The Newt and Demon - Book 5 Chapters 25,26,27 (Patreon)

Chapter 25

Grinding

A world of worlds spread before Theo. Glass bubbles floated in a green void, each one filled with a tiny world of its own. After Drogramath described his realm, the alchemist was eager to replicate it in the Dreamwalk. It would be a worthy goal to catalog the way the patrons of the heavens formed their realms. He had learned that most created specialized areas, meant only for the strengthening of their masters. That only made him want to keep Tero’gal pure even more.

“This place kinda stinks,” Tresk said, slipping over the surface of a glass bubble. Alex flew above, honking in agreement.

“I think we’re supposed to be in the bubbles.”

“Or maybe Drogramath lied about his realm to throw you off.”

“Maybe. You know what’s funny?”

“What? I love a good joke.”

Theo smiled, turning to his companion. It was hard not to laugh as he told the story. “When he showed up in the temple, he was all bluster. Puffed up like a mad little frogopus. Then I met him in person, and he was like a shy kitten.”

Tresk chuckled politely. She didn’t find the scenario as hilarious as he did. “He wants to pretend that he’s tough while in the heavens. But then you meet him in person, and he’s a little scared nerd.”

Almost every god that Theo had met was friendly enough. He suspected that if he met Zagmon in the heavens, even the Demon God of War would have been pleasant. That might have been a mechanism of the realms themselves, as no patron could assault another without declaring all-out war. The alchemist waved his hand, sending them inside one of the many glass bubbles. Inside were the fields of reagents that Drogramath had planted. As expected, the seeds to fight the undead had been planted in Broken Tusk long ago. Likely by the potioneer himself.

“This place sucks, though. You’re right.” Theo felt dizzy looking up at the glass dome overhead. The other orbs looked distorted, as though viewed through a funhouse mirror. It wasn’t pleasant.

“The only realm we’ve seen that doesn’t stink is Glantheir’s realm. The Realm of Healing? House of Healing? Which is it?”

“The capital is the House of Healing. The world is called the Realm of Healing, but even that is dizzying. There’s this mist that hangs in the air, and the place is far too humid.”

“That’s why our realm will just be a world. Nothing crazy, right?”

Theo couldn’t agree with her more. All members of the Tara’hek were annoyed with the glass world, so they transported themselves to another area. Antalis, the darkened moon above the planet. It was bleak, but the planet was visible below. A little green-blue gem hovering in a void of black.

“I’m going to do alchemy on the moon,” Theo declared.

“I’m gonna fight a dragon on the moon!”

Tresk ran off with Alex, intent on fighting a copy of Pogo the dragon. Theo got to work on his alchemy grinding, summoning stills and plots of land to practice his craft. He would hit Level 27 in his two cores tonight, bringing them one step closer to evening out with his others. His [Toru’aun Mage’s Core] had been crawling along, but he once again neglected it. Sensing that was a bad idea, he added some warding to his list of goals for the night.

It was a good chance to reflect on his mage-style core. The core, given to him by the Queen of Mystery Toru’aun, was weird to start with. It was a modified ward-style mage core, specializing in warding objects instead of generating wards ad hoc. Strangers still, the pieces of the wards he crafted were drawn directly from his alchemy. Theo could take almost any effect from a potion, imbuing an object with that power. When the core hit Level 20, he would gain another valuable ability. If he focused hard, grinding the crap out of the core, he could bring it even to his others quickly enough.

And that might need to happen. No one had answers why his cores had stopped leveling. Even the [Tara’hek Core], which seemed immune to most system-based shenanigans, was stuck at 30. Each of his other cores might need to be 30 to advanced past that mark for all he knew. Or something else was happening. Some other nonsense brought by Khahar and Fenian. While he knew they were toying with the monitor system, he didn’t know the extent of that tampering.

To practice his wards, Theo infused things with simple shielding wards. What he wanted to get better at was the [Linked Wards] skill, which allowed the alchemist to combine two different wards. Like the suffuse potion in alchemy, attaching wards together was hit-or-miss. Some things produced amazing results, while others were mostly useless. Others still were outright dangerous. But the key to working with [Linked Wards] was to understand they operated outside of the standard spellcrafting system. They worked by manually cramming wards together, meaning they required extensive experimentation.

Theo devised a way to help both of his Drogramath cores along. Since the [Alchemy Constructs] ability was shared between both his alchemy and herbalist cores, he got a bit of experience for both when he messed with golems. The only problem he had with golems was the way the willpower requirement rose as the strength of the golem increased. From the Dreamwalk, he couldn’t feel his golem running around in Gronro. But when in the waking world, he could sense the massive draw of will it took from Tero’gal. Distance, strength, and intelligence level were the biggest factors for operating golems.

A golem made of wood lumbered around in the distance. Theo studied his creation, looking up from a boiling still to note the strengths of the [Wood Golem]. Alex sensed the creature’s affinity for nature before he did. The creature was somewhere between a stone golem and a plant golem. It had an aptitude for combat, and for caring for plants. The alchemist destroyed that golem, moving on to see how far he could push the definition of ‘golem.’

Theo’s next test was to create golems made of various rare metals. Both Drogramathi Iron and Tworgnothi Copper worked, but the Dreamwalk buckled slightly at the creation of both. The more rare the material, the harder it was to keep the creation together. He moved on, working his stills as he stretched his mind to create more. The system absolutely refused to allow him a golem made entirely out of water. It did allow him to create a golem made entirely out of flowers, and another made of blades of grass. They were labeled as [Grass Golem] and [Flower Golem], but seemed to work exactly like a [Plant Golem].

