The Newt and Demon

The air seemed to hang heavy in Aarok’s cramped office. The sun shone outside, not showing the regular storms that plagued the town during the Season of Blooms. Theo rested his head on his hand, leaning over a wide desk as watched those assembled before him. Aarok, Luras, Tresk, and Theo all sat in that stuffy room, discussing the events.

“You’re certain it wasn’t Uharis?” Luras asked.

“Not really,” Theo said with a shrug. “That doesn’t matter. A [Planar Mage] was delivered into my lap… Isn’t that curious?”

“Isn’t everything curious about you?” Aarok asked with a shake of his massive head. “If you question the random crap that happens around you, you’ll be walking in circles all day.”

“Theo is grateful for the help,” Tresk said, placing a hand on the alchemist’s shoulder. “We’re just concerned.”

Theo appreciated the use of the term ‘we’. He was feeling less like a single entity and more like part of a whole lately. With every level of the Tara’hek, he felt closer with his companion. Their moods were tangled together, a constant fight for balance.

“Do we know how long the wave was delayed for?” Luras asked, moving to look out the window.

“No clue. That leads us to another problem,” Theo said. “If the delays are too long, it could be a bad thing.”

“Because those waves are awesome,” Tresk said with a nod. “The experience bonus is crazy. And the loot!”

“Always a mind for money,” Aarok said. “At least we can breathe for a moment.”

“Speaking of,” Theo said, summoning his mayor’s screen. Aarok’s tally of gear from the monster wave wasn’t complete. The number kept rising at a steady pace. “What plans do you have for the wave cash?”

“Wave cash?” Luras asked, snorting a laugh.

“Unless you need it, I plan on placing it in reserve for the guild,” Aarok said.

“That’s fine,” Theo said. “Cash reserves are a good idea.”

A gentle knock came from the door. Tresk’s daggers were out in a heartbeat, then she vanished as quickly as they whispered from their sheaths. A moment later, Fenian came through the door with a smile on his face.

“Hopefully, I’m not interrupting,” he said.

“Of course you are,” Aarok said, puffing up. “What do you need, trader?”

“My vacation is over,” Fenian said. “I’m taking last calls from everyone.”

“I could use a few things,” Luras said, casting a weary expression at Theo.

Theo pointed a finger at Aarok, nodding. “Pay for whatever he needs. Out of the Adventurer’s Guild fund.”

Aarok shrugged. “Alright, but I’m setting a limit. The guild can’t blow 20 gold on one purchase.”

Theo pulled Fenian aside before leaving the guild. As expected, the trader knew someone who dealt in Karatans. According to the Elf, the creatures were of the strongest pedigree in the land, but didn’t have a price on hand. The alchemist departed with Tresk, leaving the three men to their dealings while he considered all his unfinished business. When he spotted Miana on the street outside, he was surprised she didn’t rush him. The ex-mayor was being patient with him, waiting for him to be ready to plant the ranch’s seed core.

Tresk accompanied him further south than he expected, watching as she kept close to him. With a smile, he patted her on the head.

“You don’t need to shadow me,” Theo said.

“Yet, you keep getting into trouble,” Tresk said, pressing her finger into her chin. “Curious.”

“I won’t leave the walls today,” Theo said.

“Well, I’m leaving my travel powers off cooldown. In case I have to come dashing back to town at a moment’s notice,” Tresk said, beckoning him down to her level. She pressed her forehead against his and vanished on the spot.

Theo worked his way south, picking up Gridgen Dev along the way. With Dead Dog Cave cleared out, the alchemist should be able to place the seed core for the mine. The soon-to-be-miner took some initiative, commissioning pickaxes and shovels from Throk.

“Right. Hopefully nothing has respawned,” Theo said, approaching the cave.

The alchemist placed the seed core near the mouth of the cave, smiling as it took root. He fed it the appropriate amount of [Monster Cores], causing the roots to snake out and grab onto the entrance. In a flash, beams of timber inserted themselves into the entrance, creating a threshold for the mine. Theo inspected it.

