throk asked.

Theo had sketched a simple design. A ring that allowed the gun to spin, and something to allow for tilt. Firing would be manual, but he doubted there’d be an issue there. If Throk did what he said, the weapon would send a hunk of metal off at absurd speeds. Aiming would be easy.

“Right. Basic functions,” Theo said. “But we need maximum speed out of the muzzle.”

“Muzzle?”

“The long bit that shoots things out,” Theo said. “Is it possible to reuse your sled?”

“Sled? Oh, right. The carriage mechanism. Yeah, maybe. Maybe not.” Throk tapped his chin for a while. He drew a quick sketch on the parchment.

Throk detailed the carriage mechanism as it already existed. He then drew an attachment on top that had a forward-facing hook. That would allow the sled to hold onto something as it was accelerating forward.

“And then we have other rails after the launch-point to slow the sled down. Once the sled slows, the projectile will launch forward.” Throk nodded after his statement, satisfied with the idea.

That was the thing with Throk. He was always grumpy when Theo brought him ideas. But the alchemist never forced him to do uninteresting things. They went on a journey together, solving weird problems with artifices. That’s how to hook the Marshling on a task. Show him something cool and weird, and he got on board.

“We’ll see about launching potions later,” Theo said. “That requires a lot more experimentation.

“The purpose of this new weapon… You’re planning on targeting airships, right?” Throk asked.

That was Theo’s first thought, but not the last. He imagined batteries of these things on the port’s walls, aiming out at sea. Small forts on the coast, perhaps even on the mountains. But their immediate use would be to take down unfriendly airships, if those ever came.

“We’ve never gotten ahead by staying still,” Theo said. “If I know airships exist, I need a defense against them. We know Qavell didn’t have a sea-faring navy. What about one in the sky?”

“You’d think they’d have sent them by now,” Throk said, folding his arms. “Open rebellion and all that.”

“Yet I’m still worried.”

“Well, this is your money,” Throk said. “By the way, all this crap is expensive.”

“Of course it is. Just send the costs to the administrators.”

“Looks like I got a lot of work to do.”

Theo and Throk departed the wall. Alex had not only stayed behind, but had followed Miana’s wolf. The alchemist used his connection with the goose to find her harassing the Karatan at the ranch. Miana took it in stride, her deep love for all animals clouding her jugement.

“Come on, Alex,” Theo said, clicking his tongue. “Leave those poor cow-bugs alone.”

Battle! Alex said, her thoughts flowing into Theo’s mind.

“They don’t wanna fight you.”

Yes! They do!

“Come on. The Karatan and Pozwa are important. They’re not familiars. They do not have the power to fight you.”

Fine.

Even through the telepathic connection, Alex seemed disappointed that she couldn’t fight the farm animals. Miana came to the ranch’s edge, leaning over the paddock fence and grinning. The goose fluttered to a post, stomping with her webbed feet.

“She’s got a strong spirit,” Miana said.

“I think she’s frustrated,” Theo said, stroking the goose. She ruffled her feathers, honking loudly. Then she shot a fireball. “She wants to change her affinity. Or get a new one.”

“Oh? What affinity is she looking for? Maybe I can help.”

“Alex told me she wanted a life affinity. Or something related to life.”

“Nature?”

Nature! Alex honked. I want nature!

“Guess she wants nature,” Theo said.

“Alex, it should be easy.” Miana came up to the goose, holding the creature’s head in her hands. “We just need to expose you to a naturally aligned energy, feed you a few motes.”

I want motes!

“What motes?” Theo asked. “My inventory is crowded with the damned things.”

“[Nature Motes],” Miana shrugged. “Should be plenty in the swamp.”

Theo nodded. His [Lesser Mud Golem] collected all kinds of motes. The alchemist had several [Dimensional Storage Crates] filled with motes of all kinds. He had a plan to hoard them, then sell them when traders came. But traders didn’t seem too interested in motes. Or he was a bad salesman. Likely the last option.

“Perfect,” Theo said, clapping his hands together. “We’ll start on that tomorrow, Alex.”

I want it now!

Theo stared at his goose for a few moments. “I think we’re entering the teenager phase.”

Alex honked.

Chapter 26

Goofin’ Around

A crack-like boom echoed through Broken Tusk. Theo unplugged his ears, cheering with the other citizens. The crowd that gathered to see the artificer’s newest deathtrap had urged the Marshling to put on a display. He obliged, making rapid adjustments that created a supersonic launcher. A dumb fire rail gun. The weapon sent objects spinning off in random directions, breaking the sound barrier and deafening those that had gathered.

“This is a noise ordinance violation,” Aarok said, digging his elbow into Theo’s ribs.