The limit on organic material was plants. Theo shook his head, looking at the pile of wolf corpses he had jammed a containment core into. “Should’ve guessed,” he said, moving on.

The interesting part of that experiment was the resulting [Bone Golem]. It was a horrid mass of bones that Theo dismissed as quickly as he could. He continued working throughout the night, trying to push himself to get as many levels as possible, and learn as much about the golems as he could. He managed to hit 27 in his alchemy, herbalist, and personal level. The alchemist also got level 18 for his Toru’aun core. Not too shabby for the night.

Going with his current theme of trying to get Intelligence to 30, Theo placed his free point there. It brought him to 28. While a lot of his Intelligence points came from bonuses on his cores, he would be happy enough when the modified score was 30. Then he had to figure out where to put his other free points. It was a good idea to go wide, rather than focusing on a single thing. Dexterity was likely his next pick.

The Dreamwalk seemed to end in a snap. Theo’s eyes snapped open in the realm world, blinking away sleep and adjusting to the dawn light outside. The scent of freshly cooked food drifted upstairs, driving the alchemist to rise faster than he wanted to. Tresk was already bolting down the stairs, leaving him to stretch for long moments with Alex before heading down. The goose honked, signaling her need to move around. Theo agreed. Unless he got moving, he’d stay in bed for far too long.

Sarisa and Rowan had created more delights with their growing skills. Theo enjoyed his breakfast, but his mind lingered on the underworld just below the town. With the day’s schedule seeming tame enough, he made plans with his assistants to head down to chat with the dragon. Right after he sorted another batch of [Greater Hallow the Soil] for the clean-up effort. The good news on that front was that the various measures he had installed in Gronro were working. The barrier around the town had stopped the tide of corruption entirely. Combined with the potions and his wandering golem, things were looking up.

After finishing his breakfast, Theo headed over to the lab to chat with Salire about their production levels. Since she was enjoying the use of three stills, the alchemist kept that the way it was. After checking how much essence they had produced, he was satisfied that they could reduce the amount of [Greater Hallow the Soil] they were already producing. That was based on the idea of beating the corruption back over the long-term, though.

“Of course, the real problem,” Theo said, sighing as he leaned over a table. “Is that we’re putting a lot of stock in Sulvan.”

Salire was wearing a different floral dress today. This one had puffy sleeves and she had taken to wearing a leather apron over it to keep it safe. She had others that were damaged from exposure to alchemy reagents or simply the fumes. “I think we’re spreading our efforts wide enough not to care. Not like anyone else is helping us with the undead.”

Theo grunted, nodding. He wanted to be mad at the other nations for not helping them with the undead corruption. But the alchemist felt partially responsible for the entire fiasco. His closeness to Fenian, and the result of the elf’s adventures left him feeling like a party to the release of the undead. No matter how many times people told him, he still felt at fault.

“I’m gonna go see the dragon today,” Theo said, shaking off his guilt as quickly as it came. “Who doesn’t like dragons?”

“Just about no one I’ve talked to. Folks are scared to go down there. Not just because of the dragon, but the rock people.”

“Damn Russian rock folk,” Theo said, shaking his fist in the air. “Let’s get these reactions done, then set up the stills for the day. Can you cart the completed potions we have over to Alise after I go?”

“Yup!”

Theo and Salire worked on kicking off reactions first. They burned through their stock of essences, setting up more barrels of the brewing potion. It would take a few days for them to finish brewing here, and that would be fine. Without a way to distribute the potion, it was best just to stock up for now. Once Throk had finished his weird flying platform, they could do tests to see how effective of a dispersal method it was. Until then, they were keeping the corruption back and waiting for Glantheir’s play to pan out.

With everything set up, Theo headed out to meet with Sarisa. Rowan was already lurking somewhere in the shadows, and popped out when he exited the building. Both were mildly excited to see the underground area again. As they passed through the mine, folks gave compliments about the new upgrades. Theo smiled the entire way, finding a random miner to help lead them to the underground passage. The mine had become such a webwork of confusing tunnels, it was easy to get lost.

“Oh, hey,” a friendly voice said as Theo moved through the final passage. He turned, spotting Igor the rock-person.

“Just hanging out in a tunnel all day?” Theo asked, slapping his hand against the hard shoulder of the rock-person.

“All day. Every day,” Igor said, his rocky face twisting into something close to a smile. “Mind if I escort you?”

“Please, do.”

Theo was confident that whatever brainwashing Khahar had done on the rock-folk was absolute. Betrayal down here wouldn’t come from the rock-dudes or the dragon, but the other races that called this underworld home. The group walked over the rocky landscape. The alchemist and his companions found it hard for their minds to adjust to this new realm. Glowing mushrooms glowed overhead, giving the impression of stars glittering in the sky. They spotted the Nameless City in the distance before long and plunged into the bustle.

There was always a ring of reverence around Pogo, the dragon that inhabited this place. Her scales seemed to shift colors, depending on the light that shone down from those mushrooms. The crystal lamps the people in the town used for light cast her in a shade of green, while the local fauna shone over her body as though she were the color of bronze. She lifted her head, snorting lazily as she spotted the party.

“Hello, archduke. Can I help you?”

“I was just checking in,” Theo said with a shrug. “I know my people have been trying to strike a trade deal, but haven’t had luck.”

“That is their fault, not mine. I cannot help you.”

