The Newt and Demon

Theo rose near dawn the next morning, his late-night excursion with Luras clearly taking its toll. Tresk was waiting in the lab, sipping on her tea and smiling when he emerged. The alchemist withdrew the days-old pot of soup from his inventory. Steam rose from the cauldron, losing none of its heat while it was stowed away.

“You had a night, huh?” Tresk asked, laughing.

Theo assumed his seat near the window, shaking his head. He explained how he bought the parcel of land for Luras, and the Half-Ogre’s intentions to become a leatherworker. He dished out two bowls of soup, passing one to his companion.

“That’s just a smart move,” Tresk said. “The town is going to do a lot better with more crafters.”

That was just a fact. Theo’s recent progress in putting Broken Tusk on the map would see their population explode. It would be a gold rush of people seeking to exploit the swamp’s natural resources. Luras would put himself in a fantastic position with an endless supply of leather to work on. It wasn’t just good leather, it was impossibly supple, durable leather brought directly from the swamp itself.

“He’s going to make a killing,” Theo said.

“No doubt.”

“Did you get anything good from the dungeon yesterday?” Theo asked.

Tresk shrugged, slurping noisily on her soup. “Lots of cores. No gear.”

“What about that thing you thought was a reagent?” Theo asked.

Tresk’s face brightened. “Oh! I almost forgot.” She withdrew something that looked suspiciously like a skull fragment and handed it over.

[Reanimated Skeleton Fragment]

[Alchemy Ingredient]

Common

Skull fragment of a skeleton reanimated by necromantic powers.

Properties:

[Withering] ???? ????

“It’s a skull fragment,” Theo said, grimacing. “Of a magic skeleton. This is gross, but it has the [Withering] property.”

“Hah! I knew it,” Tresk said. “I tried to eat one, and it gave me a bad cramp. Drained my stamina a bit.”

Theo closed his eyes, pressing his fingers into his temples. “Tresk. Why would you eat a skull fragment?”

“To see if it was an alchemy thing,” Tresk said, shrugging.

The alchemist had to wonder why she wasn’t dead yet, with that kind of recklessness. “And the motes?”

“Oh yeah,” Tresk said, withdrawing some motes from her bag. Then she withdrew some more. Theo couldn’t scoop them up fast enough, and the floor was soon littered by rolling balls of pulsating energy.

“Thanks,” Theo said, scooping the absurd amount of motes from the ground. Along with his dwindling stores, it would be enough to make Fenian’s potions.

A knock at the door brought Theo downstairs, Tresk close behind. Ziz stood with his laborers, waving and smiling. “Morning, boss. Perg is mad that she has to pay us again, but I wanted to see if you needed anything while we’re scouring the land.”

Theo produced 10 copper coins from his inventory and handed it over. “As many motes as you can find. The coppers as a tip.”

Ziz grinned, distributing the money among his companions and turning on the spot. As soon as they departed, Azrug showed up for the day. He didn’t say a word to either Tresk or Theo, closing the door behind him.

“Well, I guess I should get going,” Tresk said, shrugging. Theo bent down to press his forehead against hers and she departed, waving as she went.

Theo retreated to his laboratory, taking stock of what he had to brew for the day. The entire base order for Fenian was done. The alchemist was guaranteed to get his three gold coins at the end, but he wanted the additional pay. After cleaning the stills with [Cleansing Scrub], Theo prepared to make the largest run of the stat-enhancing potions he’d ever done. Fortunately, it ran off of the same basic recipe as the level 1 restoration potions, and wouldn’t cause him any problems. The flowers were effortless to mash, and he had both stills running within a half-hour of starting.

Theo’s [Drogramath Alchemy Core] was almost level 8, and his [Drogramath Herbalist Core] trailed behind by a significant margin. The first still he set up ran 200 units of the [Water Lily], while the second only ran 100 units of [Stone Flower]. He also had 122 [Flame Roses] in his inventory, and would run that once he got back from gathering herbs. The thought of heading out into the swamp came and left his mind, the image of the giant wolf making him uncomfortable. He set his mental timer and left the shop, waving at Azrug as he went.

