The Newt and Demon

Infusing both the water and the catalysts was a game changer for Theo’s alchemy. There was a barrier that existed after the first tier of potions, presenting an impenetrable block that made everything difficult. Compared to crafting a [Lesser Healing Potion], the [Healing Potion] required precision and care. The infused catalyst changed that, rendering the process as simple as the original one, and saving the alchemist time.

Theo spent the rest of his day performing the advanced reactions on all of his restoration reagents and preparing the [Fald Eyeballs]. Azrug stuck around for quite some time, taking an interest in the advanced process. The alchemist discovered there was an upper limit to chugging [Lesser Mana Potions]. It wasn’t the draining effect of his [Lesser Stamina Potions], but it was noticeable. When the day was finally drawing to a close, he inspected the essence created by the disgusting eyeballs.

[Wake Essence]

[Essence]

Common

Created by: Belgar

Grade: Excellent Quality

Alignment:

Drogramath (Middling Bond)

1:1 refinement in pressure vessels

Increased purity from refinement

500 units (liquid)

Concentrated essence of wake.

The description was vague and required brewing to see the full effects.

Thanks to the reagent he offered to the shrine, the effect on the essence was middling. Infusing essences with Drogramath’s power begged him to run it through the refinement process, and he was eager to do so. Theo looked at his stamina bar, blinking away hours of work to see it was only half depleted. He hadn’t noticed the subtle thrum of the altar in the corner, but it removed the need for stamina while doing alchemy. He didn’t know if the effect carried outside of the shrine, but this alone was amazing.

Theo went downstairs to find Azrug cleaning up. The shopkeeper had left him on his own for quite some time, allowing him to clear out his stock of reagents.

“I’m going to brew the first batch of second tier stat potions tomorrow,” Theo said with a wide grin. The entire thing was too exciting.

“Good. Maybe you can reserve some of those for me,” Azrug said, gesturing at the mostly empty shelves.

The stock that remained was left over from the last siege. The town had enough to weather another attack, including the arsenal of bombs that Aarok commanded, but Theo would need to create more for the two purposes. He looked on the bright side of things. His new infusion technique cut down on the work needed to create the new potions considerably, marking it as a trivial task. Time was the only thing he was short on.

“What’s your take on Zarali?” Theo asked.

“Seems fine,” Azrug said, stuffing gear into a [Dimensional Storage Crate]. “How about you? What do you think about her?”

“I don’t know,” Theo said. “I still don’t know. She’s hard to read, but that’s her [Wisdom] score showing. I’m guessing the [Drogramath Priestess Core] is powerful. She claims she found me because of a potion I crafted, but I’m not certain.”

“What does it matter?” Azrug asked. “Aren’t we supposed to be taking every advantage we can?”

Azrug was right. It didn’t matter how Xol’sa or Zarali came to the town, just like it didn’t matter how the other settlers got here. The alchemist had been putting off talking to the wizard about the monster waves, preferring to focus on his alchemy, but he didn’t want to let it linger much longer.

“You’re right,” Theo said.

“Of course I’m right,” Azrug said.

Azrug finished up his work in the shop and headed out for the day. Tresk arrived shortly after, and the pair went off to Xam’s to enjoy her good cooking. It was the first time since Theo arrived in the town that he wanted to go there voluntarily. Her cooking cores were well worth the slot it occupied, elevating that simple stew dish to something spectacular. It was a calm night with no sign of either Zarali or Xol’sa in the tavern. Before heading to bed, Theo and Tresk pressed their foreheads together and received a moderate amount of experience. It was no more difficult to find sleep with a half-full stamina bar than an empty one, something that seemed strange.

Theo woke the next morning, embracing how busy it would be. Tresk had a few questions about the demonic shrine, but seemed alright with it. The alchemist made his daily offering and enjoyed the sensation of comfort that rolled off the effigy. The Marshling had pocketed a few bowls of stew into her inventory from last night, providing that as their breakfast to go with hot cups of moss tea.

