Theo pinched a fluffy, sand-colored piece of Khahari Cotton between his fingers. Despite the spines underneath the blossomed flowers, this plant felt much more inviting than the one that produced the Venom property. That small, cotton producing bush had many more flowers than the Night’s End plant. It was a fact the alchemist was grateful for.

The plants Theo had bought from the trader weren’t in their proper spots yet. He could place the cactus and cotton bush within a greenhouse without issue, but had concerns about the Night’s End plant. The alchemist turned away from his Experimental Garden Plot, plucking the tiny seeds from the underside of the cotton. He pulled those into his inventory before making his way back to the Newt and Demon. The scent of something foul wafted from the lab upstairs.

“What is going on?” Theo asked, waving his hand to clear away the thick smoke. Alise was coughing in the corner. The alchemist popped a window open, allowing some of the smoke to escape.

Once it was clear, Alise could finally speak. There were tears in her eyes from the acrid vapors, and she had a guilty look on her face. “Sorry. Tried to do something I wasn’t ready for.”

“No kidding,” Theo said, approaching the offending still. It was hard to tell what had gone wrong, but the piece of alchemy equipment was covered in a layer of soot. “Did you try something out of your reach?”

“Yeah. I won’t make that mistake again.”

“Interesting reaction,” Theo said, running his finger through the soot. He could feel that the resulting reaction was alchemically inert. There were no traces of what this once was left behind. “What were you going for?”

“Hallow the Soil. But the Suffuse step threw me off.”

Theo withdrew his knife, scraping some of the crud from the side of his still to place in a glass vial. He stowed it in his inventory, not sure if he would ever have a use for it. Being a packrat meant filling one’s inventory with as much crap as possible. He placed the Custom Drogramathi Iron Still back where it belonged, having shoved that in his inventory before coming in. The alchemist then withdrew some Cleansing Scrub and cleaned away the equipment tainted by that soot.

“I’m really sorry about that,” Salire said.

“We need a list of rules on the wall. Rule one… Alchemy is messy,” Theo said, winking at his apprentice.

Salire nodded, regaining her confidence. “I was close, though. It almost worked. Maybe I could get a hand?”

Theo agreed, but wanted to start the small batch of the Khahari Cotton first. While his plan was to use this stuff for textiles, it didn’t hurt to investigate the properties first. He shredded several bulbs of cotton by hand, reserving one for his Reagent Deconstruction skill, and filled the still with enough Enchanted Water for the batch. The alchemist held the single fluffy piece of cotton in his palm, injecting it with Drogramathi mana and watching as it went up in smoke. The scent it produced was strange. Sand didn’t really have a smell. But the smoke it produced smelled like sand.

“Strange,” Theo said. The property revealed was Veil, and he couldn’t wait to test it out. He carried the handful of Primal Veil Essence to a Dimensional Storage Crate, dumping a few other items in while he was there. He turned back to Salire. “Let’s get working on those potions.”

While Salire could create the base components for the Hallow the Soil potion, she couldn’t complete the batch through the last step. She had ruined a good amount of the essence, but it hardly seemed to matter. The Plant Golem managing the caves worked day and night to make sure they had enough truffles to choke a dragon.

At least the Sow property was easy enough to source. Theo’s Small Farm had been destroyed before, but it didn’t bother the golems. When he ordered them back to work, replanting everything that had been lost, they did so without complaint. As the alchemist worked on preparing the Hallow the Soil potion, he thought about expanding that farm. He had picked every seed from the Khahari Cotton, giving him enough for a starter crop. As long as he kept a sample of the cotton within his Experimental Garden, he would be fine.

Theo and Salire worked for several hours on a batch. The alchemist found the act of working on potions meditative, and fell into a groove with his apprentice. Her skill with the art came from patience. Unlike Theo, who always wanted to run head-first into problems, she took a step back to evaluate what was going on before committing to anything. When she reached the same level as him, she would do great things. Even without being a champion.

“Come on,” Salire said, laughing as Theo sealed the last brewing barrel of Hallow the Soil. “Let’s see what the new essence does.”