The ancient dragon cared little about things from the surface. And the rock-people weren’t much better. They seemed content down here, only serving as eternal sentinels to Broken Tusk. But the alchemist had noticed the presence of other races. People who might need what was grown on the surface. While the underground area was already notable for the Tworgnothi Copper, there could be more stuff down here. Theo was always proactive about securing supplies.

But as Theo looked at the sleepy gaze of the dragon, he realized something important. There was a dragon guarding the underground entrance to his town. If there were other races down here who wanted to trade, they were likely hostile.

“Beyond your town, how safe is it?”

“Not very.”

Theo clicked his tongue. “These tunnels go throughout the world, right? How far is the nearest friendly civilization?”

“Not far, but the deep elves are between us and them.”

“I’m guessing these elves aren’t cool?”

“They’re the opposite of cool. They’re mean-spirited creatures that make war as often as they can.”

Theo had seen a few pale elves in the Nameless City. But he could sense Pogo’s annoyance with him today. For whatever reason, she had dropped her matronly attitude and acted more like the silent guardian. The alchemist bid farewell to her, then headed off to explore the town some more. The dragon breathed a sigh of relief when he left, leaving him feeling as though she were hiding something. He shook it off, and found a rock-person shop.

Unsurprisingly, the rock-folk sold a variety of supplies for adventurers. The most interesting thing they sold was a map of the underground area. Thankfully, they accepted surface money. Which was the same as underground money, since the system generated most of the coins in the world. The alchemist made his way to the local tavern, sitting down with Sarisa and Rowan. While none of them were hungry, they ordered drinks to ease the mind of the barman.

“This stuff is gross,” Rowan said, looking down at the mushroom-based alcohol before him.

“We’re just being polite,” Theo said, unfurling the map. “Don’t drink it. Look at this, though. A hand-drawn map with… damn, that’s a lot of factions.”

Instead of presenting strongholds of power, all unified under one banner, the map was a mess. The map only included the areas of the Southlands Alliance, including the ranges to the west and north. In that small pocket of underground land, there were hundreds of independent factions. Deep elves, deep lizard-folk, and other deep variations of surface dwellers were all represented there. No two towns or cities shared the same faction.

“I can’t read this,” Rowan said, squinting at the map.

“Yeah, Khahar’s idea of humor. The language of the underground is Russian. Ha-ha. Funny,” Theo said, shaking his head. He pointed at each of the strongholds, reading out the names of the factions. “Each one is different. The maker of the map listed if the people were friendly, but it gets better.”

A section at the bottom of the map had a funny little part. It dated the map, stating that it was about a season old. In that time, a fair number of these factions would have fallen with new ones taking their place. Politically, it was an absolute nightmare. The only reason they could rise and fall so quickly was through [Kingdom Cores]. That small note on the map explained how factions would capture the cores, passing them around to build new ‘kingdoms.’

“The underground might be doomed,” Theo said, shaking his head. “We can’t establish a relationship with a nation that is gone next season.”

“That wouldn’t be good for business,” Sarisa said. “We should also be concerned that the dragon may fall one day.”

“Leaving Broken Tusk wide open to attack,” Rowan grunted. He sipped his drink reflexively, then spat it back into the cup. “Ugh.”

A single eye had lingered on Theo since the group came into the bar. Under a mask of stone, a one-eyed deep elf watched the alchemist and his companions. The man stood, walking to stand near the group’s table.

“Strangers,” he said in almost perfect Qavelli. “I have news from the north. If you’re interested.”

Chapter 26

Twist

The one-eyed elf wore dark leather that hugged his form. Wrapped around his shoulder was a tattered black cloak, hood pulled up over his head. The stone mask he wore on his face was etched, chunks chipped away in some places. His lone eye stared at Theo, a deep shade of purple that burned with passion. Both Sarisa and Rowan had gone to summon their weapons, only stopping when the elf made no move.

“Have a seat,” Theo said, gesturing to the empty seat at his table. He removed a [Greater Potion of Limited Foresight] and drank it, watching as his companions did the same.

“Surface liquor?” the elf asked, sagging into his chair. His shoulders slumped, breaths coming in sharp gasps.

“Naturally. The beer down here isn’t to our liking.”

“Nor is it to anyone’s, I’d wager.”

“What kind of information do you have?” Theo asked, drumming his fingers on the table. “And what’s the price?”

Theo could hear the smile in the man’s voice when he spoke next. “Astute. First, allow me to introduce myself. I know how you are, Archduke Theo, but you may call me Twist.”

“Nice to meet you, Twist.”

“Indeed. I was tasked with killing Fenian Southblade before he claimed the Throne of the Herald. As he has claimed the throne, slipping out of my grasp, I’ve abandoned my duty.”

Theo instinctively reached for a dagger hidden in his coat, stopping only when he saw Twist’s inaction. A Wisdom of the Soul message popped up.

[Wisdom of the Soul]

It is likely that this man was sent by King Karasan to assassinate Fenian Feintleaf. He speaks Qavelli purposefully. He knows about the throne, but didn’t state that he wanted to claim it.

More information is required to draw a conclusion on what his intentions are, though.

“You’re well-informed,” Theo said, relaxing slightly.

“I have my methods,” Twist said, coughing into his mask. “I wish I could have seen them fight. Such a shame that the elf is stuck in Balkor’s realm.”

Theo half-expected Khahar to show up, clamping a hand over the masked elf’s mouth. But nothing happened. He knew too much to be a normal dweller of the underground. Everything he said was pointed and undisguised.

“How do you know this? ‘I have my methods’ isn’t a valid answer.”

