The Newt and Demon

5.41 - Reagent Splicing

Theo stood outside of the northern gates of Gronro-Dir. He let out a low whistle, and couldnt spot the lodestone anywhere nearby. Duke Grotgrog Stormfist cackled somewhere nearby, drinking in the alchemists stunned expression. Miles from the northern gate, snaking along the mountain passes, the land was healed. What few mountain grasses inhabited the area had returned. Non-monsterized critters scurried around the rocky paths. Even the air felt cleaner.

Is it better than you expected? Grot asked, slapping Theo on the back. The alchemists tail swished instinctively.

Far better, Theo said, pressing on up the road. Sarisa followed closely behind, her weapon at the ready.

The necromantic corruption had lost some of the steam it started with. It hadnt been that long since the undead were here, but their influence was waning by the moment. Theo knew it was because the forces of undeath were being led west, toward Veosta. Perhaps they had already reached that city. It was hard to know if the elves planned to come to aid their lost kin, but at least it wasnt here. As the group walked, Theo got a few ideas to make this process better. For now, he wanted to take in the sights.

How far does this road stretch? Theo asked.

Forever. Or a few days walk. Depends on how fast you are.

That was the problem with estimating distance in this world. No one had a standard pace, so no one relayed the right amount of time it took to get from one place to another. The alchemist had estimated the distance between Broken Tusk and Qavell to be somewhere between eight-hundred and twelve-hundred miles. From the maps he had seen, the mountain road went on for about a quarter of that. At least two-hundred miles of mountain road before they would hit anything resembling open land.

Have you seen any more undead?

Not at all. Been silent up here, Grot said, taking a deep breath. Peaceful. Finally.

Theo grunted a response, moving further up the road. It took him a while to reach the place where Grot and his people had moved the lodestone. The golems were in the nearby hills, scouring the land of all that necromantic energy. The alchemist commanded them to return so that he could refresh their wards. He cast his spells as they came in, and chatted with Grot some more.

I want to put some stakes in the ground, Theo said, gesturing to the roads edge. And ward them. If the corruption comes back, all this work will be wiped away.

Good idea. Are we going to war with the north when this clears up?

Absolutely not. Our information says there is no one to go to war with. If anything, well try contacting the toora.

Those bear-folk know how to make a home in the mountains, Grot said, nodding with approval. Almost as good as dwarves!

Speaking of. I also want to find those old mountain homes. Were not going to war, but I want more allies.

Grot had some rude things to say about the other dwarven strongholds, but Theo ignored it. He had an actionable plan to reclaim the continent for fair people and he wouldnt squander it. He had been feeling stretched too thin, lately. But after things calmed down with Tarantham and Fenian escaped from Balkors realm, he was feeling full of energy. Clearing an entire landmass didnt seem so difficult anymore.

With the golems refreshed, Theo stood on the mountain road and prepared to do something he wasnt very good at. Just give me a moment, he said, closing his eyes.

Oh, yeah, Grot said awkwardly. Sure.

Theo clasped his hands together, fidgeted with his coat, and ground his teeth. But nothing came. Sensing magic was his weakest skill, and it had never improved. No matter how much he ignored it and complained. The alchemists eyes snapped open and he let out a frustrated breath. Nope. Cant do it.

Cant do what? Grot asked.

Figure out if the magical power in the area is diminishing.

Oh, yeah. About half as strong as it was when the undead were here, Grot said, waving a dismissive hand.

Right, Theo said. Grot must have had a mage core of some kind. He didnt see dwarves as being mages, but whatever. There it was. Im thinking our artifice platform can start working on this area. Makes me think the necromantic energy would go away on its own. Eventually.

Grot shrugged. How far in the future is eventually though? Im happier if were clearing it ourselves.

So, about those posts.

The group returned to town, finding anything laying around that would either stand upright on the rocky road, or could be jammed between a pile of rocks. They collected Ogre Cypress Boards, rusted weapons, old carts, and so on. Theo had an innate sense for which of those objects would hold a ward well enough. Bone would have been best, but there werent piles of large bones sitting around. The alchemist chuckled to himself as he thought about that. An army of bones had left, right when he needed some bones. But the wards he could produce would be good enough.

Sarisa wedged an old spear into a pile of rocks, shrugging as it tilted to one side. Good enough?

Yeah, Theo said, kneeling near the pile to recite his poem for Deflect Necromantic Magic. When the spell was complete, a silvery orb sprung up to cover some of the road. Not perfect. Better than nothing, though.

This is going to take all day, Sarisa groaned.