The alchemist laughed. This went far behind a noise violation.

“Yeah, but it's cool.”

The shadows parted to Theo’s side, and Tresk emerged, wiping the muck from her face. “I heard that in the dungeon, dude!”

“They heard it in Rivers and Daub,” Aarok grumbled.

Throk loaded another random object onto the launcher. He hyped the crowd up, encouraging them to plug their ears before he set a chunk of marble into space. The artifice groaned. The rock was gone, and the sled was at its end position. Theo dug the wax out of his ears, trying to clear away the constant ringing. This couldn’t have been healthy for anyone.

Tresk jumped up and down, pumping her fist in the air and screaming. Alex honked.

“Let’s wrap it up, Throk,” Aarok said.

“Just doing some test fires,” Throk said. “Just one more.”

Aarok groaned. “One more. Then we’re tearing this thing down.”

The Half-Ogre walked away without waiting for confirmation. Theo followed, then Tresk and Alex.

“We’ll have some airship killers soon,” Aarok said. Theo noticed he raised his voice higher than normal, no doubt battling that same ringing.

“Wanna have dinner?” Theo asked.

Aarok gave him a flat look at first. Then his hand went to his stomach and he nodded. “Yeah. I’d like that.”

Tresk, Theo, Alex, and Aarok assumed their seats at the private booth. With the sun flagging in the sky, dipping lower by the moment, the Marsh Wolf tavern was filling up. As the commander of Broken Tusk’s growing army, Aarok wanted to share his concerns. But the alchemist steered the conversation away from those heavy things.

“Monorails were never really popular,” Theo said, sipping his mead. Alex munched on a plate of bugs and worms. “And no one really invested in maglev. Well, what Throk is doing isn’t really maglev. That’s magic.”

“Dunno what that is.” Aarok didn’t sip his mead from Rivers. He guzzled it.

“Magnets. They used magnets to levitate a train. Made it go extremely fast.”

“Imagine one of my dad’s trains that ran from here to Qavell,” Tresk said, giggling. “You’d get there in a day.”

“Maybe a shorter time,” Theo said. “Depends on how fast we can get it to go without tearing itself apart. The best use for the train is moving people, right?”

“Because of [Zorp].” Tresk nodded.

“I don’t see the value in a railed transport,” Aarok said, folding his arms. “Azrug is doing fine with his enchanted Karatan.”

The entire maglev project had little to do with practicality. Theo wanted to pursue all technology. Especially since he found another use for the general principle. He wondered what other defensive weapons they could make from Throk’s inventions. There were practical reasons, too. The more the Marshling worked on artificing, the more experience he gained. That resulted in better artifices, which had become vital to the survival of Broken Tusk.

Throk had finally accepted that he should take apprentices. If not that, then at least workers. That had been a point of friction for some time, and the alchemist was glad they worked it out.

“This is more about building things for the sake of building them,” Theo said. “You’ve been abroad, Aarok. What kind of things have you seen?”

Aarok shifted uncomfortably in his seat, leaning back and sighing. “Been to Qavell. And Veosta. Both me and Luras thought we were some hot-shot sell swords.”

“Tell us about Qavell,” Tresk said, bouncing excitedly.

“Qavell is a ringed city. The closer you get to the middle, the heavier the defenses. Taking a walk from the outer wall to the inner one would take you a day. Not because of the distance, although that is considerable. The checkpoints. Gods, the checkpoints.” Aarok beckoned a server over, gaining another mead for his efforts. “Karasan was so paranoid about keeping his kingdom safe that everyone became paranoid. From the ground up, everyone thought someone was coming for them.”

“There must have been good things.” Theo shrugged. There was always a silver lining.

“The food was great. The military was disciplined.”

Tresk blew raspberries. “Come on. There had to have been more.”

Aarok drank his entire mead in one go, leaving a wet spot on his upper lip. He belched. “Well, we could learn from their farming techniques.”

“Oh? What do they do differently?” Theo asked.

“They had few farms behind their walls. All the farmers were out there in the open, but that’s where the military comes in. There was always someone on watch in the farms. There were little watchtowers spread through the farm, so if they saw something coming they rang bells.”

“That’s a cool idea,” Tresk said with a nod. “Assuming we have the adventurers to spare for it.”

“We do,” Aarok said.

“How about Veosta?” Tresk asked.

“Spread out like you wouldn’t believe. Small walls, but a lot of highly skilled adventurers protecting the area.” Aarok let out a sigh. “Luras and I were ready to pledge our lives to those Elves.”

“No one wants to take a soldier with [Laborer’s Cores],” Theo said, smiling. “You know, I’d love to get in contact with the Toora north of Qavell. Or those lizard-folk down south.”

