Chapter 2.28: Xol'sa

Chapter 2.28: Xol'sa

Aarok delayed the cleanup of the monsters to the next day. With everything cleared from the street, there was only the matter of creating burn pits, looting the monsters, and dumping them in to be set on fire. Theo spent longer than he would have enjoyed entertaining Fenian at the Marsh Wolf Tavern. The strange, hooded wizard stood in the room's corner, simply observing. The alchemist couldnt get a read on him, but reserved himself to make introductions the next day.

When Tresk and Theo settled down for bed, they found a massive cache of experience points waiting for the Tarahek core. Upon pressing their foreheads together, the core jumped to level 12. The alchemist slept well that night. Visions of their simple victory played through his mind as he drifted off. He wouldnt take it for granted, only resolving to push himself harder. The promise he made to himself, to take it easy, lingered in his mind for only a moment before he drifted off to sleep.

The next morning seemed normal enough. Withdrawing the early warning crystal from his inventory, Theo discovered it was back to light green. He let out a sigh, sitting next to Tresk and taking their morning breakfast.

I need to direct the adventurers today, Theo said. To a lesser extent, anyway. Those monsters must be full of alchemical goodies.

Maybe, Tresk said with a shrug.

I also have some seed core buildings to plant today, Theo said. And alchemy to do.

Well, you got that ranch core, but no animals, Tresk said, gulping her tea down. Do that one last.

Right. I still need an agreement with the miners, Theo said.

Well, theyre not native Broken Tuskers, Tresk said, shrugging. You shouldnt give them as good of a deal as Ziz, or Perg.

I agree, Theo said. I need to make larger profits.

Still aching for independence? Tresk asked.

Yeah, Theo said. Even the stipends Qavell sends are tiny, compared to what we could make on our own.

So, what kind of split should the miners get? Tresk asked.

Theo wasnt sure what kind of split he should do. Ziz had a ninety-ten split, where the stoneworker took the lions share of the money. Even with that, the alchemist made out like a bandit. It was a zero-effort venture that saw more money than he needed. He settled on a number after a moment, but it came with stipulations.

Well, I could offer them 20 percent of market value, Theo said. Since I own every stage of the production chain, I can snatch up whatever metal I need along the way.

You should also discount the metal to my dad, Tresk said, smiling. Hed like that.

Yeah, I bet hes excited. He can have it at labor cost. 20 percent of market value, Theo said. Which is likely almost nothing. Whoever gets the smelter job gets the same offer, I think. They can split everything amongst themselves.

Sounds good to me, Tresk said.

Theo had explained the extent of the contracts to Tresk already. He was already using his [Titles] skill to go through and label everyone with their appropriate position. Before, they just sat in an extensive list. But now that the [Automatic Books] skill had run once, he could see everyones income, profit, and taxes owed, including himself. He also played with the [Command Structure] skill, assigning Aarok as the towns commander, and reserving the assignment of all other military posts for the Half-Ogre to take care of. Only Luras got the Captain of the Guard post.

Each new rung in the commands ladder came with an automatic salary that Theo could assign. This extended to his private ventures within the town. There was a section in the towns menu that split out the alchemists businesses, including the quarry. The system could automatically withdraw money from his inventory, and pay it out to those people daily. This extended to complex formulas based on percent shares, profit earned, or any combination of things. He put that off for now, focusing his mind on meeting the new wizard.

As if summoned by a thought, a gentle knock came from downstairs. Theo descended, finding the hooded man standing awkwardly at the door. When he opened it, the Elf shuffled his feet and made a formal introduction.

A pleasure to make your acquaintance, Sir Mayor, he said, affecting a deep bow.

Theo is fine. Do you want some tea?

I would, thank you.

By the time the pair made their way upstairs, Tresk was nowhere to be found. She must have slipped out while Theo was downstairs, using her stealth abilities to get out of a long conversation. The strange Elf, if he was an Elf at all, had even stranger skin. It seemed to change based on his environment. Upon entering the building, it shifted to a lighter violet hue, the seams of color still running blue. When he finally removed his hood, a shockingly white head of hair spilled out over his shoulders.

