Theo ran his stills for the rest of the day, flagging as his stamina drained to nothingness. He woke the next day to take breakfast with Tresk, ruminating over the power of the modified potions.

“I’m more than happy to test them out for you,” Tresk said with a wide grin.

He spent the last of his essence modifiers creating an assortment of healing potions for her. While the [Over Time], and [Surge] modifiers were immediately useful for her, the others were dubious‌. The worst was the [Solidify] essence modifier, which turned a [Lesser Healing Potion] into a semi-solid thing that felt vile in Theo’s hand.

[Lesser Healing Potion]

[Solidify]

[Potion] [Modified Potion]

Common

Created by: Belgar

Grade: Great Quality

A lesser healing potion. Drink to restore health.

Effect (modified):

Turns the liquid of the potion into a solid item, which can be removed from the vial. If eaten entirely, 45 health is restored. Eating small amounts of the solid will restore a proportional amount of health.

Tresk looked at the potion-jelly with a wary gaze. As it sat upon the table, she poked it, causing it to wobble in place. She grimaced and shook her head.

“You can keep that one,” Tresk said.

“Yeah, I don’t know if we can sell that one,” Theo said.

Theo began the fermentation process for the useful modifiers as he ate breakfast, inquiring with Tresk as to her plans for the day. As with most days, she sought to delve into the dungeon for levels and loot. It had been her holding pattern for some time, and now that the threat of the monster wave was done, she could go back.

The alchemist pinned his hopes on Throk’s work. The store would be well stocked for the day, but he wanted to get into more advanced potions. With more of Basic Drogramath Alchemy revealed, he knew the pressure vessel was the way forward. It would separate out the impurities of the essences, rendering them down to a superior form. He knew this was the way forward, but how it would change the potions was beyond him. His book simply stated that it would generate a more powerful form of the base potions.

Theo settled on delving into his reagent stores and creating fermentations for the [Over-time Modifier], [Surge], and [Decay]. Experimenting with the [Decay] modifier saw an interesting result with his standard [Basic Poison].

[Basic Poison]

[Poison] [Modified Poison]

Uncommon

Created by: Belgar

Grade: Great Quality

Coat your weapon to deal additional damage over time to an enemy.

Effect (modified):

Apply poison and decay to an enemy. Poison inflicts DOT damage and decay increases the effects of all poison damage.

The modifier would make the poison more potent, setting it apart from the minimally useful potion. Tresk swore that the poison was useful, but Theo couldn’t really see it. Potions that restored health or enhanced someone’s base stats seemed far more useful to him, but then again he was never an adventurer. He nodded to himself, remembering to defer to his companion’s superior judgment.

Azrug arrived early that day, entering the shop and ascending the stairs. He knocked gently on the door before entering, a sheepish smile playing across his face.

“How's it going, boss?” Azrug said, laughing. “Got some potions for me?”

Theo smiled, holding out a modified potion for the shopkeeper to take. “I do. I made a few modified potions, but I don’t have enough modifier essence to give you many.”

Azrug took the potion, rolling it over in his hands. “Very good stuff. These are rare, right?”

Theo shrugged. “That is your domain.”

“Well, my abilities have limits. I need to be within range of a trading hub for them to work properly, otherwise I just get a general sense for if something is worth a lot. I can feel that this [Surge] modified potion is worth at least double from the base.”

“Well, that’s not surprising. It has double the ingredients,” Theo said. “See if you can get more than double. 20 copper for the base potion… 40 for the modified seems too low.”

“I’ll pitch it at 50 copper,” Azrug said, shrugging. “I can’t think of a more fair deal.”

“How is your new plan going?” Theo asked.

Azrug brightened up a bit, coming to take a seat next to Theo. “Extremely well. I have a big plan. A long-term plan, and a short-term plan.”

Theo gestured for the shopkeeper to continue.

“I sent off for a [Loremaster] to identify this stuff for now,” Azrug said. “The word around town is that you’re taking an administration core, so I figure I’ll take a [Loremaster’s Core] when I get to 10.”

Theo raised his brow, nodding. “How quick are you leveling?”

“Quickly. I was talking to some traders the other day. This isn’t a normal setup. They were talking about working apprenticeships at shops for years to get experience. No one hands a level 1 shopkeeper a store and tells them to go wild.”

“We really are caught in an inescapable current, aren’t we?” Theo asked, sighing.

“You alright?” Azrug asked, his brow knitting tight. “You still seem kinda glum.”

Theo waved him off. “No, I’m fine. I’m just always thinking about how to steer us in the right direction.”

“You need to go with the flow. Accept your fate and just lay back,” Azrug said, reclining in his chair. “If everything is so perfect here, maybe you need to give in to the master plan. Relax.”

“You have a way of simplifying problems, Azrug,” Theo said, placing his hand on the shopkeeper’s shoulder. “I appreciate it.”