Maybe longer. Theo dragged the cart filled with junk, then jogged over to ward the weapon Grot had placed in the rocks.

Theo, Sarisa, and Grot worked through the entire day. The alchemist took a five-minute break, heading off to Terogal to ask Drogramath about the new skill. Old Droggy wasnt there, and wouldnt answer his summons, so he just had tea with Benton, Glantheir, and UzXulven. They had opinions on the skill, but they varied from god to god. As his time in the realm was running out, and the alchemist was preparing to leave, Drogramath finally answered his summons.

I was occupied, Drogramath said, seeming more grumpy than normal. He took a deep breath, wringing his hands. What is it, champion?

Theo explained his problem with the Drogramath Dedication skill. He expressed his concerns, and asked questions about who made the skills.

That is for you to decide, Drogramath said. He looked around as if expecting someone to stop him when he started speaking next. You cannot create cores of your own, so you cannot dedicate your cores to yourself.

Drogramath paused, waiting for Khahar to come clap a hand over his mouth. After a moment of nothing, he shrugged. This is a Dreamrealm. You asked who generates skills? The system. So while you might see some Terogal abilities show up in your town, or the cores of those within your domain, you will never generate a core.

Meaning theres no reason to not accept Drogramath Dedication.

Youre already my champion. Were tied closer than you know.

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Might as well get closer, huh? Theo asked. Drogramath shrugged a response. Would you take the skill?

I would. Theres a hidden part of the skill that negates the influence of all sub-cores. And without the meta barrier for your two main cores, youll have an easier time leveling past Level 30. Most people dont make it to Level 50, let alone 40.

Theo had heard that line a few times. Not that exact line, but the belief that folks had a hard time after 30. It wasnt just that the experience was harder to get, but the system took the training wheels off. Alchemy was a great example. It was almost impossible to screw up a base potion. An alchemist could do it with their eyes closed. But at the third tier, everything got absurdly hard. If a brew was off by fractions of a unit, it would explode. Incompatible reagents? Explosion. Giving an essence a funny look? Yep. Explosions.

Im going to take it, Theo said.

Do it before bed, Drogramath said. The change is painful, and you will likely have vivid hallucinations.

That was good to know. As long as I dont need to be healed by Spit, Im fine.

Yes. That ogre is insufferable.

Agreed. Well, thanks for coming all the way here for me. Let me know if you need me to do your bidding in the mortal realm.

You already are. Just keep clearing the taint of undeath. After you reach the spine, youll confront the

Khahar appeared with a hand over Drogramaths mouth. Hey, Theo.

Theo waved awkwardly.

The gods are getting used to their new restrictions, Khahar said, glaring down at Drogramath who shrugged. After a moment, the demon god was released.

My apologies, Arbiter. I thought he had figured out Figured out that thing.

Hes almost got it, Khahar said. But remain sensitive on the subject.

The pair continued to talk about the rules, but Theo felt himself being dragged away from Terogal. His time had already expired on his skill, and his consciousness slipped away by the moment. Okay, Theo said, wincing. Gotta go.

After passing over the bridge and through the void, Theo reappeared near Sarisa and Grot.

Funny watching you vanish like that, Grot grunted.

Yes. Hilarious, Sarisa mocked. But we should go.

It was getting darker by the moment. Running around the mountain road, spending mana, and dragging the heavy cart had reduced Theos stamina to a sliver. He and Sarisa bid farewell to Grot and caught the train out of the mountain town just before night fell. Their stomachs were growling when they arrived back in Broken Tusk, and Tresk was upset that her dinner didnt get made. After eating a hastily prepared dinner, the alchemist paused before going to bed.

Tresk sat in her bed, sensing his hesitation. Even Alex waited to see what he had to say, honking from her ever-growing straw-stuffed box.

Im going to take Drogramath Dedication, he said.

I would have done it already, Tresk said, curling up into a ball. Come on. We got serpents to fight.

Tresk fell into the Dreamwalk before Theo could stop her. He shrugged, opening his free skill pick menu and finding Drogramath Dedication. The alchemist made sure he was snug in his bed before he picked the skill. And he was glad that he had done so. The pain was immediate and intense. He felt the skill slot into his Drogramath Alchemy Core. Then the barrier dropped between his soul and his two cores. He could feel them grinding together as they moved around in some unseen space in his chest. They swirled, radiating with power as all his other cores diminished. All but the Tarahek Core.

