“What?” Tresk asked.

The Marshling had pilfered two extra servings of Xam’s strange stir-fry. She set the bowls out on the table, peering out of the window with suspicious eyes. The bowls were still steaming hot, a benefit of their shared inventory. Theo dug into his idly, rolling his mind of the possibilities. The next monster wave should be a few days off, not imminent. With the last wave finishing only 2 days ago, it felt way too soon. What’s worse, the crystal had shifted to a slightly darker color since last night.

“Highest on the suspect list? That dang wizard,” Tresk said, narrowing her eyes at Theo. “Never trust a wizard, Theo.”

Theo leaned back in his chair, letting out a breath. He doubted the level 20 [Planar Mage] could do much to harm the dungeon, or instigate a monster wave. If any spell caster were to blame, it would be Uharis. The Archmage of the Burning Eye arrived right before the monster wave, even providing the alchemist with a means to detect it. That was suspicious, but hardly proof. Theo would point to himself as the cause of the issue before anyone else, his knowledge of such magic severely lacking.

“Maybe,” Theo concluded with a shrug. “Seems like starting a monster wave hurts his cause, though. Xol’sa wants a place to live, away from the cults.”

“I’m distrustful of anything I can’t stab,” Tresk said. “If it doesn’t bleed, how can you understand it?”

“That’s fair enough,” Theo said, sipping his moss tea. “Instead of worrying about the cause of the problem, we should worry about bolstering our defenses.”

“Yeah, Fenian is still in town. Buy some guns,” Tresk said.

“I’m broke,” Theo said, withdrawing all 8 gold coins from his inventory.

Tresk grinned, reaching into her dimensional sack and placing a pile of gold on the table. By Theo’s count, there were nearly 30 gold coins in the stack. She had been hoarding gold, but it wasn’t a surprise. The adventurers were making a lot of money from the monster waves, receiving a similar bonus per wave. The alchemist didn’t want to think about it, but the waves were generating an absurd amount of revenue.

“Everyone is getting rich, huh?” Theo asked.

The alchemist summoned his mayor’s screen, tabbing over to the financial tab and sorting everyone by money earned. Theo was on the top, although his income was almost equal to his expenditures. Aarok came second, although the interface made a note about the money belonging to the adventurer’s guild. Tresk came next, and a gulf separated the top earners with the rest of the town. Even Ziz’s stoneworking business lagged them, coming in at 20-some gold for the last 30-day period.

“Not that rich, I guess,” Theo said.

“Rich enough to get new guns,” Tresk said.

The pair sat there, theorizing to no end about the source of the problem. Theo was reserved that they would never understand, but Tresk pinned the blame on everyone she could. She listed off gods that might be at fault, but none of that lined up with what the alchemist understood. Their conversation was cut short when a system message jumped into the middle of their vision.

[Aarok]: Theo report to the square.

“At least he didn’t say not to panic,” Theo said.

“Need an escort?” Tresk asked.

Theo felt a twinge in his mind that he might need her blades. Despite the message appearing in text, containing no emotional information from Aarok, he knew something was up. They departed from the Newt and Demon immediately, making their way to the square. The alchemist’s new combination of slightly increased [Vigor] and [Dexterity] saw him up the hill quicker than ever. He couldn’t hope to keep Tresk’s pace, but she stuck to shadow-jumping, anyway.

In the distance, near the black monolith marking the center of town, Theo spotted a shimmer of light. A silver portal rested near the square, pulsing with a powerful light. The edges of the thing were a defined line of silver, but the center was pitch black.

“Portal,” Aarok said, pointing at the portal with his bow in hand. “Appeared a few moments ago.”

Where panic would seize most people, Theo had an excellent memory. Xol’sa’s words about creating a means of transportation between his tower and the town came back clearly. The alchemist held up a calming hand.

“That’ll be our new wizard,” Theo said.

“I told you wizards were no good,” Tresk said from the shadows.

