The Newt and Demon - Chapter 4.55 - Wards and Wills

It was always a good idea to get some fresh air after talking to Fenian. That guy had so many grand designs going on at the same time, it left Theo feeling drained. How could one man be so single-minded? The alchemist shook off the dust of ambition and went off to check on a few projects. Projects always made him feel better.

Outside of the manor, in the heat of the Season of Fire, things were normal. The alchemist stood on the road’s edge for some time, waving at people as they passed by. A breeze blew in from the east, bringing with it the faint scent of the sea. There must have been a powerful gust pushing up from the bay, flooding over the harbor and then the town. The sparse grasses that grew throughout town shook, as though through anticipation. Theo took a deep breath and headed off to the boiler shack.

One advantage of turning mundane buildings into core buildings was their longevity. From what Theo understood, the buildings would never decay so long as there were supplies to keep them repaired within the town. Broken Tusk had infinite storage for materials, allowing them to stockpile absurd amounts of materials. It was part of the strategy that Aarok and Luras cooked up, which wasn’t much of a strategy at all. Turtle up, and hope they could outlast whatever it was that came to get them.

The boiler shack was an unassuming building between the Artificer’s Workshop, and Miana’s ranch. It rested among saplings and a scatter of unused lumber, humming away endlessly. Even at a distance, the alchemist could feel that the building was ready for an upgrade. Unlike the temple, which seemed hellbent on remaining without upgrades forever. Inside were a group of boilers, fed by copper pipes that snaked their way underground.

Theo pressed the first [Monster Core] into the building, nodding to himself as the building accepted it. He didn’t get the same feeling he got from true seed core buildings. It was as though this building was siphoning power from the town itself, much like the synergistics upgrades. The alchemist thought about those synergy upgrades as he shoved cores into the building. They were useful, but expensive.

There were several things to note about the way incorporated core buildings worked. As Theo leveled the building up, he observed that the building did not expand in size with every level. Next, the boiler shack leveled past level 5 without receiving an upgrade. That seemed like a low cost to pay for the chance to make any building a core building, and as the shack reached level 10 he finally got a prompt to apply upgrades.

Of course, this process was different as well. He wasn’t presented with a list of three things to pick from. He was presented with one option, which was automatically accepted by the building. Anything was better than nothing. Theo inspected the Level 10 upgrade.

[Efficient Purification]

All water purifying devices within this building will operate more efficiently.

Less resources to run the shack was good. The shack contained both artifices to purify the water, and a backup alchemy based system. While his original plan was to only use alchemy to purify the water, it was soon made evident that they should take advantage of the natural resources of the land. Motes were in abundance. Why not use them? The alchemist continued on with the upgrade, intent on seeing what Level 20 would bring him. As expected, Level 15 brought nothing. At least Level 20 brought something interesting. He inspected the option, only after it selected itself.

[Rapid Heating]

The time required to purify water by heat is halved.

That was a pretty good upgrade. Theo knew little about how long the individual boilers took to heat the water up. The [Flame Artifice] design Throk had used to design the shack was pretty old. They made up for this fact by putting a bunch of heating elements in there. It was likely that the upgrades the alchemist just applied only brought the boilers up to standard. That was a better alternative than bothering Throk for another job.

“One less angry Marshling to deal with,” Theo muttered, exiting the building.

Level 20 was fine for now. The boiler shack didn’t really need upgrades. Not like the other production buildings in town. It was just a fun thing to do. Before heading off to inspect Ziz’s work, he renamed and inspected the building.

[Boiler Shack]

[Love Shack]

Owner: [Broken Tusk]

Faction: [Southlands Alliance]

Level: 20 (2%)

Rent Due: 4 Days

Expansions:

[Efficient Heating]

[Rapid Heating]

“Heh.”

The harbor was an interesting mix of people. Laedria had recruited a few foreign workers to help her build the boats. Theo didn’t recall seeing another trade ship enter port, but brushed it off. She also drew from the rowdy natives of the town, bolstering her flagging work force. The bulk of her people were sailing to Tarantham or the lizard islands. Those mysterious islands, just a hop and a skip over the ocean to the south, still didn’t have a name in the alchemist’s mind. The Elven shipwright was far too busy to speak, but gave in to brief pleasantries before vanishing behind a half-completed boat.

Focusing on building a fleet of trade-style ships, Laedria had thrown herself into her craft. Theo knew nothing of boats, but they floated. Better still, they moved when the sails caught the wind. Shadows swirled nearby—the last stretch of shaded area from here to the beach—and Rowan sprung forth. He looked frustrated. Maybe slightly annoyed.

“Hot day,” Rowan said, grimacing.

Theo fished a vial of the cooling gel from his inventory, holding it out for his bodyguard to take. Rowan tried, and failed, to dump it over his head. Instead, he slathered it on his skin, breathing a sigh of relief. The alchemist tried some of the gel, putting thin strips of it on his neck. The effect was immediate and intense, as though someone was holding ice cubes against his skin.

