The Newt and Demon - Chapter 4.31 - Apprentice

A rush of memories flooded through Theo’s mind as he woke the next morning. The last person to have prepared breakfast for him when he woke up was Tresk. That felt like a lifetime ago. The Marshling had already torn off from their new room, jumping from the second floor landing and rushing into the dining room. The alchemist could feel her excitement through their connection. He and Alex waddled from their beds, heading downstairs with no haste.

Those who had stayed late at the manor last night had already cleared out. Sarisa and Rowan had already cleaned up the mess. The assistants were waiting near the dining room table, a spread of Xam’s cooking laid out. Theo took his spot at the head of the table and let out a sigh. There was enough food there for everyone.

“I understand the servant aesthetic. I really do,” Theo said, gesturing to the spread over the table. He pulled a teapot close to himself before going on. “While we’re not putting up appearances, you guys are welcome to be chill.”

The siblings shared one of their looks then nodded, taking seats at the table.

“I’ve prepared a report,” Sarisa said, clearing her throat.

Theo couldn’t tell her not to continue. She was already rattling off information about the nation before he could stop her. Instead, he busied himself with his breakfast. Sipping his tea, he digested the information the assistant provided. The newly elected leader of Rivers and Daub was scheduled for a visit today, but that would be handled by Alise and her gang. One of Laedria’s boats was ready to sail, but their only boat, The Cork, had experienced issues in the bay that required a meeting with Aarok and Xol’sa. Salire also had new orders for him to fill.

There was more information, but the alchemist was left to ponder how the assistants had gathered so much. He wanted to question it, but pushed that out of his mind. This was a good thing. Now Theo didn’t have to run around town, chasing everyone down to give him reports on whatever they were working on. He let out a sigh of relief.

“Sarisa, tell us about yourself,” Theo said.

“I was born here. Raised here,” Sarisa said without missing a beat. “I remember the day you fell into the Zee fields. Then how rapidly everything changed.”

“She’s always wanted to be an adventurer,” Rowan said, chuckling. “But she never had the heart for it.”

“Then it was impossible to get a decent core after getting stuck with my [Servant’s Core].”

“Hard labor like the rest of us,” Rowan put in.

“Honestly?” Sarisa asked, shrugging. “I always thought you were an idiot, Theo.”

Tresk snorted, shooting streams of tea out of her nostrils.

“You took massive steps to move this town in a direction, and I still don’t know if it was the right direction.”

“It certainly isn’t,” Rowan said. “But that’s not the point.”

“No, it isn’t,” Sarisa said, nodding to her brother. Theo felt like a listener in the conversation, rather than an active participant. “The point is you’re a Broken Tusker, because we’re all idiots. We’re just groping in the dark, hoping for the best.”

“Damn right,” Tresk said, holding her hand up for Sarisa to high-five. The assistant left her hanging.

“While I appreciate the sentiment, I’ve been lacking a few things for a long time,” Theo said.

“He needed help,” Tresk said. “I think I was suppose to help him, but you know. I’m just too spunky.”

“Stop being so self-aware,” Theo said, glaring at Tresk.

“You’re self-aware.”

Honk!

“Anyway, I’m excited for Sarisa and Rowan.” Theo took a sip of his tea. “Make sure you guys aren’t working all day. Once I get my reports, I don’t really care what you do.”

“We’ll be guarding you,” Rowan said.

“And what about you, Rowan?” Theo asked. “Tell me about yourself.”

“Not much to say. Hard-working Broken Tusker. That’s me,” Rowan said. “I was too young when Luras and Aarok ran off to their adventures. Always thought I’d grow up to be a military man like them. Nope. Laborer.”

“Do you enjoy long walks on the beach and the scent of lavender?” Tresk asked.

Theo groaned.

“The beach is full of monsters and I don’t know what lavender is.”

Theo shifted the conversation away from introductions as swiftly as he could. He made sure the assistants knew how important the boats were. Aside from the introductions, the morning’s breakfast was calm and relaxing. Once everyone was done eating, the alchemist left with Alex to sit in the back garden. Rowan accompanied him on guard duty, sticking to the shadows.