Twist broke into a coughing fit. He rolled his shoulders, nodding. “People always want answers, don’t they? Fine. I’m a failed ascendant. Former servant of Balkor. I removed his core when he fell, cursing me. Been climbing ever since…”

Twist coughed some more, stifling any more words that begged release. Theo was left feeling dumbstruck. He realized quickly that the elf was being honest because he needed help. But what did it mean to help a former servant of Balkor? He couldn’t decide if it was a good idea. Since Twist was being so forthcoming with information, it didn’t hurt to ask.

“So, what do you need from me? In exchange for this information you have.”

“Ah, well… I need transport to the place where Qavell once was.”

“That sounds like a riddle,” Theo said with a sigh.

Twist shrugged. “Do you think the undead were limited to the surface? The corruption is spreading to the underground. It’s only a matter of time before even this town is overrun. There. That’s free information. Can you get me where I need to go?”

Theo only offered a shrug at first. “Eventually,” he said after a pause. “But it might take a while. The path from Gronro to Qavell is long. Every step is corrupted.”

“An honorable promise,” Twist said, reaching his hand out for Theo to shake.

Theo shook the elf’s hand, finding his grip to be firm. “We can formalize this agreement with a contract.”

“Later,” Twist said, falling into a coughing fit once more. He tilted the bottom of his mask up, spitting onto the ground. “First Prince Hanan is headed for Broken Tusk. He’s being coerced into doing so by another. I don’t know who.”

Rowan laughed. “He would need an army to attack the alliance.”

“And he has one.”

“And the means to cross the corrupted lands.”

“He has that, too.”

Theo leaned in, narrowing his eyes at Twist. “How?”

“He lifted the entire city into the air,” Twist said, letting out a satisfied sigh. “A feat of his Dark Coresmiths, I think. Qavell itself is flying toward your alliance.”

Theo fell back into his chair. Yeah, that would be a problem. Taking out a fleet of airships was one thing, but an entire city? Nuking it was easy enough, but he had to consider the civilians within. After a few more moments of contemplation, he nodded to himself. This was still within Broken Tusk’s means to repel. The alchemist opened his administrative panel, issuing direct orders to Zan’kir. He detailed what Twist had told him, and issued new orders. Instead of launching deadly loads, they would only fire anti-magic rounds at the city. That would reduce casualties to a minimum. From there, they’d figure the rest out.

“This is valuable information,” Theo said. “You’re giving it so freely.”

“Karasan never paid me,” Twist said. “And his son, Hanan, is innocent. It costs you nothing to keep preparing, and much more to get me to Qavell.”

“Fine. I think this arrangement is acceptable. What do you plan to do once you’re at Qavell? The place where Qavell was.”

“That is the one secret I shall keep,” Twist said, laughing to himself. Then he coughed some more.

“Do you need a health potion?” Theo asked.

“It won’t work.”

This was a lot of information to process. Twist fell into silence as Theo went through his administrative interface. He made notes from what the pale elf had told him, getting every detail down for Alise and her team to see. He put as much text, color, and warning-sign emojis in the title to grab peoples’ attention. After that, he drew up a formal contract for the elf to sign. There was some back-and-forth, but they agreed on something simple. Twist didn’t want to stay in Broken Tusk, but he wanted progress reports on his trip to the north. He didn’t care if they went over land, sea, or air. He just wanted to get there.

“I need to discuss this with my people,” Theo said.

Twist shrugged. “I’ll be here. Couldn’t kill Fenian the last time I saw him, so I’m left feeling… listless.”

After paying Twist his agreed upon stipend of fifty silver coins, Theo left with his assistants. They rushed out of the underground area, bidding farewell to Igor before they left. Alise was already blowing up the administrator chat feature. She and the other administrators were throwing theories around, most of which questioned the information given to them by Twist. By the time the alchemist made his way to the town hall, a small team had assembled.

Gael and Gwyn weren’t called into the meeting. Alise wanted to set an intimate stage for the meeting. She and the spymaster, Alran, sat in the third floor room. Theo entered with his two bodyguards, all of whom had a slightly vacant expression on their faces. Each of their thoughts were wrapping around the scenario, trying to find the flaw in the masked elf’s story.

“Well, that’s fun!” Alise shouted, laughing as Theo took a seat at the long table. “An entire city flying to kill us?”

Theo cleared his throat. “Yeah. That’s interesting. How does this line up with what you know, Alran?”

“I don’t know a thing about the city flying, or some interloper manipulating the crown.”

“Great,” Alise groaned.

“But! I have records of a masked elf working for Karasan. What little information I have says he is afflicted with a condition. A curse‌.”

“That lines up perfectly with what he said.” Theo tapped his foot. “And all he wants is to visit the place where Qavell was.”

“More importantly,” Alise interjected. “How fast can a city fly?”

“Not quickly with all the necromantic corruption.” Theo referenced his memories on his artifice experiments. It didn’t matter what kind of magic the city was using to fly. If it was using magic, it would have a hard time leaving the area, let alone making the trip to the Southlands Alliance. Atop that rested the effectiveness of the alchemist’s anti-magical arsenal.

Alise clapped her hands together once. Her eyes gained a bright glimmer. “This is good. Tying up the last loose end.”

Alran copied Alise, clapping his hands together several times. “This is fabulous. This advanced warning will do wonders.”

The meeting went on. Eventually, Aarok and Zan’kir arrived to discuss defensive measures. With the Khahari man now in charge of the town’s defensive measures, he took an interest in the topic. The natural approach was to focus their efforts on defending Gronro. But everyone had their doubts about that idea. It came down to whether Qavell would approach from the north or the east. The group discounted the idea of a western attack.

