Tresk’s efforts to help with gardening and alchemy should have been dangerous. Theo’s instincts, and the many warnings on skills related to essences, held that to be true. But she worked with the garden with no troubles, even performing several reactions of her own to create potions. It was proof enough for him that their skills bled through to each other, or she was incredibly lucky.

Theo had a big decision to make, though. His plans for the day included checking in on the miners and the loggers, but with his new greenhouses, those could wait. The alchemist needed to select which reagents he would place in which building. A split between each building would also work, but he needed to have highly cultivated plants if he wanted to perform high-quality potions.

[Mage’s Bane] was an obvious choice. Theo already had a few of the plants sitting in the corner of his [Spiny Swamp Thistle] patch, ready for propagation at 100% cultivation. That would take some time to fill the many rows out, but the effort would be worth the trouble. It would be lovely to have a cultivated Ogre Cypress tree, but that would be impossible to fit inside the glass building. A task for another day. Tresk urged him to dedicate an entire plot to the [Widow Lily], a plant that produced the [Poison] property. Before committing to the idea, he took stock of what he had with stat-enhancement reagents.

The [Water Lily] was particular about where it grew, but his intuition said it would be fine in the greenhouse. [Flame Roses] would be an issue. The plant, in its complete form, put off sparks occasionally. He would pair that one with [Stone Flowers] to avoid a disaster. The stone-like flowers that grew on the [Stone Flower] plant, hence the name, seemed to be made of actual stone. They’d resist stray embers just fine. With 5 attributes, and 5 corresponding flowers, he could split the odd reagent with the [Widow Lily] plants.

Theo had only recently recovered the two missing plants he was looking for. The [Lightning Poppy] had the [Increase Intelligence] property and the [Wind Tulip] held t h e [Increase Dexterity] property. They would pair well with each other, then the [Water Lily] could share space with the [Widow Lily]. Tresk was upset that the reagent with the [Poison] property didn’t get its own greenhouse, but when the alchemist told her it would produce around 500 units of poison she was satisfied. It was far more than she needed. This was all relatively long-term, though. The plants would take time to cultivate.

“Seems like a lot of space for not a lot of plants,” Tresk said. She sneered at the small crowd that had formed outside of the greenhouses.

The split buildings only had 2 plants each, as they needed time to cultivate. Theo tossed a bottle of [Aerosolized] [Lesser Potion of Growth] and watched a [Widow LIly] grow to twice its normal size. [Spiny Swamp Thistle] took up the eternity of the first greenhouse, then [Flame Roses] shared space with [Stone Flowers] in the next. [Water Lilies] and [Widow lilies] had the third greenhouse, with [Lightning Poppies] and [Wind Tulips] housed in the next. That left a building free to grow his [Mage’s Bane], although he could rotate the plant out for another split design in the future.

“Part of the process,” Theo said, dragging her arm to press his forehead against hers. They gained far more experience for their [Tara’hek Core] than normal, 20% for the day so far. “We’ll have to do this occasionally. To keep up with my other cores.”

“You’re just weak of mind,” Tresk said, waving him off with a smile. “Gotta have a strong brain like me.”

Zaul just wasn’t interested in Tresk. That’s how Theo thought of it, anyway. He knew that the truth would elude him for some time, but it wasn’t something to worry about today.

Before entering the new cluster of gardens, the pair kicked off a still with the [Living River Water]. With the daunting task of cultivating each plant to the first stage, they had more time than expected.

“You just do boring stuff all day,” Tresk said, letting out a heavy sigh. “I can’t handle it.”

“A day of rest isn’t all bad,” Theo said. “We have more time to talk. I can figure out what kind of potions work for you.”

Tresk jabbed a finger at the greenhouse that held the growing [Wind Tulip]. She wanted to get her hands on that potion more than anything. Theo nodded in response. They didn’t need words to share the feeling of desire for that potion.

