The Newt and Demon

It was no surprise how the other waves went. Each dungeon provided a boss that was less challenging than the last. And each gave the town exactly no rewards for their efforts. The bodies of the monsters exploded after a time, sending flames into the air that seemed to harm nothing. It was late into the night before the waves cleared, though. Every defender was exhausted, seeming to have no will to go on. With stamina depleted, and little else to do, most went to sleep.

Theo stood with Tresk and Alex at the town’s center, prepared to head off into the void. Xol’sa was still awake, working on his theory. The elf had collected information during the waves, recording all the energy emitted by the monsters. Once he combed through it, he could figure out what had happened. In his Dungeon Engineer interface, each one was now set to ‘dormant.’

“Ready to talk to the system?” Theo asked.

“No. I don’t wanna,” Tresk said. “I wanna go to bed.”

Theo dropped the group through the veil and angled for the sun at the center of the system. Tresk screamed as they went, but he ignored her for now. She was his emotional support newt. As expected, there was an invisible wall segmenting the inner parts of the system from the outer parts. The alchemist placed his aura against it, trying to push through. It pushed back for a moment, but in time he felt them falling into something familiar. They landed on a snowy plane, looking through darkness up at the raised platform.

“I don’t like it,” Tresk said, folding her arms. “Why would we need to talk to the system?”

Theo approached the platform, ascending the steps. Once he was on the platform, the cold from the tundra faded. The twelve spots—plus one for the system—all glowed. So each spot for godhood had been filled. He hoped that was a good thing.

“I have a report to make, system,” Theo said, speaking to the central circle on the platform. “Some seriously weird stuff is happening on the mortal plane.”

“Do your job,” a twinkling voice came from the center. But no one appeared.

“I’m trying to do my job, but that’s hard when all of my dungeons have released weird monsters.” Theo folded his arms, unimpressed with the cold response from the system.

“You have a job,” it repeated. “Return the shards to restore balance.”

“Easy to say, but the elves trapped in the void need saving. Could you at least answer my questions?”

The system was silent for some time. Tresk cowered behind the alchemist, expecting something horrible to happen. Theo had a feeling she was just tired from all the fighting. Like a toddler refusing to go to bed, she was acting weird because she was sleepy.

“Go on.”

Theo cleared his throat. “My people are working on a method to return the shards. But if we’re going to save the elves, we need a way to disperse the void energy.”

“You have a way.”

Theo clenched his jaw. Why was the system being so rude today? The new gods might have been curt, but this was taking it to a new level. Perhaps she was mad about something and was taking it out on him.

“Could you please describe the method?” Theo asked.

“The dungeons,” she responded. “Perhaps you should ask your friends about it. Now begone. I’m busy.”

Theo heard a sound like glass breaking. An instant later, he was standing back near the town’s center, blinking in confusion.

“Ooooh! Trouble in paradise!” Tresk said, giggling to herself. “Can we go to sleep?”

Theo sighed. “The system is normally nicer than that.”

“Uh-huh. I bet she is,” Tresk said, elbowing Theo. “Can we go now? I have some dreams to haunt.”

Theo and Tresk led Alex to her stable, making sure she was comfortable with enough food and water for the night. Before they even left, she was snoring away on a pile of hay. They made their way to the manor, finding food waiting for them on the table. It was cold, but the marshling dumped it in her mouth all the same. Theo abstained from eating, eager to do nothing more than rest his tired mind. They fell into the Dreamwalk with ease. Perhaps he would go with his companion to torture some poor soul. That might make him feel better.

It was hard to know why Tresk had targeted Luras. The interest she took in his dreams was weird, with psychological implications Theo didn’t want to consider. The man screamed, fleeing from a dragon which the marshling rode. At least it was interesting to see her putting her Dreamer’s Core to use. Today the Dreamwalk was plyable, allowing her to bring them into the dreams of others. But it wasn’t always so cooperative.