“How far can a city fall and not kill everyone inside?” Aarok asked, yawning. The meeting had gone on long enough to test them all.

“Not far,” Zan’kir said. “Are we at a point to consider asking for reinforcements?”

“From whom?” Alise asked.

“The Khahari,” Zan’kir shrugged. He acted as though the answer was obvious, but the Khahari had shown no desire to help them. Aside from some basic trade, they had been absent since the ascension of their god-king.”

“Why not?” Theo asked. “Except it’ll take a week to sail there. Then another week to await a response.”

The conversation degraded slightly, but Theo was happy with how determined Zan’kir was to be good at his job. He forced the group to watch as he drew up maps and defensive plans. They would move towers and rail guns around until they had enough coverage to be satisfied. Combined with that effort, Throk would be asked kindly to create a score of new weapons. His hovering tower project just wasn’t as important as defending the alliance.

“We should fit Rivers with more guns,” Zan’kir said, gesturing to his map. Rivers wasn’t well-defended. Not like Broken Tusk and Gronro. “Two rail guns at least. Maybe more.”

“With enough ammo to stop a city,” Theo added. “Which brings a problem. I can only ward so many shots a day.”

“Research more methods to shoot anti-magic shots,” Aarok said. “Use one of our standing guns.”

Once again, the conversation swayed. Theo’s thoughts drifted away, landing squarely on making new ammo for the guns. When the meeting was over, the alchemist headed off to talk with Xol’sa and Zarali. As expected, the soon-to-be newlyweds were hiding away in the wizard’s tower. If there was anyone in town who knew anything about the topic it would be them.

The tower was filled with the stale scent of incense. It was this lingering musk that Theo couldn’t decide if he enjoyed the scent or not, pressing on toward the top floors. Xol’sa was on the top floor, poking his fingers through a scattered webwork of arcane symbols. The alchemist observed for a while, then cleared his throat.

“Ah!” Xol’sa said, turning and clutching his chest. “You frightened me.”

“Sorry. I just had some questions.”

“Sure, of course. But look at this, first.” The wizard beckoned Theo closer, gesturing to a cluster of sigils floating in the air. “The [Dungeon Information] upgrade you got for the town has done a lot for my research.”

“Really?” Theo stepped closer, pretending he studied the magical language of Axpashi as much as Xol’sa thought he did. “I thought it only added stuff for me.”

“It reveals useful information from anywhere. I don’t need to go to the dungeon to inspect it anymore.”

That was very useful. It was always annoying taking Xol’sa to the dungeons for inspection. Looking at the scatter of magical symbols reminded Theo of the [Cave Dungeon] below his town. He shivered at the thought, turning to his friend to question him. “About that high-level dungeon…”

“Yes, that was very interesting. Wasn’t it?”

“Worrying, actually.”

“An ascendant dungeon? Why, I could never imagine such a thing.”

“Doesn’t that imply some level of sapience from the dungeon? Like, isn’t it alive?”

“Good question. Maybe. Ask your godly friends if you want an answer. All I know is it seems safe.”

“How can you be sure?”

“The dragon clears it daily,” Xol’sa said, nodding to himself. “In your interface, you see a limited readout for the dungeon. I get the full picture. She has cleared all 100 floors every day for at least ten years. The record only goes back so far.”

Theo shook his head, only moderately disappointed that Xol’sa had missed the most important part. “And what happens when someone places a powerful thing near our town? It goes wrong. Or right. I guess it depends.”

“Bah, who cares? We’ll collapse the mine if the dungeon goes rampant. Oh. Right. Did you have a question.”

Theo’s mind had been flung in different directions, forcing him to take a second before he pressed on. There were a few things he wanted to ask the wizard, and a gift to deliver. To start, he withdrew the [Intelligence of the Soul] potion from his inventory and held it out. A look of excitement spread across Xol’sa’s face as he grabbed the potion.

“I forgot! Oh, you’re my new best friend, Theo.”

“Yeah. Just be ready for the side-effects. You might notice a drastic personality change.”

“Understood.”

“As for my question…”

Theo explained what he knew about the problem of Qavell flying down south. The wizard didn’t seem half as surprised as he should have been, going straight into magical theory. The speech was long, and overly dry. After he was done ranting, the alchemist let his mind condense the information. If someone were to abuse their [Kingdom Core], hooking into it and using it as a power source, they could perform many interesting feats of magic. A flying city might have been a bit much for the power the seed core would provide, but it was within reach.

“And it would experience a dramatic level of interference from Balkor’s power.”

At least he was concise on that point.

“Meaning the route to the east is likely,” Theo concluded.

“Right. I wouldn’t fly the damned thing at all. But there’s some mysterious figure pushing the prince into action? Hard to imagine who it could be.”

“Who knows? I might need your help working on anti-magic weapons to bring the city down, though.”

Xol’sa cocked his head to one side, an amusing expression spreading across his face. “And what will you do once you’ve downed it?”

Theo could only hope that when the time came, he could bring the city down safely. After that, they could deal with deposing the prince. Or the guy pulling the strings. Until then, it was only a matter of bringing them to heel. Xol’sa seemed to take that as a fine response, rambling on about the work he had been doing with the dungeons. After the latest rant, they brainstormed on the best way to approach bringing a flying city down.

The rail gun was likely the best delivery method in existence. Flinging spells at a distance was a problem. But tossing something imbued with a spell was relatively easy. The only thing required for using the rail gun was something that could handle the stress of being launched, and a ward. While Xol’sa’s specialty was magic, he could offer nothing else to issue. Theo’s specialized wardCing core put him ahead of the wizard for this problem. But he promised to get involved if the city drew close to Broken Tusk.

