Chapter 3.49: Goose

Chapter 3.49: Goose

We cant call him Cheepy, Tresk said, frowning at the wiggling chick.

Theo and Tresk woke to the sound of a small chick chirping happily near the alchemists bed. It had a dark black bill, similar patterns around its all-black eyes, with a mix of yellow and gray downy plumage. Unlike an Earth chicken chick, which could easily fit in the palm of his hand, this one was large. Beepy, or whatever name the pair decided on later, was larger than the Dronons head. It chirped, snapping at the air as though expecting food.

Its not a chicken, Theo said, inspecting the creature. Hold on, can I inspect it?

[Goose]

[Familiar]Ñøv€l-B1n was the first platform to present this chapter.

Stage:

[Gosling]

Master:

[Dreamrealm of Terogal]

Level 1

Description:

Geese are known as the most loving creatures in all the realms. Any rumors spread to disparage these honorable creatures will be met with a flurry of feathers and bill.

Affinities:

Fire

Thats a goose! Tresk said, moving to snuggle the creature. It seemed to hug her back, wrapping its stunted neck around her.

Just a goose, Theo said, reading the description several times. It sounded like something someone wrote, not like something generated by the system. And what was Terogal?

Guess we have a name for our Dreamwalk, Theo said, keeping those things between him and Tresk.

Cheep, the goose responded, the sound echoing through his mind.

Oh, cant wait for my mind to be filled with honks, Theo said, patting the goose on the head. Lets name it Jeff.

Were not naming the goose Jeff! Tresk shouted. I wont allow it.

She needs a name.

Despite the goslings need for food, the pair descended into arguments for the creatures name. The debate only ended when Khahar appeared from nowhere, his hands full of squirming grub-like creatures. He placed them in Theos hands without a word and smiled at the squawking gosling. The alchemist held the worms above his new familiar, who titled her head back and opened her bill. He dropped a few grubs in, silencing the constant chirping.

I shall name her, Khahar said, his face taking on a pensive look.

Theo was suddenly worried. The goose looked a lot like Jeff to him. If Khahar named the goose something stupid, could he live with himself? This would be the things name forever, what if she didnt like it? There was little he could do but wait for the verdict.

Alexandria DGoose, Khahar said, cracking a smile. Alex for short.

Alright, thats pretty good, Tresk said, still hugging Alex.

In the blink of an eye, all the tension left Theos body. The gosling chirped happily at the new name, bobbing in the Marshlings grasp. But the alchemist now felt like a mother hen, realizing they had nothing prepared for Alex. Shed need a safe place sleep at night, and rest during the day. Food, water, everything a pet needed. But she was more than a pet, and the implications of her master on the system screen was big. She wasnt bound to Theo or Tresk, but to the realm that was expanding between them. Alex was bound to the Dreamrealm of Terogal.

Explaining what that realm will become is cheating, Khahar said, petting the goose. But she has some interesting potential. Shell become sapient, after a while.

Sweet, whats that mean? Tresk asked.

Shell have a consciousness, Theo said. Already seems like she has a mind of her own.

Alex had wriggled free of Tresks grasp and slapped her webbed feet on the wooden floor. She explored the cramped room, pecking at anything that looked remotely edible and chirping the whole time. Theo found it hard to tear his eyes off the little goose.

How do we level her up? Tresk asked.

The normal way. She needs goose experience, Khahar said. Let her do goose stuff, and shell level quickly.

Alright. Breakfast time, Theo said, clapping his hands. No dawdling.

Theo turned without regarding Khahar. The leader of the Khahari disappeared moments later, off to do his own thing. Tresk followed behind Alex, making sure she could take the stairs without issue. The gosling flapped its stunted wings with each step, making frantic chirps when she fell behind. The alchemist waited at the bottom of the stairs, watching as his companion corralled their new goose.

One step at a time, Alex, Tresk said, patting Alex on the head. Take it easy. Youre gonna be a big strong goose one day, arent you? A fire-breathing nightmare goose!