“I have to go to the tower today,” Theo said, sipping his soup. “Xol’sa hasn’t given me an update.”

“You know,” Tresk said, downing her entire cup of tea in one go. “I saw them holding hands.”

Theo winced. “You did not.”

“I did,” Tresk said. “I was ranging over the swamp yesterday after clearing the [River Dungeon]. Do you think they’re gonna kiss?”

“I don’t want to think about it,” Theo said, focusing his gaze on the soup. “That’s a tangled web I can’t afford to get ensnared in.”

“Hah! Just because you’ve taken an oath against romance doesn’t mean you can’t watch from afar,” Tresk said.

“You’re just a slimy little pervert,” Theo said.

“Am not,” Tresk said, crossing her arms. “Anyway, the [River Dungeon] got stronger.”

Theo thought for a moment, his mind shifting gears. That made sense, if what Xol’sa explained was true. If the pair of them distributed the energy over several dungeons, the others would grow. The other effect would be that the [Swamp Dungeon] wouldn’t grow as much. The alchemist knew this meant they would have a monster wave soon, and he never felt prepared enough.

“Then the other dungeons are getting stronger, too,” Theo said, knitting his brow. “We can handle the dungeons to the north, south, and east along with the western [Swamp Dungeon], but what do we do for the [Ocean Dungeon]?”

“It’s too far to care,” Tresk said.

“Well, what are the monsters going to do if they spawn a wave in the ocean?” Theo asked.

Tresk squinted her eyes, scratching her head as she thought. “Attack the fish?”

“Maybe,” Theo said. “Perhaps they’ll attack the nearest city.”

“I’m no expert,” Tresk said, leaning back in her chair.

The pair spent the rest of their morning chatting about lighter topics. Tresk explained the [River Dungeon], since it was a higher level and was now worth running. Adventurers who didn’t have access to underwater breathing and superior swimming skills wouldn’t be able to run it. Theo had a feeling there was an alchemical solution to that, but the Marshling adventurers wouldn’t need to worry. Something the alchemist didn’t know was that all Marshlings could hold their breath for an absurdly long time, absorbing oxygen from the water through the frills on the side of their heads. Their feet were also webbed, giving them faster swim speed to battle the raging currents of the river.

After Tresk departed, Theo placed the [Wake Essence] into his pressure vessel and headed to the center of town. He had to wait a while for the portal to spring up near the monolith, but the moment it did, he stepped through. The disorientation of the sudden transfer still brought him to his knees, but it was lessening. He heard a surprised sound from within the tower, but couldn’t locate the source. Someone was talking, but his head swam.

“I didn’t expect you so early,” Xol’sa said, helping Theo to his feet.

Theo’s eyes adjusted to the tower’s light, and he saw a disheveled extra-planar Elf before him. His hair was messy, robe creased and dirty. He also had a sheepish expression on his face that was uncharacteristic of the man.

“How is the work going?” Theo asked. “Tell me you’ve found a solution.”

“Oh, we have,” Xol’sa said, brightening up. “Zarali has been instrumental.”

“Good,” Theo said. His knees still shook, but he could manage. “I don’t need to know how you did it—I won’t understand—just tell me the effects of what you’ve done.”

“Well, it’s quite simple,” Xol’sa said, eying the stairs for a moment. He coughed into his hand before continuing. “The [Swamp Dungeon] was a nexus of power, mainly Drogramathi energy. We simply allowed it to permeate the membrane of the other dungeons.”

“Meaning the power is going to the other dungeons now,” Theo said. “Empowering all dungeons.”

“Not all of them,” Xol’sa said. “Only the ones nearby. Instead of one dungeon growing quickly, they will all grow at a steady rate.”

“What about the monster wave from the [Swamp Dungeon]?” Theo asked.

“Well, I suggest we release that soon. We can set the dungeon back on the normal timer to see how quickly it progresses,” Xol’sa said.

He wanted to do that after ensuring everyone was ready. It was a bad idea to just agree to start the timer before he knew if Aarok and the adventurers were ready.