[Mine]

[Dead Dog Mine]

Owners: Belgar (Theo Spencer)

Faction: [Broken Tusk]

Level: 1 (0%)

Rent Due: 7 days

Ore Type:

Copper

????

????

????

Ore Quality: Perfect

Expansions:

None

“Wow. Don’t know if I’ve ever seen one go up,” Gridgen said, laughing. “This is great.”

“Right. Now we need to discuss the terms of your contract,” Theo said.

“Oh, uh… Anything would be nice,” Gridgen said. “Just enough for the family, you know?”

Theo wished the man was more assertive, but summoned his contract interface and wrote something up with mental commands.

[Dead Dog Mine]

Contract

Gridgen Dev shall be the leader of the Dead Dog mining team. He will be responsible for the operation of the mine and recruitment of its miners. Theo Spencer will supply materials and upgrades for the operation of the mine. Gridgen Dev may recruit as many people as he likes to work the mine, but his split of the profits remain the same.

Theo Spencer (Belgar) promises to pay 20% of all potential profits based on market rate. The 20% sum is to be distributed by Gridgen Dev however he sees fit.

Terms:

Gridgen Dev will work the Dead Dog mine no less than 3 days per week.

Gridgen Dev will be responsible for all workers within Dead Dog Mine.

Theo Spencer (Belgar) will supply materials as needed to work Dead Dog Mine.

Theo Spencer (Belgar) will provide for the safety of the workers within Dead Dog Mine.

Theo Spencer (Belgar) will provide upgrades at a reasonable rate for Dead Dog Mine.

Timeline:

Renewed every year

“Wow, that’s comprehensive,” Gridgen said with a nervous chuckle. He read for a moment before speaking again. “What does ‘potential profits’ mean?”

“I may use the metal for other purposes,” Theo said. “So I want to make sure you’re paid for what you mine.”

“Oh, alright. So, we’re getting paid per nugget?”

“Basically,” Theo said, shrugging.

“If you could adjust one thing for me,” Gridgen said, managing a weak smile. “The contract says that I’ll be working the mine. Could you amend that to say ‘the mine will be worked’?”

Theo amended the contract, changing it to state that someone under Gridgen’s command would work the mine 3 days per week. The Human accepted the terms of the contract after that, flashing a bright smile at the alchemist and shaking his hand.

“This is great,” Gridgen said. “Now I just need workers.”

Theo withdrew all 10 [Miner’s Cores] from his inventory and handed them over to the man. “I’ll provide everyone with these cores, but you can hold on to them for now. I also need someone working at the smelter, but you need to be at the mine.”

“Works for me,” Gridgen said with a shrug. “I imagine the smelter will be a lot less work.”

“I’ll be honest with you, Gridgen,” Theo said, letting out a breath. He looked over the mine, a grin spreading across his face. “I’m feeling my way through this.”

“Well, I have a suggestion for you‌,” Gridgen said. He swelled with pride. “Smelting operations rely on high input. I’ve worked the mines near Falling Pass. We were a 100 worker operation working with 2 other mines, feeding into a single smelter.”

Theo nodded. Once again, he found himself to be the one without vital information. He took a moment to appreciate how important Gridgen was to his operation. From what he said before, he wasn’t a miner by trade but a laborer. This meant he was simply hauling things from one place to the other, or doing odd-jobs. But he was still on the inside of a massive mining operation that the alchemist could only hope to match.

Theo withdrew the [Smelter’s Core] from his inventory and handed it over. “Find me someone to run the smelter. If that’s you, or someone else, I don’t care. Once you’ve found them, I’ll draw up a contract for them. If I find someone for the job, I’ll bring them to you.”

“Sounds good to me,” Gridgen said, taking the core. “When should we mine?”

“As soon as possible,” Theo said. “First, help me place the [Smelter Seed Core].”