“This stuff is pretty nice,” Theo said, leading Rowan toward the retaining wall of the canal.

They walked along the canal’s edge like kids on railroad tracks. The water flowed from the river, racing through the tract of land before impacting the rushing seawater. Rowan had a few things to say as they walked. Both he and Sarisa were interested in actually training with Theo and Tresk. A desire for more power wasn’t at all uncommon for people. It didn’t really matter what world they were in, they always wanted either themselves or things to be better.

“Been a few slow weeks, huh?” Rowan asked.

The coast was in sight by the time he asked the question.

“Mercifully slow. Like any good summer should be.”

“That’s what you call the Season of Fire, right?”

“Yeah. We also don’t just cram all the days into one season. We have a few months per season.”

“Weird.”

Before Ziz’s work, the retaining wall ran to the ocean and stopped. Theo stood at the edge of the old end, staring off at the Half-Ogre’s newest creation. Two causeways raced out into the bay, both ending with a tower that stood taller than the walls back in town. A bridge spanned between the towers near the top. The walkways out to sea were wider than the wall in the canal, allowing four people to walk shoulder-to-shoulder. The pair walked out onto the path, passing by other citizens as they went.

It was nice that people wanted to get out and enjoy nature, but there were dangers involved. From what Theo understood, the dungeon didn’t spawn monsters directly on top of itself. Those generated monsters could spawn anywhere around the dungeon, circumventing the original idea of the underwater tower. The new value of this effort rested in the concept of controlling the dungeon with Xol’sa’s [Dungeon Engineer’s Core].

“Damn, this is pretty,” Theo said. They had arrived at one tower and had taken to ascending the stairs. Built directly into the tower itself, the stairs spiraled upward. Tiny windows gave them different views of the world outside, until they emerged onto the bridge spanning the two towers.

“I’m uncertain of the defensive value here,” Rowan said, folding his arms. “But it does look neat.”

“I agree,” Theo said, gazing out into the bay. He could see the Cork fishing near the barrier islands in the distance. Barely more than speck on the horizon. “Come. Let’s ascend to the top. Then the bottom.”

Theo and Rowan stood atop the tower. They could almost see Broken Tusk from here, but it was too distant. A low haze had fallen over the swamp, which was unsurprising. The alchemist leaned over the edge of the tower, spotting fish moving around in the calmer sections of the bay. The area at the top of the tower provided enough space for Throk’s rail gun, but little else.

“Hmmm. Did you end up serving in the Irregulars?” Theo asked.

“Didn’t get that far.”

“Huh. You already told me that, didn’t you? Well, how would you defend the bay?”

Rowan looked back toward the canal, then out to the bay. He scanned the area, some kind of instinct taking over as he formed a plan in his mind. “Imagine you have a weapon to repel invaders. The new gun you’re working on. Why wouldn’t the invaders have something similar?”

Theo smiled at his bodyguard. Making the assumption that attackers wouldn’t have similar technology was silly. Assuming they didn’t have siege techniques beyond his comprehension was another folly. Broken Tusk had always relied on the powerful nations of the world being too busy to deal with them. He stood there for a long time, his mind splitting in several directions as he thought.

Several of those disparate strands of thought joined together at the same time. Something shivered in his chest as the realization of another ward trigger flooded into his [Toru’aun Mage’s Core]. Theo knelt to the ground, pressing his hand against the warm stone of the tower. He searched it tentatively, squeezing out as much of his senses as he could. They were underdeveloped, giving him only a vague sense of how agreeable the stone was for his wards.

“Seems like this would take a lot of mana,” Theo said, drawing himself up again.

“Your warding magic?”

The alchemist drank an [Intelligence Potion]. His mind buzzed as though stung by electric bees. Thoughts expanding out like a balloon, he understood slightly more of what he needed to ward the entire tower. In Toru’aun’s tongue he chanted a new spell, his mind focused inward as he cast. Mana flowed from his body like the river feeding into the sea. An endless pour into a gluttonous mouth.

Ten high-grade [Mana Potions] later, and the spell was taking shape. Pure mana from the Demon Queen of Mysteries stung the air. Rowan swatted stray clouds of the magic away as though he were slapping at hungry mosquitoes. The spell formation wasn’t even that complex. He formed the [Shield] component of his spells with the [Detect Attack] trigger he had just learned. Interlaced with a few extra supportive rings, it wasn’t even the most difficult spell circle he had crafted. But binding it to the entire tower was daunting.

“You alright, boss?” Rowan asked.

Theo gritted his teeth, downing another [Mana Potion]. “Good thing these potions don’t fill me up,” he grunted. “Yeah, this binding is complex. Feels like there’s an entire layer of spellwork under this thing.”

“How does it normally feel?”

“Like I’m painting the spellwords on a wall. Now it feels like I’m attaching each point of the spell to a place on the tower,” Theo said. He continued his chanting as Rowan watched, concern flitting across the Half-Ogre’s face.

“Hold on. No, not literally—keep doing your thing,” Rowan said, running into the tower. He vanished for quite some time.