“I don’t even know what the lizard people are called. Do they have a [Kingdom Core]?” Aarok asked.

Tresk shrugged. “No idea. Dad never told me what they were called. He’s never been to the homeland.”

“He said he knew someone that took the Tara’hek, right?” Theo asked.

“No. He’s a liar if he said that.” Tresk cleared her hands off the table as the server came with their food. She mustered the self-control required to not eat the plate of cheesy Zee pasta to continue her story. “We have stories about a Bantari Marshling taking the Tara’hek, but that’s a motherland story. A lizard-person and a Marshling took the bond, then eventually ascended to the heavens together.”

“Hey, we already did that,” Theo said.

“Not by a long shot, bud.” Tresk took her plate, tilted her head back and dumped the entire thing inside. She swallowed it all. “There isn’t a name for what we do. All breaking the rules over here.”

“How do you know that other Tara’hek bond didn’t do it?” Aarok seemed skeptical about the entire thing. But there was a tone of gravity to his voice.

“Guess we don’t. Maybe this is normal.”

“There’s nothing normal about you, Tresk,” Theo said.

“Damn right. I’m unique.”

I am unique, Alex said, then honked.

Aarok shared more tales about his time as a wandering adventurer. Theo knew little about it. Luras didn’t enjoy talking about it, either. Both of them had dreams of joining one army or the other, finally settling for the Qavelli Irregulars. That group held soldiers from various backgrounds. Those that weren’t suitable for the standard army. They were fodder.

Not that the face of war in the past mattered anymore. Balkor’s undead created a ticking time bomb that had just gone off. Now there was no sense in waging war on the continent unless an army came with a [Hallow Ground] potion for every man. Or a priest powerful enough to banish the undead. Both options seemed rare enough to make the effort impractical.

Tresk shared the stories of her people from her homeland. The Bantari Marshlings lived alongside another race of lizard-folk in relative harmony. They were a shamanistic culture, believing more in the importance of ancestor spirits than anything else. A small group of the Bantari migrated to the swampy area around Broken Tusk when they met with the passing Ogre explorers. Theo never understood the motivations of the Ogres to settle in the swamp.

More than anything, both Theo and Tresk wanted to uncover the history of the region. It seemed so shrouded in mystery that no one had a consistent story. They were just two cultures smashed together, resulting in something unique.

“I bet Azrug knows more than we do by now,” Tresk said. “If the poor boy wasn’t busy all day. Every day. Maybe he could tell us.”

“He’s been leveling that [Loremaster’s Core] like crazy,” Aarok said, shaking his head. “The system gives him bits of information, but so far it hasn’t been useful for anything but unlocking properties on gear.”

The conversation went from here to there, never lingering on anything important. The more drinks Aarok had, the more he revealed how proud he was. Broken Tusk had transformed in a short time, revealing the true power of the Half-Ogre people. He forgot to include the Marshlings in his grand statement, and got a glare from Tresk.

“Bath?” Theo asked.

“Not me. Gotta run the rounds,” Aarok said, rising from his chair. He wobbled on the spot before getting his legs.

Tresk, Theo, and Alex went to take their bath. Their conversation never left the lizard-people to the south. There were a few trade-worthy ships that would be done within days. Once they had enough sailors to use the boats, they’d head straight for those islands to make contact.

“They’ll be happy to see their long lost kin,” Tresk said. “Especially since we still speak the language. You don’t want that kind of barrier.”

“Hey, maybe we should sail down there. Might be fun,” Theo said.

Tresk spit water across the hot bath, hitting Alex in the side. The goose honked, spreading her wings to shoot a fireball at the Marshling. She went underwater before the fireball hit.

“No fireballs inside,” Theo scolded.

“Might be fun,” Tresk said, tapping her chin. “But we always seem to come under attack when we leave the town.”

That was true.

“We’ll think about it.”

The bath was pleasant. Something more than just his busy life forced Theo to slow down. The progress on his cores had slowed to a crawl. His [Toru’aun Mage’s Core] edged closer to level 6 by the day, but everything else had stagnated. Everything except his [Governance Core]. His highest core was his [Tara’hek Core] at 29, followed by the [Governance Core] at 26. His alchemy and herbalism cores had been at level 22 for a while. His personal level was also at level 22.

Tresk had experienced a similar slow-down in her progression. She had to contend with leveling a new core just like him. Her [Parantheir Duelist’s Core] was more difficult for her to level than she expected. Neither of them seemed too concerned to rush to higher levels, though.

“We have a unique advantage, though,” Theo said, removing himself from the bath to dry off.

