The Newt and Demon

Fenian, Jan, and Twist all joined the adventuring teams taking care of the dungeons. Now that Theo had dungeons further from his city to worry about, he wanted those within town gone before they became a problem. And that problem would come soon. Like, tomorrow. The rescue efforts on the elves would need to wait another day if they couldn’t get every dungeon destroyed. That left the alchemist with some rare free time in his day.

“You should really try it,” Theo said, holding a lump of Xotl Flesh out for Salire.

She moved back, pinching her nose and squinting. “I’d rather die.”

“It actually tastes pretty good,” Theo said, inserting the chunk into his grinder. It made a horrible squishing noise as it ran through the artifice, dropping in piles to the bottom of the still. “Although that doesn’t look appetizing.”

“While this isn’t the worst scent I’ve had the pleasure of inhaling in this lab, it isn’t great,” Salire said. She crossed the room, opening the window and fanning the room out with her hands.

“I still need to check the infusion on a lot of other properties, but the ones from the flesh look interesting,” Theo said, starting up another still. Salire had been kind enough to finish a few batches and give him the run of the lab. “I need to get these out of the way or I’ll forget.”

“Curious how a man with a perfect memory can forget,” Salire said, tapping her chin.

Theo smiled to himself. Maybe more Intelligence would help with that. “That got me thinking about what skill I should take at Level 35. It’ll be an in-between skill, so it won’t be amazing.”

“Let’s see… Pressure, Drown, Echo, and Constrict,” Salire said, gesturing to the respective stills for the properties. “None instill confidence, but I’m happy to see the results.”

“What do you mean? Distillation is locked behind a skill at Level 50 for non-aligned alchemy,” Salire said.

“They end up mixing poultices,” Theo said. “I imagine they use a lot of tools to crush reagents and mix them together. But I think their work is less explosive.”

"Now, where's the fun in that?" Salire said with a laugh.@@novelbin@@

Theo and Salire shared theories about where their alchemy would go toward the next tier. He had to wonder if he would make it there before the switch, but he was hopeful. Perhaps if he buckled down and did more alchemy, he would get closer to it, but it was a passing fancy rather than a goal.

Right now, the most important thing to Theo was understanding the fundamentals of alchemy and developing it more as a skill, rather than levels. Any transferable skill would be incredibly useful, no matter what happened. The thing he was most confident would transfer over is the control of mana when performing third tier alchemy.

Both alchemists in the lab had reached a point where even second-tier alchemy was something they could do with few issues. So long as they understood the reagents and properties and how they interacted, they weren't at much risk of an explosion. The scent the stills produced wasn't pleasant. It had a fishy odor that lingered in the air. Neither their extractor fan nor the open window could truly banish it, but Theo had smelled far worse brewing essences.

"We'll just go straight down the line," Theo said, withdrawing one of the completed essences. It had taken three or four hours, but all the stills had produced enough for them to create a test potion. “Starting with the pressure property.”

All the essences had a slightly blue tinge to them. Theo had the sense that the one he currently held wouldn't produce something useful, but he had been wrong before. The reaction was fairly tame when Theo introduced the water and the catalyst. It bubbled slightly, looking as though it was effervescent. He kept a close eye on it, but that was about it. It turned a slightly darker shade of blue, and the outside was warm when it was done. Both he and Salire inspected the result.

[Pressure Potion]

[Potion]

Rare

Created by: Theo Spencer

Purity: 92%

Imbibing this potion allows the drinker to withstand extreme pressures.

Effect:

Immunity to high water or air pressures.

"Correct me if I'm wrong," Salire said, tapping her chin, "but that's a decently useful potion."

“Yeah, I'm not sure when it would be incredibly useful, but it isn't straight-up negative. So yeah, I'd count that one as a win.”

“Now, the Drown property‌… I have the feeling it's going to make a bomb-style potion. What do you think, oh master alchemist?” Salire asked.

“Yes, both the Drown property and the Constrict property should create a bomb-style potion.”

"Ah ha, you see? I think I'm actually learning something," Salire said, beaming. "But I can't really get a read on the Echo property."