Theo managed to attach more of the spell to the tower, slicing parts out that weren’t working for different poems. Each failure resulted in a small spike of experience for his mage core. It felt like he was wrestling with the tower itself. Almost like it had a will of its own.

“Yep!” Rowan said, huffing as he ascended the stairs. “Sledge did the incorporation thing on the tower already.”

The alchemist groaned. After the revelation, he could feel it. He wasn’t wrestling with the stones of some massive tower, he was fighting against the willpower of the town. The moment he thought of a battle of wills, he could feel something in the back of his mind. A scouring spotlight examining his distress. A faint popping sound issued from behind him, then a squeal of excitement and a honk.

“Did somebody think about willpower?” Tresk asked. “Well, I’ve been described as having a ‘mountainous willpower, dwarfing all others’ by more than one person. Even a god!”

Theo groaned, wrapping his mana around the stable formations and keeping them there. “Khahar said it was like an ocean.”

“I thought he said mountain,” Tresk said.

“Help me, please.”

The pressure of the town’s will lifted in an instant. The spell snapped into place without another word chanted. Theo fell back in a heap, breathing a sigh of relief. Only now did he realize how low the sun had gotten in the sky. It was closer to dusk than noon by this point.

“Damn. Thanks,” Theo said.

And I helped! Alex proclaimed.

“Yes, you’re a good goose. Who’s a good goose? You are!”

The underpinnings of the ward felt slightly different. All that work to get the spellwords attached to the right spots had left something of a mark on the tower. Something Theo could follow with his weak senses, tracking connections throughout the building. He couldn’t tell exactly what it was, but his latest mage ability for his core had changed the spellwork.

“How fast do you think Xol’sa would come if I called him?” Theo asked, examining the ward.

“Immediately,” Tresk said.

Theo sent an alert for the wizard to come to the tower, then read the description on the ward.

[Defense]

[Advanced Ward]

Creates a reactive barrier. Barrier only responds when attacked.

Trigger:

Detect Attack

Duration:

5 days.

The second tier version of the [Defense] ward wasn’t much to look at. But the magical base of the ward was powerful. The principles he learned from the action were more important than anything else. Theo could ward the walls. With whatever he wanted to, so long as he had Tresk nearby. The Marshling wouldn’t mention it, but the effort she put into overpowering the town was vast. Something deep within her had drained away, leaving exhaustion in its wake.

“Easy as pie,” Tresk said, hiding her shallow breaths.

“Let’s check it out while we wait,” Theo said, leading the way down the stairs.

The group gathered on the causeway, standing far enough to see the effects of the shield. But they were close enough that Theo could toss a dagger to activate his new ward. Once everyone was assembled, he removed an unimbued knife from his inventory and tossed it with force, directly at the tower. Before the weapon could clatter against the white stone, the familiar shield sprung up. It moved in uneven patterns at first, as though it was struggling against its own shape. Shimmering white energy blasted outward until it formed the shape of a bubble covering the entire tower.

“That’s a big shield,” Rowan said, gazing at the spectacle.

“We should shoot it with a rail gun,” Tresk added.

Honk!

The ward settled down after a while, collapsing into the tower and becoming inactive. The group chatted about the new defensive measure while they waited for Xol’sa. After a few minutes, his shimmering portal of blue and silver sprung up along the causeway. The wizard stepped out, Zarali following close behind.

“Hey guys,” Theo said, waving. “Look what I did.”

“You’re studying?” Xol’sa asked. “Without being berated by me? Magical experimentations, and I didn’t need to slap you upside the head?”

“Our little Theo is growing up,” Zarali cooed.

Xol’sa chuckled dryly, then held out his hand. A webwork of arcane symbols sprung out, forming an ever-expanding circle from his palm. The air stung with magical power, visible motes of energy flowing from the Elf’s body. Without warning he closed his fist, sending a ripple of power over the waves to either side.

“There are some very interesting interactions going on here,” Xol’sa said, withdrawing a small black notebook and a pen. He took some notes. “I’m glad you called for me. This might help me understand a problem I’m—”

The Elf narrowed his gaze, spinning around to glare at his portal. A confused-looking Half-Ogre stepped out of the portal. “Uh. This isn’t the town…”

Xol’sa stomped over to the lost adventurer, shoving him toward the glowing portal. “Give me five minutes. I’ll point the portal back to town when I’m done here. Shoo! Off with you!”

The adventurer fell into the portal, hands held up defensively as the Elf banished him. With a frustrated breath, Xol’sa turned back to the group. “Now. Where were we? Right. Magic. Your bindings are weak. Anchors are almost non-existent.”

“But it worked.”

“I’m proud of you, Theo,” Zarali said, clapping her hands.

But the ward was a team effort. Without Tresk’s willpower the spell wouldn’t have formed. Those underpinnings weren’t complex, it was the opposing will that made the task hard. The alchemist settled on his first analogy as the correct one. Painting a picture versus connecting distinct pieces of an image. While he wanted to do it, Theo decided not to shoot their new tower with a rail gun.