Theo’s Wisdom had grown to a point where he knew better than to punch a god in the face. It told him of the situation, and how far his new powers extended. They did not include harming the god in his own domain. The sin fell solely with Twist. As the alchemist’s strike was inches from Death’s blade, he feinted. Driving his leading foot into the ground, he spun to catch Twist in his masked face. But the masked elf didn’t feel the force of the blow. He was instead sent tumbling through the cracks in reality, cast down to the mortal plane.
The fight was over in a blink. If a mortal were to watch the exchange, they would have seen Theo appear alongside Death while Twist vanished.
“That was disappointing,” Death tutted.
Theo rolled his shoulders, flexing his wings. Energy lingered in Death’s realm, but it was hard to detect the origin. He realized it was the energy of something that had once been here, but had since been removed. So Kuzan was still up to his old tricks by being a general pain in the ass. The alchemist should have expected this, but he no longer had to do it alone. He reached out. A moment later, Khahar stood at his side, answering the call of the Dreamwalker to the Arbiter.
“Well, you’ve been naughty,” Khahar said, crossing his arms. “Have you already spanked him?”
“Yes, he has been spanked. Thoroughly,” Theo said. “What was Twist doing in your realm?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Death shrugged. “He got here on his own. Just arrived when you got here.”
Khahar scanned the area, picking up on the same energy Theo felt. “Don’t start, Kuzan. Things were going well.”
“Have they stopped going well?” Death asked, remaining motionless the way he always was. “I thank you for sending that interloper away. You have my eternal gratitude.”
There was nothing more the duo could do. Theo nodded to Khahar, and they traveled together to the Arbiter’s Realm. It hadn’t changed at all. Aside from the residents. Like Tero’gal, Khahak had become a Throneworld. Nearly one-million people now called this place home. And the central spires were bustling with activity. Fully formed people of all races did their own thing. They headed from place to place, living their lives as though this new reality was just fine.
“Put your wings away,” Khahar said. “People are staring.”
“They’re just wings.” Theo gave them a good flap. “I don’t think they even do anything.”
Khahar shook his head, pulling Theo through space. They appeared in a sprawling city along a coastline, overlooking waves that battered a rocky shore. The sky was clear today, the sun hanging at high noon. Compared to the towns in Tero’gal, this place was built up a lot more. But the alchemist didn’t have cities like this before the realms were removed. His people built everything they had, unlike here.
“Balkor is here,” Khahar said, unable to stop the smile from spreading across his face. “He wasn’t happy at first. But, what choice does he have?”
“What about Zagmon?” Theo asked.
“That’s hard to say. We’ve had a few Zagmoni Dronon, but that’s it.”
The wings on Theo’s back faded. He felt the power granted to him by the core go with it. He couldn’t shake the feeling that Zagmon wasn’t gone, but he couldn’t do anything about it unless he broke the rules. At least the rules were being enforced this time. Unlike the way things were, they could do something about people being jerks. But Death seemed to understand those rules better than anyone, exploiting someone like Twist to do his bidding. Well, Twist was now tumbling back to the mortal realm. With any luck, his passage back to the heavens was blocked.
“It couldn’t have been easy for Twist to make it to Death’s Realm,” Theo said, speaking his thoughts aloud.
“He could have used the Bridge, but I think Uz’Xulven is taking her new job more seriously.”
“Because if she doesn’t, she has to be a normal person.” Theo chuckled. “I think she lucked out more than any of us. I haven’t used the Bridge since it was changed, but she gets to keep it. That’s nice of our new managers.”
“She’s more of a custodian now, but I think she’s enjoying her position.”
Theo let a silence settle in between them. There were a few people in the wind that he wanted to know about, but there was one among them that made him concerned. “What is Fenian doing?”
“His job,” Khahar said, revealing no additional information. “I think there are a few things on the mortal plane that need to be sorted. Thankfully, he has access to the Bridge.”
“So, have you detected my silly attributes?” Theo found his mind wandering from the topic. There was a lot to do back in Broken Tusk, and a lot of that had to do with changing cores to be aligned with his realm.
“What happened?” Khahar asked.
Theo explained his situation. How he exploited his potions and sent his attributes to stupid levels. Khahar listened with interest, nodding along as the alchemist spoke.
“Impressive. How many more attributes can you get?” Khahar asked.
