The lab’s stock of [Spiny Swamp Thistle Root] was low. Theo could make a 20-unit batch, but had a mind to run a much larger amount. He left the shop, flipping the sign to “Closed” and locking the door before delving into the sparse forest toward the river. Something interesting happened in that loose knot of trees before the river. The roots that he’d harvested days ago had regenerated, already grown to their fullest form. The alchemist wouldn’t have paid any attention to this, simply gathering the herbs and calling it a day, but he had concerns about how many supplies he could get.

While Theo dug in the mud and harvested the precious roots and [Earth Motes], Tresk adventured away in the swamp. The alchemist liked the swamp least of all the four areas to gather herbs. It was full of snapping jaws and lurking turtles, something he wanted nothing to do with. The area to the east was the safest, and thick with the healing roots. It was past midday, and he had enough roots and motes to do a large run of the [Lesser Healing Potions]. His herbalism core also reached level 6 as he harvested the last few reagents.

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

[Drogramath Herbalist Core] leveled up! Level 6.

[Theo Spencer] received experience (2%).

Theo expected that his core wouldn’t get anything new at 6, banking on level 10, giving him something interesting. When he returned to the shop, a short Marshling man was standing outside. The alchemist didn’t recognize him from the town, but the mud encrusting his bare feet gave him away as a local.

“Here for some potions?” Theo asked.

“Aye, I am,” the Marshling said.

Theo unlocked the door, getting close enough to the man to see a pair of old daggers stuffed in his belt. He wore light clothes that wouldn’t do as armor. He gestured for the man to wait at the counter and pulled 5 [Lesser Healing Potions] off the shelf. Their stock of [Lesser Stamina Potions] had run dry, and there was no time to make more. The Marshling’s eyes glittered as Theo set the potions on the counter.

“Looking to become an adventurer?” Theo asked.

“Naturally,” the man said, nodding his head. “I’ve seen you by the river—I’m a fisher by trade.”

Theo smiled. He wasn’t sure how useful fishing skills would be against the wolves. “I suppose we’re running a special for new adventurers. Five [Lesser Healing Potions] for ten copper—Broken Tusk residents only.”

“Ten copper?” the man scoffed. “I’ve seen traders running through town asking for sixty copper. Are they poisoned?”

Theo let out a heavy sigh, shaking his head. “No, they’re not poisonous. I don’t want to see the citizenry of Broken Tusk dead in the swamp. You get a discount on your first visit, then you pay full price.”

“Full price as in sixty copper?”

“Five,” Theo shrugged.

The man tilted his head, nodding in agreement, fishing ten copper out of his pocket and placing it on the counter. “You’re doing a fine service for the town.”

Theo put the coins in his inventory, waving as the brusk Marshling left the shop. He didn’t know if he’d ever get over how much he enjoyed the jingling of the bell. He flipped the sign to “Open” before retreating upstairs.

The alchemist withdrew the roots from his inventory in batches of 20, appreciating that the system allowed him to split the stack. They fell on the ground with a dull thud, and he scooped them up. The most important part about the [Spiny Swamp Thistle Root] was to remove the mud and trim them up for mashing. While his [Dexterity] score was low, he could quickly trim the roots and smash them up in a few minutes. His smashing stick slammed against the bottom of the barrel, turning the first batch into pulp. The massive quantity of roots he’d collected took 10 such cycles of cutting, smashing, and dumping into the [Custom Copper Still].

Right as Theo lit the fire, after filling the still with [Purified water], the gentle tinkling of the bell issued from downstairs. He placed a flask under the condenser before rushing downstairs to find another person he vaguely recognized waiting. It was another Half-Ogre, a man this time, with his arms crossed. He was far better armed than his previous customers, with a well-maintained sword at his hip and freshly treated leather armor. The mud gathered up to the inseam of his leather pants gave him away as a resident of Broken Tusk.

“Greetings, alchemist,” he said.

“How are you? Looking to get into adventuring?” Theo said, smiling.

“I’ve dabbled in the past. Fancied myself a military man years ago. Got rejected from the Qavelli Irregulars and turned to farming. I have a [Swordsmanship Core], and most of my points into [Strength],” the man said, delivering the information as a matter of fact. “My name is Aarok Thane, by the way.”