People get weird when they go past level 30, Tresk said, taking their conversation to their private [Tara’hek Communication] ability.

But we have Tero’gal. I can’t get my mind off the Tara’hek you mentioned.

Search our real, Alex said.

Tero’gal is limited to adjacent realms. People who are as weak as us.

Disappointed.

The group finished up their bath, drying off and heading for home. Theo let out a wistful sigh as he looked at their building. It was a wonderful place and he didn’t mind the cramped space. But he couldn’t help but think about what a larger manor would do for his comfort. A place to come and relax. To write his thoughts by a fire, even if it was horribly hot outside. They entered the Dreamwalk without delay, settling into bed for the night.

Theo found himself on an empty street in the slums of Rivers and Daub. Tresk was standing nearby, nodding with approval. She must have brought them here, but the alchemist didn’t know why. It was a depressing reminder of the town’s situation.

“We have a frame of reference,” Tresk said with a shrug. “I want to go back and make sure that Alran is doing his job.”

That would be easy enough to do with Tresk’s [Shadowdancer] class.

“Tomorrow, when we wake up, I want to go to Tero’gal and brew some of my new potions,” Theo said. “They have the long brew time of the suffuse potions, so I can leave them there and pick them up the next day.”

Tresk summoned one of the new potions from nowhere, holding a bottle of [Flame of Dual Sleeping Gods] in her hands. “You need to make more of these.”

Theo nodded, although he wasn’t eager to perform more experimentation. There were endless combinations of primal essences that he could use, and some were flat-out bad. The good news about that was he could now do it in the Dreamwalk, so long as he could wrap his will around it. He walked the streets of Rivers and Daub with Tresk as he thought out loud.

“I feel more at home when we’re in Tero’gal,” Theo said.

“And I feel better here. I mean, where is ‘here’? What is this place? Physically.”

That was a metaphysical question Theo wasn’t prepared to answer. He had ways of thinking about the Dreamwalk, but no solid idea of what it actually was.

“We’re two halves, right?” Theo asked. “That’s what we’re becoming, anyway. Two pieces that make a whole. What if that’s what the Dreamwalk and Tero’gal are?”

“Makes enough sense to me. But then you run into another problem,” Tresk said, tilting her head with her hands on her hips. “Is the Tero’gal we visit even real?”

Theo shrugged. “Benton visits. He seems real.”

“Unless he isn’t.”

Theo’s brows knit tightly. He stared off into a hovel of a home. Trash was strewn everywhere. He could even smell the filth of the town. He felt a trickle of Tresk’s thoughts enter his mind. It wasn’t the same was she could read his mind, but it was more than he’d ever felt before. The alchemist knelt, pressing their foreheads together. He felt more of a rush this time, as though concrete ideas were passing between their minds.

“Maybe the Dreamwalk is the idealized version of Tero’gal, and what we’ve been visiting is the practical version,” Theo said, keeping his eyes closed.

Tresk pulled away. “Maybe. Something like that.” She turned her back on him, lost in thought. Her mode shifted in an instant. “I’m gonna kill that dragon tonight. Gonna drink dragon blood!”

Then she vanished.

Theo let out a sigh, wandering off from the spot to mount the battlements of the slums. He summoned rows of alchemy equipment. Stills, fermentation barrels, and a table filled with glassware. Today felt like a decent enough day to discover some more legendary potions. Mostly, he was interested to see what weird names the system would give them. But it was an arduous process that would take all night.

Even with the advantages of the Dreamwalk, Theo spent the entire night fiddling with suffuse potions. He combined every primal ingredient he could think of, making potions that did many things. The alchemist performed side-experiments while he worked, inspired by his visit to the smelter. Tresk informed him it was an hour before dawn by the time he was done. They inspected his creations together.

“That is so adorable,” Tresk said. She held the vial of semi-viscous liquid up, smiling. “You were thinking about Nira when you brewed this.”

[Freeze Solution]

[Solidify]

[Cooling Agent] [Modified Cooling Agent]

Rare

Created by: Belgar

Grade: Perfect Quality

Apply to dramatically lower the temperature of anything.

Effect:

Apply enough solution to freeze an object, person, monster, etc.

This gel will evaporate over time, delivering a continuous dose of cooling to an object, person, monster, etc.

“There was a time where I couldn’t have performed a new reaction in the Dreamwalk,” Theo said. But Tresk was right, he was thinking about Nira in the smelter for that one. Those conditions were horrible, and no amount of air conditioning would solve that. But a gel the smelters could rub on their skin would work perfectly.

Theo moved on to his next potions. While the [Solidify] modified [Freeze Solution] was a second tier potion, these were all third tier. He’d already destroyed the one he was most worried about, although Tresk had sensed what he was doing. They both vowed not to speak about it and moved on.

