Alise and Theo stood on the road west of the square, looking over a plot of land next to the Adventurer’s Guild. They decided on the best place to plant the [Butcher’s Seed Core]. Being so near to the guild would make it easy for adventurers to drop off their carcases, also incentivizing the action. The woman destined to run the building, a hulking Toora from the mountains north of Qavell named Whisper, seemed impassive for its placement.

“Too hot,” she said, her growling voice carrying on the air like the rumble of winter air through dead trees.

“I’m working on that,” Theo said. It was mostly a lie. His air conditioner project hadn’t moved in weeks.

Alise debated the woman’s pay for a while as Theo looked on. He sent his senses out to feel what his golems were doing, and found them working in the swamp. One golem, presumably smarter than the others, warned they were low on [Mana Constructs]. He expected them to be all out by now.

“That’s fine,” Whisper said, accepting the condition of Alise’s deal. It was a percentage-based production deal, just like the other producers in town. But since Whisper would run an important industry, just like the farms, she would receive subsidies if the pay was insufficient. This was all written into Theo’s [Contracts] ability, including a section related to Whisper’s loyalty to the town, and signed in moments.

Theo left Alise with the new butcher and headed off to solve a few problems with a single stroke. He planted his new [Mycology Cave Seed core], feeding it enough high-level [Monster Cores] to bring it up to his existing cave’s level, and entered his first cave. The [Manashrooms] had reached 90% cultivation, which was good enough for him. Seeding his new cave with the mushrooms was easy enough, and he collected what he could to brew some [Mana Essence] and [Freezing Essence].

Salire was working the shop when he entered, a smile hanging on her face. When she approached him with a business proposal, his first instinct was to brush her off. After a single breath, he matched her smile and beckoned her to follow him into the lab. Theo cleaned his stills, organized the clutter, and started two stills off with 250 units [Manashrooms]. The first would be for his [Mana Essence], the second his [Freezing Essence]. Salire detailed her plan as he worked.

“Patrons can come into the shop and place an order based on a list,” Salire said. She even made a mockup of her planned menu on a sheet of parchment paper. It had selections for the base potion, and checkboxes for Theo’s current list of modifiers. “They put in the order, and wait! You don’t have to worry about stocking specific things because people will request them.”

Theo saw that as a fantastic idea, but his mind was always wandering. The big problem there was keeping essences on hand to fill orders. He considered the tanks he already had, some half-full of various essences, and decided he’d need more. Massive 1,000 unit tanks filled with all kinds of essences were easy enough to build, giving him access to them‌. Maybe some kind of automatic self-flushing system that ran [Cleansing Scrub] through the lines and dispensed essences at the turn of a knob. Maybe that was just too much, but Throk always loved a new project.

The alchemist laughed at that.

“Did you come up with this all on your own?” Theo asked.

“Azrug helped,” Salire admitted.

“Good… Always good to ask him,” Theo said.

Some people might feel bad blood between themselves and Azrug, but Theo understood the culture in Broken Tusk. The young man had no agreement to be the alchemist’s slave, and the shop was always a jumping-off point for the merchant. No one knew Broken Tusk better than a true Broken Tusker. The alchemist snapped out of his thoughts when he saw his new merchant’s eyes glittering with expectations.

“You have my full approval,” Theo said. “Offload all the gear as quickly as you can to make room for this new plan. Actually, sell it all to Azrug. If he wants his general store, he’ll want stock. Start taking orders for potions as soon as you feel comfortable.”

While the essences brewed, the pair discussed the best way to execute the plan. It wasn’t hard to conceive of an order-based system for the shop. It only made sense, considering the difficulties of stocking mass quantities of potions that no one wanted to buy. Patrons could pick what they wanted from a menu, while they kept basic things like [Healing Potions] on the shelves. This gave Salire more experience than just buying and selling things. She’d get better with people, giving way to the possibility of running a trade operation between Broken Tusk and other towns.

“This is just great,” Salire said, bouncing up and down on the spot. She was too spunky for a Half-Ogre. Must be all that northern air dulling her sense of brooding.

“Let me know if you need anything else,” Theo said, extracting the last of the [Freezing Essence].

Salire gave her thanks and ran back downstairs. Theo considered his newly brewed essences alongside his idea for more storage tanks. Maybe that was a bit too much work for Throk. Maybe he just needed to organize his lab better, get some more [Dimensional Storage Crates] in a more sensible order. Perhaps he was just being lazy about it.

Theo crafted enough [Mana Constructs] for his golems and set them in the crate about back. A pair of [Lesser Mud Golems] were doing their job in the greenhouses by clearing away weeds and tending the plants. He spotted a pile of discarded vegetation and bit back the urge to create a plan golem.

“Experiments first, then we can make more golems,” Theo said, urging himself back into the lab.

As Theo sacrificed a piece of [Spiny Swamp Thistle Root] to his shrine, gaining no additional benefits for now, he inspected his [Freezing Essence].

[Refined Freezing Essence]

[Essence] [Refined Essence]

Rare

Created by: Belgar

Grade: Perfect Quality

Alignment:

Drogramath (Middling Bond)

Alignment Effects:

Resulting potions will be more effective.

