The Newt and Demon

6.26 - Void

The Dreamwalk was temperamental tonight. Theo stood over a collection of imagined alchemy equipment, scratching his head as the dream refused to bow to his will. Even Tresk couldn’t get it to listen. She tried for about an hour, but left in a huff. The alchemist couldn’t cheat his way through this bit of progress, and he had a theory for why. There was no alchemy after the third tier, and the system was adapting as he went.

It was the only thing that made sense right now, even if Drogramath didn’t want to give it away. It wasn’t as though the demon god was keeping information from him, but that information hadn’t been written yet. Theo’s mind went back to the Potions of Significance he had crafted. Those had given him trouble in the Dreamwalk. As always, he was left with more questions than answers. Since he was planning on doing some wild stuff soon enough, he wanted to have a better understanding of what the system was.

With a sigh, the alchemist imagined another field of the dead. He thought about his next step while he increased his willpower, sending it to heights he doubted existed in the mortal realm before. He was at a point where he struggled to understand how many golems he could summon. Khahar couldn’t even lay claim to this much willpower, and it was getting out of hand. The alchemist reminded himself of what going through the void meant and redoubled his efforts. If a cheat existed, he planned on exploiting it.

Although Tresk ended the Dreamwalk, forcing him to enter the waking world, Theo remained in his thoughts. Sarisa said something to him but he didn’t hear as he ate his breakfast. Only when he had enough moss tea in his system was he willing to entertain the day, wandering from the manor without looking back at who was following him. At least the reports in his administration screen were pleasant. It hadn’t been long, but Jan was adapting to his life with the adventurers.

Theo made it to the lab before Salire for once. A crate filled with stuff from the artificers had been placed by the door, so he scooped that up and brought it to the front desk. After having a seat, he rummaged through it to find many parts. Some had Throk’s flare, meaning the old marshling must have been back to town at some point. The thing that interested him the most was the new mixing chambers. The newer artificers were shy about using Drogramathi Iron, but were getting the hang of it.

No matter what the solution to this new tier of alchemy was, one fact remained. It was going to be hard to do industrial quantities of fourth tier potions. Just like the Potions of Significance, these would be small batches. Theo couldn’t fill a large pressure tank with enough mana. Only the smaller infusers would work for his current mana pool. That was a bummer, but it had to happen. Progress was progress.

“Woah!” Salire said, entering the shop. The bell rang above her head. “Didn’t expect you to beat me here.”

“Did you sleep in?” Theo said, holding out a gas mixer for her inspection.

Salire took the artifice, nodding with approval. The artificers made a few key changes that would make working with the devices easier. “Yeah, I guess the night got away from me. All that mead you fed me made things difficult.”

Without the Dreamwalk, Theo was certain he would feel the same way. “Come on. I want to get some things sorted in the lab. We need dilutions for Refined Healing Essence before we can test the new gear.”

Salire ran up the stairs, excited to start. Theo followed, leaving the shop behind. The duo worked until they had a batch of third tier essence running. Once it finished, they would vaporize the essence, combine it with a bound dilution, and infuse the mixture with mana. This would be done on a small scale to avoid any catastrophic explosions. And they wouldn’t perform those reactions within the lab. The result would be damage to the building, and perhaps a fire.

“I’m going to check on some things,” Theo said, patting Salire on the shoulder. “I shouldn’t be gone for long.”

“Sounds good. I’ll monitor the stills and watch the shop. No problem.”

Theo smiled before vanishing from the spot. He was used to the sensation of falling through the void. He used familiar landmarks to dive to the far side of the void, passing over countless orbs on that endless ribbon. Beyond the heavens was something he named the Deep Void. He thought of it was going left from the mortal plane, although that direction seemed meaningless here. But while the void stretched in all directions, things were organized left to right. Perhaps that was just his mind making sense of nonsense…

Pausing in an area of the void that felt thick, Theo gazed out over the nothingness. Something was strange about this area, but he couldn’t be certain. He pushed forward, finding more resistance the further he went. Something pressed back against him, bidding him to go the other way. No amount of willpower could get him through this section, so he turned around to collect his thoughts. The heavenly realms were a faint dot in the distance, while the place that refused him entry was as black as any other part of the void.