The order Salire needed done today wasn’t large. It was the same standard thing that adventurers needed. Mostly healing potions and stamina potions with the occasional pill. Another style of potion that had become extremely popular was the elementally infused attribute potions. There was one element for each attribute, and the effect seemed obvious. They enhanced the effect based on the attribute. So, dexterity made someone faster on a scaling factor. Strength made them stronger. And so on.

After his rumination in the garden, he headed off for the Newt and Demon. Salire was, predictably, sitting in the shop below. She wore a floral summer dress today, something Theo had never seen worn by someone in town. He cocked an eyebrow and stared for a while.

“Aren’t you married?” she asked with a chuckle.

“Kind of,” Theo said, not averting his gaze. “Is that imported? It looks great on you.”

A hint of blush turned the Half-Ogre’s pale orange skin a darker shade. Citizens in Broken Tusk had no mind for fashion. This was the first time Theo had seen someone try harder than just simple shirts and slacks.

“You think so?” Salire asked. Despite her shyness, she did a twirl which made the dress billow out.

“Absolutely,” Theo said, looking down at his own clothes. His outer robe had almost mended completely. There was the smallest pucker where the fabric was knitting itself back together. The hat he wore on his head still bobbled everywhere he went, the feather trailing and making him feel like an idiot most of the time.

“I don’t know. That trader from Partopour was an expert salesman. They knew well enough to bring dresses that would fit a Half-Ogre.”

Or they could magically resize the clothes. Theo felt Rowan lurking somewhere nearby. He couldn’t get an exact location like he could with Tresk, but he was there.

“Well, I meant to ask you if you want to live in the Newt and Demon.”

“Oh? Oh! Really?” Salire asked.

“You could also live in the manor. Whatever you want.”

“Um… I don’t know.”

Theo opened the door to the shop, listening to the bell jingle. “Rowan, could you grab a bed from Sledge’s place? For the upstairs room in my lab.”

“Right away,” the shadows said, coiling before turning into a Half-Ogre.

“Whichever works for you,” Theo said, returning to the interior. “I’m going to work on these orders.”

“Alright. Thanks,” Salire said, sounding slightly flustered.

Alex did her best to fly up the stairs, but needed help half-way. In the lab, Theo noticed something curious. Upon entering, his intuition went off. Combined with his memory, he realized things had been moved around in the lab. There was a stain on the shrine to Drogramath as well, and his mind swirled. When it landed on a mundane conclusion, he shook his head.

“Have you been praying to Drogramath?” Theo asked, poking his head into the stairway.

Alise’s face, a darker shade of orange, appeared at the bottom of the stairs. “Uh! Is that a problem?”

Theo shook his head. “Come on up.”

Wow! She likes you. I wonder what kinda ‘like’ that is, though, Alex said.

Like a daughter trying to impress her father, Theo said, keeping those thoughts inside. He didn’t want to embarrass the young woman. I don’t know if there’s room in my heart for romance.

Theo continued two conversations, which would have boiled his mind before being transported to this world. Now he found the task easy. He kept his mental communication with Alex while showing Salire the proper way to make offerings to the shrine.

I feel that hole, Alex said. Like a deep pit in your chest.

I’ve filled that pit with other things, Theo said, placing a flower on the shrine. It erupted in purple flames, then vanished. With friends so close, I’d call them family.

Maybe you could tell me about that person who made the hole.

I’d be dredging up terrible memories, Theo said.

Perhaps you’ll realize that ignoring your problems doesn’t solve them.

“Do you really think I could get a Drogramath core?”

Theo snapped his attention to the conversation he was having with Salire. He split his concentration again, focusing on his golems as he considered her question. The golems needed mana tablets, and the woman needed to set her expectations low.

“Not sure how the distribution of cores is going to work now,” Theo said. “I’m certain that Khahar has limited the ability of the gods to interact with us. Zarali kinda confirmed that, so we need to figure it out. Come on, help me with the stills. We’ll do a run of attribute potions.”

