The Newt and Demon

Theo left Throk’s workshop grinning to himself. The Marshling hadn’t questioned him further on the project, not after gold was exchanged. His request for the new stills was tied to the discovery he made in Tero’gal. While the Dreamwalk wouldn’t allow him to bring in items from the mortal plane, the realm didn’t mind at all. Where the Dreamwalk acted as a mirror to the real world, sheathed in dreams, Tero’gal was its own planet, complete with the standard rules of the system.

The excessively hot day, and demand from the citizens for more air-conditioner liquid, revealed the value of that pocket realm. So long as his greenhouses and mushroom caves could keep up with demand, he could pop into Tero’gal to craft up potions. Perhaps without the bonuses provided by the alchemy lab, but it was better than nothing. There were many projects that required volume over quality, and Theo decided the best place to craft those would be Tero’gal.

On his way from the workshop, Theo was intercepted by Alise and Gwyn. They had news to share and dragged him over to the town hall, leading him into a spacious meeting room on the second floor. Cold air blew from a metal box in the room’s corner, cutting through the humidity of the day. The alchemist assumed his position near the window, and waited for news about his allies.

Alise cleared her throat before speaking, a smile hanging on her face. “As you might imagine, both our allies are excited about the [Kingdom Core] you planted. Gronro requested formal aid. You can view the request in your mayor screen. Well, I guess it’s an Archduke screen, now.”

“They have a day’s worth of your potion,” Gwyn said. “So, we’ve sent some adventurers over to bolster their forces. Rivers is already complaining about something.”

Theo tapped his fingers on the table. He knew Rivers was going to be a problem from the start. The way the mirrored Qavell was bad for everyone, leading to a group of corrupt nobles that pushed everyone else down. The alchemist found that sentiment rich. He owned most everything within town and determined the rates without competition. Every dictator must have thought themselves incorruptible.

“Your call on Rivers,” Theo said. “We need to create a formal system for them. Something to make sure they pay their fair share.”

“It’s more delicate than you can imagine,” Alise said with a sigh. “We’ve been working on a strategy. Azrug wants to starve them out financially. Not sure I like that idea.”

Theo thought for a moment before responding. The only place anyone could export anything was through Broken Tusk. With the pass to the north cut off, it just wasn’t possible to move goods without going through the port. He could charge Rivers whatever he wanted for use of the port, or buy everything they wanted to export at a low rate then export it himself for a profit. But he had to think about what his idea for the town was. From the start, he wanted Rivers and Daub to work with him.

Theo sighed. The problem was their trade guild. They were called the Chairs in Qavell, a system Rivers had replicated. A few people controlled all trade within their town, resulting in rampant over-charging and collecting of dues.

“Rivers needs to dissolve their trade guild,” Theo said.

Gwyn and Alise shared a look then nodded at each other. “Azrug was working with Fenian on that before he left,” Gwyn said. “He suggested starving them out. As in, create different rates in the port.”

“Those unaffiliated with the trade guild get our standard export rates. While those with the guild get hit with a massive fee,” Alise said, finishing the other Lady Administrator’s thoughts.

That seemed aggressive, but Theo didn’t have any better ideas. While it was nice to hope that Alran would just do the right thing, that didn’t happen. On those open planes between two powerful towns, Rivers and Daub found themselves in an ideal situation. They could seize the moment and reforge themselves, or get the hammer from the other two. That was all there was to the problem.

“Tell Azrug I like the plan,” Theo said. “Meanwhile, we’re bleeding cash until we can get our trade fleet up.”

“If you think we’re bleeding now,” Gwyn said, chuckling nervously. “Grot from Gronro told us how we keep the power of the [Kingdom Core] up.”

“Money?” Theo asked. “Go figure. Seems like we could really use that coin mint.”

“And Fenian is in the wind,” Alise said.

“Zarali and Xol’sa illuminated us,” Gwyn said. “Coins are pressed with power, right? What is the latent power in the air used for? It’s used to generate the monsters in the dungeons, as well as quests. Which in turn generate coins.”

“Meaning the adventurers going into the dungeons are harvesting the processed power by killing monsters,” Alise said. “Meaning Aarok is going to help the town out until we get trade going.”

“That’s fortunate,” Theo said, still tapping his fingers on the table. “Any silver or gold from my mine?”

“I don’t have a recent report from the mine,” Alise said.

“The juniors were taking care of that. I didn’t see any mention of silver or gold, just an increase in general production,” Gwyn said.

“Well, Gridgen knows I want silver. I’ll trust him to sniff it out. Alright. Good news about everything else. Bad news about money. Gwyn, could you please tell Throk that my stills are high-priority?”

The administrator groaned. “Yeah, yeah. He’s gonna yell at me.”

“He certainly will,” Theo said. “But I’m worried about potion production. If I fall behind, Gronro is in trouble.”

“Got it, mister Archduke.”

