The effort to move a massive slab of marble from the quarry to near the eastern gate was titanic. It had taken most of the day and no small amount of help from the locals. Theo stood before the rough-cut stone. It stood twice his height, having rough alcoves carved where Ziz intended to hew blocks. But the stoneworkers was happy to give it up, submitting to the alchemist’s whims for defense.

“Big rock,” Tresk said, slapping her hand on the upright monolith.

“Use your words.”

“Why do we need a big rock, good sir?” Tresk asked.

Alex honked, joining her voice to the questioning.

“Check it out,” Theo said, holding his hand out.

Chanting the words to the [Lesser Defense] ward, Theo felt more mana flow from his cores than ever before. The air crackled with magic, visible motes of Toru’aun mana drifting and popping in the wind. On his sixth chant of the spell, the alchemist popped a [Mana Pill]. Sweat formed on his brow from the effort, straining both his concentration and his mana. By the tenth chant, and another pill, the spell fulminated.

Space distorted around the stone for a single breath. Ziz let out a whistle of approval. The spell had bound to the stone in spectacular fashion, gaining Theo 25% experience in his [Toru’aun Mage’s Core] for his efforts. But more than that, he had something between where Fenian would appear and his town.

“Explain the idea to me,” Aarok said, gesturing vaguely to the stone. “Looks like you just made a big spot where Ziz needs to lay more road.”

Theo gestured to the far side of the new stone bridge. “The portal will appear there. And whatever Fenian brings with him comes along.” He traced his finger, drawing a straight line between the bridge and his new stone. “Anything that bursts from the portal will hit the stone.”

“Oh, so the stone absorbs random attacks.” Tresk nodded, cupping her chin in her hand. “Interesting tactic, fine sir. Absolutely splendid.”

“Yeah. Laser beams, fireballs, flying exploding monkeys. Just seems like a low-effort defensive measure,” Theo said.

Aarok shrugged at that. The effort to bring the stone over was indeed minimal. Ziz donated the stone to the town for free, and Theo made his own mana pills. If the rock caught a single attack, it would pay for itself. And it wasn’t stationary. They could move it to a new spot or add new stones. Once the alchemist had consumed more primal essences, he’d be more flexible. He’d have more effects at his fingertips, although a new trigger method was what he needed.

“We have the soldiers from Gronro for Fenian’s arrival,” Aarok said, holding one finger up. He continued with more fingers. “[Healing Potions], your limb-regeneration thing, tons of motes for the towers. I think we’re ready for whatever comes through.”

“Good. Have you checked on Ral lately?” Theo asked.

“Yeah, he has a little baby leg right now,” Aarok said. “It’s creepy, but coming along.”

“Excellent. Baby leg aside, that’s good to hear.”

“Another hole plugged in the never-ending saga of Theo’s need to be a mother hen,” Tresk said, nodding sage-like.

“I feel like a mother hen,” Theo said. His mind drifted.

“Hah! He’s thinking about upgrading buildings. With our last few [Monster Cores],” Tresk said, laughing. “Look at the mother hen go!”

It was hard to be mad when she was right. HIs mind had gone directly to using the last of the cores he was sitting on. With their purpose served, he wanted to rid himself of the rest. Sledge hadn’t come calling since she applied the last 2 synergy upgrades. The alchemist didn’t know if he wanted her to come back, as those upgrades cost resources to maintain. But there were several buildings he could bring up to level 10 with the few cores he had.

First, there was Whisper’s butcher. The Toora woman didn’t seem to need anything. Once she got the air conditioner, she was happy. Even if her building could be seen with frost rimming the windows. Kaya, the Elven woman that didn’t speak Qavelli, ran the weaver. That could use a few upgrades, but once again it was a matter of need. Neither citizen had been loud about their desire for upgrades, placing them firmly on the back burner.

Now would be a great time to help them out.

“Off to upgrade buildings,” Theo said, dismissing the crowd without another word.

