The Newt and Demon

Theo rose before Tresk the next morning. He found his way into the lab and prepared breakfast, a simple meal of wolf soup and moss tea. The tasks he needed to accomplish today were many, a sudden realization that the mayor’s position would add more work to his daily routine. The alchemist banished the thoughts away, smiling to himself as he cooked the soup. His position within the town gave him autonomy to steer its direction in the way he wanted, ensuring the safety of everyone inside. He’d turn the town into a fortress, if he could.

“Morning,” Tresk said, stretching at the threshold of the lab. “Soup for breakfast? Yes, please.”

The Marshling came to sit next to Theo, pawing at his shoulder. “What’s the plan for today?” she asked.

“I need more reagents—that’s my first goal. Then I need to call a meeting with the mercantile chairs, talk to Fenian, and my contact in Qavell.”

“Busy boy,” Tresk said, letting out a breath. “I have mandatory patrol duty for the guild tomorrow. Yuck.”

“At least I paid your dues,” Theo said, glaring at her.

“I refuse to recognize Aarok’s authority until he has a proper guildhall,” Tresk said, folding her arms.

“Well, he’s going to have Miana’s old house when she moves all her stuff out,” Theo said.

“That’s fine.”

They ate as fast as they could, slurping down the hot soup and burning their tongues. Theo gave Tresk a [Lesser Stamina Potion] to take with her, knowing the day would be too busy for either of them to spare a moment for rest. He had no intentions of waiting for Azrug to come to the shop—he’d march directly to Xam’s place and check in on the boy. The alchemist didn’t spot him at the party last night, and was worrying. He plotted a course in his mind to loop through his massive property to the east, collecting as many healing roots as he could before following the river for the lilies. He’d then check on Azrug before contacting Fenian and Lauris.

“Stay safe,” Theo said, patting Tresk on the head. “Keep me updated, and… Keep an eye out for new clothes.”

Theo gestured to his simple attire. The only piece of clothing he owned that wasn’t torn were the gloves Luras gave him. Everything else had enormous holes, or tears.

“Of course,” Tresk said. “We might need to get those from a merchant, though.”

Theo nodded, bidding farewell to his companion and heading out the door. Tresk followed close behind, locking the shop up before scampering off into the swamp to the west. The alchemist followed his planned course, intent on getting as many reagents as possible. As expected, the [Spiny Swamp Thistle] plants all grew back overnight. He harvested them, following a roving path toward the river. By the time he made it there, his inventory had 200 more [Spiny Swamp Thistle Roots] and following the river north got him 100 [Water Lilies].

Theo found Xam inside the Marsh Wolf Tavern, cleaning the place up from the celebration last night. Apparently, some ‌revelers took the action inside, making quite a mess. She brightened upon spotting him, waving and smiling. “Hey, mayor.”

“How is he?” Theo asked, cutting to the core of his worries.

“He’s good. Azrug will be able to work tomorrow,” Xam said. “I’m forcing him to rest today, but he’s extremely excited to tell you about his new cores.”

“What did he get?” Theo asked.

“That’s for him to reveal,” Xam said.

Theo didn’t want to pry into the issue. It always seemed like such a personal matter to inspect someone else’s class and cores. He bid her farewell and made his way to Miana’s old house. The Half-Ogre woman had cleared it out sometime last night. The alchemist found himself in empty halls he hardly recognized. It was a shell of its former self without all her junk scattered around. The only thing that remained was the furniture in her office and he settled down to talk to his contacts.

The communication crystal was in the same spot she always left it, waiting for him to dive back into that strange shadow place. Theo grasped it in his hands and leaned back, tumbling into that strange place to await Lauris.

“Good morning, mayor,” the familiar voice came from the gloom. A shadowy figure resolved, sanding in the void and waving. “Miana Kell sent word that you’d taken the position. Congratulations.”

“Thanks,” Theo said.

“Most of us here at the administration unit were hoping you’d take the job,” Lauris said. “You’re proving to be a valuable asset.”

“Well, I appreciate the sentiment. What I really need is some information,” Theo said.

“Oh? What about?” Lauris asked.

“The guildmaster of the Adventurer’s Guild here in Broken Tusk needs to see any research regarding monster waves,” Theo said.

“A monster wave? In the southlands?” Lauris said. It was hard to tell through the strange void, but there was a tinge of worry in those words.

“It’s just a suspicion,” Theo said. “We’re experiencing a lot of growth in our dungeons—too much to chalk up to coincidence.”

“Right. Okay, your guildmaster should get a notification about an increase in his budget,” Lauris said. “Let’s see—your communication crystal locator beacon is still active. I’ll send you copies of what we have in Qavell.”

“Thank you,” Theo said. “I appreciate it.”

“Also, I see your town is currently at [Small Town] status. I recommend you try to expand and upgrade that status to [Town] status,” Lauris said. “For now, just leave the crystal somewhere in the open. We’ll teleport the materials sometime today.”

“You can teleport?” Theo asked, laughing.

“It’s complicated. Most of our mages who can do such things are busy with other things, but I’ll push you to the front of the line,” Lauris said. “Do you need anything else?”

“That’s it,” Theo said.

“Alright, thanks. Have a good day,” Lauris said.

Theo felt himself jerked backward by the navel, sent hurtling upward into a yawning maw of light. He snapped back into his body, feeling a shiver run down his spine. The implications of Lauris’ words resonated in his mind. He couldn’t help but think that the reason Miana stepped down was because of the administration in Qavell. The alchemist suddenly felt even worse about the situation, like he didn’t deserve the position. All those thoughts vanished when he remembered his tasks for the day. He withdrew Fenian’s crystal from his inventory and held it tight.

Theo? How are you doing? Fenian asked.