“Any time,” Azrug said. “Now, I need to organize all my crap downstairs. I found a [Dimensional Storage Crate].”

“Where did you find one?”

“Trader passed through town yesterday,” Azrug said.

“What? How do I keep missing these traders?” Theo asked.

“You’re always busy,” Azrug said, rising from his chair and descending the stairs without another word.

Theo sat there for a while, contemplating how busy he was. Even when he tried to take some time for himself, he ended up neck-deep in alchemy all over again. For him, it was always brewing potions or managing the town. The alchemist was snapped out of his thoughts by Azrug, coming back up to get his attention. A small family had arrived in town yesterday interested in property. Between the trader showing up and the travelers, this was a sign that the roads were in better condition. When he went downstairs, he was surprised to see a small family of Humans waiting for him in the shop.

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They were traveling from a small town north of Qavell, nestled near the Gora Sat mountain range. Instead of interviewing them in the stuffy lab, Theo beckoned for them to follow him through the town. It was a family of three. Gridgen Dev was the husband, a stocky man with a [Laborer’s Core]. The wife was as short as the man, bearing the same raven-black hair and icy demeanor. Her name was Sarna Their son was named Gasem, a slight boy with a shy personality. The boy had extra difficulty warming up to Theo, but he wouldn’t blame the child.

“You must have had issues on the road,” Theo said, smiling. Gasem cowered for a moment as the alchemist spoke.

“Gasem,” Gridgen said. “He’s not an actual demon. Are you?”

“No, I’m not,” Theo said, explaining what he knew of the various Demonic factions. He laid special emphasis on Drogramath being on the outside of the Demonic Pantheon. “How did you manage the road? I heard it was blocked.”

“The main road, aye,” Gridgen said. “We took the long way—through the forests south of Qavell.”

“Rough going,” Sarna said, shaking her head.

“Well, if you decide to settle here you’ll be the first Humans,” Theo said. “Our population is split between Marshlings and Half-Ogres.”

“We met a few,” Gridgen said, laughing. “Nothing we can’t handle. Our town traded with the Toora for years before the revolt.”

Theo didn’t want to know about the Toora revolt. He wanted to focus his mind on the southlands.

“Well, our walls are strong. We have weapons on the gates and we’re getting more weapons eventually,” Theo said. “What we lack is population growth, but there’s always room for more laborers.”

“Good,” Gridgen said. “We planned on settling in Rivers and Daub, but got word you had property for cheap.”

“Relatively cheap, I’m sure,” Theo said, smiling. Rivers and Daub was legendarily haughty and expensive.

“They wanted 50 gold at Rivers,” Sarna said, shaking her head. “Can you imagine? Who has 50 gold?”

The group passed by the center of town, Theo waving at those who greeted him. The friendly atmosphere brought young Gasem out of his shell. He smiled for the first time after spotting another child, waving sheepishly.

“Is it safe for him to run off with the other children?” Sarna asked.

“I don’t think there’s a more safe place for a child in all the southlands,” Theo said. “We have an active independent adventurer’s guild.”

“Independent?” Gridgen asked, raising his brows as the boy ran off to play. The group pushed further north, toward the farm.

“Yes, completely independent,” Theo said. “We get stipends from Qavell, but nothing related to the united adventurers in the other towns.”

Theo smiled as they approached Banu’s fields. They were all filled with budding crops. Stalks of Zee pushed through the ground, defying the logical growth time they once had. The family seemed excited that the town had its own food-production system, but the alchemist corrected them on that one.

“Zee is a big export right now, but I’m working on other sources. Currently, we subsist on the monsters,” Theo said.

Gridgen nodded. “I heard you have a dungeon here. That can be very lucrative.”

Theo smiled again, deciding it was too much information for them to know. Who would want to settle in a place that had 4 dungeons?

“You could settle here, if you like,” Theo said, gesturing to the wide, rocky expanse of the northern section of town. The lone house sitting along the road sat, smoke rising from its chimney. “Or south, near the tannery.”

“Well, I guess that brings us to a question. How much?” Gridgen asked.

Cutting out a small lot would cost Theo nothing. He’d already purchased the entire expanse leading toward the northern mountains for himself. The house seed cores he had were extremely cheap, relative to other seed cores. Shirking his typical charity-driven mind, he thought of a number that would please them. Something too cheap, and they might assume it wasn’t worth settling here. Too expensive, and they might pass.

“Could you afford 50 silver?” Theo asked.

Gridgen looked at his wife with a pained expression. “I’m afraid not.”

Perhaps the northlands were as impoverished as the southlands. It didn’t matter either way if they could toss half a gold his way, the thing he wanted wasn’t immediate money. As much as it pained him, the small family represented a future investment. People that he could get on the hook for future work.

“Well, that’s fine,” Theo said, gesturing to the road for them to follow. “Come with me.”

“Are you going to kick us out of town?” Sarna asked.

Theo laughed. “Absolutely not.”