“So, we have some interesting ones here. I brewed a bunch of useless ones, but these are the winners,” Theo said, retrieving the first potion. “This one has variations for all the attributes.”

[Glantheir’s Restore Wisdom]

[Potion]

Legendary

Created by: Belgar

Grade: Good Quality

Alignment:

Drogramath (Middling Bond)

Imbibing this potion removes all permanent status effects that reduce [Wisdom].

“See, that’s not a condition I was aware I could get,” Tresk said, inspecting the vial of faintly glowing blue liquid.

“Yeah, that one made me worried. Anyway, this one is messed up. The Dreamwalk really didn’t want to fast-forward on it. It takes something like a year to brew, but it finally relented. Pretty sure we shouldn’t have this.”

[Wisdom of the Soul]

[Potion]

Legendary

Created by: Belgar

Grade: Good Quality

Alignment:

Drogramath (Middling Bond)

Removes the meta barrier between your soul and your [Wisdom] attribute. This potion may only be consumed once during your lifetime. You may only drink one soul elixir, including those for other attributes.

“What the hell is a meta barrier?” Tresk asked.

“No clue. Should be powerful, though,” Theo held the vial of glittering liquid up to the light. Flecks of color danced inside a murky liquid, as though it contained an entire galaxy within. “Next up. I combined [Carapace] with [Limited Foresight].”

[Perfect Block]

[Potion]

Legendary

Created by: Belgar

Grade: Good Quality

Alignment:

Drogramath (Middling Bond)

Imbibing this potion allows the user to absorb 100% damage from a single attack. This potion may only be consumed once per month.

Theo considered this to be the best potion he’d ever crafted. Not because it was a potion with practical uses, but that it absorbed all damage from a single attack. It didn’t matter how powerful the attacker was, their damage would simply be negated. Someone at level 1 could absorb a blow from a god. That idea sent shivers down his spine.

“Maybe I can finally beat the dragon,” Tresk said.

“The brew time is horrible on that one, too.”

While there were more potions with uninteresting effects, most of the reactions Theo tried that night failed. When a primal essence rejected its counterpart in a suffuse reaction, the response was violent.

With thoughts of defeating a dragon in real life, Tresk led Theo into the real world.

Chapter 27

Thirst for Adventure

Theo brushed his hand over the plot of wheat in Tero’gal. He’d delayed doing anything with it before understanding its significance. Like the small house and the stream, there was meaning to everything here. After eating breakfast with Tresk and Alex, he ducked into the realm for some solitude. It only left him with a sense of confusion, unable to put the pieces together.

The wheat growing in the fields was small. Compared to the crop he’d seen in agricultural domes, it was tiny. Theo remembered the part of the plant holding the grain to be roughly the length of his forearm. Massive kernels of the seed made the plant heavy, often requiring reinforcement with stiff metal rods. This example was barely the length of his pinky finger.

Benton had come, keeping him company while he brewed his potions. That led to a conversation about the significance of the grain.

“There’s plenty of breeds of wheat around,” Benton said with a half-hearted shrug. “Why give so much thought to this one?”

“Because this is from my world. Untouched by the genetic modifications we made.” Theo plucked the fruit of the plant, holding it to the sunless sky.

“I think you’re looking into it too much,” Benton said. “What are we brewing today?”

“Well, perhaps you can help with that,” Theo said. He had a row of [Wisdom of the Soul] potions brewing on a table. He got the sense they would take a year to complete. The absurd part about how time worked in the heavenly realms was that he would only need to wait 3 days in the real world. The alchemist explained the text on the potion, asking if Benton had heard of something like that.

“A single-use potion? As in, you can only drink it once?” Benton scoffed. “Well beyond my abilities. Never heard of a soul elixir.”

Theo nodded. He doubted anyone had heard of it. If they had, they were keeping their mouth shut for obvious reasons. “What would you do if you could make a world-changing object? Something bad. More than that. Something evil.”

Benton furrowed his fluffy brow, casting Theo a concerned look. “I’d bury that knowledge deep in my mind. Lock it away and forget it existed.”

Theo nodded again, trying not to smile. Benton was more similar to him than the alchemist first thought. The bear god might not admit it, but he had a hard streak to him. Something that said he would do anything to preserve his people, no matter how much blood he had to spill. But they both had a line they wouldn’t cross. The alchemist had found his hard line in the potion he discovered in the Dreamwalk.

“I found a different potion,” Theo said, busying himself with his stills. “I’m happy that the ingredients are rare. Horribly rare. Almost impossible to handle if you don’t follow Drogramath.” He paused for a long moment, rolling his shoulders. “I’m glad you agree with me.”

