Chapter 42: Rent

Chapter 42: Rent

Theo always enjoyed his morning ritual of food and tea in the morning. As he sat there with Tresk, gazing out into the darkness of early morning, he felt content. The Marshling went over the loot she found in the dungeon so far, which was mostly junk. In the alchemists eyes, it wasnt a waste of time. The stronger she got, the better. He had no way of defending himself, if anything were to happen, and would rely on her for that.

I still dont have anyone making good on the quest I posted to the adventurers guild, Theo said.

Tresk swallowed a mouthful of leftover spicy wolf meat stew. Cause you gotta go to the guild.

What? Theo asked, knitting his brow. Really?

Yeah, if you posted a collection quest, theyll deliver it to the guild, Tresk said, giggling.

A tingle in Theos mind drew his attention away from something that should have been obvious to him. The Newt and Demon was trying to say something to him, or so he thought. It was like an itch at the back of his mind that he could only scratch by bringing up the buildings information screen.

[Alchemy Lab] [Alchemy Shop]

[The Newt and Demon]

Owners: Belgar (Theo Spencer), Tresk

Faction: [Broken Tusk]

Level: 10 (31%)

Rent Due: Today

Expansions:

[Alchemy Shop]

We have to pay rent today, Theo said, the furrow of his brow deepening. Wait, who do I pay rent to?

Tresk laughed, slapping her knobbly knees. Sorry, the image of you paying rent to yourself was too much.

Theo poked around at the interface for a while before giving up. He summoned his mayor screen instead, cycling through the seed core buildings in town before finding the Newt and Demon. The weekly rent on his level 10 building was somewhere around 1.5 silver, and could be paid to himself. He manually clicked a button, and his rent timer reset.

Okay, Theo said, the creases in his horned forehead growing deeper by the moment. I told the town that I paid rent to myself. What does that mean?

I dont know, Tresk said, slurping her tea. The rent is for the land, right? Maybe we have to pay it to Qavell. Try poking around some more.

Theo obeyed. Despite his high [Wisdom], Tresk had a natural way of thinking about how this world worked. Despite his previous experience with the screen, it was too cluttered for him to remember where everything was. He browsed the finance screens for some time before finding owed rents, nodding to himself. It was obvious now, but everyone paid rent to Miana, when she was mayor, then she sent the money off to the capital every month. The town calculated the rent of each building, aggregating it based on the current tax rate. Broken Tusks flat rate was 10 silver a month, plus a rate based on citizens, owned land, the amount of seed core buildings, and the towns level. It was all too confusing for the alchemist. He made a mental note to pay the tax in 10 days.

Found it, Theo said, explaining how the system works.

That makes sense, Tresk said. Didnt you offer to cover the excess taxes people couldnt pay?

Yeah, and Im going to hold onto some coins after we sell this next batch to Fenian, Theo said. I want some cash on hand just in case.

You should ask him about that new potion, Tresk said. Assuming its not forbidden.

Tresk stood from the spot, putting on her best evil voice and saying, forbidden. She vanished right in front of Theos eyes, using the superior effect of her [Assassins Core] before reappearing right behind him.

Forbidden, Tresk repeated.

Theo made to snatch her arm, but she was too fast. Youre slippery, he said. Come here.

The alchemist did his best to catch the Marshling. He never considered how dexterous she was, but it felt like trying to grab the wind itself. Tresk was disappointed when he gave up, pouting for a moment before getting over the entire ordeal.

Youre slower than a [Swamp Turtle], Tresk said.

A lot slower, Theo said, heaving breath. Whats your plan today?

Grinding in the dungeon, Tresk said. Im getting garbage for gear, but thats not the point. Gotta get stronger. Gonna go deeper.

Take the [Lesser Hallow Ground Potion] with you. Here, let me craft some poison before you go, Theo said.

Ive been out for a while, Tresk said, following the alchemist as he made the potions.

Theo already cooked the [Widow Lily] down the other day. He withdrew the poison essence from the [Dimensional Storage Crate] and set off the reactions. The alchemist made 10 [Basic Poisons] for her, each one coming out at excellent quality. Tresk was beyond excited to get new poisons, but he wished she would speak up about being out of supplies. She didnt want to speak up because she thought he was too busy, something he understood. But her safety was the most important thing to him.

