A tangle of planters loaded with reagent-bearing plants spread into the distance. Alex hunted in the underbrush, desperate to find bugs and worms to stuff into her bill. Theo brushed his hand along the leaves, not feeling the same sensation as he did in Tero'gal. It was a dull sense of feedback compared to the more-real realm, whatever that meant. The more time the alchemist spent away from the mortal plane, the more he wondered what it was to begin with. Was it reality as he knew back on Earth, or another reflection cast by the system?

Questions without answers seem to plague him, now. But that wasn’t among his chief concerns. Grinding experience had become his singular focus, everything else giving way to that need to advance. While his other cores were gaining experience, feeding points into his personal level, he had hit a wall. The conclusion was logical, though. Without all 3 of his current cores at level 20, his personal level wouldn’t advance. So he’d summoned more planters than he needed, found a steady pace of work and went at it.

Tresk approached from a distance, finding a ponderous path through the wooden boxes. Theo greeted her with a nod, but she’d been off lately. It was as though she was constantly thinking about something, and the answer was clear. Since the attack, she hadn’t reacted. No additional combat training, or clever tricks with potions.

“Because they didn’t work,” Tresk said, chuckling. She was getting better at reading his mind by the day. “Spent all that time working on our strategy and it fell apart.”

“So, you’re giving up?” Theo asked.

Tresk let out a sharp laugh. “Like hell I’m giving up. I hired 5 adventurers to shadow you all day. Real mean sons of bitches good at stealth. Gave them orders to bonk you over the head and drag you back to town if you left.”

Theo was less surprised than he wished he was. That was on-brand for the woman. Under the spiky exterior, she did it out of love.

“I appreciate it,” Theo said, focusing his mind. If he tried hard, he could feel some of her emotions and thoughts. Not as clearly as she could, but it was there. “You’re waiting for me to get my next core. To see how good it is as a defensive class.”

“Yup,” Tresk said, pointing a finger at the book he held. “Any progress with old Tor-whatever’s secret language?”

“Standard Dronon nonsense,” Theo said with a shrug.

Each page of the book she’d given him was a piece of an overall pattern. He didn’t have the word to describe it accurately, but it was like the spell arrays Xol’sa used. Each piece of the overall array were words in her own made-up language. Those words were placed in a sequenced, circular pattern on the page. Since Toru’aun had given him the key, it was easy enough to understand. Those individual symbols connected with the other, creating a webwork of other arrays. Knowing where to connect them was a matter of attaching one part of the story to the other until it all flowed.

“Good news on that front,” Theo said, turning the book around for Tresk to see. “The first spell she gave me is defensive. Hard to tell with the story-telling nature of her magic, but I think it makes a temporary magic shield. Shell? She calls it a shell, if I had to translate it into Qavelli.”

“Well, there’s a question for ya. Is it a constructed language, or something more ancient like Axpashi?” Tresk asked.

“Have you been dumping points into [Intelligence]?” Theo asked.

“No. I’m stealing your brain juice.”

“I think there’s a general Drononi language somewhere. Toru’aun based her magic language off of that,” Theo said. “I know, because it’s similar enough to Drogramathi.”

“Sounds boring. I mean, super interesting. Whatever. The language part is boring, but the spell part is cool,” Tresk said. “We need to expand our realm so you can practice in Tero’gal more.”

Theo expected a massive surge in his power when he got his new core. He still didn’t understand Toru’aun’s spell completely, but Xol’sa could help with that. The Elf had been too busy working on his [Dungeon Engineer] core, but that would stop soon enough. Once he had an understanding, he’d simply have to help the alchemist. There were too many questions about the way the magic worked. It wasn’t the time to think about those things, though. The Dreamwalk was fading, and Theo had enough experience to hit level 20 in his [Drogramath Herbalism Core]. Once he left the dream realm, he’d be hit with choices.

Since Theo pointed out Tresk’s lack of training, she decided to take the last bit of the Dreamwalk and do more training. The Marshling produced a series of weapons and forced him to try them out. He found none of them to his liking. Not the small daggers, the sword the size of him, or the spears. They all felt weird in his hands.

