The Newt and Demon - Book 6 Chapters 70,71,72

Chapter 70

Tol’bak

Tol’bak came together far faster than Tero’gal had. It didn’t have the same growing pains related to transitioning from a Mortal Dreamworld into a Throneworld. The planetoid was born as a Throneworld, given all the advantages of that from the start. Since it was also smaller than Tero’gal, it had less of itself to form. When Tresk decided to make the entire planet a swamp—much to the dismay of Belgar and Theo—that gave it even less work to do. Before long, they looked out over the endless landscape of mud, shallow water, and towering cypress trees.

“That certainly is something,” Theo said with a sigh. “And you wonder why I don’t let you decide important things.”

“What? I like it,” Tresk said, breathing in the scent of the endless swamp. “Smells like victory.”

Shaking his head, Theo inspected the world. He wasn’t surprised at how sparse it was.

[Tol’bak]

Throneworld

Leaders:

Theo Spencer, Tresk

Residents:

0

Cities:

0

Features:

Bridge of Shadows

Tero’gal

“Toru’aun said she wants to move here. I wonder if that still holds true now that the world is covered in a swamp,” Theo said.

“At least it's done,” Belgar said. “Perhaps Drogramath will want to live here.”

“Maybe. Was it hard to generate the world, Tresk?” Theo asked.

“No. We just pulled the throne to the edge of Tero’gal’s version of outer space. It basically formed itself.”

Anyone who lived in the ascendant realms could now take the Bridge of Shadows between the two worlds. The feature had already been open to the residents, allowing them to leave for Khahak if they wanted. While the Bridge still had a connection to the mortal world, Theo doubted that would remain open forever. Once everything was sealed away, it was unlikely to give access to anyone. As Fenian was still using it as his personal highway to get around on the mortal world, he figured the gods would put a stop to that soon enough.

There were quite a few things that Theo wanted to get back to in the mortal world. Especially now that time passed at a similar rate. Tresk wanted to remain here for a bit, so he left her to it before heading through the void. Both Tresk and Alex should have been able to bring themselves back without issue.

As expected, Broken Tusk was awake by the time he returned. Several hours had passed since he left, giving Theo a feeling of disorientation. He was too used to only a few minutes passing by while he was gone. At least there was plenty of alchemy-related things to take care of today. The dragon bone essences would be ready for him to brew, but more exciting than that was his mana-infusion technique developed in the Dreamwalk.

Another person Theo didn’t know was working in the shop of the Newt and Demon, ringing up a customer as he entered. The alchemist gave him a nod before heading to the top floor, where he found Salire. She was looking over an assortment of the small stills, waving at him as he entered.

“Throk gave me some weird machines to test out,” Salire said, shaking her head. “I don’t even know where to start.”

“Good news. We’re gonna start with some mana infusion techniques,” Theo said, slapping some Spiny Swamp Thistle Root onto the table. He held his hand over it, allowing mana to drip and infuse into the reagent. “Simple as soaking the reagent in your raw Tero’gal mana.”

“Wow. No explosions,” Salire said, stooping low to inspect the root. “I was expecting a lot of explosions.”

“I think this just reinforces the purity of the reagent,” Theo said, setting the root aside. “So any reagent you infuse with your mana should be more stable during distillation. Anything else to report?”

“Just that I don’t know what to do with these machines.”

Theo tapped his chin. Did he want to figure out what weird equipment Throk threw his way, or work on the dragon potions? The dragon potions would be much more interesting to see, so he went with that. “We’ll worry about that later. Do we have a decent stock of basic potions for the shop?”

“Yes. We have quite a few now. And…” Salire gestured to the stills running in the room. “I’m making some more. You know… just in case.”

“Back to a surplus,” Theo said, looking over his lab with pride. “Even with our reduced capacity, you’re still brewing at a surplus.”

“Well, this is kinda… the only thing I do,” Salire said with a nervous chuckle. “Not a big deal. Just the truth.”

“Yeah. Maybe we need a beach day or something,” Theo said, scratching his chin. “Well, I guess we can have an extended vacation when the world ends. For now, we need to ensure everyone has enough potions to survive until the world’s end.”

“Right? Imagine missing that date.”

“Well, if you die now you might be alright. It depends on if your soul can make it into the void. If it does, Death will scoop you up and give you a free pass to reincarnate.”

“Really? Wait, why would you know that?”

“I talked to him,” Theo said. “Don’t know if I’m allowed to say it, but whatever.”

“You haven’t been smote yet, so… I think you’re good.”

“Anyway… Potion time!”