Theo smiled, nodding to himself. “That depends. What do you think will happen when I change my Drogramath Alchemy Core to a Tero’gal Alchemist Core? Will the potions I create count as new potions?”
Khahar laughed. “You weren’t happy enough being this overpowered? You gotta reach for more?”
Theo shrugged. “Why not? You were a walking god.”
Khahar took a moment to think about it, eventually shrugging. “It might work. I can remember one example from the past where crafters earned world-firsts after getting aligned cores. It depends on how close the old potions are to the new ones.”
“Got it. I think Tero’gal will have more to say about what my new potions look like than me.”
“Yes,” Khahar said, looking up as though meeting the eyes of his world. “I’ve noticed my world has become willful. Almost as though it judges me.”
“Right? Like… get off my back, planet. I’m doing my best.”
Khahar gave a brief tour of his world before Theo departed. There weren’t many changes, because… Yeah, Khahar had an idea this would happen. The alchemist had wondered why Khahak was a sprawling realm with cities dotting the landscape. He was preparing for an influx of real people. It was useless getting mad about it. Khahar had a way of keeping information to himself. Sometimes to protect others, and other times for selfish reasons. Theo was just happy to be here, standing with an old friend.
The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.
“I think my attribute sickness is just about gone,” Theo said, shaking Khahar’s hand. “Thanks for the tour.”
“No problem. Ah, the timescale is going to change soon. Forgot to tell you.”
“To what?” Theo asked. The old timescale was five minutes on the mortal plane to twenty-four hours in the heavens.
“One minute to an hour,” Khahar said, nodding. “The system is adjusting based on the new organization in the heavens. It’ll reduce to one minute to a half-hour later, and perhaps another reduction.”
“Thanks for the tip,” Theo said, allowing himself to slip through the cracks. “See ya!”
Theo landed in his bed, sucking in a breath. As expected, his sickness was gone. Rowan held something that looked suspiciously like an adult diaper. Sarisa grabbed at his pants, ready to reveal his bare ass and shove the diaper on him. The alchemist sprung from the bed, pivoting around the pair in a heartbeat. Before they could react, Sarisa was on her butt and Rowan wore a diaper on his head.
“What!” Rowan shouted, stumbling and falling over.
“I think I fractured my butt bone,” Sarisa groaned, rubbing her butt. “Did you put points into Dexterity, you butthole?”
It was impossible to hold back his laugh. Theo patted them both on the head, handing Sarisa a potion before he headed for the door. “Come on. I wanna go to the temple.”
Theo headed directly for the stone temple they had built. As expected, the dedications for the fallen gods had been removed. People prayed in the alcoves, speaking to ascendants who could no longer hear their prayers. The energy in the building was unmistakably that of Tero’gal. It permeated the air, filling the temple with a deep sense of comfort. The alchemist turned, jerking his head toward the altar on the far side.
“Are you gonna kill us?” Sarisa asked. “You know we only joke around because we love you.”
“I’m aware,” Theo said, jerking his head again. “Get up there. Both of you.”
Rowan shared a look with Sarisa. Theo didn’t need his Wisdom to know what they were thinking. “No, you can’t take me,” he said. “Up on the altar, I need to infuse your cores with power from Tero’gal.”
“Why?”
“Because you’re going to lose your connection to Baelthar. Likely soon.”
This was the best path forward. Theo had a few days left in his Drogramathi cores, but everyone in town only had hours. Perhaps less. The temple was a nexus of power from the heavenly worlds, and was thick with Tero’gal’s energy. If there ever was a time for him to test if this worked, this was it. Rowan and Sarisa ascended to the altar, standing and shuffling their feet on the white stone.
Theo pressed his hand into Rowan’s chest. “Your only aligned core is Baelthar Shadowstalker’s Core, right?” Theo could feel the fading energy of the ogre ascendant. It was like a weak pulse in the neck of a dying person.
“Yeah, but my skills haven’t been working lately.”
The energy from Tero’gal flowed through Theo. He acted as a conduit, infusing Rowan’s core with his own energy. When he filled it to the top, he could feel it drinking. It sucked the energy down like a khahari finding an oasis in the desert. He filled it again, and it drank.
“I don’t feel so good, boss,” Rowan said, swaying on the spot.
