The Newt and Demon

Theo wasn’t surprised where Tresk wanted to spend her time in the Dreamwalk. While she soaked in the bathhouse, not content with the few hours they had in the waking world, the alchemist worked on leveling his cores. Both alchemy and herbalism would roll over when he woke up, he could already feel it, then his personal level would level up to 14. One more level, and he could start serious work on the idea of constructs.

Zarali knit together a few pieces of information for him. The mana-grabber she brought over gave him a few ideas, but he’d need Throk’s help to make it happen. The second part of that idea came from the Elven Guardian, the massive artifice creature that still sat outside of the east gates. Throk would find more artifices, likely a [Power Siphon] within the tangle of metalwork.

Theo recalled seeing Fenian at dinner last night, although the trader was more interested in eating than talking with others. If he spent any time in the bathhouse, the alchemist wasn’t aware of it. He normally spent at least a day in town before heading off to do whatever it was he did. Whether the Elf was actually responsible for the fall of the Qavelli Merchant’s Guild was beyond even his intuition. A crumbling economy in the north meant exactly nothing to Broken Tusk, and even less when they got the coin mint up and running. He made a mental note to meet with Alise and Azrug tomorrow, going over the town’s finances.

From the perspective of alchemy, Theo was doing just fine. Progress had become more important than profit lately, so it didn’t matter what he was making. As long as that experience percentage went up, he was in a good place. Another mental note entered his impressive memory. If Fenian had another greenhouse, he’d buy it. Perhaps two, or four. However many he could afford. The alchemist found himself not doing large runs of naturally growing reagents, finding Zarali’s perfectionism bleeding into his work. He found a greater sense of satisfaction brewing high-quality potions, rather than the relatively poor ones.

Tresk didn’t train at all that night, even if she was edging closer to 20 in her [Assassin] class and 15 with her [Shadowdancer] class. She just soaked in the bathhouse, refusing to come out even when Theo asked her to send assassins after him. He was grateful she didn’t, because he hadn’t come up with any new methods of defending himself. At least she wasn’t so heartless as to send a dragon after him.

When the morning finally came, Theo saw a string of system messages. Both his cores went up a level, as did his personal level. He inspected the screens before moving on, eager to get a few potions going to barter with Fenian.

[Drogramath Herbalist Core] receivedexperience (2%).

[Drogramath Herbalist Core] leveled up! Level 15.

[Drogramath Alchemy Core] gained an enhanced effect: +5 wisdom.

[Drogramath Alchemy Core] leveled up! Level 16.

[Theo Spencer] leveled up! Level 14.

[Theo Spencer] received one free point.

He felt an imbalance in his chest, as he lay in bed. While Tresk could happily level her Zaul-aligned cores beyond the [Tara’hek Core], he couldn’t. It affected him differently than her, and he choked back a feeling of dread. He waited for Drogramath to speak into his mind, for the Grand Inquisitor Sulvan Flametouched to burst through his door, but nothing happened. After wiping cold sweat from his forehead, he got out of bed and met Tresk’s eyes.

With the Tara’hek growing stronger, they didn’t even need words to communicate the danger.

“I’ll stick with you today,” Tresk said, nodding. Her face was resolute, but her hands were still on her daggers, ready to flash out at a moment’s notice.

Theo nodded, the sensation of fear fading to give way to another strange feeling. His mind reached out, thoughts racing as though new neurons were forming in his brain. Consulting his attributes sheet, he figured out the source of the change. He expected it, but it was still jarring to get a sudden boost of mental capacity.

Belgar (Theo Spencer)

Drogramath Dronon

Level 14

Alchemist

Core Slots: 3

Stats:

Health: 85

Mana: 130

Stamina: 95

Strength: 18 (+11) (+1)

Dexterity: 17 (+8) (+1)

Vigor: 17 (+8) (+1)

Intelligence: 21 (+7) (+1)

Wisdom: 27 (+7) (+1)

Points: 0

Buffs:

[Bathhouse Soak]

His attributes were balanced, despite his worries. But he wasn’t strong on his own, it was only the bonuses from his gear and cores that made it so. Still, he wouldn’t worry about it too much. The increase in mana alone was enough to put a smile on his face.

Tresk helped him with his morning chores, insisting that the more she did the work the less he’d have to worry about accidentally leveling up. She pruned the weeds in the garden, clumsily harvested the [Spiny Swamp Thistle Root], and kicked off the stills as though she was a professional alchemist. Perhaps she’d been observing him more than he knew. They left the stills to do their work while they went to find Alise and Azrug. They stopped by Xam’s tavern, taking their food and tea with them to the town hall.

As expected, Azrug and Alise were sitting by a roaring fire, eating breakfast of their own. Theo brought over two chairs, stealing them from an adjacent room, and sitting down with them by the fire.

“Lord Merchant,” Theo said, bowing his head to Azrug before turning to Alise. “Lady Administrator.”

That put a smile on both their faces. Azrug was always a young man that acted twice his age, like an old soul thrust into the arms of responsibility. He rose to the occasion, never doubting his abilities for a moment.