Chance to consume half of required essence during brewing.

Cultivated Effects:

Increased effectiveness of resulting potions. Effect carries over through refinement.

Purity: 82%

250 units (liquid)

Concentrated, refined essence of freezing.

It was a great essence, as far as those things went. The current application he had for the essence was a [Freezebomb], but that was a waste of essence. Lurking in Theo’s memory was an old recipe for a cooling agent, something that fell like his [Cleansing Scrub] recipe. Those detergent-style, or cleaning-style potions were meant for large-scale applications. The alchemist ran his fingers over his [Drogramathi Iron Bar], considering whether he should do more than one experiment at the same time. He shrugged.

“Screw it. Why not?”

Throk wasn’t happy to see Theo. Whenever the alchemist approached the smithy, it was to deliver a missive of work. More work than the old Marshling wanted to do, considering how busy he already was.

“Begone!” Throk shouted. “We don’t need a new aqueduct.”

“Oh, dang. That’s a good idea,” Theo said, scratching his head.

“No!”

Theo held out his bar of Drogramathi iron, grinning. The black-purple bar, as long as his arm and heavy, caught the sun. Throk softened significantly on spotting their new metal.

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“I just need some shavings,” Theo said. “Figured you had the magic touch.”

Throk did indeed have the magic touch. Logic didn’t factor into his smithing. He could shape metal into impossible things with a few smacks of his hammer. The Marshling pulled something that looked like a cheese grater on a stick and got to work. Each stroke of the tool brought sloughs of shavings off the bar, sending them tumbling to the ground. Theo just watched with a grin on his face, enjoying the sight. It only took him a few minutes to shave down the entire bar, leaving a pile of thousands of shavings. The alchemist scooped them up into his inventory and tossed the blacksmith a copper coin.

“For your troubles,” Theo said.

“A copper!?” Throk shouted. Theo tossed a silver coin, laughing as he ran out of the blacksmith’s hammer range.

Back in the lab, Theo enchanted a pile of the shavings with his mana before inspecting the result.

[Drogramathi Iron Shavings]

[Alchemy Component]

Rare

Alignment:

Drogramath (Middling Bond)

Alignment Effects:

Increased stability during reactions.

Increase quality of reaction by 1 level, up to excellent quality.

Shavings from raw Drogramathi Iron.

There might be some unpredictable reactions between reagents and these shavings, depending on if plants had alignments. Theo couldn’t think of any god or realm that would lay domain over the [Manashrooms], so he shrugged it off and performed some test reactions. With his vent working, the failed reactions didn’t fill the air with cloying smoke. He didn’t even need to open a window, and got the numbers right on the mix after a while. The resulting 5 unit solution was as clear as glass with lines of frosty blue running through it. He inspected the result.

[Freeze Solution]

[Cooling Agent]

Rare

Created by: Belgar

Grade: Perfect Quality

Apply to dramatically lower the temperature of anything.

Effect:

Apply enough solution to freeze an object, person, monster, etc.

The recipe was extremely efficient. 5 units of [Stabilized Water] to 0.1 unit of [Freezing Essence]. The 11,000 units of [Freeze Solution] he could create seemed like an absurd amount, but that depended on how it worked. There was also an issue with the way the potion worked, something Theo hoped to solve with another experiment.

As Theo tipped the solution over onto the ground, he noted how it froze the wooden boards. The amount of cold air that came off was minimal. How air conditioners worked back on Earth was a mystery to him. He only understood that there was something passed between something else that cooled some coils, thus cooling the air. Well, this world had magic, didn’t it? Why not cool the air directly? And the best way to do that was…

“[Aerosolize],” Theo said, holding a flask of the modifier in his hand.

The only issue was that he’d never modified a solution. His intuition said it might work, but gave no guarantees. After the first flask exploded, sending a splatter of solution that made the alchemist’s robes stiff with frost, he worked on getting the quantities correct. The low concentration of properties in the solution meant it needed less of the modifier essence to do the job. Theo pushed his ability to measure small quantities, dripping an amount of modifier so small into the solution that it was nearly impossible to measure.

The reaction swirled in the flask, turning the solution a faintly yellow tinge. It stained the seams of frosty blue a deep purple, but remained otherwise unchanged. Theo held it up for inspection, smiling uncontrollably.

[Freeze Solution]

[Aerosolize]

[Cooling Agent] [Modified Cooling Agent]

Rare

Created by: Belgar

Grade: Perfect Quality

Apply to dramatically lower the temperature of the air.

Effect:

Apply enough solution to lower the temperature of the surrounding air.

This effect lingers, constantly cooling the surrounding air until the effect expires. Length depends on the quality of this potion.

“Air conditioner in a bottle,” Theo said, dripping the solution on the ground.

Instead of freezing the wooden planks, the solution created a hovering sphere of frost. It put off a constant wave of cold air that cooled the lab. After a few moments, ‌the amount he dripped was too much. The lab became frigid, and the alchemist opened a window to let some warm air in. He studied the reaction and timed it mentally. The wisp of white faded after around 5 minutes, but the effects were clear. Frost had formed on the interior of the lab, coating every surface with a spiderweb of crawling, frozen moisture.

