The Newt and Demon

6.9 - Then You'll Wait

The one potion that hadn’t violently spewed foam into the Newt and Demon sat on a table in the lab. The air had been cranked beyond reason and frost had formed on the windows. Theo drew the Coat of Rake closely around himself, shivering a moment after they entered. He watched Salire suffer in his sundress. The alchemist turned the air off, opening a window to let some of Fire’s heat inside.

“Won’t it react?” Salire asked.

She should have known the answer, and Theo wouldn’t deny he was slightly disappointed. He shook the thought away, realizing she was being cautious. “I don’t think so. The period of instability is when the reaction is working. Maybe.”

“Just don’t cover the good stills with foam,” Salire said, wincing as Theo picked the vial up. Her voice dropped to a low whisper. “Be careful.”

The liquid within the vial glittered. Flecks of shining red floated throughout the pink liquid. It was a healing potion, that much was clear. But it was so unlike the other healing potions that Theo doubted himself for far too long. Something in his chest said this was an undiscovered potion. Something no other alchemist had crafted before him. He maintained a stoic expression, but the excitement was building in his chest. Before he could stop it, a smile spread across his face.

“Did you inspect it?” Salire asked, edging closer. Not close enough to see the description on the item, though.

Theo was waiting and he didn’t know why. How many potions had he inspected after creating and why was this one any different? If he was right about this being an unknown potion, there wouldn’t be a description. After a moment more of hesitation, he inspected the potion. And received a prompt he didn’t expect.

[Potion of Significance]

You are the first person to create a potion of great significance. This potion has never been created by another mortal. Please select an attribute to boost from the following list:

Strength, Vigor, Dexterity, Wisdom, Intelligence, Willpower, [ERROR], Affinity, Mind, [ERROR], [Teleport Point: Strelon Highlands], [Teleport Point: Skaral Desert]...

Theo blinked at the options, unsure what the hell was going on. There were too many things to process in such a short time. Just as he reached out for one of the weirder ones, the message window vanished and reappeared.

[Potion of Significance]

You are the first person to create a potion of great significance. This potion has never been created by another mortal. Please select an attribute to boost from the following list:

Strength, Vigor, Dexterity, Wisdom, Intelligence, Willpower.

“What?” Salire asked, flicking Theo in the cheek. “What is it?”

His mind was reeling. The places listed for teleport weren’t places he recognized. That didn’t mean they weren’t there. He filed them away in his near-perfect memory and considered which attribute to boost. Willpower was an option, but the alchemist discarded that idea. Gaining willpower was far easier than attributes. He went with Wisdom instead. Between Intelligence and Wisdom, the second was the only one he could increase infinitely without fear he would become a being focused entirely on logic. He remembered the way he felt when he imbibed his Greater Intelligence Potions.

Salire was pulling at his arm when he selected Wisdom. The message flashed away and another came to take its place. The alchemist’s head felt woozy as the increased attribute took hold.

[Potion of Significance]

Based on the importance of this potion, your Wisdom has been increased accordingly.

You have gained:

Permanent +10 Wisdom.

Theo leaned against a table, eyes wide as he read the message. Over and over until it sank into his brain that he had jumped ten levels in a moment. The alchemist had increased his wisdom by an entire tier of power in a blink. It couldn’t be real, could it?

“What is it!?” Salire shouted, resorting to punching him in the arm.

“I just got a permanent plus ten to Wisdom.”

“WHAT!?”

There was something wrong with that prompt. Theo was sure of it. But when he went to check his personal screen, there it was.

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Theo Spencer

Drogramath Dronon

Level 30

Alchemist

Core Slots: 6

Stats:

Health: 120

Mana: 210

Stamina: 130

Strength: 20 (+11)

Dexterity: 20 (+8)

Vigor: 23 (+8)

Intelligence: 28 (+9)

Wisdom: 40 (+7)

Points: 0

It didn’t even count the additional Wisdom as a modifier like it did with gear. This was insanity. He sputtered, trying to put his thoughts into words. The amount of Wisdom he had gained in such a short time sent his head spinning. His brain tried to catch up with the increase. Even Wisdom of the Soul couldn’t help him with such a drastic change. For a moment, he saw Salire’s movements before she made them. Only a fraction of a section before she did, but he could see a ghostly form of her moving before she did.

“WHAAAAAT!?” Salire said, pummeling him at this point.

“This is a ‘potion of significance’ but I don’t know what that means. It gave me the option to pick an attribute to raise… I thought it would be a point, but it gave me ten.”

