The Newt and Demon

“Well, they’re intent on sending a delegation,” Azrug said, laughing. “That new sawmill will put a fire under their butts, though.”

Theo had just arrived back at the Newt and Demon. His intentions to upgrade the building immediately were parried by the silver-tongued shopkeeper. Rivers and Daub wanted to send representatives from their merchant’s guild to Broken Tusk to inspect their infrastructure, and Azrug wanted the alchemist as far from it as possible.

“You’re good at talking to Broken Tuskers, but those high-riding jerks at Rivers and Daub are going to get a rise out of you,” Azrug said.

Theo knit his brow, a strange sensation washing over him. The shopkeeper was right, but that didn’t make him feel any better. He would sit in the meeting with his hands in his lap as Azrug and Alise did all the talking. A side of him wanted to take part, but another didn’t care. Somehow, he could sense Zarali’s new barrels upstairs, and perhaps the woman herself. Unlike her, he couldn’t sweep his mind over an area to determine if other people occupied a space.

“You’re the boss,” Theo said. “I have one question. You’re not level 10. Can you contend with those people? They have to be high, right?”

“I’m almost 10,” Azrug said, puffing up. “With more real-world trading experience than most of those blowhards. They have their trade guild to hide behind, making tiny, laughable deals. I move merchandise. I make coin. Their jaws are going to drop open when they see our books.”

The difference between Broken Tusk and other towns was amazing. With their unique confluence of events, they produced more raw materials than others. They also had access to monster waves, seemingly on demand. Then there was the alchemical wares Theo himself produced, bolstering an already lively economy. The only problem they had was the use of those materials, although the trickle-down effect was already noticeable. Instead of sitting on his money like a noble lord, the alchemist distributed it right back into the town without hesitation and he had no plans to stop.

Theo’s image of the world was developing quickly. Combined with his fading naivete, this positioned him as a dangerous man in the southlands. Not by raising some mercenary band or level his sword on the horizon, but by the absolute way he was poised to capture trade. There was no mistake in his mind that it was a hostile takeover. No one could compete with their output aside from Qavell itself, and that wouldn’t last forever.

“The trade deal is yours,” Theo said, waving a dismissive hand. He ran his hand through his hair, tracing the line of his horns. “I have another question, though.”

“How far are you willing to go with me?” Theo asked. “Into the title of Duke? How about the title of King? Emperor? How far does the road stretch before us with our trading empire?”

Azrug leaned in, a wicked grin spreading across his face. “Iaredin. The entire world, if we want. Lean on your friends and we’ll make it happen.”

Theo let out a heavy sigh. That was his plan. He wanted to take the mud ball and transform it into an unstoppable force of trade, focusing on defensive doctrines of war rather than offensive ones. Every investment he made went toward production or defense, and Aarok had a similar mind for the matter. With a few carriages like Fenian’s, there wouldn’t be anything to stop them from hitting those far-flung places in the world. Until then, the alchemist’s goal was to create a shipping empire. Trade ships were well within their reach, compared to magical means of conveyance. He let those thoughts slide away for now, filing them to a deep part in his mind.

“Good,” Theo said after a long pause. “It will be you that spearheads all our deals. I imagine the experience points you get from it will be massive.”

“I hope,” Azrug said.

Theo excused himself without another word, heading into the lab. He found Zarali, as he expected, adjusting the contents of the lab. She flashed him a smile and gestured to the newly arranged contents.

“Do you like it?” she asked.

Theo didn’t really care where his things were in the lab. The stills remained where they were, under the chimney to avoid too many vapors building with the lab. But she had changed everything else. 4 fermentation barrels were arranged to the cardinals, their new runes flashing with purple energy. The alchemist could see she wanted him to inquire about the changes, so he obliged.

“New barrels?” he asked, boiling his intent down to the basis of need.

“Yes, new barrels,” Zarali said, scoffing as though he offended her deeply. “You’re a fool probing in the dark. You lucked out with the wood. Ogre Cypress is the perfect vessel for fermentation. And you were smart enough to use infused copper, which I would have thought you’d never guess.”

“They just needed some fancy drawings on them,” Theo said, smiling. He could read the Drogramathi script on the barrels, but they were nonsense.

“Indeed. You can read them, yes?” she asked, switching from Low Qavelli to Old Drogramathi.

Theo didn’t like Drogramath’s language when he arrived in Broken Tusk, but it was growing on him. It was full of guttural stops and hard sounds that fell on the ear like a broken drum.

“Naturally,” Theo said, responding in the Dronon’s native tongue. “I don’t understand them, though.”