“We'll work on Echo after this,” Theo said.

The alchemist got to work on the bomb, finding that the reaction was far less violent than most other bomb-style potions. When he introduced the catalyst and the enchanted water, it bubbled, and the sides of the vial got hot. But none of the contents jumped out or caused any other problems. When the potion was complete, he inspected the result. ŔＡNÓBĘ𝐒

[Drown Bomb]

[Bomb]

Uncommon

Created by: Theo Spencer

Purity: 95%

Targets affected by this bomb will drown.

If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

Effect:

When the liquid of this bomb comes into contact with the skin of a foe, that target will be unable to breathe for 5 minutes.

“Oh, cool. A horrible potion,” Salire said.

“That follows the theme of the deep sea, though,” Theo said. “But I can’t really think of a use for this on its own.”

“Even as an offensive potion, it isn’t very useful. There are more effective ways to deal damage to an enemy,” Salire said.

Theo had to think about it for a moment. Perhaps if they applied this potion in a wide area—like with the Aerosolize modifier—it could be useful. But even then, setting stuff on fire was normally more effective than depriving it of air. The only thing he could think of was to use this as an infusion property on another bomb, then modify that bomb… The result might be deadly.

“Time for the next one,” Salire said, dusting her hands off. “I’d rather forget about that one.”

Theo nodded, moving onto the Echo property. He wasn’t sure what he thought about this one. The essence seemed more lively than the others, and it held a brighter hue. When he introduced the water and catalyst, it bubbled furiously. Holding it at arm’s length, the alchemist activated his safety squint and waited it out. The scent produced was pleasant, holding a salty undertone that reminded him of the sea. Each other potion just smelled slightly fishy with a strange soapy overtone.

“Interesting,” Theo said, inspecting the potion.

[Echo Potion]

[Potion]

Epic

Created by: Theo Spencer

Purity: 85%

Imbibing this potion allows the drinker to sense the world through echolocation. Depending on the density of the surrounding material, this effect might be more or less effective.

Effect:

Grants the drinker echolocation for 1 hour. This effect is twice as effective underwater.

“Come on,” Salire said. “You know you want to drink it.”

At least this one didn’t have negative side-effects. Theo only had to think about it for a moment before quaffing the potion. Salire gasped as he did so, not expecting him to actually do it. The effects of the potion weren’t immediate. The alchemist felt something swelling in his forehead, but when he checked there was nothing there. Then it was as though he had two pairs of eyes, one dedicated to sight and the other to echolocation. He pinched his eyes closed right away, a headache developing in his skull.

“This is trippy,” Theo said, swaying on the spot.

“Describe it to me!” Salire shouted.

“It isn’t a one-to-one translation,” Theo said. “I can sense things around me, but I can’t see them. Not like with my real eyes. Seems more like it gave me another sense. Yep, I can see you waving at me over there. And you just moved. Oh, god it works with my future-sight. I’m gonna throw up.”

“I wanna try!” Salire shouted, taking the leftover essence and brewing a potion of her own. It bubbled violently, settling down to create the same potion.

The alchemist watched as Salire swayed on the spot, holding onto the table for support. “Oh, yeah. I might puke.”

“If you push it hard enough, you can almost see through stuff,” Theo said, focusing his new sense on the door leading downstairs. It felt as though whatever unhearable sound he was producing resonated with the door, continuing onto the other side. Combined with his future-sight, the echolocation power overloaded his senses. And he came to a realization. “There’s no way we can open our eyes for the next hour.”

“Agreed,” Salire said. She had knocked something over. Theo didn’t see it happen in this unfamiliar sense, but he heard it. “Hope that wasn’t important.”

“Smells like a potion,” Theo said. “Don’t touch it. Just in case that’s the one that makes you drown.”

“The one that makes you drown, the one that blows you up… This lab is full of dangerous crap that could kill you,” Salire said. Theo watched as she shrugged in his echolocation.

“Hold on, we have another potion to brew,” Theo said, shaking his head. “Sarisa, are you here?”

