The Dreamwalk spread before Theo, the imagined version of Broken Tusk representing a perfect image of the actual place. He had spent the rest of his day working on his core. The gap between his willpower and the power of his core was shrinking at an alarming pace, and he couldn’t stop thinking about how strange of a core it was. Unlike most cores, the Earth Sorcerer’s Core relied almost entirely on willpower and skill. Some cores were useless without skills, while others needed skilled spellcraft to be useful. This one was just different.

“Mind if we destroy the town?” Tresk asked, elbowing Theo in the ribs.

“Go for it. I’m going to try something… it might be cheating.”

“Oh. Think anyone can stop you in here?”

“Nope.”

There were quite a few dangerous potions that Theo had crafted. The nastiest ones came from the Hallow Ground property, often producing potions related to the undead. Of those many potions, there was one that mentioned the imbiber’s will. The alchemist imagined a version of that silvery potion in one of Salire’s fancy vials. He held it up for examination.

[Hallow Ground Potion]

[Embolden]

[Potion] [Modified Potion]

Epic

Created by: Belgar

Alignment:

Drogramath (Middling Bond)

Grade: Excellent Quality

Drink to create a zone of denial.

Effect:

Imbiber creates a fifty pace circle around themselves with the [Emboldened Hallow Ground] effect. The imbiber must overpower the will of each undead, in succession. Failure to overpower will result in the user’s mind joining the undead’s collective. Success will put those undead affected under the user’s control.

Embolden had been the most dangerous modifier essence within the lab for a long time. Potions like this had usurped it, bringing in a new age of secretive alchemy. According to the description, he would need to overpower the will of undead creatures. Depending on how many undead there were, the challenge would be greater. The problem was the failure condition. If he didn’t overpower those undead things, he would join whichever necromancer had created them.

That’s where the Dreamwalk came in.

The Dreamwalk was a unique space among unique spaces. Rules didn’t matter here. There was a time where it had a will of its own that overpowered both Tresk and Theo. The marshling was the first one to rise above, and the alchemist followed closely after. They now had near perfect control of it, which hopefully meant that he could pull himself out of any simulated control of undeath.

Theo shrugged, feeling confident in his abilities. He imagined a single undead skeleton at first, making sure that the thing belonged to the Dreamwalk, instead of any specific deity. The creature shambled toward the alchemist, grasping at the air with bony hands.

Theo popped the glass stopper on the vial and downed the liquid within.

The imagined world went black. Theo stood with the undead thing in a blank arena. Without warning, he felt something assail his mind. Almost too late, he realized he needed to fight back without hesitation. The alchemist sent his will wide, smashing against that of the imaginary skeleton. Once that initial wave of willpower came crashing down, the skeleton’s will crumpled. The dark arena vanished in an instant, and the undead monster was now under his control.

Theo ordered the skeleton to move around the area before doing a little dance on a rock. He nodded with approval, finding that a single skeleton wasn’t enough to overpower his will. But there was an important lesson to be had. If his willpower wasn’t extended already, his defenses were low. Anything that sought to perform an attack based on willpower could snake into his mind without warning.

“Note to self… practice keeping that barrier up.”

Two skeletons appeared as the first vanished. They limped across the street, jaws snapping as they reached for Theo. He downed another potion, this time with his expressed willpower extended, and crushed the will of them both in one fell swoop. They fell under his control an instant later, right after the darkened arena vanished.

“What are you doing?” Tresk asked, coming to sit on a rock.

“Yeah, what are you doing?” Alex honked.

Theo explained his plan to increase his willpower by exploiting this potion. Tresk thought it was a stupid idea at first, but then she read the description. It reminded her of physical training for adventurers. The training they did presented no change to their levels or experience, but they got stronger. After that, she cheered the alchemist on as he summoned five skeletons. He repeated the process until he found his breaking point.

A small army of skeletons shambled through the streets of Broken Tusks, arms outreached and bones clattering. Theo quaffed his potion, encircling the eighty undead creatures within his grasp. His willpower spread out like a bubble, soaking through each skeleton. It seemed like a simple thing at first. But once one skeleton resisted the effects of his willpower, another followed suit. Those he had already dominated were freed from their prison, sending a shiver through the alchemist’s body. The wave of undead willpower came crashing down on him like a tidal wave, sweeping any sense of self away.