“Well, there’s plenty of fun potions you brew,” Benton said, clapping a clawed hand onto Theo’s shoulder. “How about that gel?”

The alchemist had brewed a massive supply of the cooling gel for Nira and her workers. He removed one from his inventory and held it up, for Benton to sample. They both dipped their fingers inside, the bear god having trouble working it into his fur.

“Like a pleasant breeze washing over your skin,” Benton said with a sigh. “You’ll be rich selling this in the Season of Fire. Only going to get hotter down there.”

Theo turned his attention to his brewing potions without responding, finding that his realm was cluttered with vials. He had selected several versions of the [Hallow Ground] suffuse potions for brewing, never intending to let them leave Broken Tusk. He made a massive batch of [Crumbling Undead Phage], as it affected the most targets. The alchemist only made one version of [Return Undead], since it seemed weird. Sometimes those strange potions were useful in a pinch. While he only made one of each type of the potions, he also brewed a lot of [Flame of Dual Sleeping Gods].

As expected, each suffuse potion was confusing. It was hard to tell if they were better than the standard tier 2 potions.

“Tea?” Benton asked, rubbing his hands together.

“Absolutely,” Theo said. He had finished everything he wanted to do here, even gaining a single level in his [Drogramath Alchemy Core]. It had crawled to level 23, leaving his herbalism core behind.

Benton was great at making tea, but that wasn’t the best part of having a tea break with the bear god. He often brought baked scones. The pair sat down in the cottage, listening to the fire crackle as he spread a cloth over the table. Unfolding it revealed many scones, all filled with something sweet. Theo went for the lemon-like filling.

“How much time passes in your realm?” Theo asked, nibbling on his scone. “Compared to the mortal plane, that is.”

“Oh, I think your realm is slower than mine. Slightly more powerful, if you look at it that way.” Benton removed a brick of tea from nowhere, scraping some off the edge and into the teapot with his carving knife. “But you can’t raise any army, can you? No souls heading to Tero’gal.”

“We live strange lives, Benton,” Theo said, finishing his first scone. He went for another, this one with pockets of jam nestled in the pastry. It tasted like raspberries.

“Strange lives require powerful friends.” Benton used his knife to stir the tea before returning it to the fire. “You’ll be happy to hear that the heavens have calmed. People are falling in line with the Arbiter. It helps that he stopped murdering gods.”

“But gods can’t really die, can they?” Theo asked, gesturing with his scone.

“The gods talk, you know? Even here in the lowest heavens. When they ripped Balkor apart, what happened? His soul was so weak, he slipped between realities. To live in the void, if you can believe that.” Benton shuttered at the word ‘void’. “That’s a fate worse than death.”

The conversation grew light after that. Benton’s realm was a place of decay in some ways, but also the revitalizing effects of winter. The realms that gods created were often places of their own making. Places that they willed into being to exemplify their values. While the bear god’s realm was covered in a constant sheet of snow, he’d dedicated his followers to baking. Without a frame of reference, Theo decided that was as good a cause as any to follow.

Theo enjoyed the lighter conversation. He’d rather learn about the celestial baking techniques Benton had learned than the turmoil of the heavens. The bear god had come up with interesting ways to deal with the constant cold. Something that reminded the alchemist of the agricultural domes on Earth. For the second time today.

“Feels like you’re running out of time here,” Benton said, chuckling. “Maybe I’ll head out.”

“You’re always welcome, Benton. You bring the best tea. And the best pastries.”

Benton offered a wave and a smile before departing through his icy gate. A breeze rushed through the archway. The comfortable warmth returned in moments, leaving the alchemist alone once again. He peered over the edge of his floating island, shaking his head. Tresk was force-feeding Alex motes. The image was frozen with the Marshling cramming the rounded objects down the goose’s throat. A fireball was springing from her bill.

“Can’t leave them alone for five minutes,” Theo said, tutting. He double-checked the items in his inventory, making sure not to forget the cooling gel.

The world swirled around him as he jumped from the island’s edge, sailing over the Bridge of Shadows for only a moment. The realm seemed normal today, the same way it had for a while now. There was no sign of the ghosts, or any intruders. Theo hoped Yuri was implementing some stricter rules about using the bridge.

A fireball sailed into the air, slamming against the boughs of a tree above.

“Eat your food!” Tresk shouted, turning to look at Theo sheepishly. “I thought I had more time.”

“You found [Nature Motes]?”

“Bought ‘em,” Tresk said, going back to work. “You want a nature alignment? You gotta take your medicine.”

No! I’m full! Alex shouted into their minds.

“Fine. But you’re eating more later. You got me?”