“Yay!”

Theo put his worries about anything else aside, heading over to the giant metal cube to collect his essences. He had isolated the Soar, Lost Hope, and Dragon’s Insight properties from the ascendant dragon’s bones. All came out to 90% purity, and were the same off-white shade in their respective flasks. They smelled of little and put off a sense of authority even in their processed state. As expected with such low purity, the stills used to brew them were encrusted with the alchemical waste.

“These could have been better,” Theo said, stowing the essences away for now. He would clean the stills themselves later. For now he was happy to check out the new essences. 

“I’m not hopeful about those ones,” Salire said, following closely behind him. “Lost Hope? What could that even give? A sense of hopelessness? Surely that can’t be positive.”

“There’s only one way to find out,” Theo said, leading the way back to the lab. Back on the third floor, he laid out his equipment and turned on the extractor artifice. “We’ll just go in order… Soar first.”

“At least it mixes as it should,” Salire said, watching as Theo blended the essence, water, and catalyst.

The alchemist still loved the vial design she had come up with. It was now the standard way their potions were bottled, including the decorative glass topper. Just like the essence, the finished potion was an off white color, close to beige. It smelled of almost nothing, holding an almost earthy scent.

“No issues with the vapors generated by the essences, right?” Theo asked, swirling the vial to complete the reaction.

“Not really. I’m sure any potential accidents will go away once we sort your mana infusion technique out.”

Theo nodded, finally satisfied that the potion was done brewing. “Ah. Yes, I really would enjoy drinking the potion of falling to your death.”

[Lesser Soaring Potion]

[Potion]

Uncommon

Created by: Theo Spencer

Purity: 90%

Drink to soar.

Effect:

Five seconds after consuming this potion, the imbiber will be sent into the air. The distance depends on the purity of this potion.

“How high do you think it throws you up?” Salire asked, tapping her chin as she thought. “Maybe you could use it to… Climb up a mountain or something?”

“As long as you had a way to fall slowly,” Theo said. “And, yes. That depends on how high it sends you. A few feet? No problem. Five-hundred? You’re in trouble.”

“Right,” Salire said, taking the potion and setting it aside. “Let’s just not think about that one ever again.”

“We should start a list of dud potions,” Theo said, moving on to the next one. Soar was actually a property he had some hope for. Theo wanted to see a potion that allowed him to fly. He would’ve settled for gliding. But, no. It was another weird potion that made him do something he didn’t want to do. Even the Retreat potion was more useful.

Moving on to the next one, Theo knew what he was in for before he even examined it. There were qualities of potions that set them apart from poisons. Poisons all seemed more viscous than potions, and they put off an aura of malice. The potion derived from the Lost Hope property was a poison.

[Lesser Hopeless Poison]

[Poison]

Uncommon

Created by: Theo Spencer

Purity: 90%

Apply to a weapon to inflict the [Hopeless] effect on a target.

Effect:

Applies the [Hopeless] effect, reducing an entity’s willingness to fight. The strength of this effect depends on the purity of this poison.

“Making a person hopeless…” Theo trailed off, shaking his head. “I suppose you could use that to route monsters… if they had morale.”

“Wow. Two crappy potions in a row.” Salire offered Theo a pained smile, patting him on the shoulder. “Who knew dragon bones sucked this much?”

“Even if all properties are bad, it doesn’t matter,” Theo said. “They’ve served their purpose already. Well, Alex is almost a dragon. She has to eat more bones.”

“Alex is eating the bones?” Salire asked. “Disgusting.”

“Yeah, I’m not a fan. Let’s get to work on this last potion. Anything with the word ‘insight’ is usually good.”

“Seriously,” Salire said, lifting the potion for inspection. “Hmmm. Not sure what you’re going to think about this one.”

Theo inspected the potion, willing to wait no longer to get this saga behind him.

[Lesser Dragon’s Insight]

[Potion]

Rare

Created by: Theo Spencer

Purity: 85%

Your gaze is peerless, like that of the mighty dragon.

Effect:

Locking eyes with a sapient enemy will initiate the [Dragon’s Duel] effect.

While under the effect of [Dragon’s Duel], you gain insight into the attack patterns of your opponent.

“How long does it even last?” Theo asked, scratching his head. “I mean, this is a great potion if you’re planning on murdering people. Gaining insight into someone’s attacks would be useful. Almost like my precognition. But there are problems…”

“Like the purity,” Salire pointed out. “Why was it less than the others? They came from the same plant with the same distillation method.”

