The Newt and Demon

Chapter 39: Stone Merchant

Theo cracked his knuckles, swishing his tail happily as he looked over his alchemy equipment. It hadnt been that long since he distilled anything, but it felt like forever. There in the stuffy second-floor lab is where he felt most home. He updated Tresk on his situation and got her report for the morning. She was working her way through the dungeon again with a pair of Broken Tusk adventurers. They were already past the tenth floor, moving as deep as they could go for the day. She found a few more [Spriggan Hearts], and some gear that wasnt useful for either of them.

The [Alchemical Grinder Artifice] resized itself, clicking onto the [Drogramath Still] with a satisfying sound. Theo stepped back to inspect the machine before withdrawing a [Spiny Swamp Thistle Root] from his inventory to test. The moment the root touched the top of the artifice, it whirred into action, grinding it down into the perfect paste. The alchemist wanted to test the limits of the device, pulling as many roots from his inventory as he could carry and dumping them in the machine. It ate through them like a knife through paper, grinding 500 units of the root in no time. He pumped his fist, doing the silly little squad-dance that Tresk invented.

After patting himself on the back for a while, the alchemist got back to work. He topped the high-capacity still off with water and placed the [Flame Artifice] underneath. Clicking the knob on the side to the lowest setting, he stepped back to inspect his materials. He placed his two grinders over the other stills and prepared to distill a 200 unit batch of [Widow Lily] to make poison for Tresk, and a 200 unit batch of [Water Lily], because he had a lot of those. The grinder whirred over both stills, mashing up the flowers into the perfect size. He stowed the grinders in his inventory and latched the lids on both stills.

Theo sat there, waiting for his essences to distill, thinking about how easy the job would be with his new equipment. The grinder cut down the time significantly and the magic fire made it even easier. His job for Fenian would be decided by volume, he realized. The problem was that he just couldnt get enough reagents to distill down, forcing his mind to reach out for more solutions. Nothing came in the short time it took the [Drogramath Still] to cook down. It felt like less than a half-hour for the advanced still to do its work, a fact that boggled his mind.

Now that was fast, he said, chuckling to himself.

With the upgrade to the [Glassware Artifice], Theo could generate bulk glassware. He could shove 5 motes into the thing and get 5 identical vials deposited directly into his inventory. The artifice didnt seem to have a cooldown, so he could just repeatedly shove the motes inside to get his glassware. The process took him no time at all, leaving him idle while he waited for the other 2 stills to finish. When they completed their run, he cleaned everything out with [Cleansing Scrub] and went to set up the distribution of the potions. A knock at the door downstairs interrupted him.

Theo made his way to the front door of the Newt and Demon, finding a short man standing at the threshold. He had a surly expression on his face, bald head, and braided brown beard. The alchemist took him for a Dwarf even before he spoke.

Hello, do you need potions? Theo asked.

Potions? No. I need stone, lad, the man said. Fenian sent me. Im Thistum Stonebreaker and I hear youre sitting on a gold mine.

Oh! I didnt expect you so soon, Theo said.

Aye, well you dont hear about perfect marble every day. None that's not claimed by some royal, anyway, Thistum said, spitting on the ground.

Theo exited, stepping around the Dwarf after locking the front door. He beckoned for the man to follow him north, to the quarry.

I dont remember such a pleasant town lying so far south, Thistum said. The stories I heard was that Broken Tusk was a glob of mud.

Well, Ive made a few changes, Theo said.

I should have figured a Dronon would have such ambitions, Thistum said. Half-Ogres are content to do what theyve been doing for centuries.

Youll love the stone, Theo said, wanting to change the subject.

Fenian doesnt send me off unless he finds something nice, Thistum said. Now, youre not expecting big city prices, are you?

Of course not, Theo said, grinning.

They made their way through the square and up the farmers hill. Thistum seemed amazed at the progress Broken Tusk made, constantly saying how it should be impossible. The alchemist knew better than to mention the strange confluence of circumstances that saw the small town burgeon as it had in the past few weeks. Instead, he gave a tour of the place as though the Dwarf was looking for real estate.

Quaint little quarry, Thistum grunted.

Theo waved Ziz over, marveling at the massive pile of stone blocks theyd processed so far.

