The Newt and Demon

Theo was certain the information provided by the book was not accurate to how things worked on Earth. The [Swamp Truffles] worked much like the [Spiny Swamp Thistle Root] for propagation. There might have been some spores involved, but the way the book described it was like growing a plant from a tuber. Truffles weren’t the easiest mushrooms to access, either. They buried themselves deep in the semi-wet soil, typically near the space between the Newt and Demon and the eastern wall. But he only needed one sample to start the cultivation process.

When working with alchemy to speed up the growth of plants, Theo had discovered a problem. Using an undiluted [Lesser Potion of Growth] caused them to become monsterized. That might have been useful in a different context, but it wouldn’t work for plant cultivation. Instead, he applied the [Aerosolize] modifier to the potion, diluting its effectiveness just enough to kick off the cultivation process. After that, he just needed to let the plants grow and keep back the best samples for further growing.

They started the cleanup, Tresk said, speaking into Theo’s mind.

She must have been talking about the guardian outside of the gates. Theo had spotted Fenian’s carriage near the ranch, so he was still in town. Whatever he forgot to buy would be remembered before the Elf left town.

Any news on the metal? Theo asked.

They’re still trying to figure out how to cut it away, Tresk said. Oh well. I took a job to check out the [Ocean Dungeon]. I pilfered your potion stores.

Sounds good.

Tresk often stole his potions, but she was frugal enough to understand which potions were off limits. Theo guessed she took some [Potions of Wake], which would allow her to brave the depths of the sea without worrying. It allowed the user to hold their breath longer, and swim better against currents. Until they had a solid plan to keep the dungeon at bay, this would be the best way to handle it. The alchemist made a note in his mind to brew more of those potions, experimenting with modifiers to find the best kind. Adventurers would be more likely to brave that dungeon if they had such support.

The one bright spot of the entire problem was that the Fald, the monsters that spawned around the water-based dungeons, dropped the reagent required to make the potion.

Theo dusted his hands off, having applied his growth potion to a truffle. He inspected his first cultivated mushroom before burying it.

[Swamp Truffle]

[Alchemy Ingredient] [Food] [Cultivated]

Epic

These extremely rare truffles, found typically in swamplands, are prized for their flavor and properties.

Cultivation:

10%

Unit by volume:

6

Properties:

[Experience Boost] [Hallow Ground] [????]

This was the best approach he’d found to cultivate, although he understood there might be a better way.

Theo made his way to his greenhouse, sorting out those plants for the day. Aside from his daily tasks of distilling as much of his cultivated plants as he could, the alchemist wanted to focus on leveling his [Governance Core]. His alchemy and herbalism cores would roll over to 15 at any moment, leaving him at a bottleneck. His mind itched to get to work on constructs, both his intuition and cores urging him forward on that front. Alchemy was a craft that supported others. Every potion he made was a way to make the lives of others better, and the concept of constructs was no different.

With that in mind, he dusted off his silken robes and straightened his feathered hat, heading upstairs to set his stills to work on his cultivated [Spiny Swamp Thistle Root]. He dusted himself again once the stills were running, heading downstairs to ask Azrug how he looked for the day. Fenian was with him, discussing business.

“Like a plucked Pozwa,” Azrug said.

“Do you know how close your shopkeeper is to getting his third core?” Fenian asked.

“Hopefully very close,” Theo said. “Can’t wait to have a [Loremaster].”

“Did I tell you that?” Azrug said, huffing. “I don’t remember telling you that.”

“This is the obvious choice,” Fenian said. “My first pick for him was an [Enchanter] class. Well, you have one of those now. Also, do you know how rich this young man is?”

Azrug’s ochre skin turned a little more red around his cheeks. “Not my money,” he mumbled.

“I never check the balance in the shop,” Theo said. “He can’t have made that much money, could he?”

“About 200 gold,” Fenian said, puffing his chest. The Elf thought of himself as Azrug’s mentor, so there was some pride in his words. “In coin. Not merchandise.”