Gridgen took to the task with excitement. Theo’s instinct was to place the smelter as close to the mine as possible, but the man corrected him.

“You’re assuming everyone has an inventory power,” Gridgen said. “There’s going to be times when your laborers have to move this stuff by hand. You want to place it half-way between the mine and town.”

Theo nodded, deferring to the man’s wisdom. He found a spot next to the newly-placed road and planted the seed core. It took less [Monster Cores] to root than expected, forming a massive stone structure with an attached workshop. The workshop housed a pitch-black crucible, but no automatic fire generation methods. His intuition said that whatever heat his current [Flame Artifice] could generate wasn’t enough. Throk had proven himself a capable person for inventing new things, so he wasn’t worried. Aside from the immediate incompleteness of the smelter, he had no ore to smelt, anyway.

“Right. Start mining, if you can,” Theo said. “I’m an errand boy today, so I need to take care of some other things.”

“Alright. Well, thanks for setting me up,” Gridgen said, smiling.

Theo left the man to his work, finding his way behind the Newt and Demon. The crater in the center of the gravel yard was an eyesore, but he didn’t have the time to work on that today. Before working on Miana’s problem, he set about clearing a small section of land for a garden. He transplanted 10 [Spiny Swamp Thistle] plants, burning them in alchemically enriched dirt and taking a few mental notes. Most of the plants looked healthy enough, and he even received some experience in his [Drogramath Herbalism Core]. Something about the cultivation process seemed off, though.

The alchemist knew very little about growing plants. On Earth, everything was dead. His mind drifted back to the book Plants of the Swamplands, a tome resting somewhere in his lab. He made his way back to the lab, stopping to chat with Azrug before ascending the steps and snatching the book. It was a simple thing written in the low Qavelli script, something designed for everyone to read. It was light on theory, but had a small section about plant cultivation near the back.

There were, according to the book, methods to breed specific traits on plants that carried reagents. The only method it suggested was selective breeding, which was easy enough to understand. Most plants could be regrown from their parts, carrying over those desired traits. Theo understood that concept easily enough and had to extrapolate that information to mean he could use alchemy to speed up the process. So, he was looking to take a sample of plants and extract their best qualities by forcing their growth over a short period. Keep the strong ones and cull the weak.

“Easy enough,” Theo said, breathing a sigh of relief.

Theo would let those 10 plants settle outside, making sure they took proper root. Then, he’d apply his modified [Lesser potion of Growth] and inspect the results. That only left finding out how to make the plant grow another version of itself. This was a problem for the farmers to solve, and a good excuse to check in on his investment there.

Theo made his way to the farm for a quick stop. Banu seemed excited to see him. It was easy to see why. Every field was packed with Zee, the kernels weighing heavily on the endless stalks. As instructed, Banu kept a field near the north end of the farm fallow, ready to receive the [Windmill Seed Core].

“I’m nearly out of your magical potion,” Banu said, letting out a low chuckle. “I have concerns with the stuff, but it’s going well so far.”

“What are your concerns?” Theo asked, leading the Half-Ogre down the road toward the empty field.

“Mostly about how this changes the land over time,” Banu said.

Theo rarely took the time to think about those things, often to his detriment. He had to assume that, in a place where magic ran rampant, soaking the earth in potions wasn’t a bad thing. But, his mind went back to the explosion in his gravel yard and he let out a breath.

“I won’t presume to tell you how to run your farm,” Theo said.

The last time he was at Banu’s farm, he was giving orders, not taking suggestions. It was something he regretted, as the advice of experts had guided him in recent times.

“Ah, well, I appreciate that,” Banu said, sounding nervous. “I was thinking about rotating the fields with your potion, keeping a few natural.”

“Good idea,” Theo said, noting the look of surprise in Banu’s eyes. “If you’re making flour for export, I don’t really care. I just want more exports.”

