The Newt and Demon

Core evolution was a feature promised by the Drogramath Dedication skill. Theo had been promised the ability for his other cores to evolve into more powerful versions thanks to the skill. His plan was to take mundane cores and evolve them into something more powerful, but had expected his Earth Sorcerer’s Core to evolve first. He stood in his garden, gazing at the plants that grew there—both deadly and curative—as his mind churned. It took him longer than he would have liked to get his mind moving again.

Before he accepted the message, he inspected his existing core.

[Governance Core] 𝙛𝓻𝙚𝙚𝔀𝙚𝙗𝓷𝙤𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝙘𝙤𝒎

Legendary

Administration Core

Bound

5 Slots

Level 32 (25%)

Advanced [Administrator] core, reserved for leaders.

Innate Skills:

[Command Structure]

Skills:

[Titles]

[Automatic Books]

[Contracts]

[Districting]

[National Status]

Effects:

+3 Intelligence

Theo’s Governance Core was one of his most important cores. He did absolutely nothing with it, though. The core sat dormant, always working in the background. His connection with both the town and the nation allowed people within both areas to take advantage of his skills. Command Structure enabled Aarok to run the army. Titles allowed the administrators to designate which folks held positions of power. Districting allowed him to create synergistic areas within the town. And National Status enabled the Southlands Alliance to share information in an instant. Sub-features existed within the core, revealing a powerful interface for all administrators to interact and take notes. Alise did almost all of her work in that interface, keeping everyone on task.

Accepting evolution was easy enough. Contending with the fresh Drogramathi energy that surged through his chest was not. Theo held firm, gritting his teeth as more of Drogramath’s wild power flooded through his body. A pulse of power radiated outward, washing over the town as he was changed. It had been a long time since a god’s power had given him pause. In the heavens, he assumed himself equal to people like Drogramath. But on the mortal plane, the power of any god was clear. But Theo maintained control of himself, his willpower battering down the flood of power.

Without the willpower training, this might have ended badly. Theo rolled his shoulders, nodding with satisfaction. A tingle spread through his mind, creeping down his back. A cold flash of reason made his lip twitch. The core’s evolution had sent his Intelligence over the edge, bringing him above 30. Emotions left him, giving way to logic.

“Damn.”

That would push his schedule up. He needed to bottle that attribute, or give into that unforgiving logic that threatened to take over his thoughts. It was something to worry about another time. Now that the dust had settled, it was time to inspect his new Drogramath Governance Core.

[Drogramath Governance Core]

Mythic

Administration Core

Bound

7 Slots

Level 32 (25%)

Order from chaos. Drogramath favors little boxes for everything, placing things where they belong.

Innate Skills:

[Command Structure]

Skills:

[Titles]

[Automatic Books]

[Contracts]

[Districting]

[National Status]

[Order from Chaos]

Effects:

+5 Intelligence

Perhaps Drogramath felt left out of the gift-giving. Theo had been given a core he could cheat with from Zaul. The Drogramath Governance Core had evolved to gain a new skill, Order from Chaos. The alchemist had considered not equipping his Governance Core a few times, mostly in dire circumstances. But this new skill would make sure that core never left his chest. He inspected it.

[Order From Chaos]

Drogramath Governance Skill

Epic

Creates a Potion Stockpile within the nation’s storage. Those with permission may grant others access to this stockpile, allowing them to withdraw designated potions from the stockpile while within the nation.

Effect:

A Potion Stockpile is added to your Kingdom Core.

If the skill only created a Potion Stockpile that couldn’t be managed, it was almost useless. Theo had to wonder what happened to this stockpile if he removed the core, but had already decided that wouldn’t happen. He flipped through the new screen, finding that any person who was within the nation could be assigned permissions. Those permissions could drill down to specific potions, allowing him to reserve potions, categories of potions, and so on. It was a very nice feature.

“Alise is gonna love this,” Theo said, smiling to himself. He headed out from his garden area, finding his feet after a few steps of dizziness. “And Aarok. I guess Luras might like it too. Who else would enjoy this?”

“Oh, brother,” Sarisa groaned from behind. “He’s talking to himself.”

“The alchemist is slowly losing it!” Rowan shouted in mock-horror. “We’ll get him a nice little chair to spend the rest of his days in. A rocking chair.”

“With a nice padded seat!” Sarisa said.

“And padded walls at this rate,” Theo grumbled. “Perhaps if you two weren’t invisible all the time, I’d have someone to talk to.”

