The Newt and Demon

Chapter 3.28: Fenian's Hallowed Ground

Theo was done with his greenhouses for the day. He made a list of things he could do for the rest of the day, finding himself falling into a familiar trap. He put too much on his own plate too often, drowning in work. Perhaps it was some self-imposed feature of the body he inhabited, preventing him from doing too much alchemy and out-leveling his [Tarahek] core. Nothing would seem strange by now, not even something as a created fate.

It was easy to let those concerns fall away. With properties to discover, various experiments to conduct, and a town to run he wasnt short on tasks. Fenian had already left, but there were still potions to brew. After discovering the [Mana Construct], Theo felt a sudden urge to get some [Manashrooms] cultivated. There was room enough in his mushroom cave, as the truffles had taken to the cultivation process slowly. He stopped by the bridge, borrowing his [Lesser Stone Golem] and heading off for the cave that held the mana mushroom.

This was a precaution, though. Adventurers had been regularly clearing the cave out, often harvesting the mushrooms themselves. When Theo approached, there was no sight of the strange insectoids anywhere. But the golem was a comforting presence. The alchemist sent the construct in, not willing to risk himself for anything. It found a patch of the pulsating blue mushrooms quickly, bringing it back to him with an infectious eagerness. He stuffed the mushrooms away and dismissed the golem on his way back to the lab. Ziz would be happy to get his helper back.

Against Theos expectations, the [Swamp Truffle] had taken up most of the cave. He had to dig through the beds to retrieve them, only their leathery caps sticking out. He culled almost all of them, selecting a few to go on to the next generation. The [Spontaneous Spores] expansion for the [Mycology Cave] would have been the culprit for their expansion, but he needed room for the [Manashrooms]. After dashing a bottle of [Aerosolized] [Lesser Potion of Growth] against the ground, he left them to grow.

[Hallow Ground] was an interesting property. If a person were fighting the undead, they needed the potion. Thats what Theo determined by Fenians intent. He inspected an old potion he made, something that seemed to have little use at the time.

[Lesser Hallow Ground Potion]

[Potion]

Epic

Created by: Belgar

Grade: Excellent Quality

Drink to create a zone of denial.

Effect:

Imbiber creates a twenty pace circle around themselves with the [Hallow Ground] effect. Undead, ghost, etc creatures may cross into the circle, but will be banished when they do so.

It wasnt up to his current standards for potion making. If this came out at the end of a distillation process now, hed throw it out. That bit of Zarali bled into him more as the days went on.

Theo had a few tasks to accomplish with what little of the day remained. It was midday, but he had enough time to run some tests. His top priority was to get a better version of the [Hallow Ground Potion], and figure out the best modifier pairing for it. He assumed Fenian was delving ruins in Gardreth and needed to keep the undead horrors away from him, so a few modifiers came to mind. [Aerosolize] would likely make the effect a gas cloud, instead of a circle. [Web] would make it target fewer undead, while having an increased effect. [Decay], [Anti-Mage], and [Sear] might all be useful, but it was hard to tell without experimentation.

The alchemist started as he did with most things by sending it through the stills. While he let that work, he bolstered his supply of the more common modifiers. With the stills all running at full capacity, [Power Siphon] humming ominously, and fermentation barrels bubbling, the lab was getting too hot. The idea of a cooling system was pushing itself to the forefront of his mind.

The crates within the lab were scattered with so many abandoned experiments, as well as leftovers from sieges. At a point, Theo crafted large amounts of [Basic Freezebombs] to combat the monster waves. He was left with several units of [Freeze Essence]. It was low-quality, unrefined essence, but it worked perfectly fine for experimentation. The alchemist consulted his mental notes, physical notes, and his copy of Basic Drogramath Alchemy before proceeding to experiment. [Freeze Essence] didnt make a standard potion, but his intuition said it could make what he labeled as detergent-style potions.

Thinking about it, marking them in his mind as detergents wasnt accurate. It was just the most common use for the technique, even if Pergs tannery relied on a stripping solution made from the same method. It was too late to change the name now, so he went forward with the experiment.