“I see you have a personal bodyguard today,” Azrug said, gesturing to Tresk. “Are we about to die?”

“It’s a demon problem,” Tresk said, scarfing down her food. “You wouldn’t understand.”

Theo nursed his hot tea, staring into the flames. The memory of the bath still lingered in his mind, as did the power of the buff in his body. But they had a pleasant breakfast in the town hall, even if a few citizens poked their heads inside to ask questions.

“I’d like to have a meeting,” Theo said after a lull in their conversation. “About finances.”

“Finances?” a voice called from the door.

Theo craned his neck to see Fenian grinning in his ruffled robe and audacious hat. The alchemist beckoned him to join them, he was always a source of sound financial advice. The trader pulled a plush, red armchair from his inventory and took a seat. He then produced a bottle and a wine glass, pouring himself a cup and settling into the chair.

“Shall we?” Fenian asked.

“Azrug, have you settled into the position yet?” Theo asked.

“I don’t even know what I’m supposed to do,” Azrug said, shrugging.

“We haven’t gone over it, yet,” Alise said, pausing and turning to greet more people coming in through the door. She gave them simple instructions then sent them off. They were her new administrators.

“You couldn’t have picked a better man for the job,” Fenian said, smiling at his student.

“I’ll break everything down, if you like,” Alise said. Her eyes went glassy as she consulted her administration screen. “Fifty percent of the traders that come to town are running some kind of scam. When they arrive, they’ll now report to Azrug for a consultation. We’re going to give them tokens and take their names so we know they’re trustworthy.”

“I’m on that list, aren’t I?” Fenian said, smiling.

“Always,” Theo said, cutting off Alise before she could talk. “Fenian should get the prime deals, as well.”

“Agreed,” Fenian said.

“Yeah, I agree,” Tresk said, belching.

“Of course,” Alise said, coughing into her hand. “We’ll go over income first. The town takes most of its money from your holdings, Theo. Since you don’t skim the books, everything the sawmill, smelter, and mine make goes into the treasury. Except for the pay the workers get.”

“Everything else goes to the crown,” Fenian said, finishing her thought.

Theo sunk into his chair. The taxes they paid to Qavell were absurd, and they’d only get worse.

“Fenian, what happens when we buy our way out of this?” Theo asked. “My contact in Qavell isn’t answering, so I’m lost. We pay them 5,000 gold, then what?”

“You’ll get hit with a flat tax rate,” Fenian said. “Something like 10 to 15 percent.”

Broken Tusk had a strange taxing system. They paid 15% of the value of every property, 20% of all exported value, and 15% of all sales value weekly. That all went in the treasury, then Theo paid it to Qavell at an irregular rate. He thought it was monthly, but they hadn’t come searching for their money in a while.

“But what are they taxing at that point?” Tresk asked.

“Well, that’s a good question. I’m not sure,” Fenian said, pressing his finger into his chin and humming for a moment. “Total value of the town, I’d guess. Production versus seed core value. But it’s the right move, for certain. If you’re not interested in paying, you can always rebel.”

That was the last thing Theo wanted to do.

“We’ll raise the money,” Theo said, waving the idea away. The motion felt comforting, at least. “I can see where this goes, though. At that point, we can tax our citizens. Even 5% on sales would go a long way for us.”

“Exactly,” Alise said. She seemed ruffled by Fenian’s opinions.

The conversation went on for some time without Azrug having much to say. He was absorbing the information more than participating. Alise worked out a few deals for the small towns between Broken Tusk and Qavell, increasing their weekly income. So far, everyone had provided their own traders but that wasn’t always the case. She turned down a few towns because they wanted Broken Tusk to establish the trade route.

“That’s a wise choice,” Fenian said. “I know an honest Qavelli Karatan breeder, for when the time comes.”

Fenian explained the importance of the Qavelli variant of the six-legged beast. They were smart. Smart enough to follow the same path for thousands of miles, even having some kind of intelligence to take the right path to get to a location. They were tireless, pulling a cart at speed for a week at a time before needing rest. The work animals were his favored creature for the job, before he got his demonic breed.

“That falls to Azrug,” Alise said, gesturing to the young man. “My preference is to recruit from citizens.”

“I know a few guys,” Azrug said, straightening up and nodding. “If Broken Tusk can provide the wagons, the Karatan, and the goods, I could move a lot of bulk materials.”

“Smart,” Fenian said.

Tresk had taken to peering out the window, hands resting impatiently on her daggers. She’d given the one that looked like a thorn a name, even if the system already named it. Her fingers played favorites with Stab Stab over her dagger made of metal and wood.

The group finished up with their discussion, centered on the expansion of the town. Citizens were coming in droves, stretching Alise’s capacity to house them further than she expected. Fenian entered a deal with her right there in the town hall, offering [Seed Core Houses] at absurdly low rates. Theo used to buy them 5 or 6 to a gold coin, now he was offering them at 15 to a gold. When the meeting was done, Alise and Azrug had to attend to the new administrators and Theo pulled Fenian aside.