Azrug was missing from the shop, likely dealing with his new station, so the pair went upstairs and brewed some [Tunneling Potions]. Theo was still reluctant to apply any modifiers to the potion, as it already did the job just fine. They departed with the potions in their shared inventory, marching over to the mine. Tresk was excited that there might have been monsters inside, those strange dogs with tentacles, but the alchemist doubted it. Goblins had been spawning there after they cleared it for the first time.

Theo spotted Nira working with a few smeltery apprentices. Unlike some in the town, she took his suggestions to heart and worked hard to get them done as soon as she could. It was a mix of 5 people, Half-Ogres, Humans, Marshlings, and a lizard-person. The alchemist still knew little about the lizard-people, and regretted not learning about their homeland to the south. Again, he faced too much to do in too little time. Things fell by the wayside, and that was fine with him.

“Theo!” Gridgen shouted from the mine.

Theo heard his thunderous voice even before he heard picks striking rock. He gave a heart wave, snatching Tresk’s hand and forcing her to do the same. She grumbled.

“Should we be worried?” Gridgen asked, gesturing to Tresk. “Not often you get a visit from the number one adventurer in Broken Tusk.”

“Damn right,” Tresk said.

Theo forgot about the adventurer rankings, but didn’t doubt that she was the best. All she did was delve dungeons and kill monsters, even in her dreams.

“It’s a Tara’hek thing,” Theo said, placing his hand on the Human’s shoulder and smiling. “How is the mine?”

“Good enough,” Gridgen said. “We haven’t found anything fancy down there, but we need to go deeper.”

“Well, guess what? We’re here to dig more tunnels,” Theo said, laughing. “I have a feeling we’ll hit Barrowsteel before we hit silver.”

“Barrow-what?” Gridgen asked. “Never heard of it. Are you talking about that stuff they’re pulling off from the big artifice out by the river? Ain’t called Barrowsteel—not that I’m aware of.”

Theo waved the question away. Whatever Fenian wanted to call it was no matter to him. It was the next non-precious metal in the tier list. “Whatever the next metal is called, we’ll hit that.”

“Easy enough to find out,” Gridgen said. He turned to shout into the mine. “Lunch time, boys! And girls. Sorry.” He lowered his voice and turned to Theo. “We got some new miners, not all of them guys. Kinda shocking when a little Brogling gal comes in and swings a pick harder than a Half-Ogre.”

Theo waited as the miners filed out of the mine. Their numbers had increased recently, 20 by his count. He stopped the Brogling in question before letting her leave for lunch, a meal that few Broken Tuskers took. She was a migrant from Rivers and Daub, which shocked him. It was rare for anyone in the southlands to migrate further south, let alone to his town. She claimed a few of the newer citizens were from further north, before the treacherous passage through the mountains that separated the southlands with Qavell proper. It required prodding to get her to stop calling it “Murder Passage”, revealing the real name of the place as Gronro-Dir. A Dwarven name, no doubt.

“People in Gronro are hard,” Gridgen said, leading the pair into the mine. “I’ve only seen the town once, but it was amazing. Their walls scrape against the mountain. Meaning you can’t go north unless you go through Gronro-Dir.”

Tresk shared a look with Theo. They shared the same sentiment at that moment, one of interest. If their plan was to fortify the southlands from northern aggression, they’d need to make quick friends with the people of Gronro-Dir. The concept of a defensive alliance had been cooking in the alchemist’s mind for a while. Rivers and Daub was his first option, but he found those people to be too soft for the task. If not for the massive, magically enchanted farms in Broken Tusk, they’d rely on Rivers for their food.

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“Well, Throk came in and installed all the gates,” Gridgen said, arriving at the first gate. A small group of Goblins growled from the other side, swiping rough daggers through the bars.

“Oh, hell yeah!” Tresk said. She vanished from the spot and reappeared behind the Goblins. Theo turned his back as she did her work. He felt blood splatter against his robe and winced. He should have walked to a safe distance.

