The Newt and Demon

Broken Tusk would repair itself with the newly added materials, despite the lack of raw metal. Uharis’ tip about there being metal in the southern reaches of the town gave him hope for complete independence. There was also the hint about infusing copper for sale, which the alchemist had little hope for. The Archmage was trying to help, even setting aside his other dubious intentions he seemed to be on the level. That left his other hanging projects to attend to. With Banu finally broken by the crushing weight of new taxes, he’d speed up the farm’s productivity beyond a reasonable level.

“Double output? Perhaps,” Theo said, standing over his workbench in the lab. “Triple is more likely. If not more.”

The alchemist knew, based on the description of his [Alchemic Soil Enhancer] and the resulting [Enhanced Arable Soil], that their yield would increase. The description said “significantly”, which was all he could ask for. Things tilted further in his favor with the recipe to create the soil enhancer. Since it followed the detergent-style recipes, it produced large quantities of end product for little input. The 50 units of [Rejuvenation Essence] he made was more than enough to fertilize every field twice.

Theo started kicking off his reactions inside, a task normally reserved for the gravel yard. His confidence in his abilities was soaring at this point, making the work simple. He reflected on the agreement with the farmers. He expected nothing in return, except that they’d increase their output and pay their workers better. His intuition said that closing the gulf between the lowest earning and highest earning people in the town was wise. It had nothing to do with the disparity of wealth, and everything to do with making sure everyone could keep up. If the farmers couldn’t afford to live in Broken Tusk, they’d miss out on a massive boon when the tax finally fell to Theo himself.

Everyone is furious about the new taxes, Tresk said, laughing into Theo’s mind.

They should be, but we can’t do anything about it. We’re short a few thousand gold, Theo said. I double-checked. 3 spiritstone coins get us out from under Qavell’s thumb, but I have a bad feeling about the result.

What kind of feeling?

My contact said that paying the coins gives us a different status in the kingdom, not complete independence, Theo said.

That’s a scam, Tresk said.

What made it more of a scam was the fact that he’d have to pay the money directly. They would essentially buy a title from Qavell without knowledge of the impact. Theo needed to do more research on the subject and find a way to make the mountain of coins. Until that point, growth was the defining factor of Broken Tusk. He examined the mayor’s screen to inspect the requirements for growth.

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

Medium Population: INCOMPLETE

Expanded Land Ownership: COMPLETE

He’d flipped the tables since last time. The last time he went to increase the town’s size, he didn’t have the land required to expand. Now he didn’t have the population. And it wasn’t expanding as rapidly as he’d have liked. They’d received a single citizen over the past month, that of Zan’kir and his family. Each person counted toward the population, but it wasn’t enough.

I have a plan, though, Theo said. The first step is to get my [Governance Core], then we can make deals with other towns. I want to export to the Khahari people, but that’s a long term hope.

We’re gonna need boats, Tresk said.

Big boats. So, we need to expand the town all the way to the ocean, Theo said. It's another 3 or 4 expansions to the ocean, so this is long term.

Well, let me know if I can stab anything for you, Tresk said. Politics, trade, those aren’t my strong suits. Stabbing is. I’m a good stabber.

Yes, you’re the best stabber I know, Theo said.

Yes, I am.

With the ingredients already distilled, creation of the [Alchemic Soil Enhancer] was simple. He spent an hour or so carefully measuring everything out before he found himself with several 200 unit flasks of the liquid. The massive glass flasks were more like small barrels, weighing an absurd amount. Without the strength bonuses from his items and the Tara’hek, he wouldn’t be able to lift them.

As with Perg’s tannery job, he held back a flask for future use. Something about handing everything over to the farmers at once didn’t sit well with Theo. He wanted to make sure to have some on reserve, allowing him to appear more competent than he was. This was the kind of failsafe the alchemist enjoyed, preparing for future failures which were inevitable. He waded through the piles of junk downstairs, bidding farewell to Azrug and trudging out into the falling rain.