Theo removed the flask containing his Refined Veil Essence, holding it up to the light to get a better look. The essence within was, unsurprisingly, sand-colored. It swirled with the glass container, seeming to move as though blown by those warm desert winds Khahar used to talk about. The alchemist took the ornate vial handed to him by Salire and began mixing. He added a unit of the essence, a single shaving of Drogramathi Iron, and a unit of Enchanted Water.

“Let’s see what we get,” Salire said, taking a healthy step back but watching with an intense gaze.

The mixture swirled within the vial, turning a transparent color of the same shade. Both Theo and Salire didn’t wait, they inspected the resulting potion.

[Potion of Veil]

[Potion]

Epic

Created by: Theo Spencer

Grade: Excellent Quality

Alignment:

Drogramath (Minor Bond)

Shield yourself from prying eyes.

Effect:

Imbibing this potion shields the drinker from unwanted attention, magical or otherwise.

This potion encases your soul in a thin veil. While it doesn’t make the imbiber invisible, it does make it less likely for anyone to notice them for any reason.

Mages performing scrying-style magical actions cannot detect you, unless their magic significantly overpowers the effect of this potion.

The description on the potion was beyond interesting. It was very specific with how the veil worked, stating that it absolutely didn’t make a person enter a hiding state similar to stealth abilities. Theo thought that this might have been the thing that Khahar wanted him to find from those Khahari traders. But there were still more properties on the cotton, and all of those on the cactus fruits.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

“I wonder if this works with that fairy potion,” Salire said, drumming her fingers on the table.

Salire was talking about the far sight potion. Theo had a decent idea of how the Fairy’s Cunning Potion worked. While it might help him use the far sight potion, he wasn’t confident it would protect him. Unless it guarded him from Soulslay, or Mindhunt actions it wouldn’t be worth the risk. Xol’sa had yelled at the alchemist enough to make him reluctant to use that potion again. But the ability to see far-away places was alluring. He wouldn’t deny that.

“I’m certain it would shield a person’s soul during the far seeing,” Theo said, picking the vial up and holding it against the light pouring from the windows. “But the thread that connects a person’s projected consciousness and their soul would be visible. I wouldn’t risk it in areas of high magic.”

“Ah. Theo learned his lesson,” Salire said, tapping her chin and nodding. “Curious!”

Theo clapped a hand on her shoulder and shook his head. “I’m going to check on my farm. The lab is yours.”

“Yes, sir!”

Before leaving the lab, Theo sent his senses wide. His will traveled through the lodestone network, where he found his Plant Golems working hard at the Small Farm. He took it a step further, sending his senses far to the north. The last time he had tried this, it was impossible without tunneling his will through Tero’gal. This time was different. The alchemist’s will spread far to the north with ease, connecting with the golems there in moments. One had been destroyed through an accident, but they were still going strong.

“Ah, that’s interesting,” Theo said, probing forward.

The golems had taken advantage of Theo’s increased willpower. The good folks in Gronro hadn’t moved the lodestone for a while, as it had gotten so far away as to be annoying. But with the increase in the alchemist’s willpower, their range had also increased. They were ranging farther to the north than he could have expected, and that ‌ led to another interesting fact. The Wanderer was making good on his promise. The necromantic energy in the area was lowering on its own. It became less persistent, and more willing to be removed by the various holy effects acting upon it.

Theo stopped by Miana’s ranch on his way to his Small Farm. She had let her creatures outside the graze. That included the wolves, which didn’t graze so much as they ran around and played. When she spotted him, she came over for a quick chat. Things were going well at the ranch. She was making money. People were happy with her products and trained monsters. Miana Kell’s life had turned around after being in an impossible situation.

Theo departed after chatting for a bit, making his way through the northernmost eastern gate. Right outside of that gate was his little farm filled with wheat. He approached the small building, which acted as a farmhouse and opened the door. Two adolescent marshling were sitting inside, nibbling on unprocessed wheat stalks. They looked up at the alchemist with wide eyes before sharing a horrified look with each other.

“Hello,” the biggest of the two said.

Theo blinked a few times, then shut the door. Marshlings were weird, a fact that came with living in Broken Tusk. He turned to the building, shoving cores into the wooden structure. The Small Farm, named Honky if you’re Hungry by Tresk, only had two fields at level 20. The alchemist hoped bringing it to level 30 would add at least one more field, as he didn’t want to get rid of his wheat. While his operation didn’t rival Banu and his Large Farm, it produced enough labor-free food to provide for the town. He sold it to Banu and Xam at rock-bottom prices, often never coming to collect. A few copper coins here and there just weren’t a concern.