“They’re not really strong,” Gridgen said, shrugging as Tresk stood proudly over the corpses. “We usually just bonk ‘em.”

“I had to get some anger out,” Tresk said, letting out a heavy sigh. “Feels better.”

The complex of tunnels they’d already created wound a path deep into the ground. It was impossible to tell how far down they were, but 5 sets of stone staircases led them to the latest gate installed by Throk. Each tunnel Theo made was a failure, so far. Gridgen wanted him to focus his efforts on creating a maze of tunnels near the surface, increasing their copper and iron production. That worked, but he was looking for the Barrowsteel, or whatever it was actually called.

Tresk helped with the design of the tunnels, taking a potion in hand and forming rough passages through the rock. Her command of the potion wasn’t as good as Theo’s, but this was a team-building exercise. The mine didn’t have to be well-hewn rock, a rough passage would work.

Hours later, and three more downward passages, they hit their first string of Barrowsteel nuggets. Gridgen was kind enough to remove one of the purple-gray nuggets from the hard stone wall, handing it over for Theo to inspect with a wide smile on his face.

[Drogramathi Iron Nugget]

[Metal Ore]

[Rare]

Quality: Perfect

A raw nugget of Drogramathi Iron. Needs refining.

“Demon nugget,” Tresk said, nodding. “That has a ring to it.”

“Why am I not surprised?” Theo asked, stuffing the nugget in his inventory. “I’d bet 100 gold coins that Zarali expected this.”

“So, what’s the plan?” Gridgen asked.

This might have annoyed Theo. Another task to occupy his time, but then why didn’t have a Lord Merchant if not to put him to work. It was likely that no one else was mining [Drogramathi Iron], which made it a novelty. It would be as strong as Barrowsteel, if that was actually a real thing, and bore the alignment of the Demonic God.

“Just mine it as normal,” Theo said. “I’ll have a word with Nira about what to do with the final product, and we can talk to Azrug about the details.”

That seemed good enough of a response for Gridgen. He nodded and joined with Tresk and Theo as they carved out more tunnels. When they found enough deposits of the metal, they called it a day and emerged from the mine. The miner had some exciting news about the school. Theo hadn’t seen the building go up, but parents were now able to enroll their children in the school. Bob, the Brogling that the alchemist named, was an amazing teacher. He had a knack for connecting to the errant minds of the kids.

“We’ll have to check it out,” Theo said.

Tresk and Theo departed, finding Nira at the smelter. She was teaching her new employees how to work the smelter, only pausing to come speak with her mayor. Theo handed over the new nugget and she gave him a flat look.

“Bit on the nose,” she said.

“My thoughts exactly,” Theo said. “Hold these in reserve. Don’t let anyone buy them, but smelt them if you have the space.”

“Speaking of,” Nira said, jabbing her thumb at the smelter. “Could use a few upgrades.”

Theo inspected the smelter, trying to determine how many [Monster Cores] he could spare.

[Smeltery]

[Midnight Damsel Smeltery]

Owners: Belgar (Theo Spencer)

Operator: Nira Weir

Faction: [Broken Tusk]

Level: 10 (50%)

Rent Due: 3 days

Expansions:

[Preservation of Heat]

[Pattern Alloy]

Theo could afford to get the Midnight Damsel Smeltery to level 15 without worrying about his stock. Why she had named it such was beyond him, but it was her’s to name. He shoved cores inside, directing the expansion in whichever direction, until the expansion prompt came up. He discussed the options with Nira, but there was a clear winner.

[Double Smelter]

Your smeltery now has 2 massive smelters. Increases floor space accordingly.

Nira cleared her people out before Theo selected the option. The building stuttered for a moment, rocking ominously before gaining half its width in additional space. Another crucible appeared out of thin air, gaining a series of surprised yelps from the new workers.

“That good for now?” Theo asked.

“Need a bit of a budget for these,” Nira said, nodding her head to her new employees. “Fenian is still around. I can’t afford their cores.”