The portal shimmered. The pitch black at the center of the thing solidified, giving the observers a view of a building’s interior. While the image was flickering and shimmering like the surface of water, Theo could make out some details. The strange, extra-planar Elf stood on the other side of the portal, waving his arms and muttering something. A moment later, he stepped through, emerging onto the cobbles with shaking legs.

“Forgive me, mayor,” Xol’sa said, bowing deeply. “I would very much enjoy your company at my tower—I have something urgent to discuss.”

Theo appreciated the man’s discretion. Others in the group might not have noticed the slight quaver in the Elf’s voice, but the alchemist noticed. There was an urgency that couldn’t be explained by excitement for one’s tower.

“Tresk, let’s go,” Theo said.

“I ain’t going through no portal!” Tresk said, appearing from the darkness.

“It’s safe,” Xol’sa said.

Theo didn’t know about that. The Elf had told him it wasn’t entirely safe in the past, but this was urgent. Without another word, Xol’sa disappeared through the floating, shimmering pool and the alchemist followed. It felt like stepping under a waterfall, a cold sensation rushing over his head to cover his entire body in chills. The effect of suddenly traveling into the tower was disorientating, and he fell to the ground in a heap. Tresk followed shortly after, tumbling over him and striking the stone floor with a curse. The center of the portal returned to deep black, barring passage for any others.

“Welcome to my tower,” Xol’sa said, experiencing none of the disorientation. “Welcome to grave news and bad omens.”

“A cheery welcome,” Theo said, rising to his feet.

“Accompany me to the tower’s roof,” Xol’sa said, gesturing to a set of winding stairs. They worked their way up the edge of the tower, snaking through a floor directly above them. While the base of the tower bore a stone floor, every floor after that had wooden floors.

The group ascended the stairs, Tresk and Theo on shaking legs. Each floor held something different, something interesting. Magical equipment, endless curios and trophies, and even alchemy equipment that the alchemist recognized the function of. When they finally reached the roof, the view was breathtaking. They were far enough away from Broken Tusk that Theo couldn’t spot it on the horizon.

“I’ve never been this far into the swamp,” Theo said, casting his gaze over the strange landscape. He immediately spotted the dungeon in the distance, a rise of strange stone in the middle of a watery patch.

“Wow, nice tower. For an evil wizard,” Tresk said.

“I’m not evil,” Xol’sa said, wounded.

“She doesn’t trust magic, I guess,” Theo said.

“Just so,” Xol’sa said, waving his hand.

An array of magical diagrams appeared in the air, tracing the circle of the tower and surrounding them. Theo couldn’t understand anything written in the air, the floating red text striking an imposing image. He just let his eyes wander over the scene, awestruck.

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

“This is us,” Xol’sa said, pointing at a circle with some inscriptions around the edges.

“If you say so,” Tresk said with a shrug.

“Ah. Right. You don’t understand magical-planar theory,” Xol’sa said. “I apologize. The diagrams you see represent magical influences in the world. My tower lights up like a beacon.”

Theo could see it now. The circle Xol’sa gestured to was larger than most of the others. It stood out as though it had a flavor all its own. His eyes were drawn to another circle, seemingly off in the distance. It was a different shade of red, with a significantly more complex pattern. The Elf noticed his attention to detail.

“You’ve spotted it,” Xol’sa said. “Something is wrong.”

“I may have seen it, but I don’t know what it is.”

With a touch, Xol’sa brought the strange circle closer. Every other circle shifted to make way for that one, pushing to the side and crowding the edges of the tower. The Elf swiped his hands and it grew even larger. It wasn’t just one circle, but concentric circles crammed in together. The more he zoomed, the more details came into view until an even stranger circle was visible. It was blue, compared to the red of the other circles, and absurdly complex. It had its own nested rings, creating a tapestry of infinite complexity.

“Your dungeon has been tampered with,” Xol’sa said.

“By a powerful mage?” Tresk asked, leaning in to scowl at the circle. “Maybe one from the Burning Eye?”