“Take a seat,” Theo commanded, kneeling to continue the process. Baelthar’s energy was fighting back, but there wasn’t enough of it to maintain a chokehold on the core. The alchemist realized he was missing a piece of the puzzle mid-way through the process. He reached out to his world, feeling the brush of recognition against his mind. It wasn’t enough to fill someone’s core with energy. When the ascendants made cores, they had influence over what that core did. Unlike those ascendant cores, the Throneworld would design these new ones.
Tero’gal didn’t talk directly to Theo. Instead, it sent ideas and thoughts. Concepts for core designed flooded into the alchemist’s mind. Tero’gal was a peaceful world. It didn’t want to focus on combat. Rowan’s existing core made this easy. The Baelthar Shadowstalker’s Core focused on controlling effects. He used a bow most of the time, but his skills were based around ensnaring enemies, rather than killing them. This made the Throneworld happy. It wove a new core.
Rowan’s eyes lit up with purple-white energy. His back arched as his core was remade where it was. The touch of Tero’gal graced him as he was remade. The half-ogre lost consciousness.
“We’re all gonna die!” Sarisa shouted, jumping from the raised altar and heading for the door. People looked up from their prayers, glaring at her.
“He’s alive,” Theo said. “And he has a new core.”
Sarisa stopped at the door, looking back to her brother. Rowan groaned, shaking his head.
“Yeah, that sucked.” Rowan cracked his neck, rolling his shoulders and stretching. “It worked, though.”
Sarisa approached with caution, padding over as though Theo would pin her to the altar and force her to accept the new core. “You good, brother?” she asked.
“Yeah, I’m fine. Got a new core with new skills… Oh, this is a good one.” Rowan’s eyes lit up. “I’m happy. Thrilled!”
“Share it!” Sarisa said, all-too-eager to see the result.
“Here we go,” Rowan said.
[Tero’gal Shadowstitcher Core]
Epic
Ranger and Control Mage Core
Bound
4 Slots
Level 25 (0%)
A ranged controller core based on the concept of ensnaring opponents in shadow.
Effect:
+10 Dexterity
“All my control abilities changed,” Rowan said. “I can shoot my arrows into a person’s shadow and pin them in place. My stealth ability still works, but I can also jump into anyone’s shadow that I’ve marked.”
Theo nodded with approval. It had elements of tracking-style classes, but had more to do with a person’s shadow. The concept of shadows and the manipulation of those shadows was ingrained in Tero’gal, so that made sense. The elements of control from the Control Mage class just made it even better.
“Do me next,” Sarisa said, laying on the ground. “I’m ready.”
Theo shook his head, pressing his hand into her chest. The amount of energy stored within Tero’gal was vast. More than the reserves of power, it seemed eager to craft a new core. He once again acted as a conduit, allowing his world to remake her core. Sarisa had a few cores, but only her Baelthar Guardian’s Core was aligned. The Throneworld understood the half-ogre woman’s desire to keep her stealth skills. It also appreciated her guardian-style class, creating something interesting.
Sarisa’s back arched as Tero’gal’s power flowed through her. Light flooded from her eyes as her core was remade. She stopped spasming and rested on the hard floor of the temple. A few tense breaths later and she opened her eyes.
“Oh, yeah!” Sarisa shouted. “That’s what I’m talking about.”
[Tero’gal Gloom Bulwark Core]
Epic
Guardian and Illusion Mage Core
Bound
4 Slots
Level 28 (0%)
A stealthy guardian based on the concepts of surprising enemies and surviving fights using their powerful tower shields.
Effect:
+15 Vigor
Innate increase to the durability and effectiveness of shields.
“Why does she get more attributes?” Rowan asked, folding his arms.
“Suck it, loser!” Sarisa shouted.
“You need to stop learning phrases from Tresk,” Theo said, pinching the bridge of his nose.
“All my skills evolved. I got one called Unseen Bulwark that confuses enemies when they strike my shield.” Sarisa jumped to her feet, jumping up and down. “This is awesome! Someone fight me!”
As Sarisa and Rowan sparred in the temple, Theo created a message to the entire Southlands Alliance.
[Theo]: Everyone with an aligned core please report to the temple in Broken Tusk. The power within your core will fade by the end of today. If you do not report to the temple, it is almost guaranteed any future cores will be less powerful.
The tide of people that flooded into the temple came almost immediately. Good thing Alise arrived shortly after to usher them into an orderly line.