“Because you’re not a [Drogramath Enchanter], like me,” Zarali said. “I’ll put it simply. They funnel Drogramath’s energy in accordance with Black Geometry.”

“Black Geometry?” Theo asked, letting out a sharp laugh. “That sounds goofy.”

“It’s a horrible name,” Zarali said. “But it just means there’s math you need to understand. Spacing and direction matter.”

Theo moved to a barrel, inspecting it.

[Enchanted Alchemy Fermentation Barrel]

[Alchemy Equipment] [Enchanted]

Epic

Created By: Sledge

Modified By: Zarali

A 200 unit capacity barrel capable of fermenting any reagents placed inside. Placing a mote with the mash is required for the process to take effect. Additional motes and mana may be required over the course of the fermentation.

Effects:

Creates a fermentation reaction when reagents are placed inside with a mote.

Speed of fermentation is greatly increased, depending on the strength of the mote.

Enchantments:

Siphon Power

Distribute Power

Crafting Speed

Crafting Effectiveness

Alignment: Drogramath

So Zarali was holding on to a few secrets. She was a priestess and an enchanter. Theo should have assumed she had more classes than she let on. At level 30, she’d have at least 5 classes available to her. Uharis claimed there was a way to get new core slots that didn’t involve leveling, but that seemed like information someone would hold on to without the will to share.

“What I’m understanding is that you’re powerful,” Theo said. “I imagine adding so many enchantments is difficult.”

“It is,” Zarali said, running her fingers over the barrel. “But there’s a supply of gems and a Half-Ogre willing to part with them for a pittance.”

“Thank you,” Theo said, never one to be unappreciate of such a powerful gift. “Is enchanting a hobby, or what?”

“I suppose,” Zarali said, furrowing her brow. “Why do you ask?”

“The obvious reason,” Theo said. “You could make a lot of money doing that here. What are the limitations of the enchantments? What can you enchant?”

“Well, I can’t enchant seed core buildings,” Zarali said, scratching her head. “Other than that, quality of material is paramount. Since the barrel was crafting with relatively suitable material, it was easy.”

The gears in Theo’s mind turned. “Carts and boats,” he blurted out. “Can you enchant those?”

“You’re nothing like Belgar,” Zarali said, a proud smile painted across her face. “I love how open and honest you are, and I really wish he would have been more transparent with me. Yes, we can enchant boats to move quicker, under stealth, all of those things swirling in your mind.”

Theo withdrew a stack of gold coins from his inventory, setting them on the lidded barrel with a clatter. Zarali looked down, counting 20 coins casually. She laughed, pushing them back toward the alchemist.

“Please, take this coin and remain in Broken Tusk forever,” Zarali said, her voice half-mocking, half-joking. “Swear yourself to me and my cause—Something like that?”

Theo’s face flushed a deep shade of purple. His tail stiffened as embarrassment flooded his body. “What’s wrong with that?”

“Money doesn’t solve all your problems,” Zarali said. “Not least of which a problem already solved. I’m here. I can’t leave and I’ll help you with whatever projects you want. For free.”

“Not for free,” Theo said, returning the coins to his inventory. “Broken Tusk pays its people, Zarali. Whatever fee the big-time enchanters charge, we’ll pay it. If you want the money in another form, that works.”

This was too valuable to let slip through his fingers. A Priestess of Drogramath was rare enough, but an Enchanter? That was beyond anything he could have hoped for, and it fell in line with his plans for the future. Theo’s relatively high [Intelligence] allowed him to extrapolate this information.

“That’s very sweet,” Zarali said, a look of pain flashing across her face. “I’ll take the job, Mister Mayor.”

“Thank you,” Theo said, pulling her into a hug. He felt her melt in his arms, the reaction a sister had for the embrace of her dead brother.

“Right. Can we move on to fermenting?” Zarali asked.

“Nope,” Theo said, pulling back and producing [Monster Cores] from his inventory. “We need to upgrade the building.”

“Oh, that’s fun,” Zarali said, letting out a steadying breath.

Theo shoved the [Monster Cores] into his building, watching as the experience skyrocketed. Of the 100 cores he started with, he was down to 30 by the time the building leveled to 20. Joining with the upgrade options was a system message about a level cap, something he didn’t expect.

[The Newt and Demon] cannot be upgraded past level 20 until [Broken Tusk] upgrades to a [Large Town]...

[Broken Tusk] can be upgraded to a [Large Town] when the following conditions are met:

Medium Population: COMPLETE

Expanded Land Ownership: COMPLETE

Upgrade to [Large Town]? Y/N

Nothing happened after Theo agreed to the upgrade. It wasn’t a physical change for the town, the status of [Large Town] simply gave him access to more upgrades. He inspected the upgrade options for the Newt and Demon, reading them out for Zarali to hear.