“I’ll meet with Aarok first,” Theo said.

“Perfect. Until then, I’ll reinforce the wards I’ve created and prepare for the wave,” Xol’sa said.

“Can you participate in the battle?” Theo asked.

“Yes. I can bombard the force as they leave the dungeon, then momentarily shift my tower out of reality,” Xol’sa said. “Which would send them to the town. Zarali will also provide support for your adventurers with buffs.”

“Sounds good to me,” Theo said, casting his eyes on the portal. His stomach was already objecting to the thought of going through. “I’ll send a town message the next time I need to talk to you. I hate the portal.”

“Most people do,” Xol’sa said.

Theo was through the portal without another word, finding himself on his knees once again. The swirl of the world around him calmed after a time, giving way to the familiar primary avenue of Broken Tusk. He watched as several adventurers went into the port, smiles on their faces. The alchemist spent more time on the ground than he would have liked, but eventually rose to his feet. He spotted Aarok approaching from the guild, shaking his head.

“Alright there, Theo?” he asked.

“Yeah,” Theo said. “Are we ready for a monster wave?”

“We are,” Aarok said. “Are we expecting one?”

“Yeah, I’m going to start the wave timer soon,” Theo said. “Just wanted to make sure we could handle it. The wave might be stronger than normal, though.”

“We’re ready,” Aarok said. “Don’t worry about that. I still have a lot of bombs from last time, and Throk has been cooking up some stuff of his own.”

“Good to hear,” Theo said, casting his eyes over the blacksmith’s workshop. “I have a few projects for him to work on.”

“Well, focus on the wave. Then worry about that,” Aarok said, clapping his hand over the alchemist’s shoulder. “The adventurer’s guild has enough resources to handle the wave. Focus on your projects. They’re important.”

Theo felt as though his projects were rather selfish, not important. But Arrok was right. They were helping people and growing the town. Everyone had their duty, and the defense of the town was in the hands of the adventurer’s guild. The alchemist would have liked it if Zarali and Xol’sa attended some meeting with the guildmaster to get some experience operating with the adventurers, but they were ahead of the game. The haze cleared from his head and he turned to smile.

“You’re right,” Theo said. “I need to make more potions.”

“You go do that,” Aarok said, shoving Theo down the street. “Let me handle the dirty work.”

Theo left, feeling good about his current course of action. Grinding the second tier potions was giving him a lot more experience than normal, which presented another problem. He needed to spend more time in his garden, cultivating those plants to allow his [Drogramath Herbalism Core] to catch up. He knelt in his garden, marveling at the wonders a day did for the plants growing there. Propagating the plants was easy enough, but the problem was doing it at scale. Claiming a field in the farmer’s fields was easy enough, but he still felt a twinge of guilt for pushing Banu around. They found a balance between the traditions of Broken Tusk and Theo’s mind for advancement, but that didn’t mean he’d push him around more.

There was enough land behind the Newt and Demon to make a decent sized plot, but the problem of magically regrowing reagents came to mind. Those fast-growing plants respected the border of the building, but only just. He had ten paces to work with in his garden before it was claimed by the power of the swamp. Any section east of that mark wouldn’t be suitable for his garden. He could hold out for an upgrade to the building that allowed him to have a plot of land in the back, which seemed likely given the current direction things were going, but level 20 was a far way away.

The [Monster Cores] Theo used to take the building from level 10 to level 20 were many. Tresk wasn’t hunting the high-level dungeons anymore, preferring to explore the developing [River Dungeon], so he ruled her out. He could buy them from the other adventurers, but his funds were dwindling. With no other option, he turned his attention away from the garden for the day. The pressure vessel had completed its run on the [Wake Essence], leaving it ready for brewing.

Theo withdrew the [Wake Essence] from the vessel, clearing the port and inspecting the result.

[Refined Wake Essence]

[Essence] [Refined Essence]

Common

Created by: Belgar

Grade: Excellent Quality

Alignment:

Drogramath (Middling Bond)

Alignment Effects:

Resulting potions will be more effective.