“Where is Zarali?” Theo asked, realizing that she wasn’t around.

“Oh, those ruffians at the harbor hired her for a job. Enchanting the new boats, you know.”

“Huh. Alright, then.”

Xol’sa wasn’t one to chat unless he had something to chat about. Once he had expelled all the information he had about the dungeons, he went silent. Theo let himself out of the tower, finding his way through the portal and back to town. There was a moderate buzz rippling through the citizens, especially those with the Adventurer’s Guild. Word had gotten out immediately, the way it always did. Folks already know that Qavell was coming to attack.

“Nothing new,” Theo muttered, turning away from the shimmering portal.

The alchemist headed down to the harbor, then along the canal to the seaside defensive area. He found his way to one tower, nodding to an adventurer as he climbed the last steps. The half-ogre on station nodded back, then departed from his post without question. Theo looked upon the newest model of Throk’s rail guns. It had changed little from the first prototype, leaving little room to think of new ideas. These were the weapons they had to fight against Qavell.

[Dragon’s Antimagic], a combination of the [Dragon’s Dance] and [Anti-mage] wards, seemed purpose-built to stop a flying city. The field it created lashed out with blades, injuring anything or anyone inside. But the second effect was more important. It stopped magical items from operating for a certain time. The potency of the ward might not be enough to affect an entire city, but there was a reason people didn’t zip around in flying machines all the time. They were often very vulnerable to anti-magical effects.

Theo let out a steady breath, looking out over the bay. He had done everything he could to prepare. But it was still worth testing his Drogramathi Iron shots. The explosions from his wards looked awesome if he hit the distant mountains just right.

Chapter 27

Anti-Magical Infusion

A shattering snap rang over the bay outside of Broken Tusk. Theo nodded with approval as his Drogramathi Iron shot drilled through the air, slamming into a distant mountain. A field of anti-magical Dragon’s Dance sprung up, shredding the stone into fine chunks. Those pieces tumbled into the bay below, settling under the calm waves.

The alchemist had learned little from his newest experiment. The rail guns still had an absurd range. They still hurtled projectiles at impossible speeds. And nothing he could do changed the way his wards worked. He had a line of reasoning with the Deflect Magic ward, but hadn’t been able to pursue it. Drumming his fingers on the side of the stone tower, he turned to his connection with his companions.

“I’m headed to Tero’gal,” Theo said, transmitting his thoughts to the other members of the Tara’hek.

“Bring me back some cookies.”

Falling through the realms had become a mundane thing. Theo slipped through the veil between the mortal realm and the void, gliding weightlessly over the Bridge until he felt the familiar tug of the mortal dreamrealm. In a blink, he appeared on the soft grasses of the small village. Belgar had sensed his approach and was jogging across the wide lawns, a smile hanging on his face. The dronon spirit had gained much of his corporeal form. Small streams of purple energy came from his eyes, but his body was otherwise whole.

“Hey,” Belgar said, waving awkwardly. “There are some souls for you to review. More dronon.”

Theo clapped a hand on Belgar’s shoulder, nodding. “Which brood?”

“A scatter between the allied demons.” Belgar gestured, beckoning Theo to follow.

A group of decaying souls was gathered near what had become the village’s square. Twenty souls gathered, emitting faint ribbons of multicolored light. The longer they stayed without invitation, the more their bodies were given back to the void. Theo examined them one-by-one, happy enough with them to allow them in. There was even a single soul from a Zagmoni Dronon. That one had been lost in the void since the defeat of its master. Each soul signed a basic contract that bound them to the realm. The moment they did, their ethereal bodies gained a sense of purpose, drifting off to join their kin in the village.

“We didn’t get a level for that,” Theo said, inspecting the realm’s status screen.

[Tero’Gal]

Mortal Dreamrealm

Owners: Theo Spencer, Tresk

Faction: Unaffiliated

Level: 30

Souls: 145

Expansions:

[Harvesting Array]

[Defensive Towers]

[Landscape Manipulation]

[Guardians of Faith]

[Bubble]

[Simulated Reality]

Pending Requests: 0

That made sense, though. People had told Theo from the start that things got harder after Level 30. That idea must have translated to the realms as much as it did the mortal realm. The amount of souls he had collected seemed like a pittance, compared to the people in Broken Tusk. But this was a slow crawl to power, placing Tero’gal firmly in the lower realms for a long time. The alchemist was content with this, and moved off from the square.

“Benton and Drogramath are already here,” Belgar said, pointing at the cottage. The small stone building had increased in size since the last time Theo was here.

Theo shook his head, allowing his mind to wrap itself around the scenario. “How does it feel? Seeing your former master in person?”

Belgar chuckled nervously. “Disappointment comes to mind.”

“He isn’t what you expected, is he?”

“No, he is not. He used to speak to us on the mortal plane. He was always so commanding. Here, he’s just another dronon.”

“Never meet your heroes.”

While Theo was happy to spend hours of his trip to Tero’gal chatting with the spirits, he had a purpose for coming today. He headed to the expanded cottage, finding there to be plenty of room. Drogramath and Benton were both sipping tea, and snacking on cookies. The alchemist sat with them, getting his own cup and soaking in the ambiance. A fire crackled in the corner, the scent of the burning wood mingling with the steeping tea. Under all those powerful smells was the sweetness of the cookies.

“Working on something?” Drogramath asked.