Theo gasped for air as Tresk slapped him in the face. He was laying on his back, his tail painfully bent under his body. While he had slammed his head on the cobblestone street, he didn’t feel the pain. The Dreamwalk saw to that.

“Guess that’s your limit,” Tresk said, patting Theo on the head. She pumped her fist in the air. “I didn’t even help you! It’s time to go beyond!”

Theo pumped his own fist into the air. “Yeah!”

Tresk had a way of getting people riled up. Theo was good at avoiding that infectious nature, but he allowed himself to fall into that contagious fervor.

“Do eighty again!”

“Okay! I’m gonna do it!”

This was where the Dreamwalk came in as a requirement for this plan to work. While Theo was working with an amount of undead creatures he couldn’t control, he didn’t feel any change in his personal willpower. But when he fought, and lost, against a group that he couldn’t handle, he felt the needle move. It wasn’t a slight move, either. The alchemist tried dominating eighty undead again, and easily beat them. The number went up to eighty-five the next time, which he lost to.

The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

This process repeated itself for the entire night. Tresk kept her fight nearby, selecting another giant horned snake to battle. When Theo lost his battle with the undead, she came over to slap him in the face. In reality, she was resetting the conditions within the Dreamwalk to release him from the Dreamwalk’s control.

When dawn drew closer, Theo felt exhausted. He had never stepped into the Dreamwalk tired, and left tired. This would be the first time that happened. But the number of undead he could control had skyrocketed from eighty to four-hundred. There wasn’t even enough room within Broken Tusk to accomplish this, forcing them to change the scene to a wide-open field. Even then, it was hard to cram all those undead into a fifty pace area. Proper placement was required to get them all in.

“Do you feel more willful?” Tresk asked.

Theo could feel Tresk’s intentions. She wanted to do the training herself, but had allowed him to be the first person to test it. But he felt as though his willpower had expanded to unthinkable levels in a single night. Where it was a puddle before, it was now a duck pond.

“Do you want the truth?” Theo asked.

“Uh… duh.”

Theo thought about how to quantify the progress to her. But the amount of undead he could handle was a decent representation of how much he had improved. “By a factor of five. I think.”

“You’re five times more willful, huh?” Tresk asked, tipping her head back and barking a single laugh. “Yeah, we’re doing this every dang night.”

There were likely diminishing returns with this technique, but she was right. There was no reason not to exploit it. Theo wanted to test his new core within the Dreamwalk, but waited. It would be better to show off how far he had come in the real world. Tresk announced that dawn was approaching shortly after, and she pulled them out of the Dreamwalk. Instead of dashing downstairs, she stared at him for some time with a big smile on her face. Her excitement for the improvement bled through the core. She wasn’t even trying to hide it.

“Stuff your face quickly. I wanna see you move some big rocks.”

Theo, Tresk, and Alex went downstairs to get some food. Rowan and Sarisa had already prepared a simple meal of pozwa eggs and wheat bread. The alchemist ate as quickly as he could, finding the act to be annoying more than anything. While he was excited to test the core, he liked to sit and chat while he enjoyed his meal. This was something that Sarisa picked up on.

“You’re in a rush.”

“We did some wacky stuff,” Tresk said, cackling. “Theo is eager to test it.”

“Clearly.”

Tresk actually waited for Theo to be done before heading out. She joined him, walking out onto the streets of Broken Tusk to find an appropriate boulder. They found one near the road, stuck in the ground to the south of the Herbalist’s Workshop. The marshling was jumping up and down, cheering him on.

“Ready?” Theo asked.

“Ready!”

Theo invoked his Earth Sorcerer’s Core, focusing on the large stone with his willpower. He willed it to move up, neglecting to impart a command of ‘slowly.’ The boulder shot into the air, slipping from his will as it rocketed skyward. Half of the alchemist’s mana vanished in an instant.

“Ah, crap!” Tresk shouted.

Theo squinted against the sky, searching for the errant rock in the air. Feathers ruffled next to him as Alex took fight. He watched her soar, scanning the skies for her target. She kept going on until she was a tiny dot against the pale blue sky.

“I got it!” Alex said. “Oof! That’s a heavy rock!”

