The Newt and Demon

“What in the hells are you doing building a giant tower in the middle of my farm!?” Banu screamed, shaking Theo by the shoulders. “Get it out of here!”

The farmers had taken the appearance of the giant tower just as well as the alchemist had expected. It blocked the road that headed from south to north and even overlapped a few fields. The base was circular, maybe fifty feet in diameter, and made from a pale gray stone. On the south-facing side it had an archway with stone steps, leading to the spacious interior. The building might have been impressive, but Banu just wasn’t having it.

“We can remove the tower,” Theo said, nodding and rubbing his chin. It was hard to do, since Banu was still shaking him violently. “But the continent may be destroyed.”

“Excuse me?” Banu asked, finally stopping his assault.

“We need the shard to keep the void energy stable,” Theo said. “Without it, we’re all dead.”

“Okay… But does it have to be here?”

“Yes.”

Banu deflated, his eyes downcast. “Can you at least expand the farm’s mound?”

“Sure thing, buddy,” Theo said, patting him on the shoulder. “We’ll expand it a bunch. Just for you, pal.”

Theo wanted to get a good look at this giant crystal before he fixed the farmer’s mound, though. Once he removed himself from the grasp of the distraught half-ogre, he made his way up the stairs. Even at the threshold of the tower, he could feel an unfamiliar energy radiating from within. The dim interior was illuminated only by the shard, which rotated on the spot and emitted a constant hum.

Stepping through that archway was more difficult than the alchemist assumed it would be. He forced himself inside, fighting against a wave of energy that rippled over his skin. It left behind a tingling sensation that stung a little. The shard itself was a sight to behold. The massive twenty-foot-tall crystal was made from a solid chunk of translucent rock. Bright blue light shone from within, refracting off the many odd-angled surfaces.

Theo approached the shard, pressing his hand against the rotating face. It was cold to the touch, carrying an undertone of the same electric sensation that filled the air. Elrin talked about these things as though they were alive, but the alchemist just couldn’t sense it. Even after spreading his shadowy aura over the object, he got nothing from it.

“This thing will generate a cult pretty quickly,” Theo said, turning to spot the people already gathering at the entrance. “Those half-ogres sure do love shiny things…”

Pushing through the crowd was difficult, but Theo broke free of the press. He made his way through town, finding the temple and the sparse crowd gathered there. This crowd was made up of space elves, coming to check on their newly integrated people. The alchemist could feel the stain of void energy in the air already, filling the ground floor of the building with an oppressive sense that crushed in from all sides.

Making his way into the dungeons below, he felt that feeling double. Bilgrob, Sulvan, and Zarali were working with people from the administration team to feed everyone both potions they needed to survive. On top of that was the constant healing they needed to survive the process, putting a strain on them all. Healing Potions weren’t good enough to cure whatever afflicted them, forcing the hand of the only healers in the city to take care of each elf.

“Anything to report?” Theo asked, coming behind Zarali and shadowing her as she attended to the elves.

“Thankfully, no,” Zarali said with a heavy sigh. She poured a Reforge Soul potion down someone’s throat. “We’re ready this time, and there haven’t been many surprises.”

“That implies there was at least one surprise,” Theo said, frowning as his eyes scanned over the elves he could see. They looked completely fine to him.

“The reaction has been less violent,” Zarali said.

“Must be the giant world-altering crystal in the farm.”

“Oh, right. Because that’s a normal thing,” Zarali said, huffing as she moved off to another elf.

Theo shadowed them for a while, helping with the administration of the potions or the movement of patients. It went far better than the last time, with almost no one having extremely negative reactions. The alchemist suspected this was not only the work of the shard now housed at the farm. It was also likely thanks to the slight increase of quality with the potions. The first run of a new potion was always tricky, resulting in lower-quality potions.

“I’m shocked. I don’t think we’ll be here all night,” Sulvan said, joining with Theo and the other healers near the entrance to the dungeon.