The ratio of water to essence followed the standard hed seen before, a tenth of a unit of essence to 5 units of water. It would have been nearly impossible for a normal person to get the amounts right, but that was a strength of his [Drogramath Alchemy Core] he often overlooked. He measured it down to the exact tenth of a unit, watching as the water formed tiny ice crystals. But it didnt freeze, and a new solution was created. He inspected the result.

[Freeze Solution]

[Cooling Agent]

Uncommon

Created by: Belgar

Grade: Excellent Quality

Apply to dramatically lower the temperature of anything.

Effect:

Apply enough solution to freeze an object, person, monster, etc.

Theo poured a drop of the solution on the ground without waiting, or thinking, about the consequences. Almost nothing happened. The spot where the solution made contact got rather cold, but it didnt produce the magical effect he expected. His lab wasnt miraculously cooled in moments, which was disappointing. He poured most of the 5 unit solution out on the ground, only gaining frozen floorboards for his efforts. The alchemist took physical notes on this discovery, underlining Throks name three times before moving on.

Air conditioning worked somehow back on Earth. It had something to do with blowing air over something cold, then cycling that through a building. Theo never paid attention to the way things worked, leaving him to riddle it out with his current knowledge. He settled on the idea of an artifice to blow air over copper tubes filled with his [Freeze Solution]. Throk would have more insight on the matter, and he moved on to inspect his distilling [Swamp Truffles]. Enough of the essence had brewed out for him to run a test on the [Refined Hallow Ground Essence].

Theos new sense for alchemy let him know this essence could be brewed in two different ways. The first was the drinkable version, while the second would be a bomb that held a similar effect. He made one of each and examined them individually.

[Hallow Ground Potion]

[Potion]

Epic

Created by: Belgar

Alignment:

Drogramath (Middling Bond)

Grade: Excellent Quality

Drink to create a zone of denial.

Effect:

Imbiber creates a fifty pace circle around themselves with the [Hallow Ground] effect. Undead, ghost, etc creatures may cross into the circle, but will be banished when they do so.

An increase in the effectiveness of a potion was standard for a jump to the second tier. Theo was disappointed it didnt gain an additional effect, but it made for a more powerful base to apply modifiers. He examined the bomb version, the only difference in their creation being the intent while brewing. A better vessel for the volatile bomb helped as well.

[Hallow Ground Bomb]

[Bomb]

Epic

Created by: Belgar

Alignment:

Drogramath (Middling Bond)

Grade: Excellent Quality

Shatter against a target, or surface, to inflict damage to undead targets.

Effect:

Shattering this bomb against an undead target will inflict scaling damage based on the quality of this bomb.

It was different enough to be useful, but hard to judge. Theo had never faced down undead creatures, but they must have been hard to deal with. It was a passing interest, and he moved on to selecting the best modifiers for the potion version. The bomb could wait until he consulted with someone familiar with undead monsters. Instead of going for the modifiers that made sense, he first went for the ones that didnt to rule them out. The alchemist applied the green-yellow [Surge] modifier essence to the potion, transferring it into a 4 unit vial. He examined the result after the smoke cleared, tilting his head to appreciate the vent that finally worked.

[Hallow Ground Potion]

[Surge]

[Potion] [Modified Potion]

Epic

Created by: Belgar

Alignment:

Drogramath (Middling Bond)

Grade: Excellent Quality

Drink to send off a pulse of power that forces undead to flee.

Effect:

All undead within your line of sight have a 50% chance to flee, based on the user's mana. If any of the undead targets within your line of sight have a greater value of mana, every undead resists the effects.

This potion fell into the category of potions that were too complicated for Theo to understand. He knew what it did, based on his knowledge and the description, but couldnt tell if it was useful. A mage who used this could cause fields of undead to flee, turning the tide in a battle where the undead forces outnumbered defenders. He decided it was a good potion, and set it aside to show Fenian.

Next up was a more powerful modifier, the [Refined Anti-Mage] essence. The description on this modifier claimed it would often add another modifier, thanks to his alignment bonus. This additional modifier was the reason Tresks poisons were so powerful. He introduced the liquids, inspecting the result.