Tresk and Theo watched the sky as the goose descended with the rock. She placed it gently on the ground, avoiding any serious problems.

“When did you get so strong?” Theo asked. The boulder was larger than Tresk.

“I’ve been working out,” Alex said, preening.

Theo cleared his throat. “Clearly.”

“That was awesome!” Tresk said, rushing over to hug Alex. “You’re the strongest goose in the entire world!”

“I know.”

“Hey Theo, let’s try that again. This time with less danger.”

Theo nodded, turning his attention to the stone once again. This time, he eased his will onto the rock. Mana seeped from his soul, but he made sure that wasn’t going wild either. The boulder rocked to one side, then rose into the air. The alchemist held it there with his will, finding that the hardest part of this was keeping it from shooting into the air. Maintaining a steady stream of willpower and mana was more difficult than keeping the stone aloft.

“Great job, Theo,” Tresk said, patting him on the back.

“What are you guys doing?” Salire asked, jogging down the street to see what all the excitement was about.

“Levitating boulders,” Theo said, moving the rock through the air. “Pretty cool, huh?”

“Oh, that’s neat,” Salire said, staying at a healthy distance. “What was all that shouting about?”

Tresk and Theo shared a look. “Nothing,” they said in unison.

Theo ran the situation down for Salire. She thought it was dangerous, but wouldn’t argue with the results. The group talked about how far the power could be taken, all while the alchemist tossed the rock around.

“So, the only reason you’re so good at this is because of some hidden attribute?” Salire asked, tapping her chin. “That sounds like cheating.”

“Yeah, but no one has stopped us,” Tresk said, rubbing her hands together and giggling.

“How far does the power go? Can you pull the stones from buildings?” Salire asked.

Theo dropped the boulder, turning his attention to the foundation of the Herbalist’s Workshop. His mana wove with his will, but nothing happened. It wasn’t as though the will within the seed core was fighting against him. It just wouldn’t work.

“Nope.”

“Very interesting,” Salire said, withdrawing a notebook and jotting something down. “So, what was the point of this?”

Theo thought for a second, almost forgetting what the point of the new core. “To increase my will. And move some soil around in the town.”

“Nice. Do you need the lab today?”

Salire always had an academic attitude to most things. She was also ‌very curious about how stuff worked, especially with the things Theo was doing.

“Just leave one still for me. I’m going to occupy myself with this new core for most of the day. But there’s a Khahari flower I want to distill.”

“Yes!” Tresk shouted. “The new poison flower? The deadly one?”

Theo nodded. “That’s the one.”

“Excellent,” Tresk said, steepling her fingers. “Tell me when you are done, alchemy man. Come, my minion.”

“Yes, master,” Alex honked, waddling after Tresk as she walked away.

Once Tresk was out of earshot, Salire turned to Theo. “Is she evil?”

“Kinda.”

Theo chatted with Salire for a bit, but he wanted to get over to Ziz’s place. The half-ogre would be impressed with his new powers. He just knew it. It was a good chance to test the core on a wide scale, as well. The alchemist departed, bidding farewell to Salire as he walked north toward the quarry.

There was still the problem of his free pick. Theo hadn’t found a skill that stuck out to him. He could pick something for his new core, but that seemed wasteful. Both his Alchemy and Herbalist cores just got new skills, so he had already picked the best ones from those lists. The alchemist reflected on his new pick as he walked to the quarry, laughing at himself for picking something that required so much work. At least it fed into his other cores by increasing his willpower. Once he got it to a decent level, it would be worth the effort.

Theo passed through the various parts of town, checking on Banu’s Large Farm as he went. They had the Throk’s Weed problem under control, and had true zee growing in a few fields. Thankfully, the old farmer had taken the random mutation in stride, seeding it into a few fields.

The alchemist approached the quarry, finding Ziz and his boys back at full strength. They were mining the hell out of that quarry, pulling more stones than ever from the pit.

“Hey!” Theo shouted down into the pit. Ziz looked up, shielding his eyes. He smiled when he spotted the alchemist. “Wanna see something cool?”

“Of course!” Ziz shouted up, rushing over to the ladder. “What is it?”

Theo smiled down at the stonecutter. “The ability to reshape the land.”