The Great Shards were more than just giant crystals that looked pretty. They were massive lodestones that worked to stabilize the world’s energy. Without them, the ascendants could do whatever they wanted to rewrite the rules of the system. Bend them, anyway. They soaked mortal energy, preventing the worst of the dungeons from happening, and acted as a regulatory system. With them gone came the thrones, which was the system’s way of putting things into balance.

Xol’sa left Theo with the books, not willing to risk his life anymore. To pull the shards back, they only needed a snare and a beacon. The snare would allow the shard to travel through the void, and the beacon would tell it where to go. That part was simple. The next step wasn’t. Each shard was coded to a region. They would need to figure out which shard went where before even attempting to bring them back.

Which meant Theo had to go to the creepy elf world again. He shivered just thinking about it. As he had memorized the contents of the books, he left them there and descended the stairs. Xol’sa and Zarali were once again going over their plans. He almost didn’t want to ask.

“After the wedding, I’ll need your help,” Theo said. “I’m guessing you can make what I need.”

“Only after you determine where to put the damned crystals,” Xol’sa said, crossing out a large section on a piece of parchment. Zarali gave him a scandalized look. “We don’t need music.”

“We most certainly do.”

“If you can find a single man, woman, child, or monster within the alliance that can hold a tune on anything, I’ll concede the point.”

“Fine.”

Theo slipped toward the stairs, ready to head out. The couple argued, and he snuck away without issue. Breathing a sigh of relief, he headed through the portal and back into Broken Tusk. He counted the things he still needed to do off. Get the shards to save the world or whatever, save Xol’sa’s people, upgrade some buildings, and fix his alchemy process. He had no desire to travel to the creepy world today, so turned his attention to his buildings instead. Something fluttered in his chest as he leaned against the monolith for support.

“He has that look in his eyes,” Sarisa said, emerging from the shadows.

“I think he’s having an episode,” Rowan said, emerging to support Theo. “Are you good?”

Theo clutched at his chest, feeling a strange sense flow over him. It was as though someone was cackling far in the distance. A mad cackle that sent a chill up his spine. A moment later, a message appeared with some useful information.

[Core Evolution]

Your [Zaul Shadowspirit Core] has evolved. You cannot accept or decline this evolution.

“That was unsurprising,” Theo said, taking a steady breath. “Oh, you’re so original, Zaul.”

Theo inspected his new core. This was completely unsurprising.

[Shadow’s Spirit Core]

Unique

UNDEFINED Core

Bound

2 Slots

Level 9 (99%)

Sneaky, Sneaky! Yes, you guessed it. I have infiltrated the ranks of the true gods. Brace yourself, Theo.

Innate Skills:

[Spirit Weaving]

Effect:

[Shadow Wrap]

“Never change, you insane man,” Theo said, shaking his head. Instead of doing anything interesting with the core’s change, he just added some text that put him on edge.

“What happened?” Sarisa asked.

“Zaul ascended to the new pantheon. He’s a true god, now. Sent me a creepy message through the description of his core… of all things.”

Theo unequiped the core, adding it to his inventory. Instead, he placed the Earth Sorcerer’s Core in its spot.

“What? Don’t want a god spying on you?” Rowan asked, laughing to himself. “No seriously, can you spy on me with the core you gave me?”

“I don’t think I can spy on you. But I haven’t put much effort into it. But when Zaul gives you a core, you should always assume he did so for some purpose. I’m not sure the years have treated him well.”

Trusting Zaul was getting harder by the day. The core he gifted Theo was meant to keep him out of the prying eyes of the ascendants. With them gone, he didn’t have to worry. The gods could likely pierce the veil it created, even if it had other uses. For now, he would take it slow. Tresk would refuse to remove her evolved cores, so she could be the tester. For now, he wanted to take his mind off of everything by messing around with his buildings.

“Which building do we like the least?” Theo asked, considering which to test on.

“The manor,” Sarisa said, pursing her lips. “No, just kidding. Wait. Stop.”

“We love the manor,” Rowan said, jogging after Theo. “My bed is so comfy.”

“This is just a test. I doubt anything bad will happen,” Theo said, approaching the exterior wall of his manor. “Why not? If it burns down or something, we can sleep elsewhere. But we can’t test this on critical buildings like the smelter or the mine.”

“You’re going to align the building with your realm, right?” Sarisa asked.