The building rumbled as the farm expanded. Two little voices shrieked in terror from within the farmhouse. Theo was certain he heard one of them shout, “I’m being eaten alive!” He smiled to himself, kicking the side of the building a few times to get more shouts of horror. The alchemist then inspected the new upgrade option he was presented, finding it to be more than suitable. It was exactly what he was looking for.

[More FIelds]

What a Small Farm lacks in size, it makes up for with character. Adds an additional field to your Small Farm.

Theo selected that as his Level 25 upgrade. The two marshlings burst from the building, scurrying away into the hills. One paused at the top of the hill, making a few rude gestures.

“That’s our home!”

“Go live in the orphanage!” Theo shot back, reaching out with his will to rumble the ground beneath the child’s feet. It dashed off, screaming some more.

“You’re not very good with kids,” Tresk said, speaking into Theo’s mind.

“I’m great with kids,” Theo said, shoving more cores into the building.

“Most people don’t delight so much when they see a child running away in terror,” Tresk said.

Theo laughed, but didn’t respond. He watched as a fenced field appeared near his other two fields, sprouting from the ground like a plant. He continued expanding the building, sending it off in whatever direction seemed most suitable. The Scaling Expansion upgrade for the building came into effect turning the three fields of the farm into four. The last upgrade of the day appeared, and he read it.

[Persistent Water]

All fields require half as much water as before.

The upgrades were almost a second thought. Theo just needed more fields, rather than interesting upgrades. He selected the Persistent Water upgrade before inspecting the Small Farm.

[Small Farm]

[Honk if you’re hungry]

Owners: Theo Spencer

Faction: [Southlands Alliance]

Level: 30 (5%)

Rent Due: SUSPENDED

Expansions:

[Speed Planting]

[Enhanced Growth]

[Scaling Expansion]

[Drogramathi Cultivation]

[More Fields]

[Persistent Water]

Theo found one of his Dimensional Storage Crates he kept nearby for supplies, adding the Khahari Cotton Seeds. He accessed the nearby lodestone network, adding new instructions. The two new fields would house the Khahari Cotton, leaving the original two fields for the Earth Wheat. After fiddling with those settings for a few minutes, the alchemist noticed a group of people coming down from the wall, led by Luras. The alchemist waved as the half-ogre approached.

“Some kids said they were nearly eaten by a demon,” Luras grunted.

Theo shrugged. “I’m not sure how everyone doesn’t know who I am. I’m not a bad demon, Luras! I promise.”

Luras tried not to smile. But he did. “Are you scaring kids now?’

“They were holed up in my farmhouse,” Theo said, gesturing to the building. “Eating raw wheat. They were basically eating straw, which has to be a choking hazard.”

“You’re feeling smarmy today,” Luras said.

Theo waved the lingering concerns away. “They got scared when I upgraded the building.”

“And the earthquake?”

“Oh, check it out,” Theo said, reaching his will out to a section of dirt beneath Luras’s feet. He carved a square section out, just as he practiced, and held it together as he lifted.

Luras narrowed his eyes at Theo, hovering about three feet off the ground.

“Pretty cool, right?” Theo asked.

Luras grumbled. “Yeah. It is. Does it work on rocks?”

“Yep.”

“Can you throw one?”

“Uh-huh.”

Theo placed the cube of dirt back into the ground, then rooted around with his will to find a good rock. He found one that was roughly the size of his head and pulled it out with his core, pushing dirt away as it went to make the process easier. The gray stone hung in the air as the alchemist looked for a target.

“Can you get it over the river?” Luras asked, coming closer to stand next to the alchemist.

“Absolutely,” Theo said. He let his willpower and mana go wild, dumping everything he had into the rock. It shot through the air, swifter than an arrow, clearing the river with ease. “Hey, didn’t you come out here to yell at me for scaring the children?”

“Yeah. How big can you go?” Luras asked, gesturing to a boulder near the road. “Is that too big?”

“We’re just gonna have to find out, my dear friend.”