Theo headed for the mortal realm, leaving the blockade behind. He approached the orb representing the material plane. No matter what angle he approached it from, he always approached the place where he left, or Tresk. A flash of light blinded him as he descended, giving way to darkness. His eyes adjusted, revealing something other than he expected. Instead of seeing the interior of the Newt and Demon, he saw a plane. A flat field of snow that he waded through, pushing forward out of instinct. Something glowed in the distance, like a waking dream.

The alchemist tried and failed to interdict himself out of the strange realm, feeling the tug of something greater pressing against him. The light in the distance drew close enough that he could make out some details. A massive crystal floated above a white platform, stairs formed in the dais's side to allow entrance. He climbed the stairs, looking up the blue crystal hovering in the air. It was about fifty feet tall. It rotated, humming as he approached.

“Okay. Weird giant crystal,” Theo said, looking around the area.

While snow fell outside of the platform, it didn’t fall here. The polished stone beneath his feet was seamless, except for twelve circles that had been carved along the edges. Each bore an inscription he couldn’t read with a symbol in the circle’s center. Theo stood there, as though the answer to this place would come to his mind if he just thought hard enough.

Theo jumped when a voice filled the area. “You’re not who I was expecting.”

Looking around, Theo couldn’t find the source of the void. He turned his gaze to the crystal, nodding to himself. This wasn’t completely unexpected. He had already been instructed to interact with some foundational crystals, so a giant talking one wasn’t out of the question.

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“Who were you expecting?”

“Not you.”

Theo gave his thoughts a moment to gather before speaking. He was certain his will and control of void transport was advanced enough that almost no one could set him off course. “Did you interdict me?”

The crystal chimed, spinning faster for only a moment. “Such actions are for mortals. I brought you here. My will is so.”

Theo’s brow furrowed as he considered the statement. This might have been a more dangerous encounter than he first thought. But the phrasing of those words were weird. “Most mortals can’t interdict someone. That’s an act reserved for the gods.”

Another chime from the crystal. “Is that what they’re calling themselves? Yes, they changed the title of Ascended Being to God, but that doesn’t make them so. They can still die.”

“And who are you?” Theo asked.

The crystal rotated slightly quicker, seeming to tilt to one side. “The management.”

“You’re the system.” Theo narrowed his eyes at the crystal. “If that’s true, why did you bring me here?”

“Oh, you’re moving too slowly for my taste.”

“You can’t say you were expecting someone else, then act as though you have burdens to place on me.” Theo didn’t look away from the crystal.

The crystal twinkled. “I’ve seen this happen before. The last one failed to fix everything. And here I am. My powers bound by gods. Unacceptable.”

The crystal didn’t answer his question. Theo let his mind unspool the information. This was the system. Wait, which system? He took a moment, deciding it was the system that managed things on the mortal plane. But that wasn’t accurate, according to what the system said. “Why haven’t the gods told me they’re not gods?”

“Why would a false god claim anything but godhood?” the system said. The circles surrounding the area lit up. “In the end, only these spots will be occupied by true gods. Those that sit in false positions will be cast out.”

“What is this?” Theo asked. “Why did you bring me here?”

Another amused twinkle from the crystal. “You’ve had about enough of dealing with the ascendants, haven’t you? When you dislodged the human from Earth from the storage of souls, you set off a chain of events. A ticking clock. I suggest you break through the barrier in the void, and bring the Great Shards back.”

Theo stared at the crystal for some time, keeping emotion from his face. It was easier with his higher Intelligence, and he didn’t like that. “Just so I’m clear, the four thrones have the power to change things. Right?”

“That’s right. If you all agree, you can fix it. This safeguard was set in place, but has been jealously guarded… Ah, that’s a slight problem.”

Theo turned, spotting four figures appearing around the crystal. Each figure was made of light, rather than a solid form. Gold, black, purple, and silver. Three of them were about the size of a marshling, while the silver one was the size of a normal human.

“And what the hell is going on here!” the gold one said, clearly the voice of a young woman.