Unlike most of his jaunts across his parcel, the sun was obstructed by a thick layer of clouds. It was the first time he’d seen a storm loom over Broken Tusk, but the dark clouds blowing from the southern sea meant rain. By the time he made it to the river, a light drizzle fell on his head. It washed over him, the soft patter of the raindrops cleansing his mind and sharpening his focus. The alchemist stood by the river with a [Water Lily] in hand, gazing out over the turbid rush of water with hooded eyes. A chill ran up his back as the rain soaked through his clothes, matting them down on his body.

Theo sat on the pebbled shore of the river, breathing in the wet smell. Something swelled in his chest, the deluge stirring something in his soul. He used to love the rain back on Earth. He’d stand out on his balcony, before the fall of modern civilization, and listen to the raindrops for hours. It took every bit of his willpower to stand and return to the lab when his mental timer went off. He entered the shop, dripping rain and gaining the attention of Azrug.

“The rain is finally here,” Azrug said, grunting and returning his gaze to the book.

Theo withdrew 2 copper coins and slapped them down on the counter. “In case I forget to pay you.”

“Again.”

Theo ignored the comment. “Does it normally rain like this in the Season of Blooms?”

“It’s usually worse,” Azrug said, glancing up to look out the window. “Mid-morning storms like this are my childhood. It used to rain every day until the season ended, but not so much anymore.”

Theo nodded, ascending the stairs with his sloshing moccasins and swapping a fresh flask for the still brewing [Wisdom Essence]. The still processing the [Vigor Essence] was done. He cleaned it out with [Cleansing Scrub], and prepared the [Flame Rose] by mashing it, adding it to the still, and leveling it off with [Purified Water] before bringing his [Flame Artifice] back to life.

The alchemist fed motes into the [Glassware Artifice], generating an absurd amount of flat-bottomed vials for the stat potions. He cleared away some junk for a table and distributed the restoration essences he made previously. Like the [Lesser Stamina Potions], the other restoration potions stacked to at least 500. He noticed that Fenian’s quest didn’t complete and reasoned that only when he handed the potions over would it finish. Theo kicked off the simple reaction for the [Lesser Potion of Vigor], holding back on the [Lesser Potion of Wisdom] until the remaining 100 units had distilled. He distributed it into vials while he waited for both batches to finish, then repeated the process.

It was midday by the time he cleared out his stills, causing the reaction on the remaining essences and taking stock of his creations. He had 500 of mana and health potions, 600 of the stamina potions, 200 [Lesser Potion of Wisdoms], 100 [Lesser Potion of Strengths], and 100 [Lesser Potion of Vigors]. According to the quest, it was two gold coins worth of potion, assuming he didn’t convert it into monster cores. It was a quantity of money that seemed absurd, an absolute embarrassment of riches. He had to wonder if Fenian’s deal was too good to be true.

Theo pulled up his quest menu, finding [Fenian’s Request] and knitting his brow. He was great at losing track of the days, but he was certain more than one day remained on the order. Yet, the quest claimed he had one day before Fenian returned. It would be nice to clear the quest out of his log, but that was too soon. The Elf must have hastened his pace back to Broken Tusk, and the alchemist didn’t doubt his ability to cover long distances quickly. It made sense that a merchant would have a magical means of transportation.

The shop was empty when Theo went to check on his shopkeeper. It was past midday, though the rain still obfuscated the sun above and he was still soaking wet. He cleaned the place up, organizing the potions on the shelves and adding new ones. His stock was pathetic, but he had no time to distill anything else today. Perg’s order would take priority. He withdrew a parchment from his inventory and scrawled batch quantities across the surface. She was expecting a 200 unit solution of [Stripping Solution] and [Alchemic Tannin]. With his improved knowledge and skills, he would instead produce 500 units of each. The reactions were incredibly forgiving at a 0.1 to 5 ratio of essence to [Stabilized Water].

Theo would need to prepare 50 units of each [Ogre Cypress Bark], [Swamplight Spider Silk], and [Marsh Tubers], but would run as large a batch as he could and hold back the essence. If the laborers brought an absurd amount of reagents, he’d run them all. The plan was to hold the essences in reserve, without telling Perg, allowing him to produce the solutions quickly upon request. His math checked out on paper, solidifying the knowledge he gained from experience.