The citizens of Broken Tusk were accustomed to their Archduke’s sudden shift of attention. It wasn’t as bad in recent times, but the memories lingered. He made his way to Whisper’s place first, finding her inside. She was butchering animal carcasses and bowed her head when she entered. Theo wished his robes were twice as thick the moment he stepped in, almost slipping on a slick of blood-ice. He noted the cleanliness of her fur, thanks to a simple leather apron.

“Everything going well?” Theo asked.

“Yes,” she said, bowing her head again.

“I’m going to upgrade your building to level 10.”

“As you will.”

Easy enough. Theo inspected the building before proceeding.

[Butcher]

[Hoary Frost]

Owners: Theo Spencer

Operator: Whisper

Faction: [Southlands Alliance]

Level: 1 (0%)

Rent Due: 1 Day

Expansions:

None

“Dunno what Hoary means,” Theo said.

“It’s poetic,” Whisper assured him.

“Alright. Gonna read off some upgrades. Tell me what you think,” Theo said.

To upgrade the building to level 10 would be simple. Even low-level cores would work here, and they had plenty of those. It was only an issue of upgrading when the building’s level was too high, but these fledgling buildings were a joy to work with. The alchemist shoved low-level [Monster Cores] inside, reading the upgrades out when the building hit level 5. He favored the rear of the building for expansions.

[Cold Storage]

A new room appears in your building. Food items placed inside will not rot.

[Keen Knives]

Knives used for the purpose of butchering will be more effective.

[Spoilage Prevention]

Allows you to process more from each animal carcass.

Whisper tapped her chin for a while. Theo’s sense for these upgrades wasn’t great. The building was already ice-cold, he knew nothing about butchering, but maybe there was value in getting more from each animal?

“[Keen Knives],” Whisper said.

Theo nodded, picking the upgrade. He shoved more cores in the building, selecting random directions for expansion. When the time came, he read the level 10 upgrade out to her.

[Drying Room]

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

A new room appears in your building. Processed food items placed in this room will dry at twice the rate as normal. The room is humidity and temperature controlled, resulting in perfectly dried meats.

“That’s a good one,” Whisper said, smiling. “I want that one.”

Theo selected the [Drying Room] upgrade and the building lurched beneath their feet. A door appeared to his right, but Whisper was already moving to check it out. The room was small, with several metal bars with hooks hanging throughout. It felt dry in there, like the desert powers of the Khahari with none of the sandy after-effects.

“Thank you,” Whisper said.

And that was all that she said. She left the drying room and got back to work on the wolves, cutting them down for consumption. If they weren’t careful, they’d be exporting more dried meats than stone and lumber.

The Weaver’s shop was on the newest road in town. South of Zarali’s workshop, and slightly north of Luras’ old leatherworking shop, a road branched from the main. It headed west, toward the swamp, creating a small grid where new buildings were meant to go. Currently occupied by only Kaya’s weaver, it was lonely. A few deft knocks and the aging Elven woman opened the door, offering a curt nod of her head.

“Come in,” she said, unable to hide her smile.

“You’re speaking Qavelli!” Theo shouted.

“Some,” she said, holding hand out. She was urging him to slow down.

“I’m upgrading your building,” Theo said, gesturing to the cramped space inside.

On the far end of the interior were racks that contained lengths of [Starbristle Flax]. The blue flax was amazing when processed correctly, displaying a hue like a tropical ocean’s waves. Slight variations from light to dark gave the finalized cloth a wave-like appearance, and the sample of sailing canvas she was working on was amazing to behold.

“Yes,” she said.

Theo inspected the building before continuing.

[Weaver]

[Fields of Blue]

Owners: Theo Spencer

Operator: Kaya Wavecrest

Faction: [Southlands Alliance]

Level: 1 (0%)

Rent Due: 1 Day

Expansions:

None

No surprises that she hadn’t upgraded, but he liked the name. It was a reference to the massive field of cultivated [Starbristle Flax] at the farm. Or maybe it was a reference to the ocean? Or a bunch of ships on the sea, displaying the Starbristle sails? Whatever the case, it was nice. Instead of reading the upgrades out to Kaya, the alchemist urged her to read them herself. She could do this by inspecting the building alongside him, although giving those instructions was tough enough.