“Yes, the puny elves are sturdier this time,” Bilgrob said. “A much better stock this time.”

“They’re from the same group,” Theo said. “There’s this whole… Giant crystal thing… You know, we should have a meeting about this.”

There was almost nothing for Theo to tell people, but he knew they would ask. Instead of dragging everyone into a meeting, he made a note in his administration interface. Just the important stuff, of course.

The giant crystal will not harm you.

The giant crystal is our friend.

Hail the giant crystal.

And so on. Alise could sort out the details.

Three things now rested on Theo’s to-do list. The arena, Banu’s farm, and some new interesting properties to experiment with. Since the farmer would freak out if he did nothing about it, the alchemist proceeded to the farmer’s mound with his Earth Sorcerer’s Core equipped.

Long ago, during the inception of Broken Tusk, a wizard stopped by. The locals had a problem. The nearby river emptied into the swamp, making it difficult for them to farm through all seasons. That wizard had redirected the river and created the mound the farmers now farmed upon. Two-hundred years later, Theo was there to pick up where the unknown wizard had left off.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

To ensure the soil wouldn’t wash out from under the new extension on the farm, Theo pulled from the rocky hills to the north, dragging large boulders through the air over his head. He held them over the swampy ground west of the mound. With a flex of his willpower, the boulders split and crumbled, creating a thick layer of gravel that splashed into the scattered pools.

Of course, since he was already putting in the effort, Theo intended to expand the farm a great deal. Because why not?

Moving earth was much easier than moving stones. Theo pushed a bunch of dirt along the ground, acting as a bulldozer to move it around. He piled it up, mounding it to match the height of the farmer’s area. It was dirty work, but anything involved with the swamp made one dirty.

“So,” Banu said, slogging through the mud of the swamp. He watched with his hands on his hips as Theo moved the dirt around. “You just casually double the size of our mound? Like you could’ve done this the entire time?”

“Well, I wouldn’t say that I’ve doubled

“The point being, ya could’ve done it before,” Banu said with a glare.

“I’m a very busy demon,” Theo said, tossing another pile of dirt up onto a pile. “You need to be louder if you want me to get something done for you.”

“I get it. The others pay you off,” Banu said. He withdrew a sack of coins from his pocket. “How much do I owe you?’

“Oh, get outta here, Banu,” Theo grumbled. “Just enjoy your new area.”

It took the alchemist a while, but he dodged payment from the half-ogre. It wasn’t an act that deserved payment, especially since it only took a few hours. As the evening closed in, the insects in the swamp woke up. The chirping of some distant creatures filled Theo’s ears as he finished with the mound. While not quite double the size of the original platform, there was plenty of room for them to reorganize the position of the fields. So long as there was a mechanism for them to do that through the seed core building.

There was some interesting chatter in the administration interface. News that put a smile on Theo’s face. All but one dungeon in the surrounding area had been destroyed. The only one that remained was the Swamp Dungeon. The people clearing the dungeons had left it for last, and it was a good thing they did. That dungeon had been a staple of the town since as long as the locals could remember. Thanks to the introduction of the Shard, it would now remain.

Theo approached Aarok, Luras, and Tresk on the southern wall. They informed him Xol’sa was somewhere distant, weaving spells to check the magical makeup of the air.

“Looks like we have a functional dungeon,” Aarok said.

“Did the Shard do its work that fast?” Theo asked.

“Yup. We’re still in business,” Luras said.

“Interesting to consider how powerful that thing is,” Theo said. “There hasn’t been a Shard on this continent since the space elves took them all away. How will that affect the local fields of magical energy?”

“You’re asking the wrong people,” Aarok said.

“Shouldn’t be too hard to guess.” Luras let out a heavy sigh as he peered over the wall’s edge. “Those ascendant powers were never meant to bleed through so easily.”

“The big shiny thing is gonna be like a sponge, right?” Tresk asked. “A massive filter that clears the air.”