Ziz, this is Thistum. Hes a stone merchant, Theo said.

Nice to meet you, Ziz said.

Thistum waved him off, pushing past the Half-Ogre to inspect the stone.

Let me do the talking, Theo whispered, nudging Ziz with his elbow.

Sure.

Thistum pulled something out of his inventory that looked like a spyglass. He placed it against the stone blocks and tried to hide his excitement. He let out a few yelps before clapping his hand over his mouth and clearing his throat.

Its middling by my standards, Thistum said, shrugging.

Thats not what the other merchant said, Theo said. I have a contact with the Khahari out eastthey were going back to check about logistics.

Thistum bristled. Was it that muck-mouthed Dwarf Azmuil? Gods if he steals another job from me because of those cat-people

The Dwarf regained his composure, straightening his tunic and setting his stone-gray eyes on Theo. Right. So, you know what you have.

Theo couldnt stop smiling. It was too easy to get the Dwarf to jump at the bait. Im an alchemist, he said, shrugging. Ive got my methods. Lets make a deal. 40 copper a block. My laborers can produce 50 a day.

Thistum sputtered. I wouldnt pay a coin over 25 copper a block.

30, and well supply you exclusively. You wont have to worry about Azmuil, Theo said.

Thistum reached out a hand and Theo took it. Deal. What other sort of treasures are you sitting on here, Dronon?

More than you know, Theo said.

Right. Ill be by weekly to collect, Thistum said, looking at the pile for a moment then turning to the alchemist. 140 blocks today, comes to 42 silver.

The Dwarf produced the silver from nowhere and handed it over to Theo before making the pile vanish. He had some kind of inventory power, which made sense for a stone merchant. Thistum turned to Ziz for a moment, clapping his hand over the Half-Ogres shoulder. Fine work, lad.

What! Ziz said, once the Dwarf was out of earshot. You said wed only get 25 copper a block.

Negotiation, my friend, Theo said, beaming. I figured he gave Fenian a low number when they talked.

Theo withdrew two silver coins from his inventory and handed it over to Ziz. The Half-Ogre took it with glittering eyes, jumping up and down shortly after. The alchemist noticed that when he added the coins to his inventory, the silver rolled over into the gold. He now had 1 gold coin, 5 silver coins, and 27 copper coins.

Thats 40 silver to your debt, Theo said. Youll have this paid off in no time.

Ziz looked like he couldnt come up with the words to express his gratitude. Instead, he pulled Theo into a hug and held him there for a long time. After releasing him, he rushed off to show the coins to his companions.

Theo departed, smiling the entire way back to his shop. It seemed cruel to leave them with 2 coins out of 42, but it was for their own good. His investment in the quarry represented a deficit in his ability to defend the town, something he was still kicking himself over. He still felt good about the situation, though. These laborers were nothing more than porters a few days ago. Now they could provide for themselves and then some. One day, Zizs quarry would be the stuff of legends.

Tresk reported in, stating she was almost done running the dungeon for the day. Theo didnt mind, as he had planned to do some minor experimentation before she came home. The alchemist discovered a few properties that he hadnt tested the effects of, and wanted to judge if they would make good potions to sell to Fenian. He made his way to the lab to run two extremely small batches of about 10 units each.

His stamina bar was draining, but not low enough to use his [Lesser Stamina Potion]. Theo was driven to experiment, feeling himself getting back into the swing of things. It was effortless to run two stills at the 10 unit capacity. He filled one still with [Spiny Swamp Thistle Root] and another with [Moss Nettle]. When he snapped the lid on the first one, he concentrated on the [Regeneration] property. Attending the second, he focused on the [Stamina Surge] property and set both to cook. It only took a few minutes to distill the essences down and the alchemist inspected the results.

[Stamina Surge Essence]

[Essence]

Uncommon

Created by: Belgar

Grade: Excellent Quality

10 units (liquid)

Concentrated essence of stamina surge.

[Regeneration Essence]

[Essence]

Uncommon

Created by: Belgar

Grade: Excellent Quality

10 units (liquid)

Concentrated essence of regeneration.