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“Tactically disadvantageous.” Rowan folded his arms, nodding as he padded behind Theo.

“An absolutely horrible decision, my lord.” Sarisa nodded.

“I’m gonna leave you two in the swamp again.”

“Oh, just try it… my lord.” Rowan rubbed his hands together, giggling to himself.

Theo made a note in his personal section of the administration interface. Are the half-ogres moving against me?

Alise was happy to hear about the new feature of the town. She wanted to do a meeting with all the people in command positions, along with Salire. The alchemist wanted nothing to do with it. He left it in her capable hands and moved off before he could be roped into a meeting.

“Busy, busy,” Theo said, dashing off before he could be bound in a chair and forced to listen.

He instead concerned himself with the war in the underground. With an army of golems, it was more like a meat grinder. Those that were dumb enough to throw themselves against the line met a swift end. Rowan and Sarisa accompanied him to the underground, where they inspected the progress on the hand-built fortifications. They were good enough for now, until they could upgrade the nameless Tiny Town left behind.

Theo stood near the stone fortifications, appreciating Ziz’s quick work. He tapped his fingers on the wall, chewing on his cheek. “You know, I have access to this screen. And I don’t like looking at it.”

“Which screen?” Sarisa asked.

Theo let out a steady breath. “The Dungeon Information screen.”

“Pull it up. What’s the problem?” Rowan asked.

Theo turned, giving the half-ogre a flat look. He pulled the screen up, reading the status of each nearby dungeon.

[Swamp Dungeon] L40 No Threat

[River Dungeon] L20 No Threat

[Mountain Dungeon] L21 No Threat

[Hills Dungeon] L15 No Threat

[Ocean Dungeon] L25 No Threat

[Cave Dungeon] L90 Building Threat

“Oh, balls,” Sarisa said. “Why can’t things go right for once?”

“Do we know where the Cave Dungeon is? It dropped five levels, but that doesn’t matter,” Theo shrugged. “Level 90 isn’t something I’m willing to contend with.”

There was some amount of disorder over the next few hours. An exhausted Xol’sa showed up to the caves, giving Theo a nasty look. He came to the battlements, leaning against the wall and running his fingers through his hair.

“I’m already working on it, Theo. We’re going to do something stupid, but it should sort the dungeon out.”

“I’m listening.”

“What is ninety divided by four?” Xol’sa asked.

“Twenty… something.”

“Twenty-two-point-five!” Sarisa shouted.

Both Theo and Xol’sa turned, raising eyebrows at the half-ogre.

“What? Me good at maths.”

“I’m siphoning the energy from the Cave Dungeon, filling the other dungeons with it. I already shaved off five levels in a few hours.”

Xol’sa was already on top of the problem. That was encouraging. Theo felt a swell of pride in his chest as he thought about the people within town. They were more than competent. Each had been forged in a fire of their own making, ascending beyond what should be possible thanks to the strange nature of Broken Tusk.

“Well, I got the go-ahead on claiming the town. Anyone wanna come up with a name?”

“Pogo Sucks,” Sarisa said.

“Elf Puncher,” Rowan put in.

“Broken Elf. Elf Tusk. Beware of Pale Elves.”

“That’s quite enough,” Xol’sa said.

“How about Bal’gon?” Theo asked.

“Dorgramathi?” Xol’sa asked.

“Yeah. It means bastion.”

“That’s a fitting name,” Xol’sa said, nodding.

“Oh! Can I bet the mayor?” Rowan asked.

“Sure,” Theo said, turning away from the walls. He was ready to claim the town, but wasn’t sure he was ready to upgrade it. His stock of Monster Cores was fairly low. Aside from those he kept for emergency upgrades. They would need to wait for some traders to show up before he upgraded this town.

Theo pressed his hand against the monolith on the place where Pogo once rested. It transferred to him without effort, coming under control of the Southlands Alliance without complaint. He assigned himself as the owner and Rowan as the mayor.

“Now you have to live underground,” Theo said. “Enjoy the cave spiders.”

“What?”

“I don’t make the rules, Rowan.” Theo inspected the town, making sure everything was in place.

[Tiny Town]

Name: Bal’gon

Owner: Theo Spencer

Leader: Rowan Fletcher

Faction: [Southlands Alliance]

Level: 1 (0%)

Core Buildings:

NONE

“Congratulations, Mayor Fletcher,” Sarisa said, slapping her brother on the back. “You’re an idiot!”