Azrug had been buying gear from the adventurers, intended to get them identified by a [Loremaster], then selling them to traveling merchants. What he ended up with was an endless supply of equipment, and adventurers hungry for a piece of gear that was just right for them. The shopkeeper’s stock and Theo’s deal with Fenian did not intersect, they were discrete things. The alchemist’s plan with that was to show the young Half-Ogre that he had a lot to learn about trade.

“Turns out, I don’t know a thing about trade,” Theo said, shrugging. He felt a sudden need to amend his deal with Azrug. “We should renegotiate your salary.”

“Agreed,” Azrug said.

Fenian laughed.

Theo waved any idea of complex negotiations away. He hated negotiations. “Just take what you need. Keep as much in reserve as you think you need. Use the rest for yourself.”

“That might be too generous,” Fenian said.

“He made the money,” Theo said. “If the kid can turn 5 silver into 200 gold, I don’t want to stop him.”

“Work out something more formal,” Fenian said, nudging Theo in the ribs with his elbow.

Theo let out a sigh, but drew himself up. Azrug was a citizen of Broken Tusk, which meant if he worked with him and created a contract, the alchemist would gain a lot of experience. He wasn’t married to the gold made in the shop. It was the one place people could buy things in town, but it had a fatal flaw. He knew one day the young man would leave his employment, buying a general store and running that. The shop had always been a place to distribute potions to the townsfolk for cheap, but it would never gain the benefits of a real seed core building dedicated to trade.

He drew up a loose contract that gave Azrug half of everything he made. In Theo’s mind that was cruel, but he’d put the money into the town. The shopkeeper was doing all the work, and was damn good at it, but he put a clause related to the boy leaving the shop for another job.

“You can’t hold onto him forever,” Fenian said, grinning.

“Yeah, but I can make sure he hires a replacement before he goes,” Theo said. Azrug signed the contract eagerly.

“You’ve given him wings,” Fenian said, leaning in. “Let him fly.”

Theo pushed him back, nodding. The Elf was being too weird today, and he wasn’t interested in dealing with it.

“You’ll have a shop of your own,” Theo said. “Whenever you want, I imagine. Ah, hell. What’s the point?”

Theo went into his mayor screen, finding the section that assigned citizens titles. He created a new group for merchants. There was only one requirement, made by the system, that kept a townsperson from gaining a lord title. Azrug owned the seed core house he shared with Xam, allowing the alchemist to grant him the title of Lord Merchant. The shopkeeper’s eyes went wide.

“I present to you,” Theo said, gesturing with as much flair as he could manage. “Lord Merchant Azrug Slug.”

Fenian bowed, removing his hat and swiping it through the air as he bent over, his nose almost touching the ground. “Long live the Lord Merchant.”

It was almost too much for a young man, only 16 years old, to handle. Tears formed in the corners of his eyes, but he grinned through them. When Theo and Feniand didn’t release their poses he said, “that’s enough.”

“The second you form a guild,” Theo said, jabbing a finger in Azrug’s direction. “I’m banishing you to the mine.”

“I won’t,” Azrug said, nodding eagerly.

“Right. That didn’t end well for the Mercantile Chairs in Qavell,” Fenian said, throwing his head back and cackling. “I heard, the last Chair with a head fled the city! Imagine that.”

“Yeah, I bet you heard that,” Theo said, narrowing his eyes at the trader.

“More like saw,” Azrug muttered.

“I have no idea what either of you are talking about,” Fenian said. “I’m just a simple trader. That’s all.”

Once the conversation died down, Theo watched the system notifications roll in. As expected, that gave him enough administration experience to fill half a level in his [Governance Core]. He left Azrug and Fenian to talk as he checked his stills upstairs, adjusting the temperature on them and ensuring they were heading to his storage tanks within the lab. When he returned downstairs, he found Alise chatting. Money exchanged hands, and she held something up for him to see.