With a thought, Theo produced the service weapon they’d given him to kill the harbinger. For the time, it was considered an antiquated weapon. Gunpowder wasn’t just on the decline, it was basically useless, but the people who sent him to kill the Harbinger insisted it would work. Something about magnetic acceleration and depleted uranium would pierce whatever defenses the creature had. It hadn’t worked, but the weight of the weapon in his hands was a comfort.

“Now, if I could have one of these,” Theo said, charging the rifle on the side. It made an extremely satisfying mechanical sound. “We’d be in business.”

“Damn, boy. Yeah, maybe we could build guns. You wanna go out there and shoot people? All pacifist and everything.”

Theo sighted the weapon, resting his finger on the trigger. A long, steady breath and he squeezed slightly, then let up. Memories of the Harbinger came back. He didn’t shoot back then, did he? Everyone else did, but he didn’t. The alchemist allowed the weapon to fade into nothingness without shooting.

“That’s a matter of synergy,” Theo said. “Unless we find a class that uses guns, what’s the point? I’ve had the idea for a cannon for a while, but the towers basically do that. We’ll leave this for another time. Maybe when I build my airship.”

“Your what?”

Theo waved her off. That was still an infant idea in his mind. He strove to keep those creeping ideas out of his head, focusing on what he could work on now. Instead, the pair talked about what they could do now that would help the town. Money, training, and ideas were the concepts they settled on. Although boats were the most important thing, the shipwright could only work so fast.

When the Dreamwalk ended, Theo sprung up from his bed. The system greeted him that morning with a series of messages.

[Drogramath Herbalist Core] leveled up! Level 20.

Obtained free [Drogramath Herbalist Core] skill point for hitting level 20 with this core.

[Drogramath Herbalist Core] gained an additional skill slot!

[Drogramath Herbalist Core] gained an enhanced effect: +6 Vigor.

…

[Theo Spencer] leveled up! Level 20.

[Theo Spencer] received one free point.

[Theo Spencer] received an additional core slot.

With the complexity of Toru’aun’s magic, Theo went with another point into [Wisdom], putting him at 29. The additional point in his [Drogramath Herbalist Core] put him at 21 [Vigor]. He selected the [National Status] skill and slotted it into his [Governance Core] before looking over the skills for his herbalism core. While there were selections that seemed good, they came with a problem. He had enough new things to learn without adding another thing to the list. But one skill stuck out to him.

[Grove Tender]

Herbalism Skill

Rare

Drogramath’s legendary desire to blanket the world in reagents has been translated to this skill. Your success in tending to plants will increased significantly.

Effect:

The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

Increase the rate of growth for all plants you tend.

Increase the survival rate of all plants you tend.

Reduces the chance that spirit plants will wither under your care.

+1 Intelligence

Every part of the skill was alright. Not amazing, just decent compared to the other options. But it was the last line under the effects section that gave Theo pause. He removed the wooden box from his inventory, withdrawing the note written by Yuri himself and smiled.

“Spirit plants,” Theo said, running his finger of the assorted seeds. “You have to wonder if he planned this out.”

“What are those?”

“Legendary plants that are notoriously difficult to grow,” Theo said. “So hard that you cannot grow them without the correct skills. And they take a long time to grow even with the skill.”

“So, you’re taking that skill. Right? I mean, Khahar gave you the seeds,” Tresk said, poking her finger at the box. “That means they’re worth growing.”

Theo selected the skill and slotted it in his [Drogramath Herbalist Core] without question. He felt a mental ping and ignored it for the moment, returning the box to his inventory. Opening his administrator’s interface, he found the new section promised by the [National Status] ability. He found information about both Gronro-Dir and Rivers and Daub, detailing their income, production, citizens, and so on. But there was also a small window. A chat box.

Grot: What the hell is this?

There was even a small image of the Dwarf’s face as an icon on the side. Theo suppressed a laugh and responded, mentally typing his message.