Salire clapped her hands together with excitement. To Theo’s horror, Tresk had gotten into the conversation about the alchemist’s love life on Earth.

He had a girlfriend, Tresk said, giggling into their minds. When his sun ate his planet, he was clutching a silver locket. But she died before the end, so she didn’t get transmigrated.

Oh, a girlfriend? Alex asked, honking.

Theo stood over his stills, checking that they were clean for the run. With his three 500 unit custom stills, he could distill vast quantities of potions. They’d focus this run on the most commonly used attribute potions. His garden of [Wind Tulips], [Flame Roses], and [Stone Flowers] would produce essence for each physical attribute. Dexterity, strength, and vigor.

“The most important thing as someone starting out is to understand essences,” Theo explained. This was a lesson he’d already given Salire. “There isn’t a living Drogramathi Dronon who would share this information. Reagents have three or more properties, and you need to have discovered those properties to distill essences.”

“Because distillation requires intent!” Salire said with excitement.

“Right. So, we’re doing two runs today. Gonna take it easy. First run is going to be attribute potions, the next one is [Mana Essence] for my golems.”

“We should do a third run,” Salire said.

“What for?”

“[Hallow Ground Essence].”

While their supply of the essence was vast, there could never be enough [Hallow Ground Essence]. Theo tried not to look at the numbers for how many of the potions Gronro went through. It was expansive, and the alchemist was interested in looking at alternatives. But there was a problem there, too. The Southlands Alliance needed the undead to keep the north off their back. At first, Theo thought Qavell had fallen. New information revealed that to be untrue. He doubted the king would take their betrayal kindly.

Theo agreed to do a third run, and they got to work. He let Salire do everything she could, which mostly involved processing the reagents. She set the shredder up, ran the reagents through it, and added the [Enchanted Water] to the mix. Then she set the lids on, dialed in the temperatures, and set the stills to work. The Half-Ogre was smart enough to ensure the 1,000 unit holding tanks in the lab were full before using Throk’s system of storage. With those tanks, they didn’t need to watch the run the entire time.

Rowan returned with the bed in time. He placed it in the room and informed Theo that he was needed at the adventurer’s guild. Salire made her way back to the shop as the pair departed. Within the guild hall, Aarok was in his normal room on the second floor. Sarisa was waiting for Theo when he arrived, flanking him as he joined the meeting.

“Fancy bodyguards,” Aarok said, shaking his head. “Right. Let’s get to business.”

It was only a meeting between Theo, Xol’sa, and Aarok. The alchemist turned to the wizard and nodded. “Feeling any better?”

“Significantly,” Xol’sa said. But he didn’t look great.

Aarok cleared his throat and began the meeting. There were problems with the [Ocean Dungeon]. The issue was that it was creating monsters that plagued the coast. That wouldn’t have been a big deal, but the dungeon was under water. A sea’s worth of water. The administration staff had been brainstorming ideas, but they hadn’t come up with anything clear.

Someone suggested building a bridge that went out to the sea, but the same old problem remained. There was just too much water, even in the relatively shallow bay. Theo had a stupid idea but he kept it to himself for now. The conversation went on, Aarok explaining every avenue they had pursued. Xol’sa was in the meeting because of his [Dungeon Engineer’s Core]. If they could get the haggard Elf down to the dungeon, he could work his magic. That might cause issues, but it was worth it.

“So,” Theo started, drumming his fingers on the table. “Stop me if this sounds stupid.”

“You shouldn’t open with that,” Aarok said.

“We could freeze the water.”

“Stop. That sounds stupid,” Aarok said.

“Just give me a chance here,” Theo said. “The problem is you can’t build a weird waterproof tower around the dungeon so we can access it. Why not just freeze it and we’ll tunnel our way to the dungeon?”

“I’ve heard worse ideas,” Xol’sa said, laughing then coughing.

“He’s still recovering. We can’t expect Xol’sa to swim to the bottom of the bay. So, we’ll freeze it.”

Aarok grumbled a little, but nodded. “That’s the worst idea I’ve heard so far. But it might actually work. I need to talk to Alise about it, though. We’d pull people from your other project.”