Xol’sa looked shocked by the proclamation. His normally placid face twisted into surprise. “Unless you’re referring to a mage bordering on the edge of godhood, no.”

“This complicated circle is an addition,” Theo said, pointing at the offending diagram. “I mean, that’s obvious.”

“It is,” Xol’sa said, shrugging. “Despite the complexity of the arcane languages, they’re easy enough to understand.”

“I don’t see it,” Tresk said, frowning.

“Cut to the issue,” Theo said, waving Tresk’s concerns away. “What is that thing doing to my dungeon?”

“Withdraw the crystal from your inventory,” Xol’sa said.

Theo saw no reason not to, pulling the now-orange thing from his inventory. He winced at the new color.

“According to the crystal, we’re a day away from another attack,” Xol’sa said, prodding a symbol in the air. The crystal pulsed in response. “Do you understand?”

Theo did understand, although he didn’t want to. He thought the early warning crystal was an ambient thing, collecting magical information from the air and relaying it. A different picture entered his mind now. The crystal was connected directly to the dungeon’s magic, reading the information directly. The implications were massive, even if he didn’t want to consider them.

“That’s an addition to the dungeon’s wave timer,” Theo said.

“Exactly,” Xol’sa said. “You catch on quickly.”

“I still don’t get it,” Tresk said.

“Just wait, I’ll explain,” Xol’sa said. “Someone of great power altered the dungeon’s magical instructions. No one does this. To change the nature of a dungeon is a complex task. You mentioned another mage, Marshling. What level was he?”

“80,” Theo said.

“Not even close,” Xol’sa said, shaking his head. “A mortal would need to push to beyond level 200 to even think of tampering with a dungeon like this. Imagine a healer of Glanthier approaching a wounded Human, casting their healing spell, and changing them into a Half-Ogre. That’s the level of complexity we’re talking about.”

“So, do you understand it?” Theo asked.

“As much as any mage my level,” Xol’sa said.

A new theory formed in Theo’s mind. Uharis wasn’t acting out of malice or stupidity. In the Archmage’s eyes, it was a mercy. To pull the veil over their eyes, preventing them from seeing the true nature of their dungeon was out of pity. The nail in the coffin of that theory was the early warning crystal. Perhaps he didn’t want them to know how doomed they were, or perhaps he knew they could turn this curse into a fortune.

“So, we’re just going to have a monster wave every 3 days?” Theo asked, shrugging.

“Hey! That sucks!” Tresk shouted.

“Calm down, Marshling,” Xol’sa said, holding up his hand. He zoomed in on a section of the offending circle and pointed at a series of symbols. “I can’t work with most of this webwork, but there’s some that fall into my people’s domain.”

Theo wished he didn’t have such keen intuition. Xol’sa was a planar mage, something the alchemist could extrapolate. That meant the offending string of symbols were related to things outside of this plane of reality. The Elf was connected to this—the offending change must have felt like a wound to the nature of the world.

“Something tampered with the dungeon,” Theo started, letting his thoughts come together as he spoke. “To draw power from another plane, or to send instructions from another plane—whatever it is, it’s affecting the wave timer.”

“I would place a gold coin that your intuition comes from your cores, Mayor,” Xol’sa said. “Drogramath is legendary for tampering where he shouldn’t.”

Theo doubted that. Drogramath seemed to pride himself on the Old Drogramathi script, not arcane scribbles. He wouldn’t raise this issue with the Elf, though. This was a magic far outside of the alchemist’s reach.

“What can be done?” Theo asked.

“Yeah, how do we fix it?” Tresk asked. She was clearly feeling left out of the conversation.

“The symbols you see here are representations of reality,” Xol’sa said with a shrug. “They’re not what’s actually happening, just something visual to look at. I can create an array of magical beacons to stabilize this additional rune. I am, as you might guess, the single expert on the topic alive today.”