“That’s insane, Theo. You’re lying.”

“Honest, Salire.” Theo could feel his hands shaking. Because he understood the implications. The swamp was filled with these plants. At least ten reagents he could think of that would be easy enough to farm up for more significant potions. He licked his lips as he inspected the potion itself. Somehow, his mouth became drier. “I think I know why the other potions failed. Inspect this.”

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[Elixir of Life]

[Elixir]

Unique

Created by: Theo Spencer

Grade: Perfect Quality

Alignment:

Tero’gal (Perfect Bond)

Drink to remove all harmful effects, restore a person to full health, heal all injuries, regrow all digits and limbs, and restore a person to their natural state.

Elixir Restriction:

Only one Elixir of Life may be consumed or crafted(worldwide) every five days.

“That would have come in handy earlier,” Theo breathed. The vial that the elixir sat in betrayed its importance. Even with the fancy flourishes Salire had made, it wasn’t good enough. This thing needed gold leaf, gemstones, and a stopper made from dragon bone. This was the single most powerful potion Theo had ever crafted. It might have been the most powerful potion anyone had ever crafted.

“You’re kidding me.” Salire wouldn’t even reach out to touch it. “This is insane. I’m not seeing this, am I?”

“If we’re both seeing the same thing, I gotta say it might be real.”

The door to the lab swung open. Fenian stood with a wild look in his eyes, twin rapiers ready for combat. He locked eyes with Theo, narrowing his gaze.

“What have you done?” Fenian asked, his words coming out with hate.

Theo had already gathered his willpower, ready to retreat into the void the moment the door flung open. Now he focused on Fenian, prepared to send the elf into the void if he needed to. He wasn’t a simple elven trader, but even his champion status wouldn’t save him from the bite of the void. After a few tense moments, both parties relaxed.

“I felt something,” Fenian explained. “An event that sent a shiver down my spine.”

“I made a potion,” Theo said, stuffing the potion into his inventory.

“Sad to see your trust in me has fallen so far,” Fenian said.

Theo gestured to the rapiers in Fenian’s hands. “Says the guy with the stabby things.”

Fenian rolled his shoulders, nodding after a moment. The weapons vanished from his hands and he took a breath. “May I explain?”

“Feel free.” Theo hadn’t let go of the elf with his will. He could drop him into the void with a twitch. How did they come to this point?

“My Herald’s Core twinged in my chest. I almost got my wings back, but the feeling passed. Something was breaking the rules. And that something was in your lab.”

Perhaps it was his increased Wisdom, but Theo understood. He recited what the first message had told him, including the items that clearly shouldn’t have been there. “Do you think that was it?” the alchemist asked.

“Let go of me and I’ll explain,” Fenian grumbled, gesturing to his feet.

The shadows that Theo was commanding—those that made up his aura—were wrapped around the elf’s legs. “Oh. Sure,” Theo said, allowing his aura to back off. Just a bit.

“My dear, sweet alchemist. Of course that was it,” Fenian said, sauntering over to lean on a table. “You should have led with that. I might have cast that creature to the ground, but it didn’t die. I’m almost certain it lingers in the system. Like a disease. Perhaps he is lashing out.”

Theo rolled his shoulders. There were many people in this world. Most of them wouldn’t make him tense up like that, but Fenian was different. He had never expected the elf to betray him, but that look in his eyes was something else. There was fury in there that the alchemist had never seen. But it was gone. He was once again rendered as a jolly elf before his eyes, and both Wisdom of the Soul and his Wisdom attribute agreed everything was cool.

“It might have been worth fighting you for this,” Theo said, producing the potion from his inventory.

“You dirty little demon,” Fenian said, grasping for the potion. Theo pulled it away. “I’ve seen nothing like that. Not in all my years.”

“I’m in a realm of potion making that no one has been to before. Since all the dronon die before they get here.”

“Make more!” Fenian shouted. “As many as you can. By Parantheir’s pendulous—”

“Please. No colorful idioms.”

“That’s a find, Theo.” In an instant, Fenian regained his composure once again. “Excellent. Well, as long as you’re not breaking the rules… everything is fine.”

“Fenian,” Theo said, grabbing the elf by the shoulder as he made his way out the door. “It might take some time, but I’ll make sure you have one of these. Just in case… you know.”

“In case I almost die again? I would appreciate that. Farewell, Theo. I need to check on my Karatan. Good thing someone in this mudball knows how to care for my babies. I’m coming, Galflower!”

