The Newt and Demon

Salire, Zarali, Xol’sa, and Sulvan had joined the group for their nightly dinner in the manor. Everyone was busy during the day, forcing Theo to brew more of the Sense Spirit Potion and make it an event. He had enough for everyone gathered, including Sarisa and Rowan. Tonight’s dinner was a fluffy pastry-like dough filled with diced karatan meat and a thick brown gravy that was almost too rich for Theo. He cut it with the grits-like mashed zee, and enjoyed it greatly.

“When a person dies,” Sulvan started. Everyone wanted to get some food in them before they talked about spirits and the dead. “They aren’t given a choice. They are flung into the void for judgment.”

“They aren’t judged,” Zarali scoffed.

“It’s a part of the natural magical forces of the world,” Xol’sa said with a shrug. “Without a vessel to tether a soul to, it drifts into the void.”

Theo had already confirmed that the manor was chock-full of spirits. When he and Salire tested it earlier, they found a density of souls far higher than anywhere else in town. But this patch of ground was nothing before he built the manor on it.

“No one ever told me, but my observation has been that souls fall into the void. But that doesn’t matter,” Theo said. “When a person dies, their soul goes to the void. It doesn’t matter how. Now, I want everyone at this table to drink a potion.”

Sulvan gave Theo a flat look. “If this is an attempt to get rid of me, I’m going to be disappointed.”

“You can read the description on the potion, buddy. Don’t be grumpy,” Tresk said.

Theo gave everyone at the table a potion and waited for the screams. Rowan and Sarisa hesitated to drink theirs when the others yelled in surprise. The alchemist drank his own, finding that the souls had moved around. They now surrounded the table, peering down at the people and the food. If they had eyes, he was certain they would look hungry. Whether that was for mortal flesh or the food was beyond him.

“As you can see,” Theo said, gesturing around the table. “I don’t know what the hell is going on.”

Sulvan stood, approaching one spirit and holding out a hand. “This shouldn’t be possible.”

“Is this just an afterimage? An imprint of the spirits left before they departed?” Xol’sa asked, summoning a magical array. “An imprint left behind?”

“That’s what I brought everyone here to find out.”

Sulvan’s hand flared with golden light. The spirit he had approached recoiled as though the light stung. It was the most movement Theo had seen from a spirit since he started watching them. “That was a banishment spell,” Sulvan said, casting Theo a concerned glance. “It works on the undead, but the spirit was unaffected.”

“So, you’ve found your town infested with ghosts,” Tresk said, leaning over the table to grab another plate of food. “Who ya gonna call?”

Theo stifled a laugh.

“They’re not hurting anything, are they?” Zarali asked.

“No. We’ve observed them for an hour earlier in the day,” Theo said. “I’m not concerned that they’re hostile, but this throws into question the nature of souls.”

“Theo brought us here for a scholarly debate?” Xol’sa asked. His expression brightened in an instant. “Perhaps we should check to see if he’s been replaced by a double.”

“Agreed!” Tresk shouted. “Pin him down, I’ll get tickling.”

Theo was glad that no one pinned him down or tickled him. But Sulvan had some observations.

“I don’t know why they’re reacting to holy magic,” he said, demonstrating another spell. This time he cast a healing spell near the spirits. They recoiled all the same.

“Yet I cannot get a sense of what they’re made of,” Xol’sa said. “My magical senses are powerful. And I cannot feel them.”

“What about this?” Theo asked, spreading his aura over the spirits. His eyes went wide and he withdrew it into his chest. Each spirit the aura touched moved toward him, like a moth to flame. They drifted above the ground, hovering toward him only to stop when he retracted his aura.

“Uh… that was weird,” Tresk said.

“Ah, shit,” Theo said, his mind racing. “Oopsie.”

“This goes further than ‘oopsie,’ I’m afraid,” Sulvan said, shaking his head at Theo. He stood, gesturing to the door. “Come. I have a theory.”

The group followed the Priest of Glantheir out of the building, tracing a path along the road. It almost looked as though the spirits were following the road. Until they got out of the western gate, looking up the northern road, no one knew exactly what he was talking about. When they spotted the procession of souls trickling in over that road, the answer was obvious.

“Theo trapped the souls of the undead on the mortal plane,” Sulvan said plainly.

“How devious,” Zarali said. “I didn’t know you were evil, Theo.”