This was certainly one of the more strange potions Theo had created. It was only so strange because it was so unlike his other potions. The effect was strange, activating when a person locked eyes with an opponent. That likely meant it had an infinite duration to start—or a long one anyway. After that, the Dragon’s Duel effect would last… what? Until either member of the duel died?

“This effect might be strange because it comes from a draconic ascendant,” Theo said. “Which brings me to another confusing question. Is this an aligned reagent, or just a shard of the dead dragon’s power?”

“You’re asking questions only you and the other throne people can answer, I think,” Salire said.

Theo nodded. She was right, of course. “These potions aren’t great, but maybe we can use this as a jumping-off point for something else. The modifiers, maybe. Or some other enhancement method we can use to increase the potency of reagents.”

“What do you have in mind?”

Theo had to think for a second as his thoughts shifted away from the dragon potions. They were a bust, and that was fine. This was the point of alchemy, even if things took longer now that he didn’t have Drogramath’s power to lean on. The way reagents reacted with each other was going to change when they moved to Tero’gal. Perhaps it was best to verbalize his thoughts.

“This is a trial run for us, Salire,” Theo said, clapping a hand on her shoulder. “When we move to Tero’gal, we’re going to experience more challenges like this. We’re going to rebuild the basics of alchemy from the start.”

“How pliable is Tero’gal going to be once we get there?”

Theo clicked his tongue. “That’s hard to say. Like everything else, it seems as though it's waiting for the next shift to happen. It doesn’t want to commit to anything until we reset the universe.”

“I’m thinking you should get on that soon,” Salire said, laughing nervously.

Theo shook his head. “We’re all getting used to the new way of things. I had a good meeting with the system and Death earlier. I went to our meeting place with respect, and they treated me with respect. Everyone—the worlds included—are trying to approach their new roles with honor and respect. I’m trying to say we’re all willing to adapt to the change. Since every cog in the machine is happy, the outcome should be good.”

“Are you trying to reassure yourself of something?” Salire asked with a pained look on her face.

Theo gritted his teeth for a moment, thinking back to Earth. They faced the same change during Jan’s time. When Iaredin was linked with Earth. Something happened and Earth lost out in that deal. The result was the destruction of the world. Perhaps this was a similar situation. But this fake version of Iaredin they lived in wasn’t the design the system had in mind. It likely wasn’t the version the defenders of Earth had in mind. It was something twisted by people who wanted to grab for power.

“We’re trying to create the ideal version of a universe,” Theo said. “Even Tero’gal refuses to allow the people on it to wage war. It ejected souls into the void rather than allowing them to keep fighting. Yeah, I’m trying to make myself feel better so I know we’re on the right course. Because I have to believe that Yuri and Fenian were doing what’s best for the world. Especially Fenian.”

“He’s hard to stomach, isn’t he?” Salire asked.

“Yes and no. I knew people on Earth who did similar things. You can’t discount a person’s situation when considering their actions.” Theo took in a deep breath, whipping his tail through the air. “Come on. Let’s go get some tea or something. We can discuss alchemy instead of war crimes.”

“Oh, I like tea. Much more than war crimes,” Salire said, bouncing toward the door. The alchemist followed after, leaving the three failures behind on the table.

Chapter 71

A Wheel of Cheese Will Do

It had been a while since Theo went to the Marsh Wolf Tavern himself. He sat at his private booth–which Xam had held all this time for some reason. Perhaps she kept it free for him because he still used his bath in the bathhouse. Even at noon, the atmosphere was lively. Patrons from within the alliance and without were enjoying the food she had prepared for them. But the alchemist was there for only the moss tea and the atmosphere. Well, that and a conversation with Salire.

“Once we infuse the base reagents with mana, we’ll have a much higher success rate,” Salire said, taking a tentative sip of her tea. She added some amount of cream, which Theo wasn’t aware they had access to. It made sense, since the karatan produced milk.

“I guess we need to be worried about safety now,” Theo said.

The Newt and Demon was already introducing more safety measures. The first thing they added was the vapor detector that Throk had built. That would help them avoid any mixing vapors in the air, which could cause unexpected effects. Next was procedural, involving heavy testing before using any new alchemy techniques. Theo didn’t want to employ a new technique until it had been tested in a safe environment. Their testing with the first round of artifices had shown him the advantages of caution. Those early stills were all time bombs, ready to go off once some random condition was met.

“Have you been practicing your mana control?” Theo asked.

Salire averted her gaze, taking a sip of her tea and shaking her head. “Kinda. I was never very good at it to begin with.”

“You were fine. Let’s see.”