I will eat when I’m ready.

“She’s getting better with words,” Theo said, kneeling to pat Alex on the head. They were standing off the side of the main road, gaining strange looks from those citizens passing by.

“Getting big, too,” Tresk said, standing to measure the goose with her hand.

When standing without extending her neck, Alex now stood to the center of Tresk’s chest. She’d gained a lot of weight, and lost almost all of her gosling plumage.

I’m going with Tresk.

“That’s fine,” Theo said, patting Alex on the head. “Just stay safe. Okay?”

Yes, father, Alex said, a tone of sarcasm in her voice.

Tresk and Alex both waddled off before Theo could say anything else. He stood and watched his two idiots run into the distance, off to get into trouble. Because wherever a Marshling and a goose went, there was bound to be trouble.

There were no administrative things that Theo needed to handle today. The administration staff submitted daily reports, which were mostly uninteresting. Alran had been submitting the results of his spying, which had brought few interesting things to the nation’s attention. There were reports of Veostian movement against the undead, but until recently it had been a tepid response. Now Alran said that Tarantham was backing them up with priests of Glantheir.

Alran was well-paid for his information. Alise was scheduled to inspect the transition of Rivers and Daub. They’d elected their new leader by a vote, and further voted to remove the trade guilds entirely. That upset a few people, and Theo wasn’t willing to read the full report. Things got bloody.

“Look at me!” a voice called in the distance.

Theo spun around, spotting Fenian barreling down the street. He was seated on some contraption that looked like a safety nightmare. An artifice-powered wheelchair. The Elf almost ran him over as he passed, hit the breaks, and drifted around the corner. Moments later he returned the other way, coming to rest before the alchemist.

Fenian had both his regrowing limbs wrapped in cloth and wore a simple robe over his body. None of this diminished his spirits, though. He held a massive smile on his face. “Good morning, my dear alchemist! Like my new ride? I think I’ll keep it after my limbs grow back.”

“Come with me,” Theo said, turning on the spot to walk down the street. Toward the smelters.

“Oh, I love when you’re all serious.”

“Not serious, just want to talk while I walk. And while you roll, I guess. Did Throk build that for you?”

“No, I picked it up a while ago. Thought it was fun. Never expected to use it,” Fenian said with a wistful sigh. “I really hate being stuck like this.”

“You’re recovering well, though. Especially for a man who defied the heavens.”

Citizens got out of Fenian’s way. Not out of respect, but fear. He was heavy on the controls, often lurching forward without warning.

“My plan didn’t even work. Karasan is alive. He still has what I want,” Fenian said. “Put a nice glob of spit in his eye, though.”

“What is it you want?”

“Spoilers,” Fenian said, singing the word. “Anyway, I see you’re putting one of Khahar’s gifts to good use. What about the others?”

Theo wanted to punch Fenian in the arm, but resisted. Khahar had told him about the [Kingdom Core] and the spirit seeds. “They take a long time to grow.”

“Wow, if only you had a magical place where time moved differently.”

Theo let out a frustrated breath, then tried not to laugh. He wasn’t surprised anymore when Fenian knew more than he should have. “I have a problem with that, Fenian.”

“He’s so serious!” Fenian shouted. “Just clear away the damned wheat and plant the spirit seeds. Clear half of it, if you’re so attached.”

“You’ve been to Tero’gal,” Theo said, his intuition going into overdrive. He stopped on the spot. “You knew the Zagmon assassins were coming for me, didn’t you? How could you have known that using the [Tara’hek Dreampassage] ability when I was in danger would make it evolve?”

“Khahar told me,” Fenian said. “I could have killed your attackers at any point. Theo, do you trust me?”

“No. Yeah, a little. I mean—yes, I trust you.”

“Khahar told me about the skill evolution. He said there would be Zagmon assholes coming for your head, because they thought you had something their master needed. Guess what? Their master is dead. Oh! He told me something hilarious when I visited his citadel.”

“You saw Yuri?” Theo asked.

“Yes, I went to his Khahak while I was chasing Karasan. Extremely unoriginal name , but he’s not known for his creativity.”

“So, what did he tell you that’s so funny?”

“Uharis and Sulvan are still stuck on Antalis. The moon? You know, the dark one you can’t see? When the Eye was killed, they lost their cores. The wizard can no longer teleport.”

Theo tried not to laugh at the situation. He already knew those guys were stuck on the moon, and had assumed Uharis would figure out how to teleport back.

“That seems cruel,” Theo said. But he still laughed.

“Well, there’s an entire civilization up there, if you can believe it. I never knew, and I’m not sure anyone else knows.”

“The world has enough problems to deal with. We don’t need an invasion from the moon people.”