“I didn’t do it on purpose,” Theo said, gritting his teeth. “My potions and wards have an amount of my willpower in them. You said something about a vessel binding the souls to the mortal plane. Did they latch onto my willpower?”

“Your willpower is an extension of a realm, so… Yes,” Xol’sa said. “This is the only thing that makes sense to me.”

“I’m not going to sleep again,” Theo said, folding his arms.

“We don’t sleep as it is,” Tresk said.

“Yeah, but… you know.’

Those inclined to magical things had opinions on what was happening. The figures they saw weren’t ghosts, since Sulvan’s banishment spell worked on ghosts. The two classes of beings were different. Each plate on the table was cleared by the time a solid theory was accepted, and it was the first observation based on Theo’s aura. Something about an aura infused with the power of a realm made them stay, and they couldn’t leave. But they weren’t degrading like the spirits in foreign realms of the void.

But it couldn’t have been good. The debates rolled on, but it was time for bed. Tresk was annoyed that they hadn’t gone down yet, so Theo gave in. They fell into the Dreamwalk shortly after. The alchemist steered them to the scene north of Gronro, eager to show his companions the damage Fenian had done.

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“I already watched your memories. I don’t need to see this.”

“Yeah, but maybe you could fight a dragon here. Imagine some fire. Maybe an army.”

“Oh, dang. Yeah, good idea,” Tresk said, dashing off with Alex.

Theo smiled after them as they went, considering the span his people needed to cross shortly after. The problem with the chasm was not only the distance across, but the depth below. Creating a support in the center would be tricky. A suspension bridge concept might work, if Ziz could get the magical physics of it working. The alchemist imagined a few scenarios, finding that the first few ideas collapsed and fell into the canyon. A concept with massive metal metal posts on both side of the span worked, although it required adjustments. Braided wire held the platform stable. A few more tests for weight capacity later, and he was done. The alchemist had enough information to give to his people back in the real world.

The Deathbloom flower had one more property to reveal. Theo walked to the other side of the span on his bridge, listening as it creaked under his weight. Ziz could work out the details of that. Maybe. He set up his alchemy equipment and got to work on the new property. Soulcleave didn’t sound like a pleasant property, but he never knew until he brewed the potion. When his Drogramath Alchemy Core leveled to 32, he decided to experiment with another plan while his essence distilled.

Theo didn’t feel as though he was leveraging one of his biggest advantages as much as he could have. The more his willpower expanded, the more golems he could summon. Labor was an issue in Broken Tusk, so why not try specializing golems to do things like creating crude structures from stone. There were several ways to customize a golem. The first way was the materials a golem was constructed out of. Plant-based golems were better at caring for plants, while metal ones served better in combat. Aside from changing the base material, the only thing that changed them was the monster core used to breathe life into the creation.

With some quick experimentation, Theo figured out that golems made of stone would be the best for the job. They had an affinity for the Earth element, and had less trouble hoisting heavy rocks. The alchemist couldn’t generate a Monster Core within the dream that was better at moving stuff than the others. There might have been a solution by messing with the ‘Additional Modification’ section of the golems, but he couldn’t figure it out. He had only placed a Fire Construct in that slot, which helped the metal golems keep their form.

These discoveries weren’t enough to push his herbalist core over the edge, so he worked with some plants to squeeze out that level. But his failure to change the golems didn’t negate his advantage. He could have a lot of golems. Hundreds at this point, and more if he continued his exploit for his willpower. What he lacked in skilled laborers, he would make up for in an endless crowd of brutish golems who never got tired. The alchemist already had experience with this with the Qavell problem, and could expand it.

How long would it take an army of golems to make a bridge over the sea? They didn’t need to breathe, so perhaps that would be an easy task for them. Theo shook the thought away as he saw his level-up notification flash in his vision. He dumped his free point into Wisdom, which was his only plan for the near future. With his level secured, he brewed a potion with the Soulcleave property. The resulting potion had a mild reaction, although the Dreamwalk buckled as though it didn’t want to give up the potion’s secrets. The resulting liquid was a pale purple color. He inspected it.

[Soulcleave Potion]

[Potion]

Rare

Created by: Theo Spencer

Grade: Perfect Quality

Alignment:

Drogramath (Minor Bond)

Imbues your attacks with the Soulcleave effect.