Deep psychological scars aside, Theo’s mind lingered on his current problem. If the dungeons were the way to clear the void magic from the bodies of the elves, Broken Tusk would endure the coming storm. The dreams went on with the alchemist having no desire to practice his alchemy. When he figured out Tero’gal’s alchemy he could work on leveling some more. Once things settled down.

“I feel refreshed!” Tresk shouted the moment they woke from the dream.

Theo watched as the marshling jumped from her bed, sprinting out of the room with haste. As expected, he found a report from Xol’sa in the town’s messages. He had a solid theory.

“What’s gotten into her?” Sarisa asked, watching with confusion as Theo descended from the upper floor.

“The lizard kills one dragon and she thinks she’s the best,” Theo said, shaking his head. “What were you guys doing during the siege?”

“Not much. You didn’t need defending and the monsters weren’t much of a problem. It was just weird.”

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“Not like we slacked off or anything,” Rowan said, forestalling accusations of being lazy. “Just doing what we were told.”

Facing so many waves at once was frightening. But it turned out to not be a problem itself. But the problems came when considering the implications. Perhaps the system was right and this would work itself out. It mentioned one of his friends, which might have been Khahar. As always, Yuri was orchestrating more than he let on.

“I have to meet with Xol’sa to discuss what he’s discovered. Not that it was anything we didn’t learn from the system, but it would be nice to be prepared.”

“We’ll leave the bigger problems to you, Theo,” Sarisa said, putting on a kind smile. “Otherwise, I’d rather just stick my head in the mud and ignore it all.”

“Seconded,” Rowan said, raising his hand.

“Speaking of, are you finally sleeping in the manor?” Theo asked.

“I sleep in the garden,” Rowan said, narrowing his eyes. “Don’t trust the little Dreamwalk.”

“Because my brother is a baby. I’ve been getting experience in my little Dreamwalk.”

The conversation at the table didn’t linger on Rowan’s problems for long. Instead, they spoke of the little things that made Broken Tusk turn. People would be rowdy today, seeing yesterday’s fight as a glorious victory over the dungeons. Even if that wasn’t true, it wouldn’t stop the half-ogres from stirring something up. Theo wouldn’t intervene, as they deserved to celebrate.

After breakfast, Theo had to check in on Salire at the Newt and Demon before getting down to business. Of course she was always pushing ahead when he was gone. When he was done with this latest problem, he could do some batches of second tier Tero’gal essence. She promised to make a full report when he had time. That time—Theo hoped—would be later this afternoon. Perhaps they would have enough time to mess around with dragon bone essence.

Theo passed by the statue of Xol’sa and Zarali on his way to the wizard’s tower. He shook his head, appearing at the tower in a blink. The alchemist waved at Zarali as he ascended the stairs to the top. She gave him a sour look, shaking her head. It was his fault that Xol’sa had been so busy with everything. But there was plenty of time to relax later. As expected, the space wizard was on the top floor of his tower, swiping through random arcane circles and mumbling to himself.

“Find anything fun?” Theo asked.

Xol’sa turned, squinting at Theo. After a moment he blinked away his confusion and nodded. He had dark purple circles under his eyes and his hair was a mess. “I have theories.”

“If you’re looking to form conspiracy theories, you’re well on your way.”

“I haven’t uncovered a grand conspiracy, no. But perhaps… Maybe?”

Theo placed a hand on Xol’sa’s shoulder. “I think you need some sleep, buddy.”

“No, I must deliver my findings to… you, actually. Hello, Theo.”

“Hey,” Theo said, ignoring the tired elf. “What do you have?”

“We were talking about lodestones.” Xol’sa swept his hand through the air, arranging symbols with fervor. “Look at this. Can you believe it?”

“Nope,” Theo said, not understanding most of what he was looking at. “How about you explain it to me?”

“It was right under our noses the entire time. The dungeons were designed to absorb ambient power right? Well, we call any energy borne from a heavenly source power, energy, and so on, but it is like their life’s blood. These dungeons have been fed a trickle of mana for so long. They’re hungry for more, which is why they sucked in the void energy so quickly. But I’ve discovered a feature of each dungeon that had been hidden to me for some time.”