Shortly after finishing his plan, the laborers showed up. They were all drenched from the rain, but held wide smiles on their faces. Theo led them upstairs, everyone’s shoes sloshing as they went, and had them deposit the materials in his dimensional crate. They’d gone crazy out in the marsh. Over 200 units of [Swamplight Spider Silk] and [Marsh Tubers] were now in his possession, along with a bounty of motes. He couldn’t even imagine how they found so much silk, but knew that the adventurer’s efforts to clear the wolves had something to do with it.

“Did we do good, boss?” Ziz asked.

“You did great,” Theo said. “You’re on regular reagent duty starting tomorrow. Thistle root, Mushrooms, moss—you know the deal.”

“How about the quarry?”

Theo managed a wry smile. He’d hate to lose his laborers, but understood that their work wasn’t good for his herbalism core. “We’ll talk about it tomorrow. The Elf trader should be here. We’ll see what he has for seed cores.”

“Understood, boss,” Ziz said. He turned and left the lab, his companions sloshing behind him.

Theo downed a [Lesser Stamina Potion], cleared out the stills, and got to work. The surge of energy allowed him to chop the [Marsh Tubers] up quickly, but he knew his enhanced [Strength] stat did the heavy lifting. The [Marshlight Spider Silk] didn’t need more than a light tapping with his smashing stick, and was the first to be tossed in a still. With fresh motes in the [Flame Artifices], he started the slow distillation process. Tresk updated him about her adventures again, letting him know she was safe, and returning home. Fortunately, she didn’t say she had anymore dubious alchemy ingredients this time, but she sounded tired.

The alchemist could only imagine what happened in those dungeons. The fitful battle between life and death that played out daily beyond the walls of Broken Tusk was beyond him. He listened to the slow drip of the condensers filling the dual flasks. The rain outside played against his window, and he opened it to let the sound in. Theo breathed in the wet air, letting out a heavy sigh. The smell of falling rain did something for him.

Tresk came home when the first two flasks were full, 100 units of each essence he needed. He stowed them away and greeted his companion, pressing his forehead against hers and gaining another level in his [Tara’hek Core]. The special core was now level 4, and he was curious about how the unalterable core would provide new abilities. They sat together at the table. She closed her eyes and smiled, listening to the sound of the rain pouring outside.

“That’s a lovely sound,” Tresk said. Her skin was still slick with the rain, and she didn’t seem to care.

“It really is,” Theo said. “Azrug said there are seasonal rains during springtime.”

“Springtime? Ah, the Season of Blooms,” Tresk said, nodding. “I guess ‘spring’ makes sense. But, yeah. We have a lot of rain down south during the spring.”

“I bet it's good for the alchemy reagents,” Theo said.

Tresk shrugged, pulling random junk out of her dimensional bag. “We didn’t make it to the first boss. Again. Luras just doesn’t have his heart in it, I think.”

“He wants to live the life of a crafter,” Theo said, gesturing to the lab. “Who could blame him? Look at this place. It’s nice.”

“You’re a homebody,” Tresk said, giggling.

“I won’t argue the point,” Theo said. “I traveled all over Earth. Despite the nature of the job, it was still nice.”

“The job being murder,” Tresk asked, grinning.

Theo frowned. He knew ‌his assignments boiled down to assassinations, but he preferred to think of them as jobs and targets. Not missions and people. But, the Marshling was right. Whatever he wanted to call it in his head, he’d be lying to himself if it was anything but murder. “Much like an assassin here, I guess.”

“Some people need to die,” Tresk said, shrugging. “Best way to remove a despot here is with a high-level assassin.”

“That’s morbid,” Theo said, chuckling. “True, but morbid.”

“Don’t worry,” Tresk said, retrieving one last item from her inventory. It was a wide copper pan. She brandished it like a weapon and grinned. “I’ll protect you.”

Theo scoffed, shaking his head. “With that?”

“This is for the wolf steak,” Tresk said. “Once you're done with the magic fire, I’m making us some steak.”