Effect:

For fifteen minutes, your attacks gain the Soulcleave effect.

Attacks made against enemies with a soul will shear off a small part of that soul.

“Why would I ever use that?” Theo asked. When he took a moment to think, he realized a niche chance to use the potion would arise in the future, and filed it away.

Theo spent the rest of his time in the dreamwalk using his willpower exploit to ensnare more and more undead. He tried not to think about the random souls in his town, but there might be a solution for that. The gods would be tight-lipped about it. There was no reason asking them. Not with the way Khahar hovered.

Although he knew he was the future holder of the Throne of the Dreamwalker, Theo also knew it wouldn’t help with these small problems. When Fenian had used the power of that core, it only activated when someone was breaking the rules. So the core would only be useful if something went against the Dreamwalker’s design, which was more of a bug tester than a fixer. That responsibility fell on Khahar himself, the Arbiter.

Tresk flew down on Alex, cutting a path through the endless undead. “Think you have enough undead to work on?”

Theo looked over the tide, shrugging. “Just pushing beyond a thousand. No big deal.”

“As long as no one has stopped you, I don’t see a problem. Dawn approaches, brave demon! Are you prepared to face the day! I think it’s a Monday!”

“We don’t have structured weeks. But, yeah. I’m ready.”

The Dreamwalk faded around them as Tresk pulled them out. Theo woke in his bed, looking at the ceiling of his manor room and gazing at the rafters. The marshling had already jumped from her bed, dashing down the stairs to attack whatever food Rowan and Sarisa had put out. Theo ate his breakfast, reviewing his administration screen as the other discussed whatever. He inserted his plans for the bridge in text form, but knew not to overstep his bounds with Ziz. The half-ogre would figure it out with the right amount of nudging.

Theo made his way to the Newt and Demon after breakfast. Salire wasn’t covered in ink this time, but her print wasn’t working. A human man was working on it with her. He headed to the top floor, brewing the Soulcleave Potion and setting it aside. Having at least five to ten of everything was a good idea, even if it cluttered the lab. With the potion out of the way, he pilfered his mushroom cave’s supplies. As he kicked the stills to life, intending to make Mana Essence to fuel his golem army, he considered his two approaches to alchemy.

This was why it was important for him to have an industrial capacity to produce potions. Large projects like his stone golem army required absurd amounts of essence. Throk couldn’t produce the mana collectors fast enough to supply him, so this batch would be oldschool. The first run would be a test. It would take Ziz and his boys long enough to get working on the bridge, so why not start the causeway to the lizard islands?

While Theo worked on the constructs for the golems, he put in a work order at the blacksmith. Rush orders were expensive, but he didn’t have 100 containment cores on hand. By mid-afternoon, all the parts were assembled aside from the raw stone. The alchemist made his way to the beach area south of Qavell, trailed by his two guards, and pulled stone from the rocky hills. With the help of Mana Potions, he made 100 distinct piles. At least Sarisa and Rowan could help him jam Monster Cores into the metal cages, making the work lighter than he expected.

“I’m gonna get drunk off mana potions,” Theo said, breathing life into swathes of golems.

“Can that happen?”

“Maybe.”

With every golem Theo brought to life, he expected it to tug on his willpower. As the 100th golem rose, awaiting orders, he felt nothing. He spread his senses over the crowd, finding that each was ready to receive orders. The other golems were doing as they were instructed. The network of golems was now over two-hundred, and it was far from the upper-limit. But the issue was one of supplies. Without the power generator, the golems would need to refuel themselves as they worked.

Theo designated a group of ten golems as Mana Construct carriers. They would go back-and-forth between the work site, and Broken Tusk. The other ninety golems would walk the ocean floor, dragging stones from the mountains south of Broken Tusk to build a causeway. The alchemist sent his standing orders to each golem, watching as they turned and marched directly into the sea. The outlet into the ocean was southeast, so they would need to hook around to reach their first waypoint. After that, time would tell if this was an effective strategy.

This was a lot of effort for a test. But the side-effect was that every golem that operated under his command gave the smallest amount of experience for both his alchemy and herbalist core.

“Are you planning to take over the world?” Sarisa asked. “I’m getting kinda worried that you’re planning to take over the world with a golem army.”

Theo waved the thought away. “I’d need far more golems for that.”

“Yeah, but… like… how many more?” Rowan asked.