Chance to consume half of required essence during brewing.

Purity: 80%

1 units (liquid)

Concentrated, refined essence of wake.

The essence had 2 alignment effects. While Theo had already seen the first effect, the second one was interesting. It only appeared after he got his alignment up to middling from his daily offering. This was another amazing benefit to his process, even if the effect only happened once every 100 reactions, it was worth it. He made his way to the lab and set the essence aside, tending to the stills before continuing.

The adventurers who fulfilled his quest brought 500 [Stone Flowers], 500 [Water Lilies], and 500 [Flame Roses]. Theo was eager to see how powerful the stat enhancement potions were, so he prepared his 3 stills. Of all the reagents he worked with, [Stone Flowers] were the easiest to grind for the still. They turned to dust in his hand if he squeezed hard enough. Even the other 2 flowers were simple, but the [Alchemical Grinder] did the work for them. The alchemist took some time to enchant [Purified Water], making a quick trip to the river to refill his barrels. Throk would have a fun time with his pump idea, but he pushed the thought out of his head.

With all 3 of his stills running, Theo turned his attention to the [Refined Wake Essence]. He enchanted a large pile of [Iron Shavings] with Drogramath’s energy and set up a 2 unit, flat-bottomed vial for his test reaction. The effect from the shrine made the reaction easy, and he trusted in that fact. He added the [Refined Wake Essence], [Purified Water], and an [Iron Shaving] to the vial. The reaction was immediate and tepid, bubbling in the vial for a moment before releasing a strange scent. The smell was a mixture of churning water and decaying vegetation. It put off a slight blue glow.

Theo inspected the potion.

[Potion of Wake]

[Potion]

Rare

Created by: Belgar

Grade: Excellent Quality

Allows the imbiber to hold their breath for twice their normal time. The imbiber suffers reduced current and drag while in water.

Effect:

User can hold their breath twice as long.

User experiences lessened effects of water resistance, including current.

Effect lasts for 1 hour.

This might have been the greatest utility potion Theo had ever made, based on the number of effects and the length of those effects. It was also very clear on the duration of the effect, something that wasn’t always guaranteed. The [Lesser Potion of Growth] didn’t denote a time, specifically saying the time was unspecified. The alchemist marked this potion in his mind as something to be sold to Broken Tuskers at a massive discount, perhaps even for free. It would be invaluable to get the different races, which couldn’t brave the water so easily, to delve into both the [River Dungeon] and the [Ocean Dungeon].

While the 3 stills did their work, Theo spent his time brewing the [Potions of Wake]. He was even confident enough to perform a large-scale reaction, kicking off 50 units of the essence at the same time. The result was confusing until he remembered the alignment effect on the essence. When he poured 50 units into the flask and performed the reaction, only 48 units were missing. Somewhere between pouring the liquid, and introducing the catalyst, more essence appeared in his flask. He shrugged it off as magic and finished the batch.

When Theo was done with the [Potions of Wake], he ended up with 508 potions instead of the expected 500. He could only imagine what the higher alignment bonuses were.

Theo turned his attention to the stills, which were sputtering by the time he completed the reactions. They all bore the alignment bonuses up to middling, a fact that put a smile on the alchemist’s face. He cleared the stills out, adding the 3 flasks to his inventory before heading out to the pressure vessel. The alchemist added the [Vigor Essence] to the vessel first before turning his attention back to the garden.

The [Mage’s Bane] wasn’t growing as well as he’d like, but the [Roc Berries], and [Spiny Swamp Thistle] were coming along nicely. He selected the best of each, taking enough clippings to increase his propagation on each plant to 15 plants per type. The [Spiny Swamp Thistle Roots] needed to rest in the lab before they were ready to go, the only disadvantage of the tuberous growths.

Theo returned those roots to his lab, finding the corner with the sign near it and let out a heavy sigh. Whereas he might feel some mental exhaustion from the tasks of the day, his body didn’t show any signs of slowing down. The alchemist nodded to himself and turned his attention to the town.

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