“I understand,” Banu said, stopping at the edge of the empty field. Theo stopped with him. “We just have a way of doing things here—methods we’ve used for hundreds of years. Seems like you’re stomping on tradition.”

Theo felt that one in his heart. He never intended to crush an ancient way of living. He could rationalize it all he wanted, but that’s what he’d done. There seemed to be two sides to the alchemist’s life. That of his own interests and that of others, constantly pulling against each other. On his side was alchemy, something that could kick-start these people’s lives. On the other was tradition, and a solid way of doing things. Broken Tusk existed for hundreds of years before he arrived, doing things that worked. Even with a town stuck at level 1, they did it.

“I’m reserved to the fact that I’m not the smartest person here,” Theo said, nodding to himself. “We need more Zee, but if you’re worried about the soil, you can handle it however you want.”

“I’ll decide on something,” Banu said, smiling. “I want to see the mill first.”

“Well,” Theo said, approaching the empty field. He placed the [Windmill Seed Core] on the ground and watched the roots sprout forth. “The good thing is that you’re on a pretty high hill. If this thing doesn’t run off of magic, you’ll get a stiff breeze.”

He almost didn’t have enough [Monster Cores] to get the thing up and running. Most of the cores that dropped during the monster wave went to the adventurers, but he’d pilfered a few. When the windmill finally took shape, it was smaller than he expected. It was made of the same sturdy stone that made up all the seed core buildings within Broken Tusk. The large blade started turning immediately and the pair ducked inside to watch a shaft spin, turning a large millstone. A large lever on the side controlled the height, and as Theo presumed, the coarseness of the grind.

“Well, that’s a fancy machine,” Banu said, laughing. “Even without your alchemy, this thing is a boon. Do you know how much my laborers complained about using the qern?”

“I bet that was fun,” Theo said with a chuckle. “Hand milling that huge corn.”

“So, how do we do this?” Banu asked. “It’s my land, but your mill.”

“Use it freely,” Theo said, waving a dismissive hand. “As far as the farm goes, I just want more food for export and use within the town.”

Theo didn’t want to describe a scenario he imagined where Broken Tusk was under perpetual siege. An eternal attack wouldn’t be bad if the things that attacked were edible, but they’d received waves filled with Goblins and Trolls. An internal source of food was the way to go. This would push them one step closer to being reliant on the things that were within these safe walls.

“I appreciate it,” Banu said with a nod.

“We can work out something later if need be. I have some experiments to run on my herbalism. More ways to improve the growing process,” Theo said.

“I can’t wait,” Banu said. “As long as I have the freedom to keep doing it how my parents did, I don’t mind.”

“One thing before I go,” Theo said.

He produced the cultivated [Spiny Swamp Thistle Root] from his inventory, presenting it for the veteran farmer to see.

“I need to… Uh… Make more of these grow,” Theo said.

Banu let out a laugh, taking the root from Theo for a moment. “You’re talking about propagation. Yeah, I understand it’s not that obvious. With roots like this, you just need to cut off a section, leave it in a cool dark place for a while and wait for it to chit.”

“Chit?”

“Yeah, it’ll grow little sprouts. Then you can plant it,” Banu said, grinning. “Well, I’m glad I know more than you about something.”

“Thanks, Banu,” Theo said, retrieving his root.

He said his farewells and departed. He took the southern ramp from the farmer’s rise, aiming to head into the newly purchased area between the farm and the river to the east. The tract of land was massive, but mostly empty. It was a rocky prairie filled with many grasses that a Karatan might love to eat. The alchemist knew little about those strange creatures and hoped he could get information about them as he went.

While Theo’s senses might not be as sharp as the adventurers in Broken Tusk, they were sharp enough to know when someone was following him across an open field. He found his way to the edge of the river and waited for the person to arrive. They trudged across the terrain, bearing a sheepish smile on their face. When Miana Kell finally sauntered up to him, he returned the smile.

“Right. Let’s plant this ranch,” Theo said.