“Yup,” Sarisa said. Strangely, he hadn’t seen her while using the potion. Did that mean the half-ogres actually vanished into the shadows, rather than hiding in them?

Theo found the last of the essences he needed to test. It was the Constrict Essence, and he could tell it would generate a bomb-style potion. He found an empty bomb vial and poured the essence in, getting ready to mix in the water. Thanks to a practiced hand, he felt as though he tipped in exact

“Did the shade go slightly lighter? And are there tiny bubbles on the side?” Theo asked.

“Yup. Looking good, boss.”

Theo nodded, adding the catalyst. The reaction was in the middle of the pack as far as violent bomb reactions went. Heat built on the side of the vial as a layer of condensation formed at the same time. The scent was quite fishy, coming in a hint of the sea. That scent settled down a moment later.

“Time to see if you can inspect an item without seeing it… Yep!” Theo was excited as the system message appeared.

[Constrict Bomb]

[Bomb]

Legendary

Created by: Theo Spencer

Purity: 82%

Target is restrained and crushed by the pressures of the deep sea.

Effect:

A single target is afflicted with the pressure of the deep sea. For 5 minutes, they will experience the pressure of the deepest ocean on the planet.

“Ah, yes. Alchemical horrors beyond my comprehension,” Salire said.

“That one might be useful,” Theo said. “It isn’t explicit, but this should do a lot of damage. Although, I don’t know how deep the deepest part of the ocean is.”

“Pretty deep,” Sarisa said. “Not that Broken Tuskers sail, but I’ve heard some stories from people stopping in at the port. I mean, they mostly talk about the size of the monsters they run into on the high sea. If that’s anything to go by, we’re talking about some deep water.”

There was some debate in the room about how deep it could be, and how they could test it. Theo could take the bomb to the Dreamwalk and test it out, as long as it cooperated. But the experimentation was done for now and Salire couldn’t continue her work for the day. Instead, they left the lab to mess with the echolocation effect.

The biggest drawback to the effect was how much it overloaded their brains. Sensing a few people was simple, but as they drew closer to larger crowds it got more taxing. It wasn’t as easy to focus their attention as it was with sight or hearing. Theo had a lot of trouble singling out people in crowds. Instead, they just appeared as massive blobs that clogged his thoughts and worsened his headache.

“I’m going home,” Theo said, finding it hard to stand.

“Good idea,” Salire agreed. “By the gods, this one is rough.”

Sarisa helped Theo limp back home. She had a lot of theories on how that potion could be super useful, as long as the person imbibing the potion had a lot of training. The alchemist got a rare look into the way she made food for them everyday, including her process of deciding what to make. She based it off what was easy to get. Whisper had some decent cuts of meat for sale at the butcher, so she planned to do a take on a Broken Tusk classic.

Theo judged the entire process by smell. The scent of meat being browned in a pan came first, joined with the sound of something sizzling in oil or butter. The richness of that scent revealed it was butter a few moments later. Next came pungent garlic or onions and after that were the herbs and spices. Just a few too many spices, since the alchemist found his nose stinging from the smell. The pan sizzled as liquid was introduced. After chopping more things up, he heard the drop into the liquid.

Salire reduced this soup down far more than the stuff Xam typically made. By the time Theo’s sight was restored, he saw she was making it more as a stew. But she didn’t stop by reducing it a little. The sauce shrunk to barely cover the meat and vegetables, creating almost a curry.

“Dungeons!” Tresk shouted as she burst into the room, laughing. “Oh, man. Fenian is a monster in the dungeons.”

“Oh, yeah? Did you guys take care of another one today?”

“Yep. Scratch off the Cave Dungeon. Shocking, since it was Level 45,” Tresk said, stretching her back. “Dang, what smells so good?”

“Classic Broken Tusk wolf stew,” Salire said, placing the pot on the table. She had some flatbread to go with it.

“Just like papa used to make it,” Tresk said, rubbing her hands together.

Theo sat at the table, prepared to eat with his companions. He was just glad the marshling had forgotten about the dragon. Or perhaps she was just hiding it well…

“Come on, jokers,” Tresk said, dishing some stew out for herself. “Let’s EAT!”