The Newt and Demon

Theo didn’t tell Tresk the ‘fun’ news yet. He had spent the rest of his day monitoring the stills in the metal cube and checking on people in town. Although they had lost access to the aligned metals in the mine, the extraction of the mythril was going well. The miners weren’t disturbing the beast that lived underground, and Nira was smelting all the new nuggets with joy. Ziz didn’t even wait for anyone’s approval to start work on paving the entire damn region. By the time Theo sat down for dinner, they had a few buildings constructed along the road heading north.

Theo and Tresk now stood in the Dreamwalk, looking over an imagined Tero’gal. The alchemist had waited for this moment to create a moon in the sky. “So, we have a job to do.”

“What?” Tresk asked. He felt her sense brush his mind. “I get to name a moon!?”

“You get to form a moon,” Theo corrected. “I already have a name.”

“Your name is lame.”

“It has significance,” Theo said, brushing his own senses against his companion’s mind. Tresk knew exactly what to do to make her moon and it wasn’t hard. They wouldn’t even need to split the thrones, only create a remote link between them. Since their connection was so strong, that part wouldn’t even be hard. “The hardest part is going to be getting Fenian to make his world.”

“Hmmm. A world filled with half-naked elven women and constant battle,” Tresk said, nodding. She imagined a long beard and mustache on her face. For some reason, the Dreamwalk accepted it, allowing her to stroke it like some old sage. “Very curious.”

“I can’t wait to see Elven Hottie World,” Theo said, shaking his head. “Not really. I just want another planet, just in case.”

“Three worlds are better than two, huh? Oh, what’s this I see in your little demon brain? We need the favor of the gods to move our alliance to the heavens?” Tresk snorted, blowing raspberries after. “Screw them.”

Theo shook his head. “They’ll only stop us if we want to take the landmass. I don’t think they can stop us if we want to take the mortal souls.”

“What gives you that idea?”

“Once that last seal breaks, I think chaos will consume the world. The gods aren’t merciless, though. Perhaps Death will want to reap the souls of his people, but would the other gods want that? They all have history. The others will vote to save the mortal souls, and what better way then sending them to an in-between spot?”

“Right. Wait, what are we calling Tero’gal and Khahak? Ascendant Words? Throne Worlds?”

“‘Ascendant Worlds’ is more accurate.”

“Right… I need to get my thoughts together on this,” Tresk said, waving Alex off. “Go do some goose stuff, okay?”

Alex flew off without another command. Tresk waddled over to a rock, taking a seat and assuming her best thinking pose.

Theo broke away from the weird marshling, focusing his efforts tonight on his alchemy. For the first time in a while, he was motivated to level his cores. His intent was to push the Dreamwalk as far as it would let him go. That meant experimenting with the areas of this new alchemy they didn’t understand. He started with fermentation.

The Dreamwalk allowed Theo to perform the first step of fermentation—which was to add items to an enchanted barrel as a mash, then inject mana. After that, it refused to let him move forward. Theo’s Drogramath Fermentation skill had evolved into Tero’gal Fermentation. He had already inspected the skill, but recalled it from memory.

[Tero’gal Fermentation]

Herbalism Skill

Epic

Fermentation allows an herbalist to extract even more from reagents. Accepting this skill allows you to understand the fine workings of reagents, pulling even more from the already useful plants.

Effect:

Fermentations you perform happen rapidly, compared to those without this skill.

Allows the modification of reagents to produce special modifier essences.

+12 Wisdom

“That’s some very specific wording on that skill,” Theo said.

At first, he considered the idea that this was a different way to process reagents. Perhaps a way to get them to the third tier. But the effects listed claimed it would still produce modifier essence. Well, perhaps it could do both but it wasn’t something he was willing to believe just yet. Fermentation was a fairly simple process, compared to the other facets of alchemy. Reagent mash, mana, and the right barrel were all one needed. What were the chances that Tero’gal would have such simple alchemy at this stage?

“Absolutely not,” Theo said, turning his attention elsewhere.

