The Newt and Demon-8.9 - The Greater Good

Excitement built around the arena games, putting Theo in an awkward position. As he waited for his other jobs to come calling, he grew more distant from the project. His first reaction was to gather all resources and take command of the project since he felt left out. It didn't sit well with him, but then he realized that with all the things he had going on, he couldn't spare the time to interact with the arena project. He had to let the city’s administrators handle their responsibilities, unless he wanted to be buried in more work than he had time for.

This left the alchemist with more free time than he cared to entertain. At least he could spend his days discovering the secrets of this new skill and learning how to push it far enough to create viable potions without harming those who consumed them. After a day of experimentation, Theo was making his way back to his manor for dinner when he was intercepted by Fenian. The elf was bright-eyed with the same expression he had when schemes were afoot.

"You're not going to invite me to dinner?" Fenian asked, pouting as he trotted alongside the alchemist. “I thought we were friends.”

"You have an open invitation to dinner," Theo said with a sigh. He could sense the unspoken tension in the elf's voice. It was as though he was eager to do something but was waiting for the right time to request it. “Why don't you just come out and say what you want?”

“Fine. If you’re going to be such a grouch about it,” Fenian said. “I’m gathering the troops to assail Slagrot. Are you free tomorrow?”

“Let me check my schedule,” Theo said, coming to a stop on the road. He just stood there for a few moments. “Yep. I’m good.”

“Excellent!” Fenian shouted, clapping as they resumed their pace. “Oh, I’m certain Balkor is going to be upset about this one.”

“Doubtful. Balkor is my new best friend.”

A dark mood passed over Fenian’s face. “Betrayer.”

“Yeah, a lot of people call him the Betrayer,” Theo said, nodding as he cupped his chin.

"You know I don't care for him," Fenian said, still glaring at Theo. "He's a big jerk, and I don't like him."

"I'm not sure it matters if you like him or not," Theo said. "What matters is that he’s helping me with a project. And I'll take as many allies as I can get, especially those who are stupid enough to fight against the gods and the system with me."

"Since when are we fighting the gods again?" Fenian asked, letting out an exasperated huff. "I thought we put that chapter to bed."

"Well, we're not exactly fighting them, so much as going under their noses. We're still mostly operating within the bounds of the system, but you never know who's going to get pissed off at us for no reason."

"And throughout all of this, you never thought to ask me," Fenian said. "It's an absolute shame, my dear alchemist, to know that I have slipped so far from your thoughts."

"You're always in my thoughts, baby. You're just too weak to keep up with this one." Theo might have said that as a joking jab, but it was true. Fenian didn't know enough about magic to get help, and that's really what he needed. If there was somebody who needed their head removed, who would be the first person he would contact?

"How are we finally using pet names?" Fenian asked, grabbing Theo's arm and pressing his cheek into the alchemist's shoulder. "I can't believe we're finally going steady. What will we tell Tresk?"

Theo hip-checked Fenian, sending him tumbling away. “I’m not starting a man-harem. Or a regular one for that matter. I think you’ve been spending too much time around Twist and Jan.”

“What’s the implication there?” Fenian asked, jogging to catch up. He had rested dramatically on the ground for a few moments, rising when the ploy didn’t work.

“Anyway,” Theo said, ignoring the statement completely. “We’re good to go tomorrow. I can teleport us there no problem.”

“Ah, yes. Your cheating teleport power that you shouldn’t have but the gods haven’t taken away for reasons I don’t understand. Those powers.”

Since both Rowan and Sarisa had recovered from their drug-addled delusions, they prepared a modest feast. Half of it had been catered by the Marsh Wolf Tavern, while the other half was created by the brother-sister duo. A spread of broken tusk staples, wolf meat stew, flat zee bread, and spicy omelets was scattered over the large dining room table in the manor. Fenian wasted no time finding a seat and piling his plate high with anything within his reach.

"Good to see the two of you have recovered," Theo said, finding his own seat and targeting the spicy omelets first, as they were his favorite.

“No thanks to you,” Sarisa said. She provided Theo with several rude gestures. Her brother was slow on the uptake, but also offered a few of his own. “I heard some interesting stories about what happened after taking your illegal drugs.”

“They weren’t illegal,” Theo said. “Just unsafe. But now I know they’re not safe.”

“Yet you fed some to my stupid brother,” Sarisa said.

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“Hey!”

“And I learned something valuable,” Theo said. “You suffered for the greater good!”

“The greater good,” Tresk repeated, appearing and taking her seat.

“If you distribute those potions, we’re gonna be knee deep in wolf muck, thieving kids, and crusty jugglers,” Sarisa said.

“Crusty jugglers,” Tresk repeated.

Sarisa screamed.

Theo turned his attention back to his food as Sarisa chased Tresk around the dining room with a piece of wood. Of course, the omelet was delicious. It was a rich mixture of cheese, butter, and a hot sauce made from salamander eggs. He dug in, savoring every burning bite as he worked his way through the meal. ṚÁNòᛒЕṥ

"So the plan is pretty simple," Fenian said, giggling with amusement as Sarisa almost got a hit on the lively marshaling. "We need to get into the volcano, steal a few things, and leave. It couldn't be easier on paper, could it?"