Theo: Just a new feature. How’s it going up north?

Alise: Hey! Theo, we need to talk about this. You can’t just unlock skills and not tell me.

Grot: The north is fine. Running low on them cloud potions, though.

Theo: They’re undead-killing potions.

Grot: Whatever. I need more. Gonna run out today.

Theo: I’ll have my people work on it.

Alise: Are you ignoring me?

Grot: Nice talking to you Archduke. Gotta kill some undead ;)

“Alright, I’m not cool with the Dwarf using emojis,” Theo said, shutting the interface off. “That’s one step away from filling my interface with eggplants.”

“Egg-what?” Tresk asked.

A loud series of bangs came from the front door downstairs. Theo winced, but grabbed Alex to use as a shield and went downstairs, flinging the door open. Alise didn’t look happy with this turn of events, but she didn’t look thrilled either. She looked as though she just got out of bed, still wearing a silken nightgown that swept the dirty ground.

“Why are you ignoring my messages?” she asked.

Theo held Alex in front of him. The gosling chirped,then nipped at the air between them.

“I figured you’d be here to beat down my door. No need airing our dirty laundry in the group chat,” Theo said.

“Group what? Alright, explain.”

Theo explained the new skill, reading the description for her to hear. Since she was one of two Lady Administrators, she shared many of his skills from the [Governance Core]. Apparently, that extended to his nation-wide skills.

“Basically, I was going to tell you,” Theo said. “Figured it would be nice for you to have. You know, so we don’t need to use the annoying crystals.”

“I don’t think the crystals are annoying,” Alise said, crossing her arms. But her face softened after a moment, then her eyes went glassy. “But this gives us an insight into what each member of the nation has. Oh! I’m going to skin Alran alive. He’s been lying about his stockpiles.”

“Surprised? I’m not,” Tresk said.

“As long as you’re angry at someone else, I’m happy,” Theo said with a shrug.

“Alright. I’m going to gather my people. I haven’t even had breakfast, Theo,” Alise said.

“Yeah, I like your nightgown,” Tresk said, giggling.

Alise narrowed her eyes, turned on the spot, then stomped away.

“Hope she’s not too pissed,” Theo said, opening his interface to check the messenger. He laughed.

Alran: I can explain.

Alise: Explain when I peel the flesh from your bones, you worm!

Gwyn: We’ll have a meeting. Calm down, Alise.

Alise: >:|

“Alright, am I missing a button here,” Theo said, inspecting the interface. He couldn’t find anywhere to type out the emojis. “Maybe if I just think about an emotion while typing… Oh. Yep.”

Theo: :P

Alran: He’s sticking his tongue out at you. Direct your ire toward the Archduke, please.

Alise: >:(

“Enough of that,” Theo said, closing his interface. “I’m not about to watch politics devolve into a series of rude emojis.”

“But you could.”

Theo shook his head, heading out without saying another word. He stuffed Alex in his satchel and headed off to eat leftover steak. Assuming there was any left over, that was something that Xam often sold out of immediately. Still, she had a way of cooking up something simple that was still delicious. The group took their seats at the booth and sipped on tea as they waited for their breakfast to be prepared.

“Oh, Tresk,” Theo said, opening their shared inventory and removing one waxy, green leaf. “Meant to ask you where you got this. On the coast, right?”

“Yeah, they’re all over the place.”

“Can I ask why you have them?”

Tresk popped the leaf into her mouth and began chewing. “It's yummy.”

“Fair enough. Mind collecting more? Like… A lot more?” Theo asked.

“Yeah. No problem.”

Unfortunately, Xam didn’t have any steak leftovers from last night. Instead, she provided delicious Zee flatbread, slathered in gravy and ground wolf meat. It was a pleasant meal, but the gravy didn’t go very well with the sweetened moss tea. Something about the savory dish sat at odds with the sweetness of the earthy tea. That hardly seemed to matter. Comparing the spread before him to the wolf meat stew the tavern was known for before she got her cores, this was a feast.