“I have some more potions,” Theo said.

“I’m nearly broke,” Fenian said, grinning. “But, my guess is you want to barter.”

Theo often found it suspicious that Fenian had exactly what he needed, when he needed it. But he wouldn’t complain about the 4 [Alchemical Garden Seed Cores] the trader had on him. It only made sense, since he had the mushroom cave seed with him.

“Where do you find this stuff?” Theo asked, taking the 4 cores into his inventory. He now owed Fenian 20 gold. Even the price of his potions wasn’t enough to overtake the expensive nature of the greenhouses.

“A core like this?” Fenian asked. “Why, only the finest [Core Smith] could craft something so brilliant.”

The Elf was leaving something out. Theo stretched his new [Intelligence] to figure out what he was hinting at, the trader always loved his riddles. But he’d pieced enough of Fenian’s past together to understand what was going on. They were standing in the lab, Tresk lurking in the corner, while negotiating over the new seed cores.

“When did Tarantham take you back?” Theo asked, grinning.

Fenian actually looked shocked at the words. He craned his neck, making sure it was only the three of them in the room before clearing his throat.

“I need to be careful with the information I give you, Theo,” Fenian said. “I hide facts for your safety. To put it bluntly, they haven’t taken me back. I’m using an alias.”

The symbol on the Elven Guardian came rushing back to Theo. It didn’t feel like much of a revelation, just more of a passing curiosity, but he’d already riddled out the Elf’s past. To an extent.

“You’re not using Southsword anymore?” Theo asked, his smile growing larger.

“Hah!” Fenian said, slapping Theo on the back. “Nice try. You almost had it. Listen, Theo. I’m serious. Look at my face. For once I’m serious. You’re content enough to sit in your town and build from here, but others don’t have that luxury. I’ve walked a long road and there’s still much to do. I advise you to stay out of Elven affairs. They’re quite vicious.”

“Southblade,” Theo said, nodding. Fenian’s reaction said that was it. His original surname was Southblade. “I understand, and I really don’t care. I know you’re doing something, likely trying to overthrow the crown or something, but it’s fine. Hell, give us a couple of years under Qavell’s yoke and I think the southlands would rebel.”

“They certainly would,” Fenian said, mopping his brow. “Tresk. You, sneaking in the corner. Theo might understand, but you need reinforcement. Don’t share this information with anyone.”

“I’m good at keeping secrets,” Tresk said flatly.

That was true, though. Tresk might have been impulsive and quick to anger, but once she gave her word she stuck to it forever.

“I was expelled from my family,” Fenian said. “The Southblades, as you’ve determined, and banished from Tarantham. Enough time has passed that the northern houses don’t remember who I was, or what I did. So, you get fantastical goods from the Elven homeland. Isn’t that lovely?”

“It is,” Theo said, nodding eagerly. He just wanted to know a little information about the trader’s past.

“You’re a disgraced Elven general or something, aren’t you?” Tresk asked, giggling in the corner.

Fenian’s eyes focused on something far in the distance as a pained smile played across his face. “Something like that. I could teach you a thing about combat, young lady.”

Tresk puffed up, but continued her stealthy vigil.

Theo placed his hand on Fenian’s shoulder and stared him down. “Above all else, Fenian. Stay safe. Broken Tusk will always be your ally, no matter what you do. You have my eternal gratitude.”

“Thank you,” Fenian said, returning the gesture with a shallow bow. “Now, you’re loaded up with new buildings. New [Monster Cores]. And you owe me money. Get to work!”

They exchanged pleasantries before Fenian departed. Even Tresk seemed reluctant to let the enigmatic Elf leave, but he had business to attend to elsewhere. Theo meant what he said, though. Every word. There was no one outside of the walls that treated Broken Tuskers like he did, and Theo would never forget that. There was also a familiar power radiating from his chest, something he hid too well.

Whatever Fenian’s past was didn’t seem all sunshine and roses. Whatever path he walked was scattered with bones and blood, but could Theo say something different about himself? As long as his taxes kept going up, there was nothing that the trader could do to Qavell that would upset him. The swamp would rise up.

Looking back on it, Theo realized he should have focused more on his plant cultivation schemes. He was too locked into the idea that one was enough, even when this had been the largest limiting factor to his process. Tresk joined him out in the swathe of land he owned, picking the best location for his new greenhouses. She thought it would be nice to give enough room for them all to grow, allowing for sizable gaps of space between the seed core buildings. Between them, they had enough to bring all 4 new greenhouses to level 20, picking the same upgrade path as his existing [Alchemical Garden].

The glass buildings were arranged three on the side closest to the Newt and Demon, with two on the other side. A space between the rows was left clear, giving easy access to any building. Looking over the new seed core buildings, Theo’s mind swirled with possibilities. He’d finally have the space to experiment with splicing plants together, creating hybrid reagents. Before attending to his other duties for the day, he stood there and appreciated the sight with a smile on his face.

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