[Fiber Reclamation]

When processing fibers, experience less loss from the process.

[Soothing Mist]

The building is filled with a constant cooling mist that imbues all processed fibers. The resulting cloth will be softer.

[Efficient Spindles]

Your weaving process is more efficient, resulting in a significant time-reduction when turning thread into cloth.

These were actually decent upgrades. Theo didn’t know if the [Soothing Mist] upgrade was decent, but that didn’t matter. The others were great. Kaya didn’t have the words for which upgrade she wanted. She repeated a word in the Elven tongue a few times before letting out a breath of frustration. Snatching a spindle from her work area, she held it up.

“Gotcha,” Theo said, selecting the [Efficient Spindles] upgrade.

The level 10 upgrade was interesting, and Theo could tell Kaya was torn.

[Tough Fibers]

Cloth produced in this workshop will be stronger than it normally would.

She wanted [Fiber Reclamation], but [Tough Fibers] would be perfect for their sail-making industry. After some pidgin-conversation, they agreed on [Tough Fibers]. To make up for it, Theo took the building up to level 15.

[Processing Room]

A new room appears in your building. All processing actions performed inside the room will be faster, and consume less stamina.

Kaya jumped up and down for that one. Theo selected it without question, feeling the building rumble under his feet as a new room appeared. It was an empty room, but the Elf moved her equipment in without hesitation. The alchemist helped. Processing the flax was the most annoying part of the process. Smacking the fibers and combing them out looked laborious, so anything that helped the process would be nice.

When Theo turned to leave, Kaya pulled him into a hug. The alchemist awkwardly patted her back as she poured thanks in her native tongue. He left her workshop with an armful of cloth he didn’t need. But it was nice to see the product of the weaver, even if he’d take it directly to the harbor for the shipwright to use. [Starbristle Cloth] was soft for something made of flax. He hadn’t experienced it back on Earth, but assumed it would be coarse. Instead, the sailing canvas was soft and strong at the same time.

Dismissing the idea to make T-shirts, Theo visited his town hall. While the building could be upgraded, he hadn’t done so. He stood outside of the white building for a while, trying to find a good name for it. Naming buildings wasn’t necessary, but it always added flair. A bit of personality on an otherwise uninteresting structure. Alise should have found a good name for it by now, so he named it “T-shirts for sale”.

Naming things stupidly often brought her out of the woodwork.

Theo entered the building, waving to the functionaries who worked there. He made his way to the meeting room on the second floor, the one with north-facing windows, and found Alise, Gwyn, and Gael inside. They stopped talking, waiting for him to plop down in a chair.

“Can we help you, Archduke?” Alise asked.

Parchment ruffled, then a quill and ink clattered onto the table. Theo consulted his notes about Toru’aun’s magic, finally withdrawing Xol’sa’s book of theories before he answered.

“No, continue,” Theo said, sketching out new diagrams.

It took a moment for the group to carry on, but they managed. The problem with warding magic was the trigger. With only one trigger to his name, Theo was stuck with ‘attack’. That one factor limited him in his weaving of spells, leaving him feeling as though the core was useless. Hidden inside those endless, confusing poems about Dronon fighting things, there was an answer.

Rewriting that portion of the spell manually didn’t work at first. The more the group prattled on about issues within the town, the closer he got to the answer. Something about the low buzz of their excited conversation felt inspiring. There was a pattern in Toru’aun’s stories. Something about the way the parts of spells connected spoke to him, and he rewrote a story.

Using the sections of the spell for the [Reveal] spell effect, Theo wrote a story about Dronon hidden in the forest. They weren’t defending this time, they were waiting for someone. An ambush of an enemy force. Several rewrites later, and something clicked within the alchemist’s mind. It was like gears turning over, changing to a faster pace in the cycle.