Theo looked the man over for a moment before responding. While the other would-be adventurers had the smell of failure on them, Aarok was well put together. He was a broad man, even by Half-Ogre standards, and carried himself with a poise uncommon in Broken Tusk. He had pale red skin, an oiled, slicked back head of hair, and a sleepy gaze that betrayed the intelligence that the alchemist saw in his gaze.

“Very nice to meet you, Aarok,” Theo said. “I’ll be honest, you’re the first new adventurer to enter my shop that I can say looks like an adventurer.”

Aarok looked at the sword on his hip, shrugging. “I’ve kept up with my swordplay. Maintained my armor… Nothing more.”

“It’s impressive,” Theo said. “Well, I’m running a special for new adventurers. Five healing potions for ten copper coins.”

“That’s a steal.”

“So I’ve been told,” Theo shrugged. “The deal is only good for the first time, then it’s five copper per potion.”

“You’re trying to get the new adventurers started. That’s incredibly honorable for a Dronon,” Aarok said.

“I’m an outworlder,” Theo said, chuckling. “I don’t know how Dronon are meant to behave.”

Aarok fished 10 copper coins out of his pocket, placing them on the counter. Theo retrieved the five [Lesser Healing Potions] from the shelf and returned to the Half-Ogre. He also plucked one of the four remaining [Potion of Vigors] from his inventory and set it on the counter, adding the coins to his inventory.

“That should get you started,” Theo said, gesturing to the six potions.

Aarok gathered the potions and added them to his bag. He locked his gaze on the alchemist again and nodded. “I’ll be back to pay the full price. Count on it.”

Theo followed him out the door, switching the sign to “Closed” before locking up and darting upstairs. The fire was dying by the time he got back, a steady trickle of essence dripping into the flask. He stoked the fire, adding several twigs and coaxing it back to life. The alchemist propped the two back windows before swapping out the massive flask for a fresh one. Once the fires died a few more times, the entire batch was done cooking. He left the task of cleaning the massive stills until Tresk could help him move them around.

With the storage drawers empty of [Copper Shavings], Theo left the shop. Fortunately, no one gathered outside awaiting more potions. He trudged up the muddy hill to the blacksmith’s shop. Throk brought his hammer down on something glowing red-hot before meeting the alchemist’s gaze.

“You better not be here to give me another job,” Throk growled. “Those adventurers are looking for weapons, and it’s been years since I’ve made a sword.”

“Just looking for [Copper Shavings],” Theo said.

“Well, I’ve got a heap of those out back from your job,” Throk said, grunting. “Help yourself to them.”

Theo simply nodded, finding his way around the building. There was a massive pile of the shavings laying on the bare ground, mounded up near rusting iron castoffs. He placed his hand on the pile and sucked it into his inventory. It occupied a box in the leather bag themed screen that crowded his vision, a number well over 10,000 sitting under the single tile. He made his way back to the lab, shaking his head. If the shavings didn’t stack to such an absurd number, he’d need to take multiple trips back to the blacksmith, not that he could imagine using so much of the material.

I just saved a Townsperson, Tresk said, her voice filling his ears as he marched back to the shop.

What happened?

Some Marshling tried to take on a pack of wolves. He got too greedy and needed me to bail him out, Tresk said. This is going to be dangerous for them.

That’s what I was worried about. The bounty seems nice in concept, but these people are going to throw themselves into the swamp and die, Theo said.

The alchemist decided to keep the shavings in his inventory for now. Even if the lab was already cluttered, he didn’t want to add to the piles of junk lying around everywhere. He fell into a rhythm at the [Glassware Artifice], settling on using half of his [Healing Essence] to create [Lesser Healing Potions]. They had a lot of the [Water Motes], but burning through them all seemed like a waste. He set 100 flat-bottomed vials across several tables and made a flask to use for the reaction. It was easier to withdraw an exact amount of [Copper Shavings] from his inventory. He could mentally select the exact number, 200 in this case, and drop it in a pile at the bottom of the flask. He then added 100 units of [Purified Water] and 100 units of [Healing Essence], the massive flask looking more like a glass barrel than anything.