Theo doubted that the steak would be as good as the ones made by Aarok, but wouldn’t object. He wondered for a moment about how healthy it would be to eat steak every day, but couldn’t speculate how cholesterol worked in this strange world. There might even be a potion he could use to cure people of their bad eating habits. He’d need to look into it.

“So, the salt problem,” Theo said, withdrawing a scroll and laying it down on the table.

“I knew you’d crack this problem,” Tresk said, bounding over with a wide smile on her face.

“No progress, yet,” Theo said. “My [Wisdom] tells me there’s something I can do beyond level 10, but I only have theories right now. Maybe transmutation, or the separation of base elements from objects. I don’t really know.”

“So, what’s the theory,” Tresk asked, bouncing up and down.

Theo shrugged. “Exactly what I said. I think I can do something to matter once I level up a bit more. It only makes sense if you think about everything in the world having a bunch of properties, like my alchemy reagents. I can separate out those properties into essences, so why not base materials?”

“I’m excited for free salt,” Tresk said, nodding to herself.

“Not just salt,” Theo shrugged. “Technically everything is made up of small amounts of a lot of precious things. I remember hearing a fact back on Earth that the human body had gold in it. So other stuff probably has random junk in it, I just have to figure out how to extract it.”

“Well, I’m mostly useless for that kinda stuff. I’m really good at stabbing things. Let me know if you need something stabbed,” Tresk said.

“Your stabbing prowess is noted,” Theo said.

The essences finished cooking off, and Theo stowed them away into his inventory before cleaning the stills. Tresk stole a [Flame Artifice] and placed the large copper pot on top. She waited a moment for it to get hot before placing four thick strips of wolf meat; the steaks sizzling away instantly.

“Four steaks?” Theo asked. “Are you really that hungry?”

Tresk cast him a devious look, wiggling her eyebrows. “Wait for it.”

Theo only had to wait a few tense moments for the knock at the door to come. He blustered, throwing his hands up in exasperation. “How can he even smell it with the rain?” he asked.

The alchemist marched downstairs, finding both Luras and Perg standing expectantly on the other side of the door. He folded his arms and waited there for a moment. “Do you guys wait outside of my house every afternoon? Waiting for handouts?”

Luras and Perg shared a look, then said, “yes,” in unison.

Theo led them upstairs, maintaining the farce that he was upset only so long. By the time they reached the upstairs landing, he was laughing about the situation. The group sat down at the table by the window with the sounds of the storm washing over the room in turbid waves. The scent of the cooking meat filled the room. Tresk sat dutifully by the skillet, licking her lips without even looking up to greet the guests.

“Almost done with my stuff?” Perg asked, smiling.

“No business over dinner!” Tresk shouted.

“It’s fine. Yeah, I’ll be done tomorrow,” Theo said.

“Good, cause I almost need to take out a loan. That seed core drained my funds,” Perg said.

“No one wants to hear about your funds,” Luras groaned.

“Hey! I don’t have an alchemist benefactor supporting my business,” Perg scoffed.

“Yes, you do,” Luras said.

Perg went to speak, but stopped before any words came out. She folded her hands in her lap and focused her attention on the cooking steaks. “I guess we’re all becoming dependent on Theo.”

“Not for long,” Theo said. “I’m trying to be mindful of that. Made a deal with Ziz to start a stone cutting business—I’ll give him ownership after a time.”

“Still,” Luras said, shrugging. “We depend on you, now.”

“Yeah! So you have to defend him. He’s precious,” Tresk said, flipping the steaks one last time. “Now shut up! No business at dinner.”

A small Marshling brandishing a wooden spoon was enough to silence the group. They moved to small talk as they ate their meal. As Theo predicted, it wasn’t as good as the food that Aarok made, but it was still great. He made a mental note to switch between the soup and steak for dinner, perhaps combining them. The conversation went on until dusk, when Luras and Perg departed for the night. Tresk turned in before him, the effects of the [Lesser Stamina Potion] still lingering. He spent that time alone with his thoughts, correcting old notes and listening to the storm that raged until after nightfall.

Theo finally turned in, thankful that none of Tresk’s dreams invaded his thoughts.