Theo snorted a laugh. “Alright. Come find me if you need something. I’m going to… Well, I better not say.”

The pair stopped him before he left, having a few more administrative things to talk about. It was mostly about the Elves within the town, and how they wanted to formalize a language program for them. Theo was fine with that, seeing as his his weaver Kaya didn’t speak Qavelli. While the alchemist was working on learning the Elf-tongue, it wasn’t going well.

Finally released from the meeting, Theo headed off for his lab. He found Salire downstairs and chatted for a bit. It was hard to catch up with the woman, but she had several more requests for the day. There was a rush of people coming in during the morning, all looking for weird stuff. The alchemist made his way upstairs after a bit and used his [Glassware Artifice] to generate many vials and flasks for his trip.He took an [Enchanted Fermentation Barrel], two stills and their parts, then went outside the lab to look at his [Dimensional Storage Crates].

The [Lesser Plant Golems] were great at collecting and tending his various gardens, including the mushroom caves. So good that they were filling the contents to bursting, leaving reagents scattered on the ground nearby. He collected them all in his inventory, focusing on the [Swamp Truffles], snatched a few more things he forgot in the lab, then focused on his [Dreampassage] ability.

The world around him swirled, and he passed over that dark Bridge yet again. Then there was the soft grass of Tero’gal under his feet, and the pleasant breeze that blew without end. He took a deep breath and collapsed on the ground. The grass tickled his face as he stared up at the perfect blue sky, thick clouds floating lazily by. Theo experienced no fatigue while in his private realm. He hadn’t tested if it would drain his stamina, but he suspected it would be minimal.

“Then you have to question,” Theo said, finding that speaking aloud in the realm helped him think. “Does my mana drain? Maybe.”

Theo found a flat area near the mouth of the spring to set his gear up, finishing by placing a table near the condensers. While he was low on [Swamp Onions], he had enough to do a 200 unit test run of fermentation. He started by grinding 1,000 units of [Swamp Truffle] up for the stills, adding his [Enchanted Water] to each to top them off. The alchemist let out a hoot of excitement when the [Flame Artifices] kicked to life. They weren’t generated by the system, but a creation of Throk.

While the stills and the [Fermentation Barrel] were working, Theo turned his attention to the sheet of paper Salire had handed him. It was filled with new orders from customers. People were mostly interested in his [Healing Pills], now. It was nice to see that they were a success, and they were easy enough to make with enough of the [Solidify] modifier. Time moved strangely as he crafted, but the experience rolled in all the same. Every worry about the way things were going in town melted away in his private realm, and before long he saw the notification he was waiting for. The [Drogramath Alchemy Core] rolled over to level 20.

[Drogramath Alchemy Core] receivedexperience (1%).

[Drogramath Alchemy Core] leveled up! Level 20.

Obtained free [Drogramath Alchemy] skill point for hitting level 20 with this core.

[Drogramath Alchemy Core] gained an additional skill slot!

[Drogramath Alchemy Core] gained an enhanced effect: +6 wisdom.

A rush of accomplishment flooded through Theo. It was more than a normal level up, it was the breaking of the level 20 barrier for that core. He was right about the block, it had to do with mana control and how that influenced reagents. While he didn’t understand it completely, it was the only thing required to break through. The alchemist scrolled through the list of abilities, finding the one that he’d coveted for a while sitting there.

[Reagent Deconstruction]

Alchemy and Herbalism Skill

Rare

Understanding the composition of reagents leads to their deconstruction.

Effect:

Increases the user’s ability to deconstruct reagents.

+1 Intelligence

Zarali was convinced that this was the best skill he could have taken. As he selected it and slotted it into his core, he didn’t know if he agreed. It would be useful, he knew that much, but how useful compared to other skills? It was one of those things that required practice, which made it even more of a gamble. That didn’t dampen his excitement for the skill, though. Even as the stills and barrel went to work, he headed over to his table to practice.

As expected, the skill used mana to deconstruct materials. What Theo didn’t expect was how difficult it would be. His first hour of practice resulted in scorch marks on his table, having exploded the reagents rather than deconstructing them. He took a break to tend to the stills, cleaning them out and setting them for another run with attribute-enhancement reagents. While he worked, he thought about what went wrong.

When he pushed his mana into the reagents, they resisted. But a thought occurred to him the moment he finished loading up his stills.

“Reagents are made of properties. And that’s a bit meh because properties are just aspects of magic,” Theo said, holding his hand over a [Wind Tulip].

The alchemist focused his mind as he drew mana into his hand, watching as the purple flames danced. He allowed it to drip over the green flower, keeping the concept of wind in his mind. During refinement of the plant, he found that the modifier was [Elemental Wind]. That seemed to be the reagent’s base property, something that was inherent to it. As the liquid fire dribbled over the flower, thick smoke rose, leaving behind a pile of green ash.