Once on flat ground, Alex found her feet. She waddled along the cobblestone path to Xams tavern, keeping up with the alchemists long strides. Tresk had to help her with the steps at the tavern, but the gosling managed. They found their usual table, pulling a new chair over for the goose, and waited for the server to come by. Theo ordered 2 plates of the leftovers, and 2 moss teas. Hopefully, the strange grubs were enough of a breakfast for the excitable gosling.

Ive been waiting for the buildings to catch up, Theo said.

Well, theyre caught up.

And that was all Nira had to say on the subject. Theo added it to his mental list.

Gridgen and his miners didnt mind the gosling, but they werent overly excited to see her. The miners were more interested in singing the praises of the metal golems, who were still tirelessly defending the mine. The golems had orders to protect each miner, and while the monsters still werent strong enough to pose an actual threat, they still worked hard. Miners loved nothing more than anything that worked harder than them.

Theo gave a tour of the mines interior, leading Tresk, Gridgen, and Alex down the passage where they found the egg. Blood-splattered golems stood sentry outside of that dark stone room, but the gosling seemed excited to see the room. She flapped her little stunted wings, trying to return to the plinth where her egg rested, but failed. When the alchemist placed her atop the dark stone, she just chirped excitedly. But the miners had dug new tunnels out of the hard rock, revealing more spawn points for nuggets. Like the smelter, their production was increasing by the day. Even the miners themselves were growing stronger, most pushing past level 10 and a select few edging towards 20.

The miners were smart enough to keep their exploratory digging to the top levels of the mine, targeting copper and iron but hoping to hit silver. Theos plan for a mint required massive amounts of copper. Once Nira got her specialized minting core, shed need to grind levels to mint higher-tier coinage. Theo would have to face whatever rested in the deep places of the rock before getting the coveted [Silver Nuggets]. For now, he was happy to see them increasing their daily production.

Fenian better make good on his promise of the ship builder, Theo grumbled as they left the mine. But his grouchy mood was washed away with a single chirp from Alex.

Oh! Show her the harbor, next! Tresk shouted.

Theo wanted nothing more, but the next stop was Mianas ranch. The baby Karatan hadnt hatched, but the Half-Ogre woman was eager to see Alex. She nestled the gosling in her arms, cooing at her the entire time. The visit came with a list of things they needed to do for Alex, including dietary information and sleeping arrangements. Miana promised to drop everything off at the lab before noon.

The harbor had seen some changes. Aarok ordered the new weapons to be placed on the new section of wall, completing the towns defenses. Alex chirped excitedly to see this part of town, having an infectious eagerness to splash in the harbors water that almost saw Theo taking the plunge. Unlike in the Dreamwalk, the bridge-gate on the southern side of the harbor was closed. No ships came to Broken Tusks port, and it was a real shame. But that would soon be a distant memory.

Theo picked up his mostly-cultivated [Starbristle Flax] from the greenhouse, finding that his [Lesser Plant Golem] had propagated the plant on its own. The small corner he reserved for test subjects was now filled with the strange plant, and the alchemist took a moment to inspect it. It was a flowering plant, with leaves that looked like tall blades of grass ending bristling blue flowers. The sample he inspected was twice as large as the original, sitting at 135% cultivation. It was good enough for mass planting, so he scooped up 10 live plants to give to Banu. That guy could propagate anything.

Banu didnt care to see Alex, but what Theo saw disappointed him greatly. Gwyn had sorted the worker issue out perfectly. Almost every field was packed with people working the land, sorting the Zee plants out. What hurt the alchemist was the lack of upgrades. The farmer was making enough money to buy his own monster cores, but his stubbornness just wouldnt give in. A quick breath and a wave of comforting warmth from the gosling dulled the edges of his harsh words. Where he wanted to throttle the farmer for disregarding his advice, his words came like a scolding parent.

No upgrades? Theo asked, placing his hands on his hips. I thought we talked about this, Banu.