Salire held her hand out with her palm up. Prismatic mana flowed into her palm, sloshing like liquid before evaporating into the air. Her control wasn’t bad. Theo had found the hardest part to start was bringing the mana out from his soul. And he had made sure she practiced it weeks ago, drilling it into her it was vital to good alchemy. That was more true than ever, and she had a great point to jump off from. But it made the alchemist wonder about how attributes played into actions like this.

Theo summoned a glob of mana without issue, allowing it to float in the air before them. Perhaps Tero’gal was still figuring out what kind of mana it wanted to produce. He had seen it change colors before, but it current held a shifting scheme that never settled on one color for long.

“I think you’re doing fine,” Theo said, splitting the large blob of mana into five pieces that took different shapes. “You don’t need to do much, though. Could you try summoning some mana that’s about this big?”

The five split into twenty orbs that floated at different points above the table.

“That many?” Salire asked.

“No. Just one.”

Shrugging, Salire held her palm out again. A tiny puddle of mana appeared in her hand. Before it could evaporate, Theo withdrew a root from his inventory and placed it on the table.

“Infuse the root with your mana,” Theo said, nodding at the Spiny Swamp Thistle Root on the table.

Salire had done infusions like this before. She gripped the root, slathering the mana onto it rather than injecting it as Theo had done. He watched as the mana soaked in, imbuing the root with her power.

“Did that work?”

“I think so,” Theo said, holding the root up for inspection. He could feel the spots within the reagent where she had missed, but doubted it would cause problems during processing. “I doubt you need this level of control for the lower tier alchemy. But you don’t want to soak it in mana. Just small injections to bolster the properties.”

“I can do that,” Salire nodded. “But why is your control so good?”

“Wisdom and willpower, I think,” Theo said. “Which I have a lot of. There just isn’t much use for it right now.”

There might have been a lot of uses for fine control of mana down the line, but Theo wouldn’t get there before the next change. It was still more important than ever to keep trying to push alchemy to its limits. Sometimes it felt like Tero’gal was learning as it created new things. As the alchemist considered these things, his thoughts ground to a halt.

“Well, I just thought of something,” Theo said, taking another sip of his tea. It was sweeter than normal, holding that incredibly earthy taste he loved. “The dragon potions had been brewed before. I didn’t get a message about them being new.”

“What? There’s an alchemist out there working with ascendant dragon bones?” Salire asked with a scoff. She shook her head, pinching the bridge of her nose. “That would’ve been an enormous boost for you.”

That fact struck Theo as strange. It seemed unlikely for someone to have access to bones like that. Even more unlikely for them to take those bones and make them into a potion. The system might have been mad at him for exploiting the new potions the way he did. Was there an alchemist in history who had been the first to discover all of those potions, or was it an arms race to see who could make the most new stuff? Even the reagents Theo used every day were technically rare. The Spiny Swamp Thistle Root only grew in Broken Tusk as far as he knew. Yet someone before him had created a potion for every property, including the hidden one.

There was something comforting about the sound of the patrons in the tavern. Theo enjoyed his tea as Salire struck up conversations of a more mundane nature. Well, she was interested in the end of the world party. As was tradition in Broken Tusk, no one tried to keep secrets because those secrets never lasted. Instead, Alise had spread the word about the party and people were getting excited. Another tradition was not worrying about things they couldn’t change. If they were living in Iaredin, Tero’gal, or Tol’bak they didn’t care.

“I haven’t told anyone about Tol’bak,” Theo said, shaking his head. “Tresk made her own world. A dwarf planet orbiting Tero’gal, but the entire thing is covered in swamp.”

“Ah. I was hoping to live somewhere without a swamp, actually.”

“Really? Well, there should be free travel between the two places. So you can pick where you want to be. But I’ll drop the alliance off on Tero’gal when we’re ready to go.”

“Sounds fun. I think,” Salire said, chuckling. “I guess this is our new reality, huh? Doesn’t this whole plan rely on you doing something in the void?”

Theo drummed his fingers on the table. “Yeah, that’s already a problem. Until that space elf recovers, I won’t know what we need to do to bring them all back.”

“And that’s a lot of potions. That reforge potion isn’t easy to make. Do we even have the space for that many people?”

“That’s not even our biggest problem, actually. Perhaps I can convince the gods to lend me more power than normal, but I need to place all the shards into specific places on the planet. I might actually see more of this world before I have to go.”

“Which means you’re planning to lean on Fenian and the Bridge of Shadows.”

“That’s the backup plan.”