Theo’s new robe seemed to be water resistant, although the description didn’t mention the feature. The magic that ran through the garment must have been repelling the water, leading him to the conclusion that he needed a magic hat. Once he had the hat, he’d be completely waterproof. Just in time for the Season of Blooms to end, giving way to the Season of Fire.

Banu’s mouth hung open when Theo delivered the potion. “Already?” Banu asked. “You said today—I didn’t think you meant before midday.”

“I don’t mess around, Banu,” Theo said. “There’s a lot of work that needs doing and not a lot of time.”

Banu nodded, casting his eyes over the fields. “Are there going to be any adverse effects from the potion?”

“Well, I haven’t thoroughly tested it,” Theo said. “But you can be assured that I’ll cover any lost crops. The likelihood of that happening is almost zero.”

“I don’t mean to insult your work,” Banu said, laughing. “Farmers are superstitious people, alchemist. We’re weary of most things that aren’t the same. I’ll appreciate the help when I see results.”

“That’s fair,” Theo said. “I’ve taken people at their word for too long, I think.”

“But that’s why we like you,” Banu said, placing a firm hand on Theo’s shoulder. “You’re honest to a fault. You didn’t ask me for anything in return.”

“At-cost prices for some grain,” Theo said, smiling. “The Karatan are going to be hungry.”

“I heard Miana is heading that project,” Banu said. “I saw her scouting the area near the river.”

Theo shook his head. “News travels fast.”

“Naturally. So, I just sprinkle this on the earth?” Banu asked.

“Yes. You can inspect the soil after you’ve done so, making sure everything is covered. The potion seems to spread out on its own, only infusing the fields,” Theo said.

Banu nodded. “As the owner of the farm, I can designate which sections of the farm are active fields. We’ve already cleared away the requested section for the mill—it wasn’t hard. That field was fallow for some time. We couldn’t get the mud to take.”

“Good,” Theo said. “I’ll get the appropriate seed cores when I can.”

Banu bid farewell and Theo made his way back down into town. He reached his goal, Throk’s blacksmith, finding the Marshling fiddling with things in his workshop. The pressure vessel was mostly assembled at this point, a wild tangle of pipes, valves, and gauges. It didn’t look much like what they initially planned, but the blacksmith had a mind for creating something better than requested.

“This is coming together faster than expected,” Throk said, setting a gear in place. Purple light issued from the strange device. It didn’t fall apart this time.

“Because you’re the best,” Theo said.

“Hah! Flattery will get you everywhere, boy,” Throk said, looking up and squinting. “Even though my [Artificer’s Core] is only at level 5, the skills it provides are valuable.”

“I have another request, once you’re done with this,” Theo said.

“You’re going to single-handedly fund my retirement,” Throk said.

“I know.”

“What do you have in mind?”

“Nothing fancy. Not like this monstrosity,” Theo said, patting the thick copper tank. “Just some transfer and storage tanks for my essences.”

“Easy enough,” Throk said.

Something lingered in Theo’s mind. Even without confirmation of the metal in the south, he wanted to know if anyone in town had cores for mining. As always, he’d prefer to find someone within Broken Tusk to run his enterprises, rather than hiring from afar.

“Does anyone in town have mining cores?” Theo asked.

“Stonecutting… Well, you know that. Ziz has the [Stonecutter’s Core], but nothing else,” Throk said. “Why, planning on doing some prospecting?”

“Well, I think the Archmage did the prospecting for us,” Theo said. “Claims the southern hills have iron and copper.”

Throk raised an eyebrow, centering his attention on Theo. “That would be big. A massive boon. There are no mines in the southlands, none that I know of. Rivers and Daub had a pit mine for crude, low-quality iron for a while. That tap ran dry, now the northlanders provide all the metal in the land. They have a ton of high-level copper mines. They regenerate faster than you can mine them.”

“Good news,” Theo said. “We’ll be the largest supplier of wood, stone, and metal in the southlands. I want to create trade deals with the other towns.”