[Hallow Ground Potion]

[Refined Anti-Mage]

[Potion] [Modified Potion]

Epic

Created by: Belgar

Alignment:

Drogramath (Middling Bond)

Grade: Excellent Quality

Drink to create a zone of denial.

Effect:

Imbiber creates a fifty pace circle around themselves with the [Hallow Ground] effect. Undead, ghost, etc creatures may cross into the circle, but will be banished when they do so.

All undead within the radius of the circle will have all their mana sapped, granting it to the target.

All undead within the radius of the circle will be silenced from spellcasting for an hour.

There it was. The overpowered potion Theo expected from the [Anti-Mage] property. It didnt mention the level of the undead target, which meant this would cancel the efforts of any undead magic user. The only problem he could see with it was a person had to be close enough to use the potion. That was enough to level the playing field, but a thought stuck in his mind. He hadnt considered the undead wielding magic.

The [Decay] modifier refused to bind to a [Hallow Ground Potion], as did [Sear]. Theo ran down the list of his modifiers, creating many duds and leaving only the best for less. Best was a relative term though, because the modifiers he applied were [Web], [Aerosolize], and [Embolden]. [Embolden] had created effects that would kill the user, if they didnt know what they were doing. He avoided it for that reason, but Fenian was clearly looking for effective weapons.

[Hallow Ground Potion]

[Embolden]

[Potion] [Modified Potion]

Epic

Created by: Belgar

Alignment:

Drogramath (Middling Bond)

Grade: Excellent Quality

Drink to create a zone of denial.

Effect:

Imbiber creates a fifty pace circle around themselves with the [Emboldened Hallow Ground] effect. The imbiber must overpower the will of each undead, in succession. Failure to overpower will result in the users mind joining the undeads collective. Success will put those undead affected under the users control.

Yep, Theo said, nodding to himself. Thats absolutely horrifying.

He sealed the knowledge away in his mind, drawing the potion in his inventory to destroy later. Things like this didnt need to see the light of day. Only a desperate idiot would try to use the potion. Theo knew from controlling the golems, the [Lesser Stone Golem] still sapping his will, how difficult it was to maintain control. He inspected the [Aerosolize] potion next.

[Hallow Ground Potion]

[Aerosolize]

[Potion] [Modified Potion]

Epic

Created by: Belgar

Alignment:

Drogramath (Middling Bond)

Grade: Excellent Quality

Shatter to create a cloud of denial.

Effect:

Throwing this potion creates a fifty pace circle around themselves with the [Hallow Ground] effect. Undead, ghost, etc creatures may cross into the cloud, but will be banished when they do so.

[Aerosolize] was predictable, and Theo was satisfied with the results. It took the base potion and made it a bomb, which was fantastic. Hed need to modifier the container, as every flat-bottomed vial he created was unnaturally strong. When the alchemist used the [Glassware Artifice], he could specify the strength of the vials. Now he had a reference point for most of the modifiers, but he moved on to inspect the last one. [Web] was often a great modifier, and he was disappointed he didnt have any [Refined Web] on hand. The alignment effect was enough to make it worth it, but these were baseline tests.

[Hallow Ground Potion]

[Web]

[Potion] [Modified Potion]

Epic

Created by: Belgar

Alignment:

Drogramath (Middling Bond)

Grade: Excellent Quality

Drink to create a web of denial.

Effect:

Imbibing this potion creates a web of denial, applying the [Hallow Ground Web] effect to the nearest 20 targets. Undead, ghost, etc creatures will be banished when touched by strands of the web. Targets afflicted with [Hallow Ground Web] will receive the effect of [Hallow Ground] when the [Web] modifier expires.

That was more complicated than Theo expected. 20 targets were bound by a web, and any undead that touched the web would be banished. Theo didnt know what banished meant, but that didnt matter. He could imagine a field of undead, all crossing over the web to get banished. That was good enough for him, and he let out a breath.