The more Theo talked it over with other people, the more he realized he didn’t really have a plan. He hoped things would fall into place, but they rarely did. While it seemed unfair for him to have to take care of this problem on his own, he wasn’t truly alone. A petition to the gods could see all the throne-holders helping him out. Perhaps they could even make an exception, allowing Khahar to visit the mortal world once again.

After finishing up with his tea, Theo’s mind centered completely on the space elf in the care of the town’s healers. He bid farewell to Salire, heading straight for the temple. Fewer people were praying today than the last time he came, but there were still quite a few there. Of course the dungeon underneath the temple was musty, and lacking light. But a lantern burned at the far end of a hallway. A longer hallway than he remembered from last time. Ziz and his gang must have come around and expand the relatively small complex into something sprawling. How did they even build a basement under such wet ground? The answer was always magic.

“Zarali,” Theo said, turning the corner with a smile when he spotted the woman tending to the elf. “How is he doing?”

“Better,” Zarali said, pressing her hand against the man’s forehead. “His fever is still bad, but that’s nothing healing magic can’t ease.”

“Any sign of his recovery?” Theo asked.

Zarali looked down at the prone elf, shaking her head. “Thinking back to when Xol’sa had his soul reforged, I can’t help but wonder…”

“If he needs his soul reforged, right?” Theo felt the man’s skin. At least his body temperature was high. If his flesh was cold, the alchemist would’ve been more worried. Perhaps that meant his immune system—if such a thing existed in this world—was working. His body was fighting something off, rather than passively dying. “I hope he doesn’t. I truly hope the reason Xol’sa needed to reforge his soul was because he wasn’t born here, or that he was exposed to too much of the void without protection.”

“Right. Perhaps you’re right and I’m just reacting because of what happened to him.” Zarali placed her hand on the man’s chest, causing a flash of light to fill the room. “While I can feel his soul, I’m not sure if it was damaged. It feels good. I just don’t know.”

“How about his mind?”

“That part of the process is working amazingly. It already rebuilt itself, and now his mind is… What’s the best way to put this? Making all the old connections. That’s what Bilgrob, myself, and Sulvan decided anyway.”

That was some progress, at least. Xol’sa had taken a few days to recover when his entire soul was reforged. No one could know if a soul or a mind was harder to reforge. The best they could do was watch and wait, hoping for the best.

“You guys are doing a great job, though. I doubt he would have lasted without you.”

“No need for praise,” Zarali said, waving him away. “We’re going to get much more busy around here when you bring the other elves, right?”

“Oh, only a few hundred elves to take care of. No big deal, right?”

Zarali scoffed. “I appreciate the optimism, but it might get tricky.”

“Maybe… Well, I wouldn’t presume to know how the healing process for something like this works. But maybe there’s a potion I can make to ease his transition.”

“Because every solution is a potion.”

“Isn’t it, though?”

Zarali explained how the condition provided by the system worked. Since it was an all-in-one cure for all mind problems, there was little else they could do. This made Theo realize there was something he could do. The first Reforge Mind potion he had crafted was a tier two, 75% purity potion. If they increased the purity of the potion and the tier, it could easily increase the effectiveness of the potion itself.

“We can increase the purity and tier of the potion pretty easily,” Theo said. “Keep up the good work. I’m going to get working on that.”

“You do that,” Zarali said with a nod.

The Reforge Mind potion was made from Searing Regeneration Essence combined with Intelligence Essence. Those were bound with the Suffuse Potion, allowing the resulting potion to jump a tier. Theo headed for the lab right away, not bothering to run this by anyone but Salire.

“Good news,” Salire said, gesturing to the now-empty stills. “We finished a run and we have space. How much do we need?”

“A test run, of course,” Theo said, pointing out three stills. “We only need Suffuse, Searing Regeneration, and Intelligence properties of the highest quality we can manage. Which means doing a run with infused reagents, then another run in the centrifuges to get them to tier two.”

“Phew. Sounds like a lot of work,” Salire said. But she was already preparing the four stills. “Might as well make it six stills, right?”

Theo clicked his tongue, looking at the floorspace of the lab. “Let’s repurpose some of the second floor for brewing. Perhaps we can just do second tier work there. Six centrifuges?”

“We can move them around as we need,” Salire shrugged. “Six up here leaves me four stills to work with. And I can order more of those. The only problem is that I have a massive pile of residue that’s piling up by the minute.”

“Right. You get working on the stills and I’ll chip away at the pile.”