Theo grabbed on to whatever he could find, gripping it tight as pain radiated through his body. This went on for endless moments, but only about a minute had passed. He finally took a sharp breath. The transformation was done. He allowed himself to slip into sleep, falling into the Dreamwalk. A moment later, he was standing in that familiar mossy forest.

Dang. What took so long? Tresk asked.

The transformation was painful, Theo said, looking around the area. He focused on his senses and his thoughts, trying to detect any differences. I dont feel different.

You dont look different either. Still a demon.

So much had happened after he took the skill that it was hard to catalog everything. Theo remembered the cores moving around. He recalled how his Toruaun core and his Governance core had waned, and how the Tarahek core did the exact opposite. The core that represented his soul bond didnt care that the alchemist had taken a skill making it a sub-core. It didnt want to be a sub-core, and had simply refused. Fair enough.

After those physical sensations, there were the mental ones. Drogramath hadnt been intrusive into Theos thoughts for a long time. But as his champion, there was always a little bit of something in the back of Theos mind. Like with the Wisdom of the Soul potion, that small voice was expunged. Unlike that potion, the voice now seemed to be more of a feeling. While it wasnt quite intuition, it was close.

Im gonna go fight a snake, Tresk said, scampering off into the distance.

Unless something had gnawed Theos leg off, Tresk would not worry about it. That made him feel slightly better about the decision. Deciding to focus entirely on his herbalist core, the alchemist found an open section of the forest and generated a large plot of land to practice on. He generated a pile of plants to work on, and knelt in the tilled earth to plant them. The moment his hand touched the plant he felt something strange shoot through his body. A kind of recognition he had never experienced.

Theo held the Spiny Swamp Thistle up for inspection, finding a new appreciation for the plant. Deep in his chest, his Drogramath Herbalist Core resonated with the plant. After staring at it for some time, he got to work. With each plant he put in the ground, he understood the sensation a little more. But it wasnt until nearly half-way through the night that he decided on what exactly that feeling was. As he had thought earlier, the core was more a part of him than ever. The part of Drogramath who loved caring for plants spread through him like a wildfire.

I guess I really love plants now, Theo said, patting the ground near the thorny stem of a thistle.

There was also the uncomfortable sensation brought by his other cores. It was as though they didnt belong, and Theo determined it was because of the level cap he now experienced. His Governance Core was above his intended level cap, providing a bit of discomfort. But he worked through it, grinding away his plants until sometime near dawn. When he finally saw the message he had been waiting for.

[Drogramath Herbalist Core] receivedexperience (0.5%).

[Drogramath Herbalist Core] leveled up! Level 30.

Obtained free [Drogramath Herbalist] skill point for hitting level 30 with this core.

[Theo Spencer] receivedexperience (0.08%).

[Theo Spencer] leveled up! Level 30.

[Theo Spencer] received one free point.

[Theo Spencer] received one free skill.

Theo swayed on the spot, returning to a kneeling position when the rush of levels hit him. That was a bit much.

Once he had recovered from the head rush, he considered where to put his attribute point. Not wanting to tempt fate just yet, he put another point into Vigor, bringing it to 23. Next he had to look through a nearly endless list of skills to pick for his herbalist core. This wasnt as hard of a decision as his free pick for the alchemy core. The entire point of the Herbalist Workshop was to get this one ability. He inspected the skill he intended to pick.

[Reagent Splicing]

Herbalism Skill

Epic

Allows the user to create hybrids between two plants. The success of this action depends on the compatibility of the two plants.

Effect:

Gain innate knowledge on how to splice plants. Amount of knowledge gained depends on the amount of herb lore the user has on that plant.

Greatly increases all splicing actions on reagent plants.

Gives a measure of control over which properties carry over to the spliced plant.

An easy pick. The line about herb lore was slightly confusing, but Theo guessed it had to do with how much he knew about how a plant worked as a reagent. His base of knowledge for that had grown significantly, meaning he should be able to work with a lot of reagents. He had seen plants hybridize on their own, but splicing had been a skill the alchemist wanted for a long time. Since the early days with the farm, he wanted to have control over how plants combined. The last line of the effects list was the most important, though. Breeding reagent bearing plants that did exactly what he wanted was powerful.

Theo was happy with his pick, and abandoned the imagined farm. He wandered through Tresks imagined forest, looking over the long list of abilities he could take from his free Level 30 skill. That list offered him a selection from every one of his cores aside from the Tarahek core. The result was a confusing grouping of skill that were hard to classify. He came upon Tresk fighting the same snake as before. She was being gored while Alex wrapped the monster in flaming vines. He did not intend to work anymore today. He wanted to watch his companion fight a snake.

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