Things have been tight, Banu said, mopping his brow.

Uh-huh, Theo said. What with all the free money youre getting from the town. Come on, we need to sort this out. Now.

Banu stammered, but followed Theo to the seed core buildings center. The farmhouse was nice enough, even for a single-floor situation. Theo had more high-level [Monster Cores] than he knew what to do with, and began jamming them in the building. He wasnt the owner, so he wouldnt get the prompt to select the upgrades. That didnt matter, the farmer had great intuition.

With increasing [Intelligence], Theo could understand the upgrade cost for buildings. Before, it seemed to be arbitrary, but he got it now. If a building was under the level of the cores used, it needed around 5 cores to hit a new level. Plus one, in some cases. That part still didnt make sense. He experimented with an equal-level core at first, then cores that were a level lower, and so on until the building hit level 15 and got the first upgrade. [Monster Cores] that were a lower level than a building worked on a less-effective formula. At level 11, the building ate 10 level 10 cores. Level 12 took 20, and it seemed to scale from there.

Banu made his selection and Theo moved on, feeding cores until the building hit level 20. The alchemist noticed new fields spring up to the west. The farmer expanded the farm in that direction, expanding the level-ground created by that ancient Earth Mage. When the alchemist went to inspect the farms upgrades, he realized how good these upgrades would be.

[Fresh Tilled Earth]

Anything fertilizer-baring substance tilled into this soil will be doubly effective.

This was an upgrade Banu had already selected. It was likely the reason why the swamp mud did so well with fertilizing the fields. This was a possible synergy for Theos potions, but it was hard to say without experimentation.

[Enhanced Growth]

Reduce the time required to grow plants within the farm by a significant margin.

[Enhanced Growth], combined with the naturally fast-growing effect of Drogramaths power was a killer. While a normal growing season might have been around 30 days on this planet, Banus selection of this upgrade made it half a week or less. But the reason for the farm creating new plots of land was the next upgrade.

[Scaling Expansion]

New fields will be generated when this building is expanded. Expanding in any direction results in the leveling of terrain, providing the perfect growing surface.

So the upgrade sorted out the strangely shaped land. That was beyond useful, something that Theo wouldnt pass up for the world. Banu made a great pick with that one.

[Drogramathi Cultivation]

Your power is now aligned with Drogramath. Fields present in an area of high Drogramath Energy will provide higher yields.

Theo stared at the upgrade for some time. His mind couldnt process the depth of dedication a Half-Ogre would have to possess to pick this option. While people didnt outwardly hate the Demon Lord, there was still a stigma. Banu could have selected it from a logical standpoint, but that man wasnt very logical.

Banu, youd seriously align yourself with Drogramath? Theo asked.

Big ol Demon Lord has done nothing but good for us, huh? Banu asked, sounding moderately offended. Seems a shame not to pledge to whoever is gonna help me out. Demon or not.

Theo clapped a hand over the Half-Ogres shoulder, smiling. He might have known, but that was a massive step forward for the people of Broken Tusk. It would make it easier to set their patron to Drogramath when the time came. Whenever that was.

They finished their business at the farm, handing Banu the [Starbristle Flax] plants and leaving it at that. The farmer didnt need instructions, hed plant them today and get massive fields of the plant rolling before the sun set. Tresk remained silent for the visit, happy enough to just be there with the gosling. Zizs place was next, and the stoneworkers were all too happy to see the baby goose.

Zizs cadre had expanded significantly, although he still kept outsiders at a distance. His idea of creating a group of core stoneworkers, and another group of auxiliaries was fine by Theo. He shared his idea of making raised roads, tunnels, and so forth and the stoneworkers seemed to think it was a great idea. While it was a problem for another day, that didnt stop them from drawing up plans on a tattered piece of parchment.

All these thoughts for the future fell away when a bell echoed up from the town below. It was a slow ring that could only mean one thing. A town-wide message popped up to punctuate the thought.

[Aarok]: Defenders to your stations. Weve sighted the monster wave.