“Perhaps you should imbue the reagents, first…”

There were a few factors working in their favor here. The first was Theo’s ability to imbue reagents with the exact amount of aligned mana they needed. Next was the quality of the reagents. The Lightning Poppy were growing in the aligned greenhouse, giving them the best chance at being as pure as possible. Last was the vast amount of equipment they had at their fingertips.

“We have plenty of Troll Blood,” Theo said, passing his hand over a flask of the disgusting blood. It smelled horribly. “Although I wish we didn’t.”

“At least the mushrooms don’t stink,” Salire said, setting out a tray of the Dragon Talon Mushrooms. “Infuse these with as much mana as you can. They’re the lowest quality of all the reagents we have.”

“Check the quality on the cheese.”

Salire gave Theo a pouting look. “The quality of the cheese is excellent. But I want to eat the cheese.”

“This is alchemical cheese, Salire. Sacrifices must be made.”

Salire huffed, but vanished into the other room before returning with a comically large wheel of cheese. Miana’s cheese-making skills were just increasing as the days went past. “Yeah, we’re using the cheese. I barely have to put any mana in it to infuse the properties. Cheer up. We’ll barely use a quarter wheel.”

“And we can eat the rest?”

“No. But you can have a nibble.”

“Just a nibble,” Salire said, taking a bite out of the wheel. She spat it on the ground. “She’s covered it in wax.”

“She always covers them in wax,” Theo said, peeling back the layer. “Try again.”

Chapter 72

Making More Planets

Tero’gal’s new form of alchemy had a lot of twists and turns. Drogramath’s alchemy functioned linearly, seeming to always produce predictable things. Putting an amount of reagents and water into a still would produce almost equal parts out, making it easy to understand. With his new core, Theo found it more of a guessing game when he started a brew. The batches were even different between the ones he ran, and those that Salire ran. Quantity was included in that variation. The stills Throk had constructed would produce anywhere from 25 to 50 units of essence in the end, depending on a few factors including purity and the skill of the alchemist.

Perhaps the paint-by-numbers version of alchemy wasn’t completely gone. But it was heading in a direction where skill and knowledge mattered more than just throwing everything at the still and praying for the best.

“How many projects are you involved in?” Salire asked, wiping her brow. Most of the stills were loaded and ready to go. There was a pile of equipment to test, but she didn’t seem eager to do so.

“This project, obviously,” Theo said with a shrug. “Then just the space elves, end of the world party, and the tethers and beacons. I’ve really whittled down my list of projects.”

“Guess we lucked out with the dungeons, huh?”

Theo nodded, taking a good sniff of the various brewing essences. The Gas Detector Throk had built was useful, but nothing could beat the nose of a seasoned alchemist. He had little opinion about the dungeons. They had formed from the concentrated energy from the fake heavens, which he was viewing more as a corrupted energy as time went on. Although the area was still filled with Tero’gal’s energy, it behaved more like the system had intended.

“We were lucky that the plan to release the true gods worked,” Theo said. “Not that I disagree with the premise. We got very lucky.”

Salire nodded along, tapping her finger along the rim of a hot still. Once this run of potions was done, they would have enough Reforge Mind potions to fix a fair number of the elves. Once the recovering elf was up and talking, the alchemist would be happy enough with the brew to bring the others over. This new version of the potion would be far more potent and should cut recovery time by quite a bit.

“Guess we’re just waiting around. Maybe someone should test the new devices.” Salire trailed off after speaking, as though she wanted nothing to do with it.

“You need to practice your mana control,” Theo said, smiling as he saw her face brighten. “I suppose I’ll take a look at these… things.”

“Huzzah!” Salire shouted, jumping into the air. “Since you can see the future, you make a better test subject… Erm, experimenter. Not ‘test subject.’”

“You’re lucky I’m nice,” Theo said with a wink, scooping all the devices into his inventory. “I’m headed to the giant metal cube of death. Bye.”

Salire waved as Theo left the lab. He was unsurprised when Sarisa and Rowan appeared from the shadows, begging him to let them forgo the experiments. He agreed, summoning a few golems for his guard. Not that he needed them. After cleaning the inside of the metal cube, he took a look at the devices Throk had provided.

Perhaps the instructions weren’t clear, but several of the devices he had provided were variations on the first-tier ones. Well, he was shooting blind like the rest of them so it wasn’t a surprise. Salire had marched into his workshop and requested whatever his mind could come up with, not something that would specifically send them forward to third tier alchemy. The first tier was a paddle, second was a spinner… what would the third tier be? Mana injection, of course. Somehow.