Whats your name? Theo asked, pouring the Elf a cup of tea.

Xolsa, he said.

And where do you hail from?

I dont know, he said. That is an endless story, but Ill spare you the details. I dont know the name of my people. We are a race of extra-planar Elves, and Ive never known them.

Fair enough, Theo said. I assume your planar magic lets you know Im not from here.

It does, Xolsa said.

And you want to make a tower in the swamp, Theo said.

I do.

So, I dont have a problem with it. But there are some rules. No messing with the dungeon, no summoning monsters or whatever, and no experiments that would harm my citizens.

Thats agreeable, Xolsa said.

The man had few words to say, which Theo didnt know what to think of. He leaned in, flashing a smile. So, what do you hope to accomplish out here?

To study the dense magic, Xolsa said. Perhaps learn something about my people. And Your dungeontheres something strange about it.

So Ive heard, Theo said, leaning back again.

More than what you know, Xolsa said, averting his gaze. It feels tampered with.

Xolsa turned and cocked his head toward Theo. Magic has a smell. I view it as a smell. You stink of planar magic, but not just one sort. Theres another resting somewhere near you. Perhaps Perhaps in your inventory.

Theo instinctively withdrew the early warning device from his inventory, holding it out. If Xolsa found this shocking, it didnt reach his face. The Elf was wrapped up so tight, the alchemist doubted anything would bring emotion to his face. He pressed his fingers against the thing and nodded.

Thats it, Xolsa said. The magic is too powerful for me to determine its function, but it smells wrong.

Well. Then, lets extend your responsibilities, Theo said. You can have your tower, but I want your opinion on the dungeon. I also want to be able to come to you with any questions I have.

Properties:

[Searing Regeneration] ???? ????

Ill bring vials to collect the blood, Theo said. But, the Trolls will produce [Troll Blood]. Easy enough.

Theo repeated the process for some time, moving among the dead with the adventurers to find more treasures. It was to no avail, though. The wolves held no reagents, and he couldnt discover anything new from the fallen monsters. Satisfied with his attempt, he returned to the lab and produced an absurd number of vials, returning to the adventurers to pass them out. He let out a sigh of relief when he was done, his mind itching for more experimentation.

Both Luras and Aarok accompanied him through the gate, the guildmaster clearly having something on his mind.

I got the notification that you set me as a commander, Aarok said.

And Im the Captain of the Guard, Luras said, laughing.

I got my [Governance Core] yesterday, Theo said, smiling.

They followed him as he trudged a path over the cobbles, eager to share in the excitement of the new cores abilities.

It gave me a few new abilities, Aarok said. I can make announcements to the townthey should get a system message.

We can also designate squads, and give them their own tactical maps, Luras said, chuckling. Theo, that core is worth it for those abilities alone.

It better be worth it, Theo said. It would have cost 50 gold if not for Fenians deal.

What deal? Aarok said, stopping.

Theo refused to stop, simply moving along and reciting the story of Xolsa the strange [Planar Mage]. The pair seemed reluctant to be excited for a mage in the town, but the alchemist soothed their concerns.

I imagine most great towns have a wizard, Theo said.

Usually, Aarok admitted.

And I want Broken Tusk to be a powerful town, Theo said. The reasoning was simple. The Half-Ogres had to let go of their preconceived notions of mages for progress to occur. Meet the man before you judge him. I gave him permission for his tower, you can find him in the swamp.

Aarok and Luras trailed Theo for a while, like children following their parents. The alchemist wanted to indulge their curiosity, but the monster wave took more out of his schedule than he would have liked. He made a mental list of the things he needed to do, which boiled down to 2 items. The farmers problem had only been solved for their current farming setup, but they needed to expand. This led him to thinking about the [Spiny Swamp Thistle] he planted at the edge of the gravel yard. They needed tending. Then, there was the problem of refined modifier essences, which only testing could solve.

