Tresk woke before Theo the next day. The smell of grilled Zee wafted into the bedroom, darkness still looming outside. The alchemist emerged from the bedroom, stretching and taking in the mingle of scents. With their lab cleaned by the [Cleansing Scrub], the smell of the tea came in hard. The citrus was more powerful than before, permeating the air and stinging his nose. He took a seat next to his companion and rubbed the sleep from his eyes.

“Plenty of time to make the [Cleansing Scrub],” Tresk said, serving him a slice of Zee. “We’re going to need to get more food. That Zee you bought is going to rot before we eat it.”

“If we weren’t so busy, I might have a solution for that,” Theo said. “The [Manashrooms] have a [Freezing] property on them. We could ‌create a storage area.”

“Another time,” Tresk said. “Let’s take care of Luras’ job first, then we can sort the tanner’s job out.”

“I have a good feeling about the two new essences,” Theo said, finishing his food and approaching the [Glassware Artifice] with a mote in hand. He produced two flat-bottomed vials and set them on the table. He idly created a reaction in both vials, adding 1 unit of [Purified Water], 1 unit of [Poison Essence], and [Copper Shavings] in each. The reaction was immediate, stinging his nostrils in a puff of smoke. Theo handed Tresk the vial, and her face lit up.

[Basic Poison]

[Poison]

Common

Created by: Belgar

Grade: Great Quality

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

Effect:

Poison DOT based on poison quality.

“You’re getting good at this,” Tresk said.

“I have an intuition about things now,” Theo said. “But something tells me ‌these reactions are basic.”

“That’s likely your Drogramath heritage, and [Wisdom] stat,” Tresk said.

“To have a legendary core at level 1… Yeah, it has to be my Drogramath cores. I can tell, just by thinking about it, that the [Supple Essence] and [Preserving Essence] will generate something that the tanners can use.”

“But you don’t know the quantities, so we need to test,” Tresk said, nodding. “I’m getting used to the way you work. The next time a trader comes to town, we need to ask them to bring back advanced distillation books.”

“Good plan.”

Theo went around to the 100 vials that Tresk arrayed last night and started the simple reactions. He used a flask to start the 5 unit reaction before distributing it among the vials. The process was extremely simple, compared to his new recipes that required [Stabilized Water], and he only gained partial percentages for each flask full of [Cleansing Scrub]. The entire process only took half an hour, and shortly after he was done, Luras arrived.

“Just in time,” Luras said, setting a heavy bag down on the table. “Load me up, boss.”

Tresk and Theo went about setting the vials in the bag, separated by small wooden crates. They found what they could to pad the individual vials in the bag, finding cloth and pieces of wood to keep them from clanking together. Luras looked extremely excited for the trip, flashing a grin and heading for the door without a word.

“Hold up,” Theo said, reaching for his [Basic Poison] potion. “Another gift.”

Luras took the vial and smiled. “You’re getting into poison making, now… You’re going to be a generalist by the end of this.”

“Anything that helps you survive out on the road,” Theo said.

“Thank you,” Luras said, waving and departing.

The pair stepped outside to watch the Half-Ogre march northward, toward the farms. Dawn had just broken over the eastern horizon. Theo took a deep breath of the damp, warm swamp air and let out a heavy sigh. The smell of mud and vegetation was invigorating, somehow. He called Broken Tusk his home, and every day was a new adventure. Tresk joined him, mocking him by taking a deeper breath and letting out a heavier sigh. She flashed a devious grin at her companion.

“You’re a clown,” Theo said, laughing.

“What’s a clown?” Tresk asked.

“You.”

They brought the ingredients for the next reaction around to the back of the lab, in the gravel yard. Theo held a flask of his [Stabilized Water] with the [Supple Essence] and [Preserving Essence]. Tresk carried the spare flasks, still worried about the volatile reaction from last time. Her fears proved to ‌correct. The first flask exploded, despite ‌the stabilizing agent, sending shards scattering in all directions and sending the pair running for cover.

“Why did it explode? You used the safe water,” Tresk said.

“Yeah, this one is going to be tricky,” Theo said.