Instead of pushing forward into areas of Tero’gal alchemy he knew the Dreamwalk wouldn’t allow, he focused on refining the processes they already had. The alchemist created stills for him to work with, making note of each part of the process. There had to be a better way to handle the solid waste created by the tier one process, but he had some ideas on how to improve on where they were. When he turned his attention to injecting mana into everything—the still, water, air, and even the mashed reagents—he hit a roadblock.

When the Dreamwalk refused to let him go further, it might as well have told him he was on the right track. Mana injection was the way to go, as he had originally expected. The only thing he had injected with mana when using Drogramath’s alchemy was during fermentation, water, and the dilution for the fourth tier.

“And that’s what we’ll try on the mortal plane,” Theo said, rubbing his hands together. For now, he planned to grind experience.

When that notification finally appeared, Theo was left with a question that felt silly. Where should he put his single free point for hitting Level 33? Another point in wisdom wouldn’t do much. His only attributes not above at least 100 were Strength and Intelligence, and he couldn’t put a point into Intelligence. Not unless he wanted to lose his sense of self. Instead of going for Strength, he opted for Vigor. That would add some health, although not much. He placed the point, gaining 5 health points for his efforts.

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“Hooray,” the alchemist said, inspecting his sheet.

Theo Spencer

Drogramath Dronon

Level 33

Alchemist

Core Slots: 7

Stats:

Health: 625

Mana: 230

Stamina: 635

Strength: 20 (+11)

Dexterity: 132 (+8)

Vigor: 124 (+8)

Intelligence: 30 (+9)

Wisdom: 342 (+7)

Points: 0

“Seven core slots,” he said to himself, looking over the sheet. “Five from leveling or my base slots, and two from special cores. But those attributes are absurd. I sure went heavy on the Wisdom, huh?”

“Hush! I’m thinking over here!” Tresk shouted.

Theo shrugged. He learned a few things about alchemy tonight. At least he understood how important mana infusions were going to be. With that in mind he practiced summoning his mana and controlling it once it was outside of his body. Mana was strange like that. He couldn’t really feel it moving around in his body. But once he brought it out in liquid form, he could feel it like it was an extension of himself. A glob of mana hovered in the air.

“Huh. Would ya look at that?” Theo asked, watching as the glob floated before him. It was slightly pink with a hint of purple running through it. “Is Tero’gal mana modeled after our skin tones? That’s kinda weird.”

Tresk shushed Theo again.

After his latest rebuke, the alchemist worked on his mana control. If he was right about how important this was for Tero’gal alchemy, any new alchemists would need to practice this from the jump. At least the Dreamwalk didn’t yell at him for getting better at mana control. The more he worked at it, the more he found how to weave his willpower into the act. Once he had that figured out, he had almost absolute control of the way his mana moved. He could pull it out from his body, creating impossibly small specks and controlling them in intricate ways. The only place the Dreamwalk drew the line was when applying the mana to do something.

He held his comment back as to not disturb Tresk, but the Dreamwalk couldn’t have made it more obvious. Mana control would be vital if he wanted to become better with Tero’gal Alchemy. Salire might be mad about it, since her mana control was decent but could be lacking compared to Theo. But without knowing how he would need to use his mana, he couldn’t say.

“I’m done,” Tresk said, springing up. “Gonna build a moon when we make up.

“Just make another small planet,” Theo said, folding his arms. “You can manage an atmosphere.”

“I got it worked out in my head, actually. Thanks to your little brain.”

“My brain is huge,” Theo countered, folding his arms.

“Uh-huh. If we move a chunk of Tero’gal to the edge of the void, we should be good.” Tresk nodded, confident in her assessment. “Then we fill it with a mix of energy from us and the thrones… Bam. Free planetoid.”

“I’m certain the system will limit us to one planetoid, though. Keep that in mind.”

“I’m not greedy! It only works because we can tie it to one or the other thrones. So we got a maximum of two planets or planetoids. I can work with this. Any idea how to get Fenian his planet?”

“Yeah. I’m gonna ask Khahar. Forming Khahak—I still hate that name—was done with a realm. Dunno if we can just push Fenian’s throne into the void and hope for the best or what. But I’m sure there was some trick that old goat used to make his world.”