Theo returned to his lab, finding Azrug and Fenian talking excitedly in the shop. He pushed past them without a word, heading to clean out his fermentation barrels. The alchemist got into the habit of annotating Basic Drogramath Alchemy in the old Drogramathi script, to add the things that were missing. The section on refining modifiers was almost entirely missing, only having a few footnotes that wouldnt serve him. There was also a lack of emphasis on the quality of essences produced, which would require further experimentation. He had a suspicion it had to do with which catalysts were used during the refining process for the pressure vessel, and the motes with the fermentation barrels.

The fires beneath the stills still burned strong, the sound of the bubbling mash filling the lab. Theo threw open the window and took a deep breath. Before moving forward with his experimentation, he needed to set a baseline. Until now, he was operating under the assumption that second tier potions couldnt be mixed with first tier modifiers. The alchemist took a vial of [Surge] modifier essence, and a [Healing Potion] in hand, marching out to the gravel yard. He passed by his massive holding tanks and grinned, they were currently filling up with valuable essence. He flushed the system of his pressure vessel, bottling the small amount of [Refined Fire Essence] from before the siege. There simply wasnt enough time to check it out, before then.

[Refined Fire Essence]

[Essence] [Refined Essence]

Uncommon

Created by: Belgar

Grade: Great Quality

Purity: 45%

50 units (liquid)

Concentrated, refined essence of fire, used in the creation of fire bombs.

The quality was lacking, as expected. Theo mentally shrugged it off, moving to the center of the gravel yard and placing the [Healing Potion] down. He crouched near it, angling his body so he could sprint away the moment he introduced the modifier. The moment the modifier essence fell into the healing potion, it boiled. The alchemist ran, tripping over his own feet and holding his hands over his head. His experiment issued a minor explosion, not even shattering the glass vial. But, it confirmed his suspicions about the compatibility of the potions with their lower tier counterparts.

Theo had a small amount of [Surge] modifier left, somewhere around 50 units. He placed it in his pressure vessel and set it to work, inserting [Copper Shavings] for the catalyst. While he had new catalysts from Fenian, it wasnt the time to stretch his experimentation. Good alchemy was done one step at a time, recording everything and retesting for accuracy. This wasnt an issue with the first tier potions, but things were getting more dangerous.

Instead of returning to the lab, Theo made his way to the small garden of [Spiny Swamp Thistle]. All but 1 had died since he checked last, withering away in the suboptimal conditions. The one that remained had grown larger, but underwent no additional changes. The alchemist rolled the problem over in his mind. His use of the [Lesser Potion of Growth] monsterized the plant, but that potion had to be the key. He inspected the growth potion once again, observing several things.

[Lesser Potion of Growth]

[Potion]

Uncommon

Created by: Belgar

Grade: Excellent Quality

Drink to grow 1.25 your current size. May age the imbiber of the potion by an unknown quantity of time.

Effect:

Affect the [Growth] property on any living thing.

It was a standard, drinkable potion. Usually, he would rely on potions that he considered detergents to apply effects to the world around him. He had several examples in recent memory, including the [Alchemic Soil Enhancer]. His [Drogramath Alchemy Core], on the verge of hitting level 12, whispered into his heart. Theo was missing something. There was an element of the potion that wasnt there, and adding that element would remedy the problem.

What could it be, ol Droggie? Theo asked of the empty air.

That innate knowledge sitting in his chest urged him to a solution. There was something that could stabilize the potion, converting it into a world-effect detergent. The next logical leap was easy. It felt like getting the answers to a test just by looking at the question, the combination of his [Drogramath Alchemy Core], [Drogramath Herbalism Core], and his [Wisdom] coming together to produce one simple answer. There was a modifier that would convert the potion, allowing him to apply the growth potion to the plants.

Time to ferment, Theo said, nodding to himself.