“Town hall!” she shouted, jumping up and down. “The migrants have been confused about meeting in the Adventurer Guildhall.”

There was the thing Theo forgot to buy. He was so focused on getting his expensive harbor, he didn’t think about a central place for his administration workforce. He patted her on the shoulder and smiled.

“Oh, Azrug,” Theo said, turning to his shopkeeper. “Pay Fenian 100 gold. I owe him.”

The shopkeeper’s shoulders slumped. Theo and Alise left the building, scouting out a place for the town hall.

The center of town held many buildings, and roads headed in every cardinal direction. Down the road to the west, there was the guildhall and the sawmill. Xam’s tavern sat on the corner of the northern road and the eastern road, while Throk’s blacksmith sat on the corner of the southern road and the eastern road. That left the corner of the southern road and the western road open for the new building.

“He said it’d be big,” Alise said. “But, I drained the town’s treasury to make sure we could upgrade it.”

Most large buildings required a lot of [Monster Cores] to get them going. Theo remembered a time when Aarok’s guildhall sat unfinished for at least a week, adventurers scrambling to shove cores in as fast as they could. But there was no way around it, and this was the perfect spot.

Theo carved out a section of land in the mayor’s interface, paying the fee to assign the plot back to the town. The system was weird like that. Technically, Qavell owned all the land. When they wanted to buy land, they had to pay the crown. Even then, they didn’t own the land. It was more like renting, which always struck the alchemist as unfair. Alise planted the seed core, and the pair of them shoved [Monster Cores] in. Roots sprung up, creating a larger building the more cores they inserted. By the time it was done consuming the cores, it was slightly larger than the Adventurer’s Guildhall.

The new townhall was massive, but it fit the style of town. Buildings were normally stone construction, or wood paneled walls with smart, colored roofs. Where the other buildings in town had a natural wood color, this one came painted white. It looked like a mansion. Two floors, the second one ending in a purple, slatted roof, with massive pillars that held an awning over the entrance. When Theo and Alise entered the building, they were both speechless. The interior was much like the Adventurer’s Guildhall, with a massive open space after the entrance. It was filled with tables and chairs, a large fireplace burning on the opposite side of the room. The floor was hardwood slats, polished and treated by the magic of the building.

Alise darted to the far side of the room, falling into a purple, plush armchair and letting out a heavy sigh. Theo followed, spotting hallways that lead from the main foyer off into individual offices and meeting places. The second floor looked similar, with a platform and well-polished banister that gave a great view of the bottom floor. The alchemist joined his assistant in an identical armchair.

“This is nice,” he said, looking over the building. The warm fire crackled, washing over him with a wave of comforting warmth.

“Very nice,” she said, letting out a heavy sigh.

They sat in silence for quite some time. Theo even ignored the notifications concerning experience for his [Governance Core].

“Lady Administrator Alise Plumm,” Theo said, trailing off. He noticed how deeply he’d sunken into the armchair, straightening his posture and staring into the flames. “I think this might be too much room for just the two of us.”

“Far too much,” she said, waving him off. “It’s more about the message the building sends.”

Theo agreed with that. “How are our migration numbers?”

“Rising,” Alise said, going glassy eyed. She was accessing her version of the mayor’s screen. “When I started, we had about 2 a week. This week, we’ve had 30.”

“How concerned are we about food and housing?” Theo asked.

“We aren’t,” she said, turning to flash her bright smile at him. “I’ve had a word with Banu at the farm. Since you made their Zee bigger, they’ve had a surplus. I gave orders to stockpile Zee flour. Aarok has the adventurers butchering every butcherable creature they kill, so there’s another stockpile.”

“And we sell it to Xam?” Theo asked.

“That’s a different agreement,” Alise said, waving him off as though he should know the fact. He should have, of course. “Effectively, we’ve changed the agreement with her. It boils down to her getting ingredients for free. Then, she pays us back in the future.”