His intuition told him that the [Preserving Essence] was the volatile essence in this reaction. It didn’t like something about the [Supple Essence], and fought against it when they came into contact. He switched up the way he added the essences to the solution, starting by adding the less reactive one first and letting it sit for a moment. The liquid reacted after a moment, releasing into the vial without fully consuming the [Stabilized Water]. Theo pressed his fingers against the side of the flask and nodded to himself—it was extremely hot.

“We’ll let that cool for a minute, then add the next essence,” Theo said.

“How are you supposed to figure this stuff out?”

“Experimentation, I guess,” Theo said. “This is why alchemists have such a high [Wisdom] stat… We have to know when to keep pushing, and when to stop.”

“Should I write this down?”

Theo waved a dismissive hand, watching the flask with interest. “My memory is pretty good now. I can remember most of what I’ve read. I’m quickly approaching a photographic memory.”

“Fancy boy,” Tresk giggled.

They waited for the flask to cool down to the ambient temperature, which was still pretty warm, before adding the last essence. This time it reacted immediately, sending a plume of clouds in the air that smelled like shoe polish. Tresk and Theo waited at a safe distance before they approached the flask, moving to inspect it.

[Alchemic Tannin]

[Leatherworking Agent]

Common

Created by: Belgar

Grade: Great Quality

Replaces the traditional tannins from the leather working process.

Effect:

Apply to a de-haired hide to cure a hide and make it more supple.

“I wish I had your level of intuition,” Tresk said, scoffing.

“It’s easy. Just start with a legendary core given to you by a demon god,” Theo said.

Tresk slapped her knees, doubled over with laughter.

The sun hung low in the sky by the time they rolled out the de-haired hide from yesterday. Theo did the honors, pouring a portion of the [Alchemic Tannin] over the hide. They watched as it worked its way into the material, sending puffs of smoke up as it went. After a few minutes, the potion did its job, leaving the hide in perfect condition. The smell it put off was much like the shoe polish smell of the potion itself. The leather that remained was soft‌, and Theo was happy to put the alchemic version of the process up against the natural one any day.

Tresk wanted to spend the day in the marsh, testing her new poison and collecting monster cores. Theo bid her farewell and made a new batch of the [Stripping Solution] to show to Perg. A part of him felt reluctant to offer to replace her entire industry with a simple alchemical solution, but the Half-Ogres didn’t have pride to harm. They were practical people who took the best route to all solutions, and he knew she’d appreciate it.

Theo made his way south, plugging his nose when he got close to the tannery. Perg was waiting outside, leaning against her building with a smile on her face. “I had a feeling you’d fix this problem fast.”

Theo only managed a weak shrug. “Care to join me for a demonstration?”

“Of course,” Perg said, pushing off against the wall and trudging across the mud. They walked northward, and he could feel her excitement. “People said there’d be big changes when you got to town. Didn’t realize it would be this quick.”

“Tresk is helping a lot,” Theo said.

“The bond is a powerful thing,” Perg said. “I’ve never seen it before, but I’ve heard stories.”

They arrived in the gravel yard and Theo handed Perg the hide he’d completed. “This is obscenely soft,” she said. “How long did it take you?”

“Two days for the research, but the reaction only takes a few minutes,” Theo said.

“You’ve boiled my year-long process down to ‘a few minutes’,” Perg said, shaking her head. “You understand how ridiculous that sounds, right?”

“It’s the wonders of alchemy,” Theo said, embarrassing himself by making jazz-hands. “Anyway, want a demonstration?”

“Please do.”

Theo retrieved a rotting wolf’s hide, dragging it into the middle of the yard. It was already stinking, even if it was freshly skinned yesterday. “The first step uses [Stripping Solution], which removes the hair and fat,” he said, pouring the first-step liquid over the hide.

Perg stood back, giving an approving nod after a minute of the potion doing its work. She moved to inspect the hide, flipping it over and saying, “wow. It takes the fat, too.”

“The second step is the [Alchemic Tannin], which works just as quick,” Theo said, pouring the next solution over the hide.