“Well, this is the place to do it,” Throk said, glancing around the various buildings of the town. “Things just grow here. I watched a tree go from a sapling to a towering cypress in a few days this week. It seems to be getting stronger.”

“Hopefully, it stops,” Theo said, bringing his early warning crystal out of his inventory. He frowned. The pale blue light had gone green.

“Fancy bauble you have there,” Throk said, nodding at the crystal. “What’s it glowing for?”

“Nothing good,” Theo said, not wishing to elaborate. News traveled too fast in Broken Tusk. “A gift from a friend.”

“Bah. Don’t get cagey on me, now,” Throk said. “I can keep a secret.”

“Can you?” Theo asked.

“Nope.”

“Then be happy knowing it keeps us safe,” Theo said, turning on the spot. “I need to check the repairs.”

Throk waved him off, the alchemist trudging down the wet road toward the western gate. Theo considered a few things before he arrived at the gate. He kept a skill point in reserve, expecting to get a new skill core any day. While the [Governance Core] was a ways off, he had no desire to squander the point. His alchemy was doing fine for the time being and he saw no need to grab any of the new skills, although some were tempting. One skill improved raw essence handling, reducing the chance of explosions. Another was almost useless for him, improving the distance he could hurl bombs. It was simply a scatter of skills that would give him small advantages, but he needed huge boosts for it to be worth it. Once he got the new core, he could inspect those skills.

“Aarok,” Theo said, waving at the Half-Ogre.

Aarok assumed his permanent perch near the growing guild hall. They weren’t feeding it enough monster cores, and the seed was hungry.

“The gate is almost fixed,” Aarok said. “We’ve burned all the corpses, too.”

“Perfect,” Theo said, thrusting the green crystal into Aarok’s hands. “This was blue earlier.”

Aarok gave him a flat look. “And now it's green. Congratulations.”

Theo leaned in, bringing his voice down to a whisper. “Uharis gave it to me. Supposed to predict a monster wave when it turns red.”

Aarok’s eyes went wide. “You’re kidding. We need more bombs, Theo.”

“I know,” Theo said. “More healing potions, too. More stamina potions… Would you mind posting a quest for me?”

“Yeah, what do you need?”

“[Fire Salamander Eggs]. As many as they can get—don’t put a limit on the quantity,” Theo said. “I have enough [Moss Nettle] to start a tea empire, so no worries on those.”

Aarok gestured through the air, nodding after a moment. “It’s done. The adventurers should get a daily update about it, if I’ve done my job right.”

“Same rate?” Theo asked. “1 silver per 500?”

“Same rate,” Aarok said. “They’ll swarm me by the end of the day. Have I expressed the importance of those bombs?”

“You have,” Theo said. “I’m well aware of the issue. During the last monster wave, I had very little time to prepare. This time we’ll be ready. They won’t breach the wall.”

“I hope not.”

“They won’t,” Theo repeated. “I need to get working on that.”

Theo glanced at his stamina bar, finding it depleting fast, but not as fast as it would before a few choice upgrades. His [Vigor] was rising, thanks to the Tara’hek, but there was another trick he had. The [Refreshing Ring] had become a fixture on his hand, something he barely noticed especially beneath his leather gloves. The silver band was inlaid with rubies and the effect of the ring was amazing.

[Refreshing Ring]

[Ring]

Rare

An enchanted silver ring, inlaid with rubies.

Effect:

The efforts of crafting are less taxing.

[Effect Locked]

[Effect Locked]

Even with 2 effects locked, the first one was noticeable. Theo couldn’t estimate the effect, but it was potent.

“Feed that thing more [Monster Cores],” Theo said, patting Aarok on the shoulder. “It’ll grow faster.”

“I think it’s just big,” Aarok said.

Theo bid farewell to his friend, departing for his lab. The day had already been full of excitement, but there were jobs he needed to do. Pushing past the piles of junk, he set up distillations for 3 more fermented essences. [Marsh Tubers], [Swamplight Spider Silk], and [Flame Roses] were next. The alchemist had no idea what to expect from them, as the modifier essences seemed random. His instincts told him it was a matter of processing them further to get different effects, but his pressure vessel was still in the works. He settled for discovering the new modifiers, whatever the system threw at him.