“We can only hope,” Theo said. He gave a brief description of what happened with the space elves. “They’re recovering better than last time. I’m pretty proud of that… Oh, also they took my future sight powers away.”

“They!?” Tresk asked, her face aghast. “Who are they? I’m gonna kill them!”

“I thought you would’ve already looked at my memories. Fate took my power away, creating the Seal of Wisdom. Didn’t you get the message?”

“I got it. Didn’t read it though.”

“Well, she shifted my power to be something closer to what Omen does, which is to sense disaster.” Theo joined Luras in looking at the swamp below. He still hadn’t felt even a twinge of what that power could manifest as.

“That’s not a fair trade, Theo. We need to go back and stab someone.”

“I think assailing the Twin Realm might be harder than you think,” Theo said. “I’m sure the power will turn out just fine. Hey, try hitting me.”

Tresk slapped Theo in the face without missing a beat. At least she did so open-palmed.

“Ow. Okay. Try that again,” Theo said. This time, he gave himself a breath to focus on the task.

Two things happened at the same time. Theo could feel Tresk’s intent to hurt him even before she cocked her hand back. It came to him as a vague sense at first, growing stronger the closer it came to the event. Then time slowed, increasing in intensity the closer she got to pulling her hand back. The alchemist watched as his companion swatted through the air, giving him just enough time to move back from the strike. He extended his foot, pushing her forward. Time sped up as she slammed face-first into the ground.

“Oof!” Luras grunted, wincing. “That wasn’t pleasant to watch.”

“That wasn’t pleasant to experience!” Tresk shouted, jumping to her feet. “You wanna tussle, potion-boy?”

“Not really. Although, I wouldn’t decline some practice with my new ability…” Theo trailed off as he sensed another flash of danger. This time, he ignored it. And he was punched in the chest for it. Although it didn’t hurt that much, it still stung. Perhaps he had missed something about the way the skill worked. “Try again.”

This time, when Tresk went to drive her fist into his stomach, he focused on that sense of danger. The moment he did, time slowed. So the two were connected. If he didn’t shift his focus to the sense of impending doom, the slowing effect wouldn’t activate. He slapped her hand to the side, finding his high Dexterity easy to work with in the slow-motion effect.

“Oh, this might be better,” Theo said, laughing as Tresk growled in frustration.

“I can’t read your intentions when you do that,” Tresk said.

“Perhaps because you’re trying to hurt me,” Theo said. “The ability slows time when I sense danger. It isn’t as useful as future sight—obviously—but this is still powerful.”

Luras didn’t give warning when he tossed a throwing knife out of nowhere. But Theo could feel the same sensation of danger as he had before. This time when he focused, he felt his attention being drawn to the man. His eyes moved on their own, locking onto the spot where the half-ogre reached under his cloak. A moment later, a knife came hurtling toward Theo. And he snatched it out of the air.

“Very interesting,” Theo said. “It seems like Omen was telling the truth. This is a satisfying power.”

“No more sneak attacks?” Luras asked. “I wouldn’t mind that power.”

Theo reached into the air, plucking another throwing dagger and tossing it to the ground. Tresk had snuck off during Luras’ attack, finding a position in a nearby tree. The marshling had shielded her mind, preventing him from anticipating the attack. But his sense still caught her, popping up to give him a chance to respond. There would be some limitations to the ability, but the alchemist could work with this.

“I wonder if this extends to dangers from non-sapient things,” Theo said. “Like explosions in the lab.”

“Only one way to find out! We should blow up the lab,” Tresk said.

“Let’s not do that,” Theo said. “I think another way it could be defeated is if someone had more Dexterity than me.”

“Pick a fight with Fenian!” Tresk shouted. “Again. The last one was hilarious.”

“I’m not fighting Fenian,” Theo said. “Come on. We have much more important things to do. Like eat dinner.”

“Woah, you inviting us?” Luras asked.

“Both you and Aarok have an open invitation,” Theo said.

“I never agreed to cook more food,” Sarisa grumbled, stepping free from the shadows.