“Food on loan,” Theo said. “How about Miana’s operation?”

Alise shrugged at that. “She gives me everything she makes, then I distribute it. You own the ranch.”

“You’re paying her, right?” Theo asked.

“I am,” Alise said.

“Get with Azrug,” Theo said, withdrawing a fire poker from the side of the fireplace and prodding the logs. He didn’t know if this fire was magical or not, but the action was fun. “And hire more administrators. You’re too busy.”

“I’m glad you noticed,” Alise said, grinning. “I already hired a few people.”

“Of course you have,” Theo said, reclining back into his chair. “Are we making a good command structure here?”

“An excellent one,” Alise said. “You’re at the top, so you make all the big decisions. I’m on the same level as Aarok. Well, now Azrug as well. Aarok deals with anything related to the military. I deal with everything related to administration. Azrug deals with everything related to trade. So, just like Aarok has Luras under him, I have my little team of administrators.”

“I like it,” Theo said. “You’re distributing the workers, right?”

“I am,” Alise said. “Most new migrants fit into a laborer role. But…Ugh,” she paused for a moment. “Stabby Grove has been growing lately.”

Theo barked a laugh. “I thought you were going to change that name!”

“The adventurers refused,” Alise said, frowning. “Well. We hit 100 citizens today.”

Theo didn’t know if he had the funds to upgrade the town to the next level.

“What comes after Large Town?” Theo asked.

“No idea, but we should do it,” Alise said. “But, we’re currently broke.”

“We could borrow money from Aarok,” Theo said.

“I’d prefer if we made it ourselves,” Alise said.

Theo inspected the town with a thought.

[Large Town]

Name: Broken Tusk

Owner: Kingdom of Qavell

Mayor: Theo Spencer

Faction: [Qavell]

Level: 18 (22.12%)

Core Buildings:

Alchemy Lab

Blacksmith

Greenhouse

Mycology Cave

Large Farm

Windmill

Quarry

Stonecutter

House (x63)

Tannery

Tavern

Adventurer’s Guild

Hotsprings

Sawmill

Mine

Smelter

Enchanter

Ranch

Townhall

Defensive Emplacements:

Chain Lightning (x9)

Frost Cone (x4)

Fireball (x7)

Firebolt (x20)

Upgrades:

[Stone Walls and Gates]

[Stone Roads]

[Turret Emplacements]

Effects:

[Troll Slaying]

[Coordinated Fire]

Current Resources:

Timber: 10,583

Stone Blocks: 4,290

Metal: 6,002

Motes: 382

The adventurers must have been shoving cores into the town. He left it at level 15 after getting it to large town status. Theo only had to hope there was something worthwhile for the level 20 upgrade, as the others were not great. The current, unselected upgrades were [Watchtowers], and [Water Tower]. If something nice didn’t show up, he’d pick [Watchtowers] and hope they’d provide something that synergized with his other upgrades.

Upgrading the town was a long-term goal. Theo had plans for the immediate future that needed doing.

“What’s your take on the harbor?” Theo asked.

“The harbor is a great idea. I’ve heard people talking about it. You’re going to bring the ocean to the town,” Alise said. “But there’s a lot of work to be done with that. We need someone to build the boats, then someone to pilot them. Then, we need to scout out trade locations. That might take a while.”

“I wonder if Zarali can enchant the boats,” Theo said, sinking further into the chair. It was just too comfortable. “Maybe make them go faster. Catch more wind.”

“Are you planning on importing the cloth for the sails?” Alise asked.

Theo withdrew the [Weaver’s Seed Core] from his inventory, holding it for her to see. “We’re gonna grow our own.”

“Might need to expand the farm,” Alise said.

Theo grunted a response, falling into his thoughts. The problem with the farm was that they were out of room. Now that was a problem for another day. He rose from his chair, happy to see his [Governance Core] level to 11. He then headed for the door.

“I really don’t want to hire an [Earth Mage].”

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