Salire and Theo watched as the elf bound from the room. The alchemist relaxed in an instant. If there ever was a test to see how loyal Fenian was, that was it. The Elixir of Life was priceless. Snatching it would have ensured that Fenian could accomplish almost anything. Was there a mortal alive that could beat a version of the elf with two health bars? Unlikely. The alchemist watched as Fenian departed, unsure of what the encounter meant. The elf took a few things seriously, and his post as the Herald was now one of them.

“Theo, what does this mean?” Salire asked.

He had almost forgotten she was there. The alchemist turned to his apprentice and smiled. “Means I need to find more fourth tier reagents.”

Before heading out into the swamp, Theo considered what a potion of significance was. The Spiny Swamp Thistle Root they found in the swamp couldn’t be replicated in his garden. He was certain of that. While cultivated reagents still had held an important role, there was much to consider about the wild ones. The plants would have been old. Not months, but years. There was a limited supply of those plants and they couldn’t be moved to Tero’gal. Perhaps the system had seen something like this coming, putting Theo at a disadvantage for once. There was no way to game it.

“I’ll stay here,” Salire said, laughing nervously. “If that’s fine.”

Theo nodded. She had a few orders to craft and it wasn’t anything she couldn’t handle. He headed out the front of the Newt and Demon and breathed in the humid air.

“Thoughtful Theo,” Sarisa said, leaning against the building. “Contemplative Theo?”

“Pensive Theo,” Rowan said, emerging from the shadows.

If Theo focused hard enough, he could almost feel what the pair were going to say next. This was the trick Khahar had used to predict the future. He must have had an absurdly high Wisdom, allowing him to make those predictions with some accuracy. It was hard to tell how he was feeling, though. He needed to grab onto this strand of power and tug before it vanished. And to think the answer to his problems were here. In Broken Tusk. His pensive posture was broken when both Sarisa and Rowan drew their weapons.

“Has the way been cleared?”

Lurching down the street, the masked elf turned his head to one side. Twist had been extremely patient, which betrayed how weird he was at the core.

“You can head north if you want, Twist,” Theo said with a shrug. “The corruption near the city might be too much.”

“I’d rather not walk.”

“Then you’ll wait.”

“Agreeable,” Twist said, nodding. A single eye stared back at the alchemist from under the mask. “There are a few problems that might concern your town. In the underground. Forces are moving this way. Thought you should know.”

Without explaining himself further, the masked elf slunk away. The group watched him go, shaking their heads. He was unhinged, but it was hard to say if his state was harmful.

“Come on,” Theo said, moving away from his building. “We need to find more reagents.”

“Alright, what are we looking for?” Rowan asked, jogging to catch up.

“I’ll tell you after we take Xol’sa’s portal.”

Reagents were easy enough to identify. The ones they were targeting today were the easiest to spot. Mage’s Bane, Roc Berries, Widow Lily, Moss Nettle, Stone Flowers, and Water Lily were all extremely common within the swamp and the surrounding areas. Theo recalled that they had found the previous sample deep in the marsh, away from the places that adventurers normally ventured. With mountain ranges on all sides of the swamp except the east, folks rarely ventured deeper than needed to reach the dungeon.

Theo and his party stepped through the portal, finding themselves on the first floor of the wizard’s tower. The alchemist considered his jump in power if he found a potion of significance for all six reagents. Sixty attribute points, placed however he saw fit. His Wisdom could jump to 100. Just the thought sent his mind spinning. Ascending six ranks of an attribute in a short time presented an intoxicating thought.

But they needed to find those reagents first. And it needed to provide enough essence to craft a potion, making the problem more daunting. There were also the responsibilities of an archduke to consider. Theo hoped that Alise could manage things while he distracted himself.

“We never really went this far,” Rowan said, pulling against the sucking mud of the swamp. It almost claimed his boot. “Of course, there wasn’t a dungeon out this far for the longest time.”

“You’re telling me this wasn’t the place where poking snappers with sticks was born? Color me surprised,” Theo said, pressing forward. The worst part about trudging through the swamp was getting sucked into the mud. But their goal wasn’t those deep places. He would find most of the reagents he wanted on the edges, near the slow rise of those hills in the distance. “A shiny gold coin for whoever carries me on their shoulders.”

Rowan and Sarisa considered it for a moment, looking at each other. They shared a look only siblings could before dunking Theo’s head into the mud.

“Nice try,” Sarisa said, pulling him out of the mud with an audible squelch. “Get moving, mister alchemist. We’ve got too much ground to cover for you to be slacking.”