“Damn it. I am an idiot, aren’t I?”

“We still love you.” Theo turned, eager to put the underground place behind him.

So, Theo’s list of problems both grew and shrunk. Xol’sa could equalize the levels of the dungeons. That would make the low-level dungeons more powerful, while draining the Cave Dungeon until it was manageable. Once the underground town had upgraded walls, they could drop some towers on them and it would defend itself. Throk would put his fancy artifice tubes that fed motes into the towers, making the defense automated. There was only one problem that remained, but the day was late.

Theo returned to the manor, enjoying dinner and relaxing with Tresk and Alex. The goose was almost to a point where she couldn’t fit through the front door. But no one could get Sledge out from her nest. She even bit someone when they came to bring her food. If she hadn’t been engaging in full goblin-mode before, she was now. Alex would need to stay outside if this progressed. Or Theo would find a sledge hammer and widen the door himself. Maybe take out a few walls.

Slipping into the Dreamwalk was a relief. It gave clarity to his thoughts, allowing him to sort his next problem. The spirits that lingered near the town were ripe for the picking. Theo could skip the step of having them locked in purgatory, giving them an express trip to the heavenly realms. He didn’t plan to lay claim to each one. Instead, he would send them to Tero’gal and allow them the choice. If they wanted to remain within his realm, that was fine with him. But if they wanted to move to another heavenly realm, they could do that.

Most spirits were stripped to their base personality when they left the void. Theo suspected something like that happened to him when he arrived in this world. He experienced a personality shift compared to his old self. For some spirits, that was an improvement. Others kept the worst parts of themselves, becoming something like a parody of who they used to be.

“Copper for your silly little thoughts?” Tresk asked, appearing from nowhere. She did that a lot.

Theo shrugged. “I want to work hard to knock down all my problems. Get everything sorted before I head into the void.”

“Feeling left out of the throne gang?”

“Kinda. Or expecting trouble from the space elves.”

“I don’t think many people are eager to understand the nature of the universe. You’ve taken it upon yourself to become an expert, and I don’t envy that. Is it the call of the throne, or your own need to control things around you that pulls you in?”

Theo paused for several long breaths, giving the slightly wet marshling a look. “Did you become a philosopher overnight?”

“I can be serious! Sometimes. When the mood calls for it.”

Theo cracked his knuckles, getting a few satisfying pops. “Both things are driving me forward, I think. You’re right, though. Who wants to pull back the veil and look at the way the universe works? Back on Earth, we never had to worry about that.”

“You just marched to whatever orders you were given, buddy.”

“I think the people in power knew a lot more about what was going on than the rest of us. We were told that the governments of the world spent two-hundred years trying to shield the planet from the sun. Hah! You know what’s funny?”

“Wussat?”

“They made these generational space ships. Sent them off to… somewhere. I don’t know. Do you think those people were pulled into this world?”

“I doubt it. Viewing your memories, I can only think the Harbinger was the one who brought you guys here.”

Theo enjoyed talking with Tresk about the old world for the first time. Perhaps he had finally come to terms with what happened back then, but it was still hard to think about. His first few decades in service to his country were what Tresk described. Marching to orders. When things broke apart, and everyone got more autonomy thanks to the declining population, he thought for himself. A silver necklace appeared in his hand. A tarnished silver locket hung from the end.

“I switched this out for a ring when the picture faded. Then back to the locket a few times,” Theo said.

Tresk took the necklace tenderly, popping the locket open with her claw. It wasn’t as painful to look at the image within. “Think she made it?”

“Maybe. Maybe the only reason I can think about it is because of what happened with the old Dreamer. Learning more about how this queue works with souls, I have some suspicions about what happened on Earth.”

“You think the transmigration started well before the end.”

“Yeah. I remember reading about something that happened in 2050. Around there, anyway. Records were spotty. And information was controlled.”

“Just don’t pin your hopes on this,” Tresk said, handing the locket back to him.

She had been respectful during his period of mourning. Tresk could look at any memory Theo had, and had likely viewed the ‘good times’ of his life. She knew everything that happened, and the stuff that led him to feeling passive about the entire war effort. But the hope he held onto wasn’t just for a lost love. His mind went back to those spirits on the mortal plane. If he had to be the boat captain that led them across the river, he would do it. No mortal soul should languish in the void.

That was a flaw with the system he intended to fix.