Theo leaned against the wall, the crashing sense of confluence entering his mind once again. So many people were drawn to one spot with absurdly particular skills.

“Is it hard to do?” Tresk asked. “Do you need anything from us?”

“It is simple,” Xol’sa admitted. “As a [Planar Mage], I can see that webwork of magic. I see it everywhere. Even when I close my eyes, I see the damned web.”

Theo sensed a sore subject there and wouldn’t press. He could put enough together to understand the man’s pain and the implications of his core.

“You can’t take your core out, can you?” Theo asked.

“I would die,” Xol’sa said with a shrug. “My people aren’t meant to live in this world, so the system created a way for me to survive. A curse and a blessing.”

“Maybe there’s an alchemical solution to your problem,” Tresk said.

“Maybe. Until then, I simply need your permission to begin my work,” Xol’sa said, brightening up considerably. “I admit. When I spotted the problem, I set up the array without hesitation. I haven’t slept, but the array is completed. It only needs activation.”

“You have my permission,” Theo said.

Theo and Tresk lingered on the roof for some time while Xol’sa went downstairs. The alchemist wanted to drink in the swamp's flavor from a safe vantage point, spotting groups of monsters roaming through the marsh. The Marshling giggled when a wolf-riding Goblin got too close to the tower, receiving a large fireball to the face. Magic tingled through the air after a while, stinging their skin and sparkling across the swamp. The Elf returned with a smile on his face.

“Easy enough,” Xol’sa said. “The array seems stable.”

The Elf gestured, and the magical diagrams zoomed, centering back on the intruder. Only a few characters had changed, pulsing gently.

“That is all the change we need,” Xol’sa said. “I’ll adjust the array, but this requires testing. I’ve delayed the monster wave by some time.”

“Good,” Theo said, nodding. Something came into his mind that he couldn’t push away. “Why didn’t you just portal here? Why did Fenian bring you?”

“Ah,” Xol’sa said. “An academic question. The range is quite poor, and I need a [Mage’s Tower] to cast the spell.”

“Makes sense,” Tresk said with a shrug.

“Speaking on that topic,” Xol’sa said. “I’ll operate the portal daily for the adventurers. The distance from here to the dungeon is shorter than from town."

“That’s very kind of you,” Theo said.

“It’s the least I can do,” Xol’sa said. “My findings ‌are interesting enough to make the trip worth it. A day of experimentation in this place has brought me a trove of information.”

Xol’sa gave Tresk and Theo a brief tour of his tower. Most of what he said made little sense to them, but they appreciated the gesture. Even the alchemy equipment the Elf used was strange. It condensed reagents into small gems that were used as catalysts for spells. The alchemist saw little use for this process in his form of alchemy. Perhaps one day he would be at a level where the method made sense, but for the time being, it was unusable.

He ended the tour by showing off the wards at the edge of the tower. They functioned like the defensive emplacements on the town’s walls, but had many drawbacks. The rate of fire was significantly decreased, and Xol’sa had to be present to operate them manually. According to him, he had a sense for everything around the tower. Only when he gave the mental command would the weapons fire, otherwise he relied on a heavy stone wall that ran around the perimeter of the tower. The section of dry land Theo found him was nice, even with the oppressive humidity of the swamp.

“My hope is that whatever fears you’ve had by my settling here have been banished,” Xol’sa said, placing his hand on the heavy metal gate that lead out from the tower. “I’ve searched for so long for a place like this. The energy in the air is almost intoxicating. Some lingering miasma from your transition, I think. That requires quite a bit of study.”

“Well, thanks for the tour,” Theo said, shaking the Elf’s hand. “We should get back to town. I bet the militia is assembled at the portal.”

“Very well,” Xol’sa said, bowing. “Please remember to inform the adventurers of the portal.”

“Thanks.”

Theo and Tresk took the portal, emerging on the other side in a heap once again.

“Maybe he’s not evil,” Tresk said, standing and falling again.

“I don’t think he is, Tresk,” Theo said.