Theo was happy that he propped the windows open earlier. The smoke that rose from the flask might have smelled nice, but it wafted in a thick red cloud that hung in the air. Several minutes of coughing and fanning the smoke out of the windows later and he started distributing the [Lesser Healing Potion] mixture. It still sat at “great” quality, but it was good enough for the adventurers in Broken Tusk. He’d need to improve his process even more if he wanted the potion to hold a better quality. By the end of the bottling process, sweat gathered on his brow and he gained another level in both his alchemy core and his character level.

[Drogramath Alchemy Core] received experience (5%).

[Drogramath Alchemy Core] leveled up! Level 6.

[Theo Spencer] received experience (2%).

[Theo Spencer] leveled up! Level 6.

[Theo Spencer] received one free point.

The alchemist inspected his character sheet before applying his free point.

Belgar (Theo Spencer)

Drogramath Dronon

Level 6

Alchemist

Core Slots: 2

Stats:

Health: 42

Mana: 10

Stamina: 53

Strength: 7 (+2)

Dexterity: 5

Vigor: 10 (+3)

Intelligence: 10 (+2)

Wisdom: 21 (+5)

Points: 1

Theo considered putting a point somewhere other than wisdom, but it was a hard sell. The more [Wisdom] he got, the more ingrained his innate sense for how things worked was. His memory sharpened with every level in the stat, already pushing him beyond anything possible back on Earth. The only other stat he’d consider putting points into was [Intelligence], mostly because his mental math was pitiful. Being an excellent judge of himself, or perhaps because of his [Wisdom] stat, he estimated that he was currently at the intelligence of a straight C student in college. He could remember almost everything that he read, but his ability to extrapolate information was lacking. He sucked it up and dumped the point into [Intelligence], feeling a gentle tingle run through his brain.

The alchemist retreated downstairs, filling the shelves with his potions in time for Tresk to return. She stomped in the door, a broad grin painting her face.

“You stink,” Theo said.

Tresk withdrew her [Cleansing Scrub], placing several drops of the liquid on herself before moving further into the shop. She wordlessly inspected the ledger and cast Theo a surprised expression. “You made 30 copper today.”

“From three hapless adventures,” Theo scoffed. “How deep into the marsh was that Marshling you saved?”

“You sold him potions, didn't you?” Tresk said, laughing.

“I did. Chipped daggers. No armor. Said he was a fisherman.”

“He was about ten paces into the swamp,” Tresk said. “Spotted a pack of wolves and went in without thinking.”

Theo shook his head, groaning. “Well, how much did you get paid in bounties?”

“30 copper. But I brought back more wolf parts this time, including three usable hides,” Tresk said.

“Hopefully, you have meat and bones,” Theo said. “I bought some cookware from your father.”

“Oh, I’ve got wolf bones. Bones and meat,” Tresk said proudly.

The pair locked the door and went upstairs. Theo stoked the dying embers from the fire back to life, positioning the pot stand which Throk sold him over the flames. Tresk produced several bones from her inventory, dropping them in the pot before filling it with water. They chatted idly as the pot came to a boil, both lamenting the lack of vegetables in their stew. Before long, the bone broth was done, and they added strips of fatty wolf meat.

“Monster wolf stew,” Theo said, grimacing. “Can’t be worse than the stuff that Xam makes.”

Tresk snorted a laugh, stirring the soup with a long wooden spoon. A knock came from the front door, and Theo rose to answer it. Luras was standing there, arms folded with a grimace on his face.

“You weren’t at the tavern,” he said.

Theo stuck his head out the door, finding the sun to be in its pre-dusk position. “It’s still early.”

Luras shuffled awkwardly on the spot, casting his gaze to the ground. “I smelled your soup from the street.”

“Ah, an honest confession,” Theo said, beaming. “You’re welcome to it, if you don’t mind sitting on the floor of my lab.”

Luras wordlessly pushed past him, ascending the stairs, with Theo close behind. Tresk gave him her greetings, gesturing for him to take a place by the fire.

“How was Rivers and Daub?” Tresk asked.

Luras sat there for a moment, and Theo could see the gears turning in his head. It was the ‌thing the Half-Ogre did when he wasn’t willing to share all the details. “The dungeon gaining a few levels is going to be the least of our concerns, soon.”