Theo had withdrawn a length of parchment and was writing out some plans. It was, of course, a plan to get the Demon God of Alchemy to help him out. “I’m looking for the best way to bring Qavell down without killing everyone inside.”

Benton sighed heavily. “Finally. Khahar had us all mute on the topic until you figured it out.”

“He refused to let us tell you Hanan had raised the city until you figured it out on your own. Part of the new rules.”

Theo explained his problem. The delivery system they made was perfect, but the thing they delivered wasn’t. Drogramath scratched his chin as he listened, nodding along as the alchemist spoke. He then shrugged. “You won’t make progress unless you figure it out on your own.”

“Well, I know the solution. Constructs,” Theo said, circling that section on his page. “Once I figure out how to bind two essences, I can make a powerful anti-magic field with potions alone.”

Drogramath nodded, a smile creeping across his face. Constructs were the answer for an important reason. Wards were great if he knew he would use it in the next few days. But the process to imbue shots with Toru’aun’s magic was time consuming and tiresome. If he could take the best parts of the Deflect Magic ward, combining them with a general anti-magical field, he would be set. But the demon god offered nothing more than his coy smile.

Benton shifted the subject after that, detailing the way his realm was changing to bake better confections. The Realm of Death and Winter was almost always frozen over. That made baking difficult, resulting in the construction of large domed cities. As the bear god rambled on, Theo turned his attention inward.

Karatan Cheese contained a valuable property. While he had found the underground mushrooms with the same property, the cheese was his first experience with the Suffuse property. But the second property on the cheese was Bind. The first use of that property was to create a bomb that would bind people and monsters on the spot. But Theo had a feeling that he could do something more with that essence, rendering it as a literal binding agent for other essences.

Before moving on, he considered how constructs worked. Alchemy Constructs was a skill he took early on. At first, it allowed him to bind essences to mundane objects. His first experiment with that was a sphere that revealed all targets inside. The next step was the creation of Mana Constructs, which were the first power source of the golems. Theo found himself at the next phase of that skill. He thought about which two essences would produce the correct result.

The Anti-Mage property came from the Mage’s Bane flower. They were plentiful in Broken Tusk, growing far larger than the uncultivated version in the wild. The problem came with the second property. Theo dismissed all properties that came from the spirit fruits within his realm. The souls here had been eating most of those, and he wouldn’t tell them to stop. The alchemist wrote a list of his available reagents, and the associated properties. He pressed his finger into each one, thinking about how useful it would be for the task. When he touched the list item for the River Clam Pearl, Drogramath coughed. And Khahar appeared with a snap.

“I see and hear everything,” the Arbiter said.

“Just have something caught in my throat,” Drogramath said, slamming his fist against his chest and coughing some more. “These cookies are drier than normal.”

“Hey…” Benton pouted.

Khahar scowled for a few moments, then took a seat at the table. Before long, he had a pile of cookies and pastries before him along with a cup of steaming tea. Theo returned to his work.

River Clam Pearls were easy enough to get. Drogramath must have wanted him to use the Infuse property, which was interesting. Theo had the sense that combining those two things would force the property into an object. So when a Drogramathi Iron shot hit the city, it would soak into the foundation like a poison, stopping the flow of mana within.

“Easy enough,” Theo said, heading out from the cottage. The group waved as he left, but offered nothing else. The alchemist made his way to the stills he kept in the realm.

While he wasn’t eager to turn his realm into a factory world, he saw no harm in using a few stills for his work. His inventory was always cluttered with junk. There were enough flasks of old Refined Anti-Mage Essence to last him a while, but only a scatter of River Clam Pearls. The cheese empire was doing well though, crowding more than their fair share of slots in his inventory.

Theo got to work, clearing out two stills with a vial of Cleansing Scrub. He mashed the cheese by hand, crumbling it into the first still with ease. Turning to the River Clam Pearls, he scratched his head. Ziz normally crushed these for him, resulting in several awkward moments. The alchemist smacked the pearls with a hammer, but could not turn them to powder. A wayward soul, one of the first that had arrived after Belgar, offered to give him a hand. Together, they ground a handful of pearls into powder.

“Thanks,” Theo said, waving as the soul headed off.

The alchemist topped each still off to the correct level, relying on his Drogramath Distillery Specialty to measure the amount exactly. Setting the heat for the cheese was easy. He had done it too many times before, even if the heating elements on the stills in his realm weren’t as advanced as those in his lab. The pearls were another matter, though. Theo guessed the right heat on those, relying on the idea that most hard things required a higher temperature while distilling to extract the most effect. He took mental notes as the stills worked, considering how he would approach the next leg of the task.

A single Drogramathi Iron shot sat on Theo’s worktable. The object was technically alchemically neutral. There was a single case where it was. Drogramathi Iron Shavings would react alchemically, but only when introduced as a catalyst during brewing. His experience said the metal should absorb essences to become a construct just fine. As long as the two essences bound, there shouldn’t be a problem. Of course, this opened a can of worms Theo wasn’t eager to face.

Suffuse was a property that bound potions together, but it did not bind essences. Theo viewed it as the difference between welding metals together compared to creating them as an alloy. Using the Bind property would create the alloy, while the Suffuse property welded two properties together. This was a new form of alchemy, meaning it was dangerous and required much experimentation.

Time slipped by as Theo considered his approach. It almost left his grasp, sliding away from him several times as the potions brewed. When they were done, he set out three flasks containing his experimental essences. Anti-Mage, Infuse, and Bind. The order that he introduced these things together mattered. Adding Anti-Mage to Infuse would cause an explosion. The alchemist grabbed his flasks, then transported himself far away from the village. He sent his mind to the far edges of his expanding world, settling in a conifer forest somewhere west of the ocean he had created.