Fenian went on about the moon people as they approached the Midnight Damsel Smelter. There was a story behind the name, but Theo had only gotten pieces of it. He stood there, waiting to get the attention of Nira, but it was difficult. Eventually, she glared at him with annoyance before marching across the street.

“You can come into the smelter. You know that, right?”

“Thanks, but no thanks,” Theo said, withdrawing a barrel of his cooling gel from his inventory. “Rub this on your skin.”

“No thanks.”

“He’s too forward, isn’t he?” Fenian asked. “Inspect the barrel of glowing goo. You’ll find it to be useful.”

Nira brightened up when she inspected the item. She slathered the stuff on her body and let out a sigh of relief. “Alright. I can reduce the beatings. Work conditions will absolutely improve with this stuff.”

“Hah. She has a sense of humor,” Fenian said, zipping in circles on his wheelchair.

“Thanks boss. We’ve been going full tilt, but might need to expand.” Nira offered a shallow bow. “Weather has been getting worse, huh? Heard you’re making a killing off that magic air cooling stuff.”

Theo didn’t like to look at the store’s finances. When he was forced to, he saw how many sales they made for the air conditioners. The fuel for the machine wasn’t the expensive part, but some people in town enjoyed cranking them down to freezing conditions. The one in the Newt and Demon ran at a comfortable temperature, and he hadn’t needed to replace the coolant yet. He chatted with Nira for a while before departing for the harbor.

Today was a lazy day for Theo. Whatever that meant when you were the leader of a bastard nation. But things were running themselves nicely, and he needed to make sure Laedria wasn’t goofing off. When he arrived at the harbor, he found she was doing the opposite of slacking. Instead of the frames of two trade-style ships, she was working on four. They were all in various stages of completion.

“Archduke!” Laedria shouted. “Check out my boats!”

Fenian had trouble getting his wheelchair to get down onto the dock. But he accomplished the task before almost throwing himself into the harbor. The trade ships were gone, taking their market stalls with them.

“Looking great.”

“Yeah. We’ve already been training people up on The Cork. Got a small group of twenty willing to become sailors. Mostly Wavecrest refugees. Of course.”

The boats were impressive. Theo was tempted to call them ships with the way they towered over him. Each boat was to be a two-masted ship. A main mast and a foremast, both to be adorned with the bright blue Starbristle sails. Zarali said something in the past about enchanting the boats, but the alchemist doubted her desire to do more than care for Xol’sa as he recovered. That was fine. They had a navy to train and more boats to build.

“Very nice,” Theo said, slapping the hull of the most complete boat.

Laedria looked nervous out of nowhere. She normally was too boisterous to get a good read. “Hey, uh. Got a request for you. But I’m not sure mister Southblade is gonna like it.”

Fenian shrugged.

“Let’s hear it,” Theo said.

“I’m not here to insult the abilities of Mister Southblade. He saved our house, and we owe him a debt,” Laedria said, sighing. “But I want to go back to Tarantham.”

“For what?” Fenian scoffed. “To die? That would reduce the size of our Archduke’s navy by one. You’ll be sunk.”

“Maybe. But we left some good folks behind.”

“Surely you can just go get them, Fenian.”

“Not possible,” Fenian said, driving in circles. “My masters are angry with me as it is. Not sure Uz’Xulven would allow any passengers, let alone a few hundred more.”

“You’d have more sailors, Archduke.”

Theo thought about this for a long moment before he responded. He saw how insistent Laedria was about the recovery mission. This wasn’t just dangerous for the sailors on the boats. This was dangerous for the Southlands Alliance. How would they react if an Alliance ship wandered into their waters? It was obscenely dangerous and a waste of resources. The alchemist shifted his way of thinking. To the new way he weighed projects.

“Where are they?”

“Southern end of the continent. Outside of imperial reach,” Fenian said. “In the lands once belonging to the Southblades. In a cave. She could get in and out without notice.”

“Alright,” Theo said, tapping his foot. “Two requests and you can have one of my boats.”

“Anything,” Laedria said.

“First, you can’t go. You can pick your team, and you can have one of my boats, but you can’t go.”

“That’s understandable,” Laedria said, bowing her head. “What’s the other request?”

“The rescue must be cool. Heroic. Daring. Brave. If I hear you’ve sent sailors off and they didn’t battle a kraken, I won’t hear any more of your requests.”

Laedria furrowed her brow. She looked at Fenian. “Is he serious?”

“I’m afraid he is. Unfortunately, Theo has seen me make one too many daring escapes. Now he craves the nectar of adventure. The worst thing someone could possibly desire. A good story.”

“Oh… alright.”