Theo looked over the devices Throk had provided, shaking his head at most. There was an iterative form of the second tier centrifuge that would be interesting. It had some improvements over the original model, providing better control and pressure features that would be helpful. The alchemist focused on one that might work for what he had in mind. During some old experiments they had fooled around with mana injection. That led Throk to develop a mana injection device inspired by Zarali’s enchanting cores.

“This might work,” Theo said, inspecting the device. He accepted two other devices without inspecting them much, and with no intentions of testing them. He took the newest device into his inventory, leaving the others in the giant metal cube. “My job here is done. Time to bother Throk.”

Leaving the cube, Theo stopped in to surprise Salire. She was less shocked than he had hoped, but just enough for him to gain some satisfaction of being out of the cube. Next stop was Throk’s workshop, which seemed to change more as the days went on. The man drew in apprentices like honey drew bears. Did honey draw bears? Theo doubted it, but he pressed forward anyway. For the first time in a long time, Throk didn’t seem very annoyed when he entered.

“What would you like today, alchemist?” Throk asked, not looking up from the device he worked on. Theo didn’t recognize it.

“A variation on this artifice,” Theo said, producing it from his inventory.

“What changes?” Throk asked.

“Can we mimic the mixing chamber from our last venture into Drogramathi alchemy? One still with pressure and heat, and another that can hold mana, injecting it into the main chamber at a set rate.”

Theo waited as Throk turned his head, looking at the ceiling. “Do you want variations on that concept?”

“If you have good ideas, yeah,” Theo said.

“I only have good ideas. You’re free to leave.”

Theo turned and walked out, happy to leave with only minimal grumbling. Once the various essence Salire was working on were done, he could move full force into the next phase. For now, his mind centered on another issue. Something he had wanted to do for a while.

“Tresk, what are you doing?” Theo asked, using their telepathic connection.

“Scouting.”

“Scouting where, exactly?”

“Dreams. That’s my job, y’know?”

“Let me know when you’ve wrapped up. I want to have an all-thrones meeting with the system.”

“Oh, that sounds far more entertaining. Give me five.”

Theo withdrew his communication crystal, contacting Fenian and giving him the same instructions. Since the elf held the Throne of the Herald—and that throne was on Tero’gal—he could teleport to it… Or use the Bridge, as long as the Bridge was open. Of course he was slightly grumpy about having to leave his newest revenge plot, but agreed to head to Tero’gal in five minutes. Khahar wouldn’t have been busy. Or at least if he was, he would agree to the meeting. Hopefully.

The wings of a giant goose-dragon beat overhead about ten minutes later. Alex landed, her features becoming more dragon-like by the day. Now she was quadrupedal, and the position of her wings had shifted. He hoped she would edge closer to dragon soon, since she looked more like a horror right now.

“Let’s go,” Theo said, jerking his head and dropping them into the void. He brought along Alex, but would just deposit her inside of Tero’gal or Tol’bak before they made their way to the system. A quick zip through the void, and they were standing on the surface of Tero’gal. Fenian waved from the distance.

“What’s this meeting about?” Fenian asked, jogging over. He was wearing his normal frilly clothes and had an air of interest about it. Excited, rather than annoyed.

“Hold on,” Theo said, vanishing from the spot. He arrived at the Arbiter’s Citadel a moment later, finding Khahar behind his big wooden desk. “Meeting in Tero’gal.”

“About?” Khahar asked.

“I want to establish our authority with the system,” Theo said. “I know it has all these rules, but I want it to know us on a personal level.”

“You think the system has a personality?” Khahar asked with a smile. “No, it isn’t a bad idea. Let’s go.”

Theo zipped both himself and Khahar to Tero’gal in a blink. Tol’bak was hovering overhead, distant enough to be as large as the moon was back on Earth. He wasn’t sure if the world had a proper sun, or if it was more of a simulation, but the moon glowed a faint shade of green.

“Okay. Like I just told Khahar, we’re going to meet with the system. I want to make sure we lay everything out for it, ensuring our authority to operate in this part of the universe.” Theo waited for someone to say something.

Of course, Tresk took the chance. “We gonna stab the system?”

“Not everything requires stabbing,” Fenian said with a sigh. “Although, maybe…”

“We’re not stabbing the system,” Khahar said. “Theo is right. The system has hard-coded rules it has to follow, but it has wiggle room in other areas. Those decisions to give us more or less leeway might be influenced by its personality.”

“Our general approach should be that we’re good little boys and girls,” Theo said, nodding to each member of his party. Alex had already flown off. Or teleported away to the moon. “And we’re all really dedicated to our roles. I want this to be a meeting with us and the system. Not the gods.”