They made their way to Perg’s tannery, talking about the amenities of the town. Theo stressed that no matter what happened, he would make sure they were sheltered and fed. But, his actual intention was to show them the termination of the road to the south. They looked over the slight rise of those hills. The hills that apparently contained metal.

“What experience do either of you have working the earth? Mining? Stoneworking?” Theo asked.

“I hauled stone for some time,” Gridgen said, nodding excitedly. “So did Sarna.”

“There’s copper and iron in these hills,” Theo said. “If you want to be a part of this town, you need to do more than survive. I’ve made it so anyone can make a wage here. I’ll give you property and a house seed core for free.”

“But you want us to mine,” Sarna said. Theo made a mental note that she was sharper than her husband. She didn’t miss a beat, catching on to the alchemist’s scheme immediately.

“I’ll speak plainly on this matter. I’ve offered other citizens better deals for business opportunities, but I don’t know you yet,” Theo said. “So, here’s my offer. Laid out plain. A home and property for your labor. I’ll pay you a standard wage to find the ore in the hills and offer you both cores to enter into a contract.”

“What kind of contract?” Gridgen said, drawing himself up. Even so, he couldn’t hide the excitement in his eyes.

“I’ll establish a mine, and you’ll both work it. You’ll share the position of mine foreman, conducting it however you like. When the mine is established, you’ll switch from a wage to a profit-share. I’ll pay you 10 percent of the value of all ore mined.”

The couple shared a shocked look.

“Forgive me if I’m overstepping my bounds, but that’s too generous,” Sarna said. “Even if the mine has low yields—”

“It won’t,” Theo interrupted. “The yield will be extremely high, with perfect quality ore.”

“Even worse,” Gridgen said, laughing. “Why give it to strangers? Why so much of the profit?”

“Because I need people,” Theo said. “If I sent everyone that came here to toil in the fields, this town would still be where it was when I found it. We set folks up for success here. Broken Tusk doesn’t deal in copper and silver. We deal in gold.”

“How can we say no?” Gridgen said, managing a weak shrug. He reached out his hand for Theo to shake, which he did.

“You can't,” Theo said, withdrawing a house seed core from his inventory. “I suggest we find a property near the southern road, so you can access the mine easily.”

They spent some time looking for a suitable place to put the seed core, settling on a plot south from Perg’s tannery. Theo helped them plant the core and feed it until the building sprung up from the ground. It was a sturdier building than most, squatter at the base than he’d seen before. The house seed cores seemed to reflect something of their owner, and this one was no exception. The alchemist transferred the property ownership and escorted the couple to find their child. Young Gasem was playing with Zan’kir’s kids as well as some Marshling children Theo had not seen before.

Throk got Theo’s attention as he watched the children playing a strange game involving smacking each other with sticks. The blacksmith grinned, gesturing to his work.

“Done,” Throk said.

The pressure vessel was absurdly big. It was as tall as Throk’s workshop and wide enough so that Theo couldn’t wrap his hands around it. Scattered on the side were ports labeled with charcoal scrawl in low Qavelli. The blocky characters designated the essence input, mote port, extraction port near the bottom, and refuse port at the very bottom.

[Custom Copper Pressure Vessel]

[Alchemy Equipment]

Rare

Created By: Throk

Pressure vessel used to refine essences through extreme pressure.

While the description was simple, the operation of the machine wasn’t. Throk went through it, showing the alchemist how to open the valves. A feature, which the Marshling claimed was advanced for his level, was that each artifice strapped to the copper tank was powered by the same mote port. Theo could feed it from one location, instead of having to power each individually. There was one problem. The vessel wouldn’t fit in his inventory.

“How are we gonna move this thing? There’s no way this fits in the lab,” Theo said.

“I don’t imagine it would,” Throk said, laughing. “We’ll round up some laborers. Mount it to the side of the lab.”

“Do you need some labor?” Gridgen asked, overhearing the conversation as he rounded up his son.

Gathering enough people to move the massive pressure vessel was a chore. Where Theo offered to pay them a wage, they refused. The farmers that pitched in had heads filled with recent memories about the crop’s sudden growth. The adventurers who helped had to only look at the walls for a reminder of the alchemist’s foresight in protecting the town. When the crowd finally gathered, it took 10 people to move the tank. They were those who had put most of their points into strength. When they set the behemoth down, the base of the frame settled into the ground and groaned ominously.

Theo settled his debt with Throk, paying for the materials and the man’s work. The components were rare enough to set the alchemist back 3 gold, but it was worth it. If Basic Drogramath Alchemy was accurate, it would pay for itself in short order. He thanked everyone for their help and bid them farewell, shooing them from the gravel yard.

Your dad’s pressure tank is done, Theo said, sending a message to Tresk.

Well, I guess I know what you’re doing for the rest of the day, Tresk said.

Theo rubbed his hands together, approaching the intimidating machine and producing a flask of essence from his inventory.