“That sounds grim,” Tresk said, scooping out bowlfuls of the stew to pass out. She handed a bowl to Theo and Luras. They both set it down to cool.

“Qavell is going to war, if the rumors are true. Veosta to the west are rattling their swords.”

“How does war affect us all the way to the south?” Theo asked.

The alchemist picked up a wooden spoon and prodded the stew. The meat looked tender enough, having boiled for a fair amount of time, and the scent wasn’t bad. It smelled like bone broth and little else, which made sense. He took a spoonful of the liquid and sipped it. Despite his negative experiences with bone broth in the past, this iteration was delicious. It had a deep, savory flavor that lingered on the tongue. The fat from the wolf meat danced on top of the yellowed soup, adding to the flavor.

“Nothing direct, of course,” Luras said. “They’ll fight their war, and we won’t feel it. But war breeds deserters, and those result in bandits.”

Tresk scowled. “We haven’t had a bandit problem down here since my father was a child.”

“And Broken Tusk was still young enough to go unnoticed,” Luras said. “With the recent waves we’ve been making, we’ll become a target. People looking to lie low, or pick an easy mark.”

Theo took a bite of wolf meat, looking to avoid the topic. It was unreasonably tender and split into stringy sections under just the force of his bite. The flavor was mundane, only soaking up the bone broth and adding nothing more to the dish. The flavor of the soup was leagues ahead of the swill that Xam served, and cost them nothing to make.

“We’d be overtaken by a rabble,” Tresk said. She told the story of the adventurer she saved, and how disorganized he was.

“Aarok seemed put together,” Theo said, looking up from his soup.

“I know Aarok,” Luras said. “We shared the dream of soldiery before… Well, that’s water under the bridge.”

Theo should have known that Aarok didn’t give him the full story, but wouldn’t pry. Whatever secrets Luras wanted to keep were his to hold. Reopening old wounds was something that he avoided at all times, preferring to keep things smooth among his friends.

“Militia!” Tresk shouted, unprompted. “We should make our own little army.”

“That’s not a horrible idea,” Luras said, shrugging.

“How many worthwhile adventurers do we have in town? Three? Two of them are in this room,” Theo said, sighing. “Not much of a militia.”

“They’re useless now, but give them time,” Luras said. “You can’t judge someone by the first step they take in a journey.”

“I’ll leave that judgment to you guys,” Theo said. “If you can whip the other people into shape, that’s a reasonable approach.”

“I smell the invisible ‘but’ in your statement,” Tresk said.

“But we should level the town up,” Theo said. “Right? We should upgrade it until we have walls. I’d feel safer with walls.”

“Walls are a great idea,” Luras said. “An un-walled town like this is easy to attack, and the core they used to seed the town should get a stone wall upgrade at level 5.”

“I’d really like roads,” Theo grumbled.

“I have 30 cores I was going to use on the shop,” Tresk said. “We won’t get another upgrade until level 10, so we may as well use them on the town.”

“I’ve got a large stock of cores at my house,” Luras said.

“I didn’t know you had a house,” Theo said, returning his attention to the soup.

“Did you think he lived in the woods?” Tresk asked.

“Yes.”

The rest of the group turned their attention to the soup, voicing their surprise at how good it was. They whittled away the late afternoon hours with strategies and plans for training the adventurers. Theo was only interested in obtaining more cores, and conducting more alchemical experiments. He lit the candles when the day grew into dusk; the conversation shifting rapidly between topics. The group settled on using the training to collect cores, allowing the training adventurers to collect the bounty while they kept the wolf parts.

“The soup was unreasonably good,” Luras said, rising from the ground. “But we need some chairs. I’m going to post a notice at the tavern. Training starts tomorrow.”

With Luras gone, Tresk and Theo pressed their foreheads together and gained a level in the [Tara’hek Core]. Unlike their individual core progress, the specialized core advanced at exactly the same pace for both of them. The alchemist extinguished the candles as night fell over Broken Tusk. With the entire pot of still-hot stew in Theo’s inventory, they settled into bed, and he kicked himself for not sorting out Tresk’s sleeping situation.

Sleep came easily, but the threat of bandits and the dungeon monsters weighed heavily on Theo’s mind but exhaustion won the battle.