Chapter 810: Return

Chapter 810: Return

The tree let out a low hiss as it rolled over, regarding Alex with a single reptilian eye.

Knowing how well Kybas fed Harmless, Alex wasnt surprised at how much the croc had grown since hed last seen him, whichif he was remembering correctlywas around the time of the Games of Roal. Kybas and his familiar had been going to Thameland, harvesting dungeon cores with Grimloch and their other friends, but Alex rarely saw him or the little crocodileactually, little was the wrong word.

The crocodile could be called many things: terrifying, sleek, powerful, monstrous, largebut little wasnt one of them. Harmless was now the size of a young oak tree, his scales were so thick, they could easily be mistaken for armour plating.

His fangs were the size of daggers, his webbed feet were bigger than Alex's hands and his tail looked like it could break a full grown man in half with a single swing. Gone was the little croc that Kybas had shown Alex in first year alchemy, now replaced by a monster with teeth almost bigger than his whole body had been back then.

What the Alex murmured. Whatwhat happened?

My winnings! And what I get for harvesting dungeon cores! Kybas hopped up and down in excitement. All that coin makes it so I can feed Harmless much higher quality potions and lots of them too! I've been making new ones that I custom blended just for him. It's making him grow faster than ever, and hes so strong now! Just the other day, I let him go swimming in the Prinean sea, and he caught a full-grown lion shark! It was amazing!

Don't those get to be like fifteen feet long? Alex asked.

Kybas grinned, nodding vigorously. And he's been taking down bone chargers lately! It's been great!

Yeah, great Professor Salinger looked at Kybas from the corner of his eye, his expression filled with trepidation. You're a little reckless, you know?

Alex burst out laughing. The familiarity of the conversation was too much for him.

So how have you been, aside from Harmless growing into a dragon? Alex asked.

Good, good! Kybas grinned. Third year is going well: I'm learning a lot about alchemy, magical botany, and magical beast husbandry. Im starting blood magic too! I'm going to make monsters when I graduate! He patted Harmless enormous head. Ill make Harmless even bigger and stronger too!

Salinger gave him a wan smile. You knowI'd be happy if what I taught you was used a bit more constructively. You know you could be growing all kinds of magical gardens

It is constructive! Kybas grinned, oddly resembling Harmless. The magical gardens will feed my monsters, including Harmless! And thatll help me make monsters! It's all great!

Ugggggh, Salinger groaned. If you weren't such a good assistantnevermind, Im going to work on the aeld tree again before I have a heart attack. He nodded. Good to have you back, Alex.

The professor walked away, leaving the goblin, the crocodile and the archwizard together.

So how have you been? Kybas asked. It's been a bit! I heard you had lots of exciting adventures!

Yeah thats one way to put it, Alex said. They were adventures that werein factexciting, but I nearly died a lot.

The goblin wizard shrugged. We'll do that, eventually. And you didn't die, so that's what's important!

Alex laughed. You're always so sure of yourself, Kybas.

Why worry? Kybas said. We have to live, and life is going to do things, and we're going to do things back. That's the way the Chulu live: We do things to our enemy, and our enemies do things to us. We just have to make sure that what we do to them, they can't get back up from! Simple as that.

The archwizard shook his head. I'm almost jealous.

Don't be! Kybas said. The Chulu live a hard life, and I'm going to make sure that my tribe gets plenty of help from me, once I learn how to teleport. Then I can go home whenever I want, and give them monsters that they can use to defend our home!

Alex thought about that for a long moment.

Maybe, just maybe, thats what he could do with his life.

Build things that would help defend Thameland from any other enemies that came to the island. He frowned. Maybe not. Or maybe so? Thats something hed like to do, but didn't think he'd want to do it for the rest of his life.

Why did figuring this stuff out have to be so difficult?

You okay? Kybas asked.

I am, Alex said. There's just a lot on my mind, a lot to think about, and a lot to consider and do.

Well, I'm sure you'll get it right! Kybas cried, clapping Alex on the forearm. You're smart, and youve figured out a lot of other things. I'm sure you'll figure out whatever this is too. Anyway, I should get back to helping with the aeld tree, and I'm sure you wanna get to the lab. Oh! Before you go, you should say hi to the tree, it missed you.

Chaos essence would likely make the poison even more volatile, Professor Jules said. But the addition of dungeon core essence might increase that volatility even more. And I believe it's worth a try, so I'll be running tests with dungeon core essence and a bit of the toxic substance. Now that youre here, what will you be looking at?

I'm going to see if I can translate more of Uldars notes. Alex explained the potential solutions hed thought of when he was with Professor ValRok.

She nodded, carefully adjusting her mask. ValRok does have a way of leading people to interesting solutions. I quite like the redundancy of the plan. Having more than one way to ensure that the Ravener stays dead can only be of benefit.

True, Alex said. And while you're working on the poison, I can be working on the other two methods: learning how its reconstitution protocol works, and understanding how it turns fear into power.

Excellent, she said, turning back to her workstation. Ill leave you to it then. Good luck, Mr. Roth. Resolving these issues will likely take a while, but let's hope we can make some good progress today.

Lets hope, Alex said. And if you wouldnt mind, I might need to ask you for some help. But, if you need anything, just shout.

Perfect, she said. Let's begin.

The two alchemists parted and Alex went to the copies of Uldars notes, picking up a few of the sheets of parchment.

Alright. Let's see if I can't figure you out.

He called on the Mark of the General, painstakingly examining the notes, soon pausing. Professor, do we have any advanced books on divinity here?

She pointed to a nearby bookshelf. We brought several here, when we first began studying those notes.

Thanks, Alex said, conjuring a set of Wizards Hands. He was about to send them to gather the books up, when he realised that he didn't know which ones to collect. I need a favour, professor, would you mind grabbing those books, if you have a moment? Youd know which ones would be relevant, better than I would.

Absolutely, she said, going to the bookcase.

The young archwizard returned to Uldars notes, scanning the gods written records. The pages were full of magical and alchemical notations, many Alex didn't recognise, but Isolde and Professor Jules had done an excellent job translating a lot of the gods unique symbology into modern alchemical terminology.

His eyes traced the mana pathways running through the Raveners schematics. There was a labyrinth of power going through the construct, and following each pathway was difficult because they were so complex.

Do some of these pathways also channel fear, or are they all just for mana? Alex wondered. I don't know anything about how constructs are built with divinity, or how that even works? Would such constructs need pathways to channel fear?

The General of Thameland heard his professor gathering the volumes on divinity.

Behind them, the door clicked andwith a hiss of escaping airopened.

Ah, there you are, Isolde, Professor Jules said as she headed toward Alex, cradling the books in her arms. You can put the samples over there

The young noblewoman stepped into the room, glass bottles containing Uldars ichor softly clinking.

Alexs concentration was fixed on the notes as he muttered.

Damn, what I know about divinity could fill a whole thimble, he thought sarcastically. Professor, could you hand me one of those books? he asked. If there's one about divinity and constructs, thatd be perfector wait, maybe how divinity enchants different items?

Of course, Baelin said. A book was placed beside the notes.

Thanks, the young archwizard muttered, taking the book and opening it. Actually, if you have one on divinity that exists without deities, thatd be pretty helpful too.

This one should do nicely: a fine volume, Baelin said, handing Alex the book.

Thanks, Bael the young archwizard froze.

He looked up from Uldars notes.

Wait, Baelin?

He spun around.

There stood the Chancellor of the University of Generasi, smiling. Did you happen to miss me, my young friend?