[Root Cellar]

A cellar for preserving reagents is housed under the lab. Reagents placed inside of the cellar decay at a slower rate.

[Experimentation Room]

A reinforced room is placed behind the lab, creating a safe place to conduct explosive experimentations.

[Alchemical Garden]

A garden appears at the back of your shop. Plants grown within the garden will grow faster, have a chance to self-cultivate, and other effects unlocked by upgrading the garden separately.

“The [Root cellar] is useless,” Zarali said, dismissing it offhand. “You already have [Alchemy Shop], [Drogramath Distillation Specialty], and [Shrine To Drogramath], which are extremely important. You were lucky to get 2 aligned modifications so early. So, a garden or an experimentation room… Well, it’s interesting that the garden upgrades separately.”

Theo was already leaning to the garden as his selection. The experimentation room would be useful, but it was nothing caution couldn’t temper. Combined with Zarali’s method for making the reactions more stable, the [Alchemical Garden] was the clear choice.

“I’m going to select the garden,” Theo said.

“I would as well,” Zarali said, casting a concerned look around the room. “All those expansions set my enchantment array off.”

She grumbled, moving to rearrange the barrels as Theo selected the garden. The building rumbled, and he rushed to the back window. Where he expected to see a messy plot of land, there was a greenhouse. He descended the stairs without another word, rushing out back to inspect his new greenhouse. To his surprise, when he interacted with the new building it popped up as though it was a separate seed core building.

[Alchemical Garden]

[The Newt and Demon]

Building Attachment

Owners: Belgar (Theo Spencer), Tresk

Faction: [Broken Tusk]

Level: 1 (0%)

Expansions:

None

It was an interesting screen with less information than the full building. The interesting thing was that it had its own level. The greenhouse came up to the bottom of the second floor on the Newt and Demon, situated five paces away from the building. It reached from that spot to the edge of the gravel yard. There were long troughs of earth inside. Entering the new building, the alchemist was assaulted by an even more oppressive humidity than the swamp. Moisture accumulated on his face in an instant. When he emerged from the glass structure, Azrug and Zarali were standing there.

“Fancy glass house,” Azrug said. “What’s it do?”

“Grows things, apparently,” Theo said.

“It looks handsome. Better than a bare yard of rocks,” Zarali said. “Brother, do you care for instructions on your new barrels?”

“Yeah,” Theo said. “When we’re done, I want you to give Azrug a list of enchantments you’re willing to give out. Nothing too powerful, we’re going to use them as leverage for our trade deal.”

“You’re an enchanter?” Azrug asked, his mouth falling open. He managed to close it after a moment. “Lady, you should have led with that. We’re gonna be best friends.”

Zarali let out a shrill laugh, covering her mouth politely. “To the barrels, brother.”

The Dronon woman led the way back into the lab, Azrug trailing close behind. The shopkeeper stayed in the shop, leaving the pair to their work. Zarali gave quick instructions on how the barrel worked. It now operated on intent. There was a sigil that represented the total charge of the barrel, allowing him to see if it had enough power to perform a fermentation. He no longer had to worry about adding anything besides the mash, and she promised it would complete faster than before.

Theo used his grinder to mash [Widow Lilies] into an open barrel. Zarali instructed him to use [Enchanted Water] for this step and the distillation step. They set the barrel to ferment and broke off to discuss the other stages of his operation. His stills could receive enchantments to increase performance, but the priestess was unsure about the still provided by the building. Every other part of the alchemist’s process had been refined to near perfection. The only thing left to accomplish at such a low level was the cultivation of the reagents. Thanks to Banu’s hint, his mind was now on hybrid reagents.

Azrug entered the lab after a while, standing awkwardly as the pair talked in rapid Old Drogramathi. They paused to let him speak.

“Just a heads up,” Azrug said. “The trade representatives are going to be here tomorrow.”

“A trade negotiation?” Zarali said, her brows raising. “Can I come?”

“Why would you want to?” Theo asked.

“Ah, I have some information I can deploy as a last resort,” Zarali said. “Something they did. That they don’t know I know they did,” her voice lowered to a whisper, “something illegal.”

“No theatrics,” Azrug said, shaking his head. “But you’re more than welcome. They’ll want to see the [Drogramath Enchanter] for themselves.”

“Follow Azrug’s lead,” Theo said, placing his hand on the woman’s shoulder.

“Right. We’ll need to work this out, little trader,” Zarali said. “Downstairs.”

Azrug’s eyes went wide. His body went stiff, turning on the spot as though he was an automaton. He then marched down the stairs without another word.