They stepped back and watched it work its magic, finding its way into the cracks and fizzling. Perg was amazed at how fast the potion worked, voicing her surprise and pointing out how it found its way into the grain of the leather. When it was done, she moved to inspect it. She pressed it against her face and inhaled its scent, turning to Theo with her mouth agape.

“I thought it would be fast, but… Wow, this is amazing,” Perg said. “What do you need me to do to start mass production?”

“Come with me,” Theo said, beckoning for her to follow him into the lab. He found his books and laid them out, rolling a piece of parchment to scribble on. “The first step takes the [Ogre Cypress Bark], we’ll need a lot of that.”

“The white bark under the ogre cypress trees?” Perg asked. “That’s an ingredient in our process. I have a stockpile in the warehouse.”

“Good god, woman,” Theo scoffed. “I don’t suppose you have [Marsh Tubers] and [Swamplight Spider Silk] as well? That’s what we need for the second step.”

“That I don’t have.”

“We’ll need equal parts of both,” Theo said, using his intuition to calculate how much he’d need per hide. By his estimation, 1 unit of either solution could cure 1 hide. 1 unit of tubers by weight would produce 1 unit of essence, and a quarter unit per essence for the spider silk. He scribbled on the parchment, describing what the [Swamplight Spider Silk] and [Marsh Tubers] were, and where to find them. “You can collect these yourself, but I’ll need to distill them and perform the reactions.”

“I’ve seen the goods—you’ve proven yourself, but we haven’t come to an arrangement,” Perg said, knitting her brow.

“What’s fair to you?” Theo asked.

“Would you do ten percent off the top?”

“Works for me,” Theo said, reaching out a hand for her to shake.

Perg shook his hand vigorously, a grin spreading across her face. “You’re so easy to work with. My guys will have your ingredients by tomorrow.”

“Pleasure doing business with you. Now we need to get some traders in town.”

Perg departed after their meeting and Theo breathed a sigh of relief. He wasn’t interested in doing the collection part of the job for them and was happy that she agreed to handle it. He wanted to expand his potion making, branching out to more than just restoration potions. The alchemist planned on making stat-enhancement potions, which his books claimed were harder than the base-level potions.

Before leaving to find [Stone Flowers], he separated out his supply of Zee, targeting the kernels that were getting close to rotting. The second property on the kernels was [Cure Poison], something that seemed out of place for a farm-grown ingredient. Theo prepared the still for a run, creating a mash from 20 units of the usable crop and filling his [Copper Still]. He cooked it down easily, finding that the kernels were perfect for distillation. Something about the way they mingled with the water without becoming too soaked prevented them from burning on the bottom.

It took less than an hour to cook down, even though he kept the fire burning low, and it barely fit in the conical flask placed under the condenser. He inspected the new essence before running off to search for his flowers.

[Cure Poison Essence]

[Essence]

Common

Created by: Belgar

Grade: Great Quality

20 units (liquid)

Concentrated essence of cure poison.

Theo tested the new essence by creating a [Potion of Cure Poison].

[Potion of Cure Poison]

[Potion]

Common

Created by: Belgar

Grade: Great Quality

Drink to remove poison.

Effect:

Remove one instance of poison from the drinker.

Theo’s goal, now that he was waiting for Perg to collect his materials, was to create a few different potions for any adventurers passing by. It was nice to have the baseline restoration potions, but he wanted a selection for them to pick from. The plan also gave him a variety to sell to any passing merchants, although he had met none of those yet.

How goes the core hunting? Theo asked, enjoying his mental link with Tresk.

These poison potions are awesome! I’m getting a lot of experience, Tresk said.

Just stay safe. I’m going to look for some [Stone Flowers], Theo said.

I’ve seen them growing north of the farmer’s fields. Just be wary of the wolves, Tresk said.

Understood.

Theo nodded to himself. The area north of the farm had those horrible insectoid creatures. They were much further north than the fields themselves, but he shuddered at the thought of the strangely multi-jointed limbs. Monsters like that existed to defy what should be possible. He made a plan to stick to the area directly north of the fields.