"The fact that you included the phrase 'on paper' makes me realize it's going to be a lot harder than that. Care to explain?"

"There are several potential complications with the plan. First, the volcano is active. There is lava just about everywhere. Another issue is that the volcano itself is guarded. You might not think so, but the ogres really enjoy that volcano. This means that, even as we descend into the interior, we will be dealing with ogre guards. I'm not sure if you have met an ogre, but they aren't exactly the most agreeable type."

“Hold on, the volcano has an interior?” Theo asked, placing his fork down on the table and turning to regard the giddy expression on Fenian's face. Of course, the elf already knew this, but that was no surprise.

"Of course, it's an incredibly complex series of tunnels that run along the side of the mountain itself. We'll have to enter there and avoid being sent down into a lava tube or being killed by noxious gases, all the while avoiding the detection of nearby ogres. It should be easy."

"Why do I have the feeling that this is the kind of nonsense you get up to when you leave town?"

"Oh, this is nothing," Fenian said. "I've gotten up to far more hijinks than this. Did I ever tell you about the time I single-handedly toppled the merchant caste of Qavell?"

"You might have mentioned it," Theo said, knowing full well he had been told the tale with sparse details before. “Cool. Just a standard Fenian adventure.”

“Yes. I plan to get as many adventures done as possible before the world ends. Then, I’m turning my entire planet into an adventure planet!” Fenian shouted, including jazz-hands into his proclamation. “Isn’t that wonderful?”

“Yes. You are a special boy,” Theo said. “Now eat your food.”

Dinner was fine. Once Tresk and Sarisa calmed down, everyone ate their meals in relative peace. Fenian had a few stories about his most recent adventures, but it was difficult to discern which facts were true and which were fabrications. Theo knew he would never figure that out unless he was present during the adventure, so he didn't bother. Instead, they retired after the meal and entered the Dreamwalk.

The dream realm still wasn't interested in allowing Theo to experiment with the new potions, so he gave up his hopes on that and instead worked on his herbalist core. Getting both it and his personal level to 40 would give him access to two new skills, and with his most recent skill changing the entire way his alchemy worked, he thought it would be worthwhile. Otherwise, his trip to the realm was uneventful, and Tresk and Alex spent their time simply fighting monsters the way they always did.

It was barely after breakfast by the time Fenian came calling the next morning.

“I got a new adventuring hat!” Fenian proclaimed from the threshold of the manor.

Theo cocked his head to the side, squinting his eyes in a desperate attempt to detect any difference between the hat Fenian had been wearing the day before and the one he wore now. The feather might have been slightly longer, or the brim might have been stiffer, but he couldn't tell. All of the adventuring elf's hats looked the same.

"That's just your old hat," Tresk complained, placing her hands on her hips and glaring up at Fenian.

“No, this is a new hat.” Fenian assured her. “My hat maker says it's perfect for adventuring, with a minor enchantment that makes it behave more like armor. You'll never find a more suitable hat for adventuring.”

"Well, there's one idiot," Theo said, pointing at Fenian. "Where are the other two?"

"Just down the road, they’re waiting for us to depart," Fenian said, jerking his head to one side.

Theo wanted to ensure the town wouldn't need him for a while, just in case something weird happened. He checked his administration interface and left a note for everybody to know where he had gone. Then he strode down the road with Fenian and met up with Jan and Twist, who were waiting impatiently by the monolith.

"There is a minor problem to consider," Theo said, reaching out with his aura and probing the world itself. "I don't know exactly where Slagrot is."

“Is that a requirement for your power?” Jan asked.

“You know where Tarantham is, right?” Twist asked. “Go to the southwestern most spot and we can hop islands from there.”

“An excellent idea,” Fenian said, clapping Twist on the shoulder.

“Don’t touch me, creep,” Twist said, glaring at Fenian.

“You wound me…”

Theo shrugged it off, casting his senses over the world. If he could imagine the spot, he could move them there. Probably. He was still getting used to the way his teleportation ability worked. Letting out a steady breath, he folded the void, creating a hole for them to fall through. One moment, they were standing in the streets of Broken Tusk, surrounded by the chatter of conversation and the sounds of commerce. The next, they found themselves in an empty field along a shoreline far to the south, where the ocean lay, and the smell of the sea hung in the air.

"See, why can't I get a power like that?" Fenian asked, folding his arms in disappointment. "It takes us at least a few hours to cross the Bridge. And yet you can interdict us in an instant. It's unfair."

“If you look that way,” Twist said, coming alongside Theo to gesture out to the sea. “There are a few islands. There’s a whole chain of islands that lead to Yoh’til.”

“He knows it as Slagrot,” Fenian corrected.

“How am I supposed to know what they call all this stuff? The old names were fine!”

“Yet the Tapu no longer live there, so their ancestral names make no sense,” Fenian said. “Listen to the masked elf, Theo. Take us that way.” freewebnøvel_com

Theo shook his head. “I can feel the volcano from here,” he said. A sense of heat was coming from the distance, like a wash of fire-aligned magic was blazing right in front of his face. “I think we can make the jump from here. Just hold on.”

For the first time on Iaredin, both considering recorded and unrecorded history, a group teleported into an active volcano.

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