Creatures scurried somewhere in the distance, rustling through the underbrush. Theo tried and failed to get a look at them, but turned his attention back to his work quickly. He placed an empty flask on the ground, returning every other flask but the one containing Refined Bind Essence. Using a pipette, he pulled the smallest sample he could from the flask. He dripped it into the empty flask, then waited for anything weird to happen. Once he was satisfied, he drew from the Anti-Mage flask. The moment the essences touched, they sizzled. After a tense moment, they settled.

“Ah. More forgiving than normal,” Theo said, getting on his hands and knees to measure the contents by eye. The extra Anti-Mage essence that wouldn’t play well with Bind had sizzled off, turning into vapor. The alchemist committed the ratio to memory. He added the exact amount of Refined Infuse Essence, then watched the mixture swirl in the flask. After the cloud of blue-white smoke had cleared, he inspected the result.

[Anti-Magical Infusion Essence]

[Bound Essence]

Rare

Created by: Theo Spencer

Grade: Poor Quality

An essence bound by the Anti-Mage and Infuse properties.

There it was. Theo’s alloy. He mixed the rest of the essence he had on hand, creating only a few units of the essence. Back on the mortal realm, his lab had enough of the reagents in stock to make hundreds of units. But River Clam Pearls weren’t something he collected regularly, leaving a gap in his production. The alchemist sent his mind back to the village, finding the Drogramathi Iron shot waiting for him on the table. With no desire to wait, he infused the shot with his new essence, then inspected the resulting construct.

[Anti-Magical Infusion Construct]

[Alchemy Construct] [Projectile]

Rare

Created by: Theo Spencer

Grade: Good Quality

Infuse an object with anti-magical properties. Anything this Drogramathi Iron round hits will be drained of magical potential.

Material:

Drogramathi Iron (Excellent Quality)

Effect:

When struck by this shot, objects and all magically operating devices will be drained of their mana. Drains 500 mana, or 1,000 power depending on the distance of the device from the point of impact.

The round shimmered with white-blue energy. A smile spread across Theo’s face as he looked at the shot. It was perfection. There were several advantages of this method over using his wards for the task. The magic would never fade from the iron. It would maintain the effect for a long time, although the alchemist couldn’t say how long. He could also create the rounds industrially. When a construct was created, it soaked an amount of the essence up. He could make a big tub and drop the shots in. Easy as that.

“Quite a weapon you have there,” Drogramath said, coming from behind to place a hand on Theo’s shoulder. “I got in trouble for telling you.”

“How much trouble?”

“A slap on the wrist. You should understand how much Khahar wants you to survive this.”

Theo paused before responding. Drogramath didn’t need to say anything, he knew what that meant. Whatever was driving First Prince Hanan to attack Broken Tusk wasn’t normal. The alchemist’s money was on another rogue ascendant, but it was hard to say.

“Do you see a scenario where we save Hanan and his people?” Theo asked.

“So long as you have the right weapon when the time comes, you’ll be fine.”

“Is the thing controlling him mortal?”

A loud snap issued from behind them. Khahar stood there, arms crossed with a scowl on his face. “The rules exist for a reason, Theo. You can figure it out from the information you have.”

“Yeah, but… this is your plan, right?” Theo asked. “Just tell me what to do, and I’ll do it.”

“I can’t.”

“Is it an ascendant?”

“No.”

For gods to be worried about something, it had to be an ascendant or another god. Theo put it together moments after that. A god was acting on the mortal plane somehow. It wouldn’t be a champion. They wouldn’t be strong enough to manipulate a kingdom. Meaning it was a god acting in some obfuscated way. Assuming this being was too powerful to be defeated by normal means, there was only one other way.

“So, I can use the authority of my realm to get rid of this thing?” Theo asked.

Khahar simply nodded.

“See? He already knows,” Drogramath grumbled. “Just tell him who it is.”

“I’d rather not.”

“I bet I could teleport to the thing. If only for a second.”

Khahar shook his head. “You don’t have enough of a connection with this person to do so.”

Theo mimed checking items off a list in the air. He knew exactly who it was, and it opened a frightening realization about the events that had transpired with the undead. Balkor might have had a more intimate level of involvement with the movement of the undead than he thought. That brought questions that no one could answer for him. For now, he was content with the idea that he could banish whoever was forcing First Prince Hanan into this position.

“I guess he’s King Hanan now, isn’t he?” Theo asked, tapping his chin.

“Yes,” Khahar said. “It’s important that he lives.”

“Easy to say, hard to do,” Theo said. An annoying buzzing filled his mind, as though his thoughts scattered away to solve this problem on their own.

Khahar’s eyes widened as he flinched back. A look of surprise washed over his face as he tilted his head to the side. “Theo. You should answer that.”

“Answer what?” Theo asked.

Thinking about it for a moment, Theo realized how familiar that sensation was. He hadn’t felt it since Qavell stopped calling him, but it was the buzz of a communication crystal in his mind. They weren’t supposed to work in the heavens. He knew that because Fenian had trouble calling from the Bridge. The alchemist withdrew the crystal from his inventory and squeezed it. His mind rushed as his willpower stretched to make the connection. His thoughts were flung through the realms, until a familiar voice entered his mind.

“My dear alchemist! Oh, thank the gods. Well, not this one. He’s an asshole.”

Theo blinked away his surprise. “Fenian.”