“The maglev?” Theo asked. “Freezing an ocean should be easier than building the maglev.”

“Somehow I doubt that. Come on, let’s head to the sea,” Aarok said, standing from his seat. “You’re staying Xol’sa.”

The Elf frowned, but nodded. He put on a brave face, but he was in pain. At least he wasn’t dead.

“I’m guessing the goon crew is coming with us,” Aarok said, jabbing a finger at Theo’s new assistants.

“You’re a goon, old man,” Rowan said.

“Yeah, I am. You got your crap to freeze seawater, Theo?”

“Yup. Let’s go!”

Theo sent a mental message to Tresk about where they were going. She feigned confidence in his new bodyguard’s abilities, but he felt her jumping through the shadows. When the group passed by the harbor, the alchemist’s breath caught in his throat. There was a boat bobbing around in the harbor. Ready to sail with those bright blue sails. He stifled a scream of excitement, following Aarok along the canal to the southern beaches.

As expected, they ran into monsters along the way.

Apparently, the spear that Sarisa displayed in the manor was for indoor use. The weapon she produced out in the open was a massive thing. It looked like an ax and a spear had a baby. During the fighting, she stuck near Theo to protect him. Alex stayed back, too. That left Rowan and Aarok to take care of the vile Fald fish-people. The Guildleader of Broken Tusk’s Adventurer’s Guild wasn’t as impressive as the Shadowstalker.

Rowan locked the Fald in place, denying the small group any movement. It was then the simple task of killing them where they stood. They worked their way to the beach, clearing along the way and looting [Monster Cores]. When they arrived at the beach, Theo removed his shoes and dipped his toes in the water. As expected, the bay’s water was extremely warm.

“Stop playing in the surf,” Aarok grumbled. “See if your potions work.”

Theo didn’t want to. He took time to look out onto the bay, and back up into the canal they’d made. To both the east and the west were hills that quickly became mountains. The westerly hills were closer than those far to the east. There was plenty of space to expand the town that way. The alchemist concerned himself more with the texture of the sand between his toes. The scattered shells and little sea creatures that skittered just under the surface. Alex honked, swimming in the shallow water. He took a deep breath before Aarok yelled at him again.

“Right,” Theo said, withdrawing a [Freeze Solution] from his inventory. “I need to see how viable this is. Let me measure out how much it takes to freeze a fixed section.”

The alchemist experimented. The [Freeze Solution] froze the ocean water easily, despite the salt content. He started with a small patch near the shoreline, dripping his solution out until a chunk of ice formed. Then he worked his way deeper into the water, escorted by everyone gathered. He felt Tresk’s nervous eyes on him as he waded deeper.

“Interesting,” Theo said, dripping his solution as he stood up to his thighs in the water. The potion gathered on the surface of the ice, and seemed to push itself down through the column. Instead of freezing outward, it was freezing downward. “The problem comes with volume. How far out is the [Ocean Dungeon]?”

“Pretty far out there,” Tresk said, appearing from Theo’s own shadow. She already held a large rock in her hand, tossing it with precision into the ocean. “About there.”

Not that far. 100 paces, or so? “How deep does it get?”

“Hard to say,” Aarok said. “Ten man-heights?”

Theo imagined ten Half-Ogres stacked one on top of the other. The [Ocean Dungeon] was fairly deep. But there were other concerns. He could always brew enough potions to freeze the entire ocean, given enough time. They would need to excavate a stairway into the ice, giving Xol’sa a path to work his magic. For his proof of concept, the alchemist created a walkway from ice. It was sturdy enough to hold everyone gathered without issue.

“Because the [Freezing Solution] works by freezing the water below the currently frozen section,” Theo said, standing atop his ice bridge. “We can drill down to the [Ocean Dungeon].”

Aarok rubbed his chin, nodding with approval. “How many of those potions are you going to need?”

“A few thousand,” Theo said with a shrug.

“I can have it ready by tomorrow,” Tresk mocked, cutting Theo off before he said it.

Theo cleared his throat. “Yeah, whenever you guys are ready.”