“Where did you come up with this idea?” Tresk asked.

“Does it matter?” Fenian asked. “Seems like a good idea to me. Put our foot down. Make our mark on the system itself.”

“I’ve just been talking to the gods, and the system is always there. Since I’m waiting for potions to brew, I figured this was a good use of my time.”

“And our time,” Khahar commented. “Actually, I’m pretty bored.”

“Well, I’m not in bed with a fine maiden, so I don’t mind,” Fenian said. “Although I’m still not good at traveling through the void. Almost got lost, so I latched onto a strand of the Bridge… Do we know if the Bridge is closing after the change?”

“We can ask the system,” Theo said, clearing his throat. “Ready?”

Everyone nodded in agreement. Theo focused on each of them, encasing them in a bubble of his will. This was his job, after all. The Dreamwalker moved through the void, going between the heavenly places. They dropped into the void, getting a good view of the center even from just outside of Tero’gal. A short trip later, and they were stomping across the frozen field, bordered on all sides by darkness. Only the platform straight ahead was illuminated, as though waiting for their arrival.

Theo climbed the steps, shivering as he dusted the snow from his shoulders. To his surprise, the system was already hovering in the platform’s center. Of course it was expecting them. It was the system.

“Hello,” Theo said, bowing his head as he approached the floating crystalline entity. “Thanks for meeting with us.”

The system inclined its head to each of the members. “As you might know, I’m aware of your intentions.”

“Greetings,” Khahar said, inclining his head. “It is the wish of this council to meet with you regularly. To see where we are needed, and to use our specific skills to carry out the system’s will.”

“To crack some heads,” Tresk said, unhelpfully.

“I’m impressed,” the system said, something of a smile spreading across its angular face. Theo still wanted to think of her as a woman, but it was hard. That flash of emotion made it slightly easier. “Each of you has a duty to carry out. My power generated the thrones automatically to act as a counter-balance. When the false ascendants took power, they appeared. It only took you about fifty-thousand years to find them, Yuri.”

“Right. Things were difficult to understand back then. And I spent almost that entire time in deep meditation,” Khahar said.

“That act saved your mind. You’re extremely calculating, Arbiter,” the system said. “As for you, Ivaran…”

“Ah… Please don’t use that name,” Fenian said, chuckling as he looked at the others.

“I wouldn’t have guessed that one,” Theo said. “I like Ian better.”

“Your scheming and plotting must come to an end,” the system said. “If you carry out your current plan, I will seal your throne.”

“What does it mean to seal a throne?” Khahar asked. Fenian looked dejected.

“All thrones will be sealed with the change. Each holder of a throne will be bound to their duty. The Arbiter shall act as the arbiter of the gods and myself, settling disputes and setting boundaries. The Dreamwalker shall be the ferryman for those issues, along with a messenger and enforcer to both the mortal and heavenly realms. The Herald shall be the spear of the system, enforcing the rules on the mortal plane. Finally, the Dreamer shall be the hand of the Herald, collecting information and spreading it through the dreams of mortals. Should your throne be sealed, you will be restricted to your future duties early.”

“Wow. Admonished by the system,” Tresk said, clicking her tongue. “What’s your current plan?”

“He plans to take revenge on several individuals. The Shade of Balkor, the Ogre King Slog, King Hanan… Well, the list goes on,” the system said.

“I understand,” Fenian said, bowing his head.

Theo couldn’t remember the last time he saw Fenian nervous like this. But there was a flare of anger under the surface. The elf was crazy enough to try his wild schemes.

“And of course we’re happy to abide by whatever your will is,” Khahar said, trying to smoothe over the indiscretion.

“We appreciate the leeway you’ve given us to help the Bara’thier,” Theo added. “I know I’m taking my time with the project, but I’ll have it done soon enough.”

“Along with your party,” the system added. “I don’t have a problem with you bringing mortal souls to your realms. They should pass through Death’s Gate when the end comes, but I understand your desire to ferry them yourself. But you still must convince the gods to allow it. Especially Death.”

“This meeting isn’t to discuss the nuts and bolts of that act,” Theo said. “We’re simply setting the table for this relationship and our future.”

“A prudent move,” the system said. “One that I appreciate. You will have as much time—within reason—to move the elves. I’m glad you didn’t bring them directly to your realm. But you should focus on forming the Herald’s world. It won’t be as easy as creating Tol’bak.”

“Ah, right… I need to make a planet, don’t I?” Fenian asked.

The system bowed her head, the tugging at the corners of its—her—angular lips becoming a full-blown smile. “I look forward to working with you all.”