When the meal was done, Theo handed over Alex for the day and headed for the monolith. Tresk was on wall patrol duty today, and wouldn’t venture outside of the protective range of the towers. She rarely got to spend one-on-one time with the gosling, owing to her constant delving of dungeons. But the alchemist didn’t have to wait long for Xol’sa to open his portal, and stepped through the moment the shimmering pane of black glass appeared. He stumbled, then righted himself, finding the Elf standing there with a look of surprise on his face.

“You really should give it time to stabilize,” Xol’sa said.

“I’m a bit of an expert on dimensional travel, now.”

“Doubtful. Come. To the study,” Xol’sa said, gesturing to the twisting staircase that encircled the interior of the tower.

Xol’sa had a collection of interesting artifacts. Things that weren’t just limited to the realm of magical practices. He had several alchemical devices that Theo was interested in. With his limited time, he had no chance to ask about them. Today was no different. The alchemist withdrew his [Toru’aun Mage’s Core] from his inventory and held it out for the Elf to inspect.

“Is it finally time?” Xol’sa asked, his normally placid face looking excited. “For me to no longer be the sole mage of Broken Tusk?”

“It is, my friend,” Theo said. He took a seat in a red, plush-looking sofa and set the core down on the table. Then he withdrew the book that the god had given him and got to explaining everything.

The Elf watched with a mix of emotions that ranged from shocked to impressed. Once Theo explained how he thought Toru’aun’s language worked, Xol’sa could make some sense of it. He claimed to have some racial skill that helped with languages, but the alchemist’s theory was that he was simply incredibly smart.

“There’s a few things to discuss here,” Xol’sa said, steepling his fingers. “Uz’Xulven brought you to Uz’Godan Bokrak Tal to speak with Toru’aun. Then, she allowed you to pass into Tero’gal. Damn, that’s interesting.”

The Elf rummaged through his things for a moment, finding something to record the information. His pen flew across the pages, writing faster than the speed of thought.

“I’ve used my [Planar Mage’s Core] for years to pass over the Bridge to go from one place to another,” Xol’sa said, drawing a simple diagram on the page. “But never through.”

“Why not?” Theo asked. “It’s easy enough for me. Your core should have some skill that lets you pierce the realms, right?”

“Right. But guess what? No one invited me to take the Bridge. Unlike you… Well, that’s interesting. Right? If you think about it, just having a core doesn’t allow one to take the Bridge,” Xol’sa said, tapping his pen on the page furiously. He left large blots of ink to stain the page. “But you’re saying your mortal body goes to Tero’gal? The whole thing? What about Tresk?”

“Yeah, Tresk goes too,” Theo said.

“Fascinating,” Xol’sa said. “And you said Tero’gal rests with the infant realms. That’s even more interesting. I need to research this. Could you please call on me the next time you go to that realm?”

“Absolutely,” Theo said. “I’d like to understand it more myself. It’s all a bit… You know… Weird.”

“Extremely weird.”

“So, how is your new core?” Theo asked.

“Oh, you wouldn’t believe the things I can do,” Xol’sa said, chuckling. He laughed for long enough to make it maniacal. “I’m experimenting on the [River Dungeon] to start. It takes a lot of mana, but I’ve been able to manipulate the way it works. We can have instances, lockouts for certain people… I can make it so only those with passes can enter.”

“Instances. So more than one group can run it at a time,” Theo said, nodding. “How many can you support right now?”

“Right now? 2. But my core is still low,” Xol’sa said. “More importantly, I have a better idea of how the energy is fed into the dungeons. And something even more interesting.”

“What’s that?”

“Remember how I told you there was more than one source of power for the dungeons? That’s why they’re growing so quickly? How we sent the power off to other dungeons in the network, triggering a massive monster wave?”

“I remember.”

“Want to take a guess which realm has become the second most dominant one? Next to Drogramath’s, of course.”

Theo only had to think for a few heartbeats to conclude which realm it was. He tapped his foot a few times before looking the Elf in the eyes. “Tero’gal.”