“This can’t be good for the potions,” Theo said, shaking his head.

But the first step to bringing air conditioning to this world was here. The artifice that would drive it was equally simple. Theo imagined a simple copper box with a fan, attached to ducts that moved the air around. Throk always had better ideas, but that’s how he saw it.

[Swamp Dungeon] is deeper than ever, Tresk said, her voice sing-song. Sure you don’t wanna come on down?

I’d rather do anything else, Theo said.

Shame. You could be a battle alchemist, Tresk said.

I could be anything. I want to be a normal, boring alchemist.

Ain’t nothing boring about you.

As Theo went to leave the Newt and Demon, Salire had a few fine details she wanted to chat about. She grilled him about the modifiers he could make, but he had to reinforce the idea that some things weren’t for sale. She didn’t get it at first, but he repeated himself until she understood how dangerous some things were. Most of their clients would be Broken Tuskers. If an outsider killed themself with his potions, not that big of a deal. But he’d feel personally responsible if a local did. She understood his meaning and made notes to amend her list.

Theo passed by Throk’s smithy without stopping. He wanted to stop in and propose the idea, but made a show as if he wasn’t going to. The alchemist was checking in with Bob at the school. Mudball Fundamental had grown since he’d seen it last. Both in size and the amount of students they taught. Bob was out back with several younger townsfolk the alchemist didn’t recognize. The children were undergoing combat drills, which was whatever to Theo. It reminded him of his childhood.

Bob had a lot to say about the student. The only other Brogling Theo knew was Grub, and that guy was a dick. It wasn’t good for a person’s mood when a kingdom crumbled around you. The communication crystal in the alchemist’s inventory was still silent. No one on the other side, and no response when he called.

“Clever bunch of rascals,” Bob said, climbing on the fence to meet Theo’s gaze.

They talked about what kind of education the critters were getting. Theo wasn’t horrible interested, but they seemed to get a thorough run of educational pillars. Writing, reading, skinning animals, fighting. Normal things.

Theo checked in with Banu at the farms. The old farmer wanted nothing more than to keep things the way they were, but this was a wellness check for the health of their food-production industry. Things would go better once the Zee was cultivated to 200%, doubling its size yet again. Other than hiring a few new people, there were no changes at the farm. The alchemist headed back to Throk’s, only to be intercepted by Zan’sal.

“He needs to leave,” she said.

“Khahar will leave soon enough. He said there’s boats coming for him,” Theo said, waving her off. “Why are you so against him?”

Zan’sal seemed at a loss for words. “He’s going?”

“Yeah, said he’s going to be a god or whatever,” Theo said. “Try talking to the guy.”

Zan’sal stopped, bowed, and shook her head. “We’re not allowed to talk to him.”

It was a nice day. It was warm, but not too warm. There was no rain, but a scatter of shielding clouds that kept away the harsh sun. Theo had sorted out some issues with the town, had a guarantee for 250 new hard-working citizens, and the possibility of a safeguard against disaster with an alliance. If Zan’sal wanted to bring her doom and gloom into town, she could go do it in the swamp. Far away from him.

“He was looking for you,” Zan’sal said.

Theo kept walking. She caught up after a moment.

“He could have found me if he wanted to. Seems like he can be anywhere at any time,” Theo said.

“When he’s inside of the realm of the Khahari, yes. That’s true,” Zan’sal said. “But once removed? His mind fades. His body fades. He fades.”

Theo stopped walking. Khahar was looking for him. Theo Spencer. Not Belgar… Curious.

“I can ask him to leave,” Theo said, shrugging. “I figured he just wanted a vacation from the god-like life. A break where he could pretend to be normal. I mean, he’s been talking like he likes it here.”

“I’m sure he does,” Zan’sal said. She still had a sharp look about her, but had softened slightly. “He admires you. There’s a place in our history… I don’t…”

But the woman trailed off. Theo gave her a hard look, but placed his hand on her shoulder. He understood what she was saying, and was forming a theory about the leader of the Khahari. She didn’t need to say any more, and he didn’t want to hear it.

“He’ll go,” Theo said. “We’ll be fine.”

It didn’t matter if she believed it or not. The Khahari looked up to the guy like he was a saint. Well, he was as near to a god as anyone so maybe that was true. But Theo didn’t see Khahar that way, and he never would. He was just another guy working in the mud, helping form the harbor. Just another guy.

“Throk!” Theo shouted. He’d shaken Zan’sal for the moment, and earned the ire of the Marshling. “I have a job!”

“Gods, no,” Throk shuddered. “I’m behind.”

“Well, this can happen whenever. I’m not picky,” Theo said. “Aren’t you always uncomfortable in the heat?”

“Marshlings love the heat.”

“Well, have I got a product for you,” Theo said, producing a flask from his inventory. “Introducing… This stuff.”

Theo poured the smallest amount on the ground, forming a ball of pulsing white energy. It released a wave of cooling air that washed over the pair in a wave. Throk closed his eyes as the breeze came, letting out a sigh.

“Alright,” Throk said. “Maybe Marshlings don’t love the heat. What do you need?”