Theo flicked her a single gold coin, bringing his total down to 47 gold, 61 silver. He didn’t have an option, though. Their contract stated that he handled the improvement of the building and the cores that the workers used. Since they only got 10% of profits, that made sense.

“Always a pleasure,” Nira said, gesturing for the pair of them to go away.

“I like her,” Tresk said when they were well up the road.

“Me too,” Theo said.

Theo rarely ran around and checked in on his investments, but sometimes it was necessary. He was waiting on his garden to produce cultivated reagents, so there was nothing else for him to do. Their next stop brought them to Sledge’s sawmill. She had hired more people as well, which was a sign they were making enough profit to be comfortable. The spiky Marshling didn’t want a single thing from her employer, claiming they were doing just fine without him. He shrugged the insult off and found the Human man with the [Forester’s Core].

Within the sawmill team, he took care of the health of the swamp’s towering Ogre Cypress trees. The alchemist dedicated the rest of his afternoon to learning about the trees and how the man cared for them. Thanks to Drogramath’s power, everything in the area grew at an increased rate. The cypress trees dropped seeds daily, and a sapling would grow to a full-sized tree within a week. This was great for the lumber industry, but created problems. If the [Forester] didn’t cull excess trees, it would quickly become a tangled mass of impassible trunks.

The [Forester] was covered in mud, constantly scratching his head as Theo explained the process of cultivation. He was a short, stocky man, even by Human standards, that required multiple explanations to understand a point. Once the alchemist showed him how to inspect the trees for cultivation percentages, he understood. They selected a small group of fresh saplings to apply the [Aerosolized] [Lesser Potion of Growth] to. Once they were exposed to the potion, they’d increase their cultivation naturally.

“Only select the seeds from the cultivated trees,” Theo said, waving his hand to get the [Forester’s] attention. “Understood?”

“Yeah,” he said.

Theo left with no confidence in the [Forester’s] ability, but he was content with putting in the effort. A cultivated Ogre Cypress would grow even larger than the current version, providing more wood. Once every non-cultivated tree was culled, it would be a forest of even larger trees that needed no maintenance. Theo considered the implications of removing a naturally occurring tree and went back to express the need to have natural trees in the mix. The [Forester] seemed to understand that much.

The day was busy, but things were winding down. For their efforts, the [Tara’hek Core] hit level 17. Theo felt a wave of relief when it did, and reminded Tresk that they needed to do this more often. The best she could offer was half-days, as she was itching for combat. Theo didn’t receive her invitation to join her in the dungeons well. He pushed aside his reservations and agreed to join her at least once. The problem was, she wasn’t great at identifying reagents. Even if they were sharing some of their skills.

When they made their way back to town, Theo tried to invoke some of Tresk’s skills. He crouched in the shadows outside of Xam’s tavern, gaining only a hearty laugh from the Marshling. The way skills shared through the Tara’hek was something he’d need to test in the future. Zarali didn’t join them for dinner that night, waiting until they’d completed their meal of Pozwa egg scramble slathered in too much Karatan cheese, to invite them to Theo’s private bath.

They were soaking in the deep pool before the Drogramath Priestess revealed her true intentions.

“I could smell the nugget,” she said, holding the [Drogramathi Iron Nugget] in her hands. “Lord Drogramath whispered that you’d found something impressive.”

“Can we sell it?” Tresk asked, dipping below the surface of the water before waiting for a reply.

“We can,” Zarali said, dunking the nugget under the surface of the water. “It gives a nice stamp of our identity on the second tier metal. Anyone using Drogramathi Iron will know where it came from.”

Theo had given up on chasing down all the ways that Drogramath affected the swamp. The more they dug, harvested, or chopped trees, the more he realized how deeply that power imbued the land. He let those thoughts wash away, aided by the soothingly warm water he soaked it. It was hard to be concerned about anything while neck deep in the enriched mineral water. Those worries melted away, something for another day.