Miana bothered him at the square, and he waved her off. The woman was all bark and no bite, and he had no obligation to pay her the massive sum of money all at once. He owed her rent on his lab in a few days anyway, although how he could owe a mortgage and rent was beyond him. The familiar scent of manure and dirt wafted through the air as he approached the farmlands. Theo could only help the farmers if he came up with a way to accelerate the growth of plants, and he wasn’t willing to put more work on his plate.

The lowland fields that stretched after the slow slope of the farmer’s fields were a strange place. Theo chalked it up to whatever magic the wizard used to raise the farmer’s land, sending the area into a dry habitat relative to the rest of the marsh. The [Stone Flowers] were easier to find than he expected. They grew like lilies among shale outcrops, their roots dug deep into the stone. The alchemist’s core allowed him to determine the best part of the plant to harvest, which was the flowers. The delicate petals crumbled if he grasped them too hard, forcing him to place them in his bag.

[Stone Flower]

[Alchemy Ingredient]

Common

Stone-like flower that grows near shale outcrops.

Properties:

[Increase Vigor] ???? ????

The unknown properties on the flower would need to stay undiscovered. The flower was much like the shale it grew in, and didn’t look very appetizing. Theo continued to harvest the flowers, picking up the [Earth Motes] that he found and shoving them into his bag. He roamed the fields for a while, and his [Drogramath Herbalist Core] even reached level 5.

[Drogramath Herbalist Core] received experience (2%).

[Drogramath Herbalist Core] leveled up! Level 5.

[Drogramath Herbalist Core] gained an additional bonus to [Vigor] (+1).

His herbalism core now provided +3 [Vigor] in all. His other core was on the verge of leveling up, which would cause his character to level up as well. Theo looked forward to picking the inventory skill, hoisting the bag over his shoulder and straining under its weight. He’d collected more motes than expected, spurred on to return to the lab by the sound of wolves baying in the distance. The alchemist entered the farm quickly, huffing for breath as his stamina dropped from the strenuous activity. Tresk was right about the wolves. Had there been this many wolves when he arrived?

Is it me, or are there more wolves around? Theo asked, waving to a farmer as he held his silent conversation.

Tell me about it. I ran into a pack of 5 just now. Glad that I have the poison and healing potions, Tresk said.

Theo felt his heart skip a beat at the mention of so many wolves. Tresk was putting herself in danger—but that’s what adventurers did, right? There was a war raging in his heart, one side demanding her safety and the other happy to see her accomplishing her goals. He resolved to create more powerful potions, something that could guard her against danger even more. What he needed more than anything was a strong revenue stream, and as many cores as he could buy. If his cores were anything to go by, the lab should get an upgrade at level 5.

Throk waved Theo over as he was passing the blacksmith. The Marshling smiled, gesturing to a massive pile of copper sitting in his workshop. “Progress is being made, alchemist,” Throk said. “Your order for a water tower is coming along.”

“When was a trader here?” Theo asked, knitting his brow.

“Earlier today,” Throk said, casting his gaze over the copper. Theo pegged him for a man that liked a challenge. The water tower would be difficult to construct, there was no doubt. “I have a metal trader come from Rivers and Daub every few days, and he came through on the copper. Like I said, it’s not in demand at the moment. I got it for a steal.”

Theo looked at the massive pile of copper and nodded. He suddenly understood that distance might not mean the same thing for traders as others. After he discovered ‌he could get an inventory ability, it was reasonable to assume that if there was a trader core, an inventory would be necessary.

“Did Miana sign off on it?” Theo asked.

“She doesn’t have a choice,” Throk said, croaking a laugh. “I own a fair amount of the land on the square. I can do with it what I want.”

“And you want to put the water tower on your land?”

“Some of us are interested in seeing Broken Tusk prosper, just like you,” Throk said. “You roll into town, transported from another world, and start making improvements as your first move. That says a lot about you.”

Theo smiled, nodding and turning away wordlessly. He felt the beaming smile of the Marshling on his back even as he left, and contentment spread through his body. He dove into the problems of the small town without thought to his own desires. His heart became tied to those people instantly, and he never looked back.