“Calm yourself,” the black one said. This one sounded like a young man.

“This is unacceptable. We were promised safety.” Silver sounded like a grown adult man, confirming Theo’s suspicion that he was a human.

“Calm yourselves.” Purple had a strange voice that Theo couldn’t place.

“This isn’t Elrin,” Gold said, jabbing a vague finger at Theo. “Why is he here? Where’s the other one?”

“Dead,” the system said. “Well, mostly dead. You four can’t be here.”

“Where are the others?” Black asked.

“I’d like to give Death a few good punches. To the balls,” Silver growled, looking around for something to hit. He looked down at his body. “Wait, why am I a floating pile of light?”

“Things are moving quickly, Theo.” The system’s attention turned to the alchemist, almost apologetic for the behavior of the others. “You may return.”

Theo felt himself being sucked back into the void without his command. A moment later, he was floating back in the void, looking down at the marble representing the mortal plane. He pushed himself forward, feeling heavier than normal. A moment later, he landed on the third floor of the Newt and Demon. Breathing a sigh of relief, he spotted Salire tending to the stills.

“That was quick,” she said, shrugging. “You were only gone for a few seconds. Who is that?”

Theo spun, spotting the person she was talking about. A small man with pointed ears, rosy cheeks, a round eyes looked up at him. He wore a hooded black robe, leaning against a crooked staff. “Hey.” The alchemist waved. “You were the purple one, weren’t you?”

“Nothing gets past him, does it?” the interloper asked. “Yep. This is weird. We’re not in Seral Fet, are we? Or is this that other place?”

“You’re on Iaredin,” Theo said. “Who are you?”

“Just call me Void,” he said, looking around. “Alchemy? That’s cool. Seems like all my powers were cut away. But I still have a knack for the void! I still got it, baby!”

“What’s going on?” Salire asked.

Rowan and Sarisa appeared. “Yeah, I’m pretty confused,” Sarisa said.

“I had a hitchhiker,” Theo said, poking the small man in the head.

“Hey, don’t look at me. Just taking advantage of what I can.” Void shrugged, rolling his shoulders. “Do you know what happened?”

Theo steepled his hands, pressing his fingers against his chin. “No. I don’t know what happened. Are you a god?”

“Kinda?”

Theo withdrew a crystal from his inventory, squeezing it. To his surprise, Fenian answered quickly. He relayed a message.

“I was just leaving! Give me a moment…”

True to his word, Fenian flung the door open a few tense moments later. His swords were drawn, but he shrugged. “Nope. He’s clean, my dear alchemist.”

“Really?” Theo asked. “Little dude claims to be a god.”

“I said I was kinda like a god.” Void folded his arms before his chest. “Emphasis on ‘was’, because I’m not one anymore. Obviously.”

“May I leave?” Fenian asked, jerking his head toward the door. “I have business with the elves.”

“Yeah, that’s fine. I just need to figure out what to do with this guy.”

“Farewell!” Fenian shouted, dancing out the door.

“Hey, no offense… But I don’t really wanna be here.” Void shrugged. “Just needed a ride to some place that had mana. I’m pretty good at keeping the system off my back.”

A spiral of black and purple energy appeared behind the guy. Before Theo could react, he stepped backwards, vanishing. The group that remained stood there, confusion flooding through each of their minds.

“I may have done a bad,” Theo said, clicking his tongue.

“Oh, gods. What have you done this time?” Sarisa asked.

“Released some tiny horror on the world, maybe?” Rowan asked.

Sarisa, Rowan, and Salire speculated while Theo thought. He had an idea of what just happened, but didn’t like the implications. This was linked to Jan, he had no doubt. Something about the golden figure near the crystal was familiar, as though someone had described her to him before. The gears locked into place as he made the connection. But it was clear what he needed to do.

“Unfortunately, I think that little portal guy might be the guy I need to talk to.”

“Hey, Theo… Do we have enough time to finish our alchemy experiment?” Salire asked, with hope on her face.

Theo nodded. “Yeah. I think we have some time. Not like the world is gonna end or anything.”

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