“You sure look pleased with yourself,” Alise said, gazing at the alchemist over a sheet of parchment.

Theo didn’t respond, he held his hand out and chanted his new spell. Focusing on the table, it took five tries to get it right. When the spell took hold, the table shivered. He inspected it, drilling down to the ward’s description.

[Lesser Reveal]

[Advanced Ward]

Creates a reactive field of [Reveal]. Field only activates when enemies are detected in range.

Trigger:

Detect Enemy

Duration:

1 day.

“Cool,” Theo said. “Your table will now reveal enemies.”

“Thanks. I guess,” Alise said, chuckling. “You really don’t need anything?”

“We have some reports if you want to be bored to death,” Gwyn said.

“Bore me to death, please.”

The reports were more boring than Theo could have imagined. Alise only brought a single item to his attention that was interesting. Between the farms, hunting in the swamp, and a sudden influx of fish, their food reserves were bolstered. So much that they had spare food to export. That brought into question the usefulness of Rivers and Daub.

“That’s why we’re restructuring them,” Gael said. He seemed awkward at the table, but the Elf was doing his best. No need to beat him down for being weird when he just started the job.

“Old Gael here has a lot of insight,” Gwyn said, nodding to her peer. “Who knew. Being the leader of an Elven house has its advantages.”

“Barely a leader,” Gael said, shaking his head. “Barely surviving before Feintleaf saved us. But, you’re not wrong. I’ve seen mistakes in Tarantham. Mistakes I’d rather not see replicated in the Southlands Alliance.”

“We’re eager to install different industries in both Rivers and Gronro,” Gwyn said.

“And we’re talking about keeping track of upgrading the buildings,” Alise said. Her eyes went glassy. “Even the town hall isn’t… who named the town hall ‘T-shirts for sale’, and what is a t-shirt?”

“Must’ve been Tresk,” Theo said, waving the question away. “Better find a better name before she does it again.”

“Fine,” Alise said.

“So, what’s your take on Alran? All of you.”

Gwyn offered her opinion first. “Reminds me of a wayward soul. Just trying to do what he loves, then he gets stuck doing crap work.”

“He emulated the Mercantile Chair model from the Qavelli dogs,” Gael said, chuckling wryly. “A model doomed for failure.”

Alise’s eyes refocused. “It was a better end than taking his head. Once we opened the gates for him, he went wild. Been feeding us reports since he left town.”

“Any update on that?” Theo asked. “You know. Undead army and all that.”

“That part of the war is going fine,” Alise said. “Fine for us, anyway. Throk is working on new weapons, but your potions are doing the job for now.”

“Always good to hear,” Theo said standing from his chair. “See, the ward I put on the table is excellent.”

“Why?”

“Because it didn’t activate,” Theo said, turning and leaving the town hall.

Long shadows dominated the streets of Broken Tusk by the time Theo was done in the town hall. He had no desire to upgrade the town hall today. Instead, he sent a mental command to Tresk. It was dinner time, and if the scent wafting from the north was anything to go by, the food would be delicious tonight. Settling into his booth, he waited for his companions to arrive.

After sipping on a mug of mead for a while, Tresk finally arrived. She was out of breath, but excited. Aarok had ordered her to oversee the changing of the guard for Xol’sa’s tower, and the wizard had regained consciousness for a few moments. He was out again, but improving.

Their wait for the food was short. Tresk rubbed her hands together as the server placed bowls and plates on the table. Buttered Zee bread was becoming a common food in the town, but that didn’t make it any less delicious. Theo’s eyes were on the bowls of creamy soup, though. He never cared much for fish, what little he’d had on Earth, but the soup was great.

“Caught by my brother,” Tresk said proudly.

“You never talk to your brother,” Theo said. “How can you possibly have pride in anything he’s done?”

“Alex doesn’t talk, but we still love her,” Tresk said, shrugging.

Theo conceded the point, although he disagreed. The Bantari were truly a mysterious group.