Theo knew that the essences never gave away what they did, and set out some flat-bottomed vials. His intuition told him they would react with the standard restoration recipe, pegging them squarely as lesser potions. The [Stamina Surge] reaction kicked off explosively, sending tiny bolts of lightning from the top of the vial. The plume of yellow smoke it gave off smelled like dirty laundry. He inspected the result.

[Lesser Sprinting Potion]

[Potion]

Uncommon

Created by: Belgar

Grade: Excellent

Drink to run faster and use less stamina.

Effect:

-50% [Stamina] use while running.

+15% [Speed] while running.

Effect lasts 15 minutes.

This was one of the most curious potions hed ever made. It was incredibly specific, and he did not know how useful it would be. He could imagine that someone running longer and faster was a good thing, but didnt see any practical purpose for himself. Hed ask Fenian about it later. The next potion kicked off with a similar reaction, this time shining with a green hue before letting out a cloud smelling of dirt. He inspected the new creation.

[Lesser Regeneration Potion]

[Potion]

Uncommon

Created by: Belgar

Grade: Excellent

Slowly regenerates health.

Effect:

Restore 75% of health over 5 minutes.

The [Lesser Regeneration Potion] would be useful to have on during combat. An adventurer wouldnt have to worry about popping potions constantly, but he could tell it wasnt as useful as a regular health potion. He added it to his mental list of things to ask Fenian about before moving on and taking stock of his reagents. The scatter of random plants wasnt enough to make a good run. He stood in the lab, tapping his foot as though some great idea would wash over him.

There simply wasnt enough time left in the day, leaving him waiting awkwardly for Tresk to return home. He saw her stamina bar jump up earlier, meaning she had taken her [Lesser Stamina Potion]. Even after taking the powerful elixir, her stamina was draining away by the second. He concluded, without communicating with her, that she was running back to the lab.

He found no laborers pounding on his door, looking for work. Despite his words to the mercantile council, they didnt find anyone to run his errands. Theo concluded it was a good thing, since his herbalism core had been trailing behind his alchemy core for some time. If he wanted to make a serious run at level 10, hed need the experience from both of the cores. The alchemist reclined in a chair, staring up at the ceiling and wondering what cores Azrug would get.

A short time later, Tresk returned. He met her downstairs, grimacing as she reached into her bag and withdrew more of the sappy [Spriggan Hearts].

No new gear today, Tresk said. Tons of [Monster Cores], though.

Theo smiled, leading her upstairs so they could have dinner. Ive been pretty productive, myself. Ziz is going to be a rich man before long.

You handed him something great, Tresk said, scoffing. Also, I think theres some logic to Aaroks idea about the monster wave. Theres this sense I cant shake the deeper I get in the dungeon.

Theo withdrew the still-hot cauldron of soup from breakfast, setting it down on the table and serving out two bowls. Tresk sat down, staring out the window and into the fading light of day.

More reason to prepare proper defenses, Theo said. Should we dump our cores into the town?

Maybe, Tresk said, gnawing on a piece of gristle. Were a long way off from level 15.

The town is far off, too, Theo said. Either one seems like a good choice.

You need to worry about one thing at a time, speaking of, Tresk said. She belched loudly before continuing. Upgrading the town, defending the town, creating jobs for the people. When does it end?

Theo hadnt considered the idea before. He didnt see a stopping point in the immediate future, and didnt care to entertain one. It doesnt end, he said, nodding to himself. It just keeps going on until I cant do it anymore.

As long as were on the same page, Tresk said, grinning. We both have that kind of personality. Go until you die.

Lets avoid the dying part, alright? Theo asked, grimacing.

Naturally.

The pair finished their meal and, once again, Tresks bravado was a facade. She was shambling by the time they went to get into bed, dragging her feet across the floor and groaning. Theo tucked her into bed before retreating to his own impossibly soft resting spot. He laid his head on the pillow and stayed there for some time. The echoes of the Marshlings words rang in his mind. There wasnt an end to the path he traveled. It stretched on forever, encircling Broken Tusk and protecting it until he couldnt do it anymore.

He fell asleep with that sense of hope in his heart joining Tresk in her dragon slaying dreams. He didnt take part in the slaying, simply cheering her on from the side.