“With my Throneworld, yeah. Why not the manor first? Any aligned upgrade evolutions would be normal. Right?”

“How would we know what’s normal with you?” Sarisa shook her head. “You always do weird crap no one can understand.”

Theo let the power of Tero’gal flow through him, soaking into the wall of the manor. Sarisa was right, though. There was no proof this would even work, only his intuition. But the way the building soaked the energy, adding it to the seed core, told him this would work. The amount of energy the building wanted was immense. A conduit formed between the alchemist and the building, siphoning that power and adding it to the core. The building rocked, swaying from side-to-side as though drunk off the power.

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“That’s completely normal. Yep.” Rowan walked to the other side of the street, as though the building would topple over at any moment.

“I have faith in our fearless leader,” Sarisa said, hands on her hips as she stared up at the manor defiantly. “It was an honor to serve you, sir.”

“Oh, stop being dramatic. The core is already soaked with Tero’gal energy. It just needs to be pushed over the edge.”

A system message appeared. Almost nothing about the building had changed. Theo read the message.

[Building Evolution!]

Your [Manor] has evolved into a [Tero’gal Manor].

The [Service Competence] and [Endless Comfort] upgrades have evolved.

“Well, it’s done,” Theo called back to Rowan. “You can stop cowering.”

“Really? Just like that?” Sarisa asked.

Theo inspected the building.

[Tero’gal Manor]

Owners: Theo Spencer, Tresk

Faction: [Southlands Alliance]

Level: 20 (13%)

Rent Due: SUSPENDED

Expansions:

[Tero’gal Dreamcloud]

[Expansive Gardens]

[Bonus Dining]

[Subtle Service]

Nothing special, as expected. The name of the building had changed, and some of the timber on the plaster exterior looked darker. Two upgrades had changed. He could also feel the connection the building had to his Throneworld. It was as though a string had been tied between the building and Tero’gal. Theo inspected the Tero’gal Dreamcloud upgrade.

[Tero’gal Dreamcloud]

Relaxing in your manor provides extreme comfort. Sleeping within your manor grants those without access to the Dreamwalk a localized, weaker version of that effect.

Oh, this was good. Rowan and Sarisa could experience the delight of the Dreamwalk. “Examine that Tero’gal Dreamcloud upgrade.”

“Oh, no. I’m sleeping outside,” Rowan said.

“You’re being such a baby!” Sarisa shouted. “I want to experience the nightmare of never having restful sleep again.”

“The sleep provided by the Dreamwalk is beyond restorative, it—”

“Nerd!” Sarisa shouted. “We get it. The Dreamwalk is cool.”

“For someone who accepted a Tero’gal core, you’re too afraid of the manor. This is perfectly safe,” Theo said, slapping the side of his manor. That didn’t convince Rowan. He moved on, inspecting the Subtle Service upgrade.

[Subtle Service]

Workers with servant-based cores will feel no fatigue while performing their tasks while within the manor while also gaining increased experience.

This was slightly better than the old one. It now made it so his ‘servants’ wouldn’t get fatigued while doing their duties. Theo didn’t know how useful that would have been for them, but it was there.

“That one doesn’t change your dreams,” Theo said. “Got a problem with it, Rowan?”

“No, that one is fine.”

“You’re such a baby,” Sarisa said, making a rude gesture at her brother. “So, what does this get us?”

Theo shrugged. We’re not at risk of losing the buildings because they’re not aligned.” Theo paused for a moment, looking toward the town square in the distance. “But if building cores can be aligned, so can town and kingdom cores.”

“You’re going to align the entire nation with your world, aren’t you?” Sarisa asked.

That was one option. Theo’s plan to move this entire region into his world wouldn’t be easy. Since his willpower exploit was cut off, it might be harder, but he had gained quite a lot of that. Likely enough to move it when he wanted. The only thing stopping him were the gods. But now there were rules. Rules that everyone seemed eager to follow. If his nation and his town were aligned with his world, he had a claim to bring them along. The way of life of those within the alliance would continue. Forever, if he had anything to say about it.

Theo had to be careful about the big steps he took from here on out. His original purpose as the Dreamwalker was to find holes in the rules and plug them. He had only taken one action aligned with his station so far by sending Twist back to the mortal realm. But moving an entire region went far beyond his station. He needed that connection.

“Yep. We’re gonna align an entire continent.”