The sun peeked over the eastern horizon by the time he was done crafting. Tresk took them and departed before he could object. Her excitement for the day was infectious. Theo wasnt sure if he needed to drink the moss tea with her around, but wanted to keep the tradition alive. His plan for the day was still forming in his mind. He went downstairs, peering up and down the street. In the distance, north toward the center of town, he spotted a familiar face skipping down the road.

Theos mouth fell open. He had just finished fiddling with the interface, excited to see that he could put a generic entry for any reagent that enhanced stats. What? Where?

Near the ocean, I think. They align with the cardinals. Some kind of magic I dont understand. Its not dangerous, not if we know about it, Aarok said.

We just have to be prepared, Theo said, nodding in agreement. Can you make this quest urgent?

Id normally charge a fee, but for the mayor? Ill do it for free, Aarok said. Youre hoarding money to buy defenses, arent you?

Yeah.

Fine. Just give me a 6 silver deposit for this new quest, Aarok said. The guild will foot the bill until the adventurers collect.

Theo withdrew another 6 silver coins from his inventory and handed them over. This brought him down to 43 silver, 27 copper. He reviewed the quest before submitting it.

[Supply Run]

Quest

The proprietor of the Newt and Demon is requesting all adventurers to collect reagents for his potion empire.

Objectives:

Collect [Spiny Swamp Thistle Root] (1 silver per 500 max 1000)

Collect [Moss Nettle] (1 silver per 500 max 1000)

Collect [Manashrooms] (1 silver per 500 max 1000)

Collect [Stat-Bearing Reagent] (1 silver per 500 max 1000 each)

Right. I need to brew some potions for the shop. Azrug got his cores, Theo said. Now hes telling me I dont have enough stock.

I was talking to Xam, Aarok said, finally flashing a smile. Rare cores from Broken Tusk. Very exciting news.

Theo grunted a response before bidding the guildmaster farewell. On his way back to the lab, Fenians crystal gave a slight buzz in his mind. He didnt want to consider how he knew it was buzzing from within his inventory, but withdrew it and held it in his hand anyway.

Theo. How is the order coming along? Fenian asked.

Extremely wellIll be done in a few days if all goes according to plan, Theo said.

Good. Im still in the area, so let me know, Fenian said.

While I have you here, I have another potion question, Theo said.

More questionable potions? Lets hear it.

The truffle produced another effect. [Hallow Ground], Theo said.

Really? Now thats interesting. The experience boost property is dangerous, but that one is fine. I havent really seen that potion floating aroundno idea what it would fetch. Ill research it and inform you when I find out, Fenian said.

Right. Anything else?

Thats it, Fenian said, hanging up before Theo could respond.

The alchemist shrugged, pushing his way into the shop. He found Azrug there, alone and beaming.

I made a very nice sale. We need more potions, though, Azrug said.

Dont worry, Theo said. Im going to brew an absurd amount of potions today.

Theo went upstairs with the thought of a noble family going through thousands of potions. There wasnt a cooldown for lesser potions, and chugging them constantly didnt seem to have any negative effects. He imagined adventurers using the potions, pausing in combat to drink a few before going back to battle. The [Lesser Mana Potions] made sense for this, but he couldnt get his head around the others. It was a fact he hadnt considered until this point, the effect of the coin blinding his reasoning.

Why do these people need so many potions? Theo asked Tresk through the Tarahek communication.

Depends. I dont use many because I skip all the dungeon floors that dont have bosses. Ive heard of front-liners that down potions like watertheyre afraid of dying. Some [Dexterity] classes do fancy moves that take a lot of stamina, I guess thats where theyre chugging the [Lesser Stamina Potions], Tresk said.

Thanks, Theo said, falling into his thoughts again.

As a crafting class, Theo had 42 health. His healing potions could restore between 20 and 40, but that seemed like a drop in the bucket for a front-line class. His intuition told him theyd be closer to 200 health in the level 10 to 20 range. It made sense that theyd be drinking so many potions if they only got 10% of their health restored. This led him to the conclusion that the next tier of restoration potions would have a significantly higher rate of resource replenishment, as well as a bigger price tag.

It was all academic, at this point. His interest in how people chugged away his hard work faded when he faced down the order Fenian placed. It was time to get to work.