Theo fell back into a chair, wiping his brow with a cloth. The heat didnt bother him much, but the lab was sweltering. Even with the window open, it wasnt enough to stave off the fading sun outside. The Season of Fire was going to be rough if he didnt get his air conditioning idea working. Then there was the new project he promised himself to, the road. Something in his chest sang praises for that idea, but it would be expensive. He should have hammered out a better deal with Alran before he left, something like financial support.

While he always thought solitude would fit him well, Theo was going stir crazy. It was only a few hours since hed talked to a person, but the lack of constant conversation was getting to him. It fell with his schedule to check in on citizens, though. With his [Hallow Ground] issue sorted, the only thing he needed to do with alchemy was wait for his gardens to grow. Then hed experiment with cultivated attribute-enhancement essences. He slipped downstairs and found Salire haggling with a customer. The alchemist watched the process.

Azrug was a natural at squeezing coin out of people. The man, a Human, was arguing with his new Half-Ogre shopkeeper. She seemed meek when Theo saw her before, but here in her element she was fierce. When the man asked for an absurdly low price, the cost of potions skyrocketed. When he asked her to include something to sweeten the pot, she took it away. Theo could tell he was giving her a hard time, and felt a swell of pride when she refused to budge. They came to terms after a while.

Impressive, Theo said, moving to clap his hand on her shoulder. She blushed.

Sorry you had to see that, Salire said. Traveling adventurers are a certain breed.

Where was he from?

Some no-name town west of Qavell, Salire said, placing the coins shed made for the day on the counter. 10 gold for the pot. Were doing good so far. Just keep my shelves stocked.

Theo withdrew a few unmodified [Healing Potions] from his inventory and helped her restock the shelves. It wasnt a great offering, but it would do to hold people over.

Just take whatever you need from the shops coffers, Theo said, waving her away. She was trying to give the money to him, but he wanted it to stay in the shop. Use the cash to buy stuff from traders. Youll get a lot of experience that way.

Salire put her hands on her hips, her face hardening for once.

How are you in business? she asked.

This isnt my primary money-generating venture, Theo said. This is just where I train new merchants.

She laughed at that.

Still, I might rob your funds at any moment. Make sure you have enough to live on, but try investing the coin, Theo said. Azrug did well that way.

He still has 100 gold here, Salire said.

Yeah, and I bet he spent 500 on the gear he stocked, Theo said. I just dont want to worry about the shop. I want you to run it, if Azrug isnt coming back.

He seems very busy, Salire said, her gaze drifting off to the front of the store. Well, if youre taking requests

Im not.

I need some attribute potions, and more of those healing pills, Salire said.

People like the pills? Theo asked.

People love the pills, Salire corrected. I only know because they keep asking for them.

Theo sent a mental command to his lodestone outside. His golems were currently searching for whatever they could find, but he replaced that instruction with another. He commanded them to find more [Marsh Tubers], a knotted root that created the [Solidify] modifier essence. He sensed they knew what he meant, leading him to believe they had some of his cores abilities. The alchemist produced his [Mana Essence] and marble tablets and created more [Mana Constructs] for his golems. Salire watched on with curiosity in her eyes.

How do you like it here? Theo asked.

Its weird, Salire said, shrugging. At least she was honest. I heard you havent been the mayor for more than a season. And before you, it was a destitute place.

Seems like part of someones plan, Theo said. If you could answer the question of who created that plan, you can have all my gold.

Drogramath? Salire asked.

Maybe, Theo said. Maybe not. Say, what do you know about coin pressing?

Salire knew more about minting coins than Theo expected. She corrected him immediately, letting him know there was more than one method to make currency. Gronro-Dir had their own mint, but they used an upgrade that allowed them to pour metal into a mold. He picked her brain for a while, feeling bold now that he knew a close neighbor was creating money.

They do it for the prestige, Salire said with a defeated shrug. Theyre lucky if they get 10 silver in a week, but I guess that wont be a problem here. You take a breath and get a lungful of Drogramaths power.

Theo nodded. Now he just needed the seed core. Then things would really come together.

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