“Run this through the still, then the refinery,” Zarali said in Old Drogramathi. “Then we can talk about modifiers.”

The woman went down the stairs, following Azrug into the lab. Theo took time to check his supplies, finding them mostly empty. He and his sister had chatted for so long, the fermentation barrel was done. The alchemist set it inside the still, applying the appropriate time and left it to work while he sorted the garden out. As he finished up with the stills, he heard Azrug shout from downstairs. By the time the alchemist made it down into the shop, he stormed out the front. Zarali had a smile on her face.

“I’m going into the garden,” Theo said. “I don’t want to know what you told him.”

“You’ll find out,” Zarali said, flashing a wider smile.

The greenhouse had an incredible capacity from the start. His current crop of 50 plants would fit easily, but he wanted to confirm a theory. Since the information screen for the [Alchemical Garden] came up in its own window, different from the main building, and had a level indicator it should take [Monster Cores]. The alchemist tested, feeding it a single high-level core, receiving a notification from the system. It accepted the core, gaining several levels immediately. Another core brought it to level 5, causing the building to shift to each direction he selected. He considered the upgrade options that popped up.

[Sun Orbs]

A series of [Sun Orbs] appear floating inside of the greenhouse. The orbs will adjust to provide the perfect light source for whatever plants are in the greenhouse.

[Recycled Earth]

Plants that grow within the greenhouse consume half the nutrients in the soil.

[Weed Killer]

Weeds will never grow within the greenhouse.

It was typical that the first upgrades for a building weren’t great. These were all good, just not great. Theo thought for a moment about the options. [Weed Killer] wasn’t very useful, as there didn’t seem to be many weeds plaguing his crops. [Recycled Earth] was decent, allowing him to apply his alchemical mixture half as often, but [Sun Orbs] was the winner. With [Sun Orbs], he could guarantee that each plant was growing with the exact light source it needed. He didn’t need to worry that he was killing his plants because of bad placement, which he’d seen with the [Water Lily] test. He selected that option, feeding more cores and expanding the building.

By the time the greenhouse reached level 10, it was larger by 10 paces in every direction. The troughs of dirt inside had expanded to match, increasing the capacity of the garden significantly. He inspected the new upgrade options.

[Recycled Earth]

Plants that grow within the greenhouse consume half the nutrients in the soil.

[Weed Killer]

Weeds will never grow within the greenhouse.

[Drogramath Empowerment]

Latent energy, aligned with Drogramath, will be drawn from the air to enhance your plants. Energy density affects growth rate, cultivation yield, and nutrient usage.

[Drogramath Empowerment] was the clear winner for this one. If it scaled with the energy in the air, the results would be absurd. He’d also learned that aligned expansions were usually great, especially if the person owning the building held the same alignment. Theo inspected the building after applying the upgrade, nodding with satisfaction.

[Alchemical Garden]

[The Newt and Demon]

Building Attachment

Owners: Belgar (Theo Spencer), Tresk

Faction: [Broken Tusk]

Level: 10 (15%)

Expansions:

[Sun Orbs]

[Drogramath Empowerment]

As the day waned, Theo transferred his makeshift garden into the greenhouse. The plants seemed to perk up immediately, growing visibly before his eyes. His new greenhouse was large enough to hold 20 of each plant in each row, with 10 rows total. At full cultivation, that meant each row would yield 200 units of each reagent. The [Spiny Swamp Thistle] was ready for experimentation, something he had put off for the day. For now, he let them settle into the new soil.

Theo finished in the garden, finding both the lab and the shop empty, and inspected his newly crafted essence.

[Decay]

[Essence Modifier]

Rare

Created by: Belgar

Grade: Excellent Quality

Drogramath (Middling Bond)

Alignment Effects:

1:1 refinement in pressure vessels

Increased purity from refinement

500 units (liquid)

Add to a completed potion to add the “Decay” modifier. Decay applies necrotic effects to offensive potions.

He took it back to the pressure vessel, receiving a message from Tresk that she was headed home. Both of them cleaned up with [Cleansing Scrub] before heading out for dinner. Xam served another interesting dish that night, something the alchemist had never seen before. She created small, pea-sized balls of Zee bread that tasted salty and sweet at the same time. Resting atop a bed of the Zee-peas was a wolf steak cut into fine strips. The flavors mixed incredibly well and the alchemist was tempted to ask for seconds.

After some conversation with fellow Broken Tuskers, Theo and Tresk retired for the night. They found their way back to their room and fell into bed. The alchemist did his best to dismiss the encroaching feeling of anxiety that came from tomorrow’s trade deal. He fell asleep after considering Azrug’s aptitude on all things trade, leaving it to the young man to sort things out.

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