“We got a plan! Let’s go!”

The dreamwalk ended without the consent of the other members. Theo started in his bed, looking toward the window. “Tresk, what time is it?”

“Some time after midnight,” Tresk said, giggling to herself. “Later, nerd.”

Theo pouted for about a breath before giving up. Tresk had already slipped into Tero’gal, apparently off to make a moon… Planetoid… whatever. There was no breakfast to be had. Theo stepped out onto the street outside, making sure to pull the door closed as quietly as he could. Although it was the middle of the night, several adventurers were on patrol. They held lanterns, bowing their heads as they passed the alchemist. At least the dragon bone essences were still brewing without issue. White smoke rose from the cube’s ventilation, but nothing more.

The Newt and Demon was silent at this hour. Salire had cleared out long ago, giving Theo pause at the threshold. He didn’t just see the new shop counter waiting for an attendant to sell potions. He saw the cramped experimentation area from when he first arrived in this world. He saw the eager marshling begging to undertake the Tara’hek. Those feelings came rushing back as he ascended the stairs to the second floor. Lights danced in the distance, filtering through what few trees grew within the town’s walls. Guards patrolled the wall of the harbor somewhere in that distance.

Perhaps the activity in the market area was still lively. Theo turned his attention to his storage crates, rummaging through until he found a few decent samples to work with. After adding those and some glassware to his inventory, he headed outside. Any explosions would be better conducted outside. The alchemist found himself heading toward the outside wall. He chugged a Potion of Limited Foresight just in case, but didn’t feel as though danger would find him that night. He instead found the cool night air and the sound of chatter just over the market wall.

From the battlements, he watched the people in the market. Lanterns hung from wooden posts—magical and mundane—illuminating the market. There were a few hawkers still awake, although they weren’t screaming like normal. Most surprising was the people buying things. They still haggled, getting good deals on whatever while others slept.

“Do they ever rest?” Theo asked no one in particular, pulling his first sample out. It was a length of Spiny Swamp Thistle Root in its raw form. Unprocessed and unbothered, this sample had been grown in the greenhouses before they were aligned. According to Tero’gal alchemy, it was an impure sample.

Drops of prismatic mana dripped from the alchemist’s palm. They hovered in the air, catching the light of distant lights to remind him of Toru’aun by the way they glittered. Theo slowed the mana down, breaking into many small parts as he injected it into the root. His mind flashed with information, like a blinding light turned on in a dark room. He didn’t gain specifics like he did with the Research upgrade in his Herbalist’s Workshop, only a sense for what was going on within the root. The mana wanted to spread out, becoming more a part of the root. He allowed it.

The gnarled root glowed a shifting shade of purple and pink. It put off a floral scent that stung the air at first. Once the wind caught most of the initial smell, it died down to a faintly pleasant scent. Theo knew this was an improved version of the original root. Tero’gal’s way of growing reagents made it hard to tell how much better it was than before. But after injecting his mana inside the root, the alchemist could estimate it was about as good as the stuff that grew in the aligned greenhouses. Applying this method to the ones grown there would only improve their purity.

The next experiment Theo wanted to try was to apply this method to the mash. He crushed some of the untouched roots with the back of his Drogramathi knife and tested his newest method. It was the same as before. The mana entered the mixture, seeming to find gaps to reinforce to make up for the lacking purity.

“Interesting reaction,” Theo said, moving on. “Last one…”

Theo watched as his spectral hands held mana over completed first tier essence. He watched still as that essence exploded, removing him from the wall and sending him sprawling to the ground below. While the blast wouldn’t kill him—thanks to his enhanced attributes—he didn’t care to be exploded in the middle of the night.

“Some things are best left where they are,” he said, returning the essence to his inventory.

This was a great place to start. Theo knew the raw reagent imbued with mana would run through the stills better. It might even create a higher purity of potion, based on the way the mana integrated itself with the reagent. If he was lucky, he could push this even further to enhance the other stages of the process. But with hours before sunrise, Theo couldn’t think of working. He wasn’t tired. He just wanted to watch the people below go about their nightly business. If he had his way, this place would be packed with people.

“Soon.”