I’m well. I have a few question, Theo said.

Alright, that’s fine. I have an order request, if you’ll hear it, Fenian said. Remember those snot-nosed nobles I was talking about? A particularly annoying house is rearing whelps. They’ve heard of your prowess from me, and want a lot of restoration potions.

How many? Theo asked.

I wouldn’t come back to them with anything less than a thousand of each, Fenian said.

Theo felt his heart stop for a moment. Creating 500 of each potion was hard enough, but he wanted 1,000 of the restoration potions.

That’s 7 gold, 50 silver worth of potions, Theo, Fenian said. The man always knew how to motivate him. And as many stat potions as you can make. [Vigor] and [Strength] being the preference.

So, standard rate… Would you accept anything over the requested amount? Theo asked.

Absolutely, Fenian said. Make the potions and contact me when you have them. I’ll be in Rivers and Daub for a few days, then I’m heading west. Easily a day’s travel from Broken Tusk.Now, what was your question?

We have a bad feeling about an incoming monster wave, Theo said.

Me too, Fenian said.

I’m interested in defenses. Something that doesn’t require a person to be in danger, Theo said.

Ah. Expensive artifacts would be the key… Well, there’s also core attachments for your walls. But you’d need to get your [Small Town] to [Town], and level it up to 15.

I can do that, Theo said, nodding to himself. How do these attachments work?

You’ll get an upgrade on the town. Basically turret slots for your walls. Every gate will get two slots and a slot every fifty paces of wall, Fenian said.

And how much are these special attachments gonna cost?

It’s been a while since I sourced them, Fenian said. I know a woman who farms them up north, so it’ll take me a while to get them. Assume they’ll cost you between 5 and 10 gold each.

That was an absurd amount of money for a defensive structure. But if it meant Broken Tusk adventurers could stay safe behind the walls, it would be worth it.

Alright. I’ll work on your potions, Theo said.

If you discover any new potions, let me know. The family has a long list of stuff they want, and it’s impossible to source the lesser potions up north right now. The army is buying them all up, Fenian said.

Thanks, Fenian, Theo said.

Any time, my friend, Fenian said. The connection severed and Theo was left feeling raw for a moment. He gave himself some time to recover before standing, wiping the sweat from his brow.

Theo wouldn’t be able to collect the ingredients on his own in a reasonable time. He would need to source hirelings, but feared Ziz and his laborers would be too concerned with their stonecutting project. The alchemist left Miana’s old home, collecting all members of the mercantile chairs for a short meeting. He found Luras, Aarok, Perg, Throk, Miana, and Banurub. He hadn’t seen Banu in a few days, but the farmers typically stuck to their farms so it wasn’t surprising. The group crammed in the small meeting room in Miana’s house, the place destined to be the new Adventurer’s Guild.

“I promise, this is going to be a short meeting,” Theo said.

“Take your time, mayor,” Perg said, grinning.

“The capital approved your request, Aarok,” Theo said. He had a nose for this matter, understanding that the guildmaster wanted to keep it quiet. “The materials you requested, and an increased budget for the guild.”

“I got the notification earlier,” Aarok said, nodding.

“Good. If anyone is unaware, we have a new citizen. I think he left today, but an adventurer named Zan’kir moved in north of the farm.”

Theo received a series of nods, but no verbal responses. “I’m holding off on projects for a while until I can get more to upgrade the town. I’d rather be prepared for events before they happen.”

“Do you expect something to happen?” Banu asked, knitting his brow.

Theo didn’t know Banu well, but he knew enough about farmers. They were always scared of something. Perhaps it was the way the turn of weather affected their crops, but they seemed skittish about most things.

“Always expect something bad to come,” Luras cut in.

“Agreed,” Miana said. “We don’t want to get caught with our pants down.”

“So, if you see adventurers in town, send them my way,” Theo said. “They need to know about the stipend to live here, and I’ll give them a great deal on property.”

“What about people who already live here?” Throk asked, scoffing.

“You already own property, Throk,” Theo said, shaking his head. “I’ll offer land at cost to anyone who wants it, though. One per person, of course. Don’t want anyone here turning into land barons.”

“You’re kind of a land baron,” Luras said, grinning.

“Not yet,” Theo said. “Don’t tempt me—I’ll buy every step of land in this town.”

Everyone in the group besides Banu laughed. The farmer just didn’t understand the joke. The group calmed down, and Theo continued. “That’s all for today, though. I just wanted to set the stage for my plans as mayor.”

Throk held his hand up before everyone left their chairs. “Have you considered buying the rights to the land from Qavell?”

Theo looked at the reaction around the room. Luras tilted his head, considering it as a workable option. Banu had a look of horror on his face.

“What would that do for us?” Theo asked.

“It would be a long-term thing,” Luras said. “Technically, the town core is on loan from the king. That means we all owe the crown for our property and sales.”

“Would we still get their support? That seems kind of important,” Theo said.

“I think so,” Throk said, beaming.

“How much would it cost?” Theo asked.

Miana laughed. “You know that coin that’s bigger than a gold? The one no one around these parts has ever seen? A few of those.”

Theo couldn’t even imagine that much money. He filed it away for something to take care of later. “Right. Oh, one more thing. If anyone knows laborers for hire, send them to my shop. Otherwise, that’s it for the day.”

The group filed out of Miana’s old, tiny office. A buzz of chatter spread through the group, Luras joining Theo on the road south. His leatherworking building was up and running, but he’d yet to produce anything to sell. Something in the Half-Ogre’s expression said he was happier than before. Theo was just happy to have helped him get into a better place. They stopped by the Newt and Demon, saying their farewells and parting ways.

“Right. Time to cook some potions,” Theo said.