The small, 10 unit distillations went quickly. It didn’t go unnoticed to him that each modifier essence so far had produced at “great” quality. His process wasn’t down for fermentation yet, and required a lot of work. He inspected the first essence, produced by the [Marsh Tubers].

[Solidify]

[Essence Modifier]

Epic

Created by: Belgar

Grade: Great Quality

10 units (liquid)

Add to a completed potion to add the “Solidify” modifier. Solidify has unpredictable effects and varies wildly from potion to potion. Typical effects include solidification of the potion itself.

This was a wild card modifier. Unpredictability and potions rarely mixed well, and he reserved this one for experimentation later. He imagined a solid potion and grimaced. Next was the modifier essence created by the [Swamplight Spider Silk].

[Web]

[Essence Modifier]

Uncommon

Created by: Belgar

Grade: Great Quality

10 units (liquid)

Add to a completed potion to add the “Web” modifier. Web applies weak binding effects to offensive potions and weak bonus-sharing to restoration potions.

Another vague modifier. The offensive potion effect was easy enough to understand, it should root the target for some amount of time. The bonus-sharing effect for restoration potions was a bit of a mystery. Theo withdrew a [Lesser Stamina Potion] from his inventory, the item’s description was simple enough to understand. He transferred it to a 4 unit vial and added equal parts of the [Web] essence modifier. It bubbled, and steamed before thick webs worked their way through the potion. He inspected the result.

[Lesser Stamina Potion]

[Web]

[Potion] [Modified Potion]

Common

Created by: Belgar

Grade: Excellent Quality

A lesser stamina potion. Drink to restore stamina.

Effect (modified):

Creates a web between you and the nearest friendly target. The web restores 35 stamina for both targets if unbroken for 15 seconds.

Now that was a weird modifier. It was the first modifier he encountered that changed the nature of the potion so drastically. This was also the first example he found of potion-sharing, something that must have been coveted. Theo imagined a team of adventurers, the tank fighting in front while the support crew hid behind, where someone ran around and spammed web potions. It might be something worth selling in the shop.

Next up was the [Flame Rose’s] modifier essence. Theo expected something that enhanced strength.

[Embolden]

[Essence Modifier]

Rare

Created by: Belgar

Grade: Great Quality

10 units (liquid)

Add to a completed potion to add the “Embolden” modifier. Embolden triples the effects of beneficial potions while adding a debuff on the opposing stat/resource.

This modifier could be amazing, or horrible depending on the context. Once again, Theo found himself curious about the effects and withdrew a [Lesser Healing Potion] from his inventory. He transferred it to a 4 unit vial and added equal parts of the [Embolden] essence modifier. The result was interesting.

[Lesser Healing Potion]

[Embolden]

[Potion] [Modified Potion]

Common

Created by: Belgar

Grade: Excellent Quality

A lesser healing potion. Drink to restore health.

Effect (Modified):

Instantly restores 135 health points. Instantly drains 65 mana. For every point of mana the imbiber doesn’t have, 0.5 health will be drained to make up for the difference.

It was the first potion Theo crafted that was downright dangerous, aside from the bombs. It restored 135 health, sure, but if the user didn’t have the mana to make up for the secondary effect, they’d die. If the user of the potion had 30 health and 0 mana, the potion might restore 135 health, putting them at full, but then it would drain 32.5 health, killing them. The alchemist concluded this was an advanced-use potion if ever he’d seen one, filing it away in his mind to run by Fenian when he had the chance.

With his discovery session over, Theo was left with mixed feelings about the essence modifiers. The clear winner was [Web], which seemed wholly good with no drawbacks. He set his sights on the next task, rubbing his hands together as he approached his [Dimensional Storage Crate]. It was time to do a big run of [Lesser Healing Potions], the bread and butter of his alchemy shop.