At first, Theo thought he’d destroyed another sample. Until he realized what had happened. Focusing on an actionable property like [Elemental Wind] had burned away everything else, sending it into the air as smoke. What it left behind was the base of the properties, something more primal than anything he’d seen before. He poked his finger into the pile, willing the system to inspect it.

[Primal Wind]

[Primal Essence]

Legendary

Created by: Belgar

Grade: Excellent Quality

Alignment:

Drogramath (Middling Bond)

Alignment Effects:

Reduces the chance of volatile reaction while bonding.

1 Unit (powder)

The primal representation of the [Wind] property.

“Double-weird,” Theo said, scratching his chin.

The quality was too good for a first try, and the alignment bonus came through. There was only one thing to conclude from this round of experimentation. His theory about extracting pure essence-stuff was correct. More impressively, the effects of his lab translated to his personal realm. That meant there was some manner of soul-bond between him and the lab, which he couldn’t decide if he liked or not. Did he share a similar bond with every building he owned? It was impossible to tell without more experimentation, but he went further.

“Concentration goes a long way,” Theo said. “But there’s more, I think.”

Theo could always rely on there being a ton of junk in his shared inventory with Tresk. He searched before he found something suitable. A pile of mundane plant leaves that Tresk had gathered near the ocean. He couldn’t recall what they were called on Earth. They typically grew near the coast and should have had enough concentrated salt within for him to split away from the base plant. The alchemist placed 10 units of the leaves on the table and urged more mana into his palm. He focused on the idea of salt. That specific compound, nothing vague.

“The stuff you put on food,” Theo said, trying to make his will manifest.

The purple fire dripped, eating away at the pile and sending smoke spewing into the air. It bubbled for some time, but was swept away by the constant breeze. It left behind a pile of dense crystals, exactly 3 units by weight. He inspected it to be sure.

[Salt]

[Food] [Alchemy Ingredient]

Common

Created by: Belgar

Grade: Excellent Quality

Properties:

[????] [????] [????]

Theo scratched his head for a while. While excitement begged release, this produced a confusing situation. He’d refined a mundane item into an alchemy ingredient with [Reagent Deconstruction]. This was a tough concept to wrap his mind around, as he was under the assumption that magical items were magical. Mundane items were not. Having not discovered the first property was not confusing, though. That required intent, and he’d never eaten raw salt intending to discover a property. Why would he have? He licked his finger, dipped it in the salt, and had a taste.

“Yep. Salt.”

The two properties revealed were [Ease] and [Repel], both of which would need testing. If either were useful, this would be a great ingredient to distill. Those plants grew all over the place on the coast, sprawling out with no end. But, there were orders to fill in the shop so he got back to work.

“A task for another time,” Theo said, going down the list of requests.

It took a few more hours to get everything ready. Theo had a hard time figuring out how much time he’d spent in Tero’gal, but he couldn’t feel the power waning. Instead, he remained there to practice his skill and experiment within the realm.

The wheat field seemed of little use, but Theo couldn’t bring himself to remove it. He didn’t know why, but it brought a great sense of nostalgia. The cottage was fine enough, and when he entered to write down some notes he saw that someone vandalized his journal entry. He chuckled, stuffing it in the drawer and writing his thoughts on a new page. Tero’gal would be a great place to practice his new core, but he noticed his mana had depleted. A supply of [Mana Pills] would be necessary if he wanted to make the most of this place as a practice realm.

Stamina wasn’t diminished as greatly as mana, though. That might have been an effect from the lab, though. But time rolled by, and the alchemist found himself more eager to return to the mortal realm. Heading over to the edge of the island, he looked down to observe Tresk and Alex for a while. The gosling didn’t join him on his journey, although maybe she should have. The Marshling was fighting through some foul-looking dungeon, appearing to be frozen in place. With his inventory full of the orders and more [Refined Hallow Ground Essence], he pushed off and descended into those clouds.

A moment later he was standing in the lab with only five minutes having passed in the real world. It was hard not to grin when he heard Salire knocking on the lab’s door, then letting herself in.

“Also, Theo… Just don’t feel like you have to rush yourself for the orders. Okay?” she asked.

“Of course not,” Theo said, withdrawing all the requested items from his inventory and setting them on his table.

“Oh. Alright,” Salire said, awkwardly moving to collect the items. “Guess we’re just gonna ignore that, huh?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean I checked your stocks. You didn’t have enough. Now you do,” Salire said, chuckling. “Since I’m getting paid, I’ll ignore it. Just be happy that my weird boss’ lab is missing a table, a barrel, and 2 stills. Yep.”

“Exactly,” Theo said, clapping a hand over the woman’s shoulder. “Glad you’re reasonable.”

Theo fished the salt from his inventory, scooped it up from the table, and held his fist out. “Want some salt?”

Theo departed the lab, leaving behind a confused shopkeeper with a handful of salt. While he trusted Gridgen to do the right thing with the mine, it wouldn’t hurt to check up on the man. The combat signal from the [Lesser Metal Golems] didn’t help matters, either.

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