“The ability to process that void mana into something meaningful,” Theo said, finishing the thought. “Or at least neutralize it.”

“Yes, how did you know?”

Theo shook his head. It was the direction Xol’sa was going with his rambling. “Long-term effects?”

“Oh, I can’t say,” Xol’sa swiped his hand through the air, dismissing the runes. “For now, I think we’re good to bring more elves as needed. More waves might spawn, but they’ll become less and less effective. Yes, I think that should do. I’ve done good for the day—perhaps the year.”

Without warning, Xol’sa collapsed to the ground. Theo checked for a pulse before doing anything drastic. After feeding the elf a few potions, he determined the man was just sleeping. The alchemist pulled him into a princess carry and brought him down the stairs. Zarali wasn’t even surprised when she saw him appear.

“Got your husband here,” Theo said, holding Xol’sa up for her to see. “Where do you want him?”

“Just there,” Zarali said, gesturing to a sofa. “Did he finally run out of energy?”

“Yeah, he’s just a tired little guy.” Theo placed the elf on the sofa, pulling a blanket from the back and covering him. “Uncovering the secrets of the void will do that to a man.”

Zarali offered a soft small, all the bitterness gone from her face by this point. “He told me you returned the first of his people.”

“I won’t pretend to know what that feels like,” Theo said. “I’m just here to help.”

Zarali stood, crossing the room to place her hand on Xol’sa’s forehead. “He finds the whole thing to be very confusing. He doesn’t remember his people, but feels a responsibility to save them. Sometimes I wonder if that’s how you feel.”

“We both have a savior complex, I guess. Just for different reasons.”

“How is the elf handling recovery?” Zarali asked.

“That might be something you can help with. Sulvan is working on the man below the temple. He has some soul damage, but I don’t know if it's enough to warrant a Reforge Soul Potion.” Theo gestured to Xol’sa on the sofa. “When that one wakes up, would you mind checking?”

“I would be delighted,” Zarali said, bowing her head. “Once I ensure my husband isn’t dying.”

“Fair enough. I think that sorts everything out, though. I can finally get back to the lab.”

“Have fun,” Zarali said, her eyes lingering on Xol’sa. “I know I will.”

Theo made his way back to the lab, feeling none of the disorientating effects of the portals. That sense had faded long ago, making the journey feel as though he was simply taking a step, rather than traveling a few miles through the swamp. Since people had time to get out on the streets, they were already going about their days. It wasn’t like the wedding. No one was hungover to the point where they were comatose the next day. Just a late night that had most citizens tired. The town’s notes section was filled with praise for the swift response from their allies. Unsurprisingly, what few dungeons existed to the north had activated from the void energy. But it was nothing the combined forces couldn’t handle. As it had spread out in a ripple, they were staggered enough to not cause problems.

“Now that I’m done with that,” Theo said, trailing off as he entered the lab. Salire was waiting there with a half-smile on her face. She nodded knowingly. “What do we have going on?”

“You can toy with your dragon bone essences later,” Salire said, gesturing to the rows of flasks on the far table. They were all a pleasant shade of pink, yellow, and blue. Even from afar, the alchemist detected the smells of restoration essences. “For now, I’d like you to review my essences.”

Theo gave them a quick inspection, but hardly needed to. They were all a minimum of 90% purity, putting them far above his expectations for his assistant. But Salire had come a long way from her first days in the lab. “These are excellent. Almost perfect samples.”

“I’m having trouble with the iron paddles, though.” Salire gestured to the pile in the corner. “The buildup is a problem. Perhaps it depends on the level of your cores.”

“While we can break the residue down, it isn’t perfect. We might as well work on that while we’re here.” Theo placed his hands on his hips. His technique for processing the solid buildup on the paddles wasn’t perfect, but they had to accept it as part of their process now. This was Tero’gal alchemy, which required more steps. “Come on. Let’s record how those reactions work.”