“Is it really an entire continent anymore?” Rowan asked. “I mean, Fenian shredded it like tender wolf meat.”

“Call it a part of a continent, then.”

“I think I will.”

Theo lingered near his manor for a while before Salire came approaching from the distance. The traffic on the east-west road had been light today, making the alignment of the manor a quiet affair.

“I got the order in with Throk,” Salire said, offering a half-smile. “He was pretty mad.”

“Until you showed him the gold, right?”

“Until I showed him the gold,” Salire repeated with a nod. “What are you guys doing out here?”

“Aligning buildings with realms, apparently,” Rowan said.

“Not realms. Worlds,” Sarisa corrected.

“Oh, I don’t care, devil-woman!” Rowan shouted, looking at the building with more fear than ever. “You can get trapped in your own doomed dreamscape. I’m sleeping in the garden.”

“I think I missed a few things,” Salire said, looking pleasantly confused.

“We can align buildings to Tero’gal. I was thinking of trying the greenhouses next.”

“Oh. Interesting. What would that do?” Salire asked.

Theo shrugged. He really didn’t know, but they now had greenhouses that were producing too many reagents. The thought that the system could change the way greenhouses worked had entered his mind, but he had already checked and they were no different. Reagents were still growing at absurd rates, and there seemed to be nothing that would stop them. But the system wasn’t some dumb series of instructions that fired off. It was intelligent enough to put a stop to the exploits they had been using until now, and that might be one of them.

Since they had enough greenhouses, there was no reason not to try. Sarisa and Rowan returned to the shadows while Theo and Salire headed off to the greenhouses. They plucked all the plants from one building, treating it as a fresh start. The alchemist leaned against the building, pressing his hand into the side as he flooded it with Tero’gal energy. It took a while, but an interesting message appeared after a time as the building went semi-transparent.

[Building Evolution!]

Your [Greenhouse] has evolved into a [Tero’gal Greenhouse]. This is an aspected evolution, which requires further input.

Please select which known reagent you wish to align this building to:

Spiny Swamp Thistle Root

Flame Rose

…

The list went on, detailing every reagent Theo knew about. Evolving a greenhouse turned it into a building specializing in one reagent. The alchemist had to think about this for a moment, but a Wisdom of the Soul message appeared, extrapolating what he knew.

“The resulting reagents are going to be more pure,” Theo said. “But we can only put one reagent in each greenhouse.”

“That’s interesting,” Salire said, rubbing her hand on the building’s side. “I mean, do we have much of an option here? We can assume Tero’gal is smart enough to make herbalism and alchemy work together.”

“That’s a great point. Why don’t we go with our healing root first? It only makes sense,” Theo said.

Salire nodded her agreement. While aspects of alchemy had changed, his new Tero’gal Herbalist Core carried over the knowledge he had of reagents. All the properties Theo knew were still there. He selected the Spiny Swamp Thistle Root and stood back. The change within the greenhouse was immediate, the building visibly shrinking before them. After some rumbling, it calmed down. He inspected the resulting building.

[Tero’gal Greenhouse]

Owner: Theo Spencer

Faction: The Southlands Alliance

Reagent: Spiny Swamp Thistle Root

Level: 20 (29%)

“Where did the upgrades go?” Theo asked.

Salire shrugged, inspecting the building. “It still has a level. That’s weird.”

Entering the greenhouse, Theo was surprised to see only four plots. Salire had already withdrawn the reagent plants from her inventory and was planting them in the soil. Tero’gal was all about making quality potions, rather than large amounts. That was his thoughts on the matter, anyway. Time would tell if that was true. A golem lumbered through the threshold, scooting past Theo to inspect the new plant. It wasn’t happy with the way Salire had piled the soil and corrected it.

“He doesn’t think you did a good enough job planting that thing.” Theo tried not to laugh.

“Yes, I don’t think your golems like me. Should we change the other buildings?”

“No. I’d like to wait and see.”

Theo was thinking of the reagents he grew in his greenhouses as low-quality more as the days went on. He looked through the glass of the greenhouse, spotting a dreadful sight. Several people were carrying trellises covered in flowers down the road. Like a soldier on the eve of battle, the alchemist prepared himself for the coming events. Broken Tusk would have its first wedding soon enough.

“Hallow save us all,” Theo muttered, leaving the greenhouse.