The Newt and Demon-7.74 - Sky Shard

Elrin didn’t stick around for long after they returned to Broken Tusk. Theo found himself in front of the lab with the man dashing off for another adventure. The alchemist knew the next big thing he had to do was to go to Slagrot, but it was a mission he wasn’t excited for. Not only was trespassing in the home of the ogres dangerous, but there were other things to consider.

The Dreampassage’s ability to send Theo into the void was an evolution of the original ability. Mixing his will into the ability had allowed him to learn the secrets of the veil. This was the mechanism he used to travel to places other than Tero’gal. But this ability rested in a gray area as far as the rules were concerned. After he combined that idea with the way he returned to the mortal plane, he had a technique that could take him anywhere on the planet in moments. Which was absolutely a violation of the rules.

And there was one man he knew who was a stickler for the rules.

"You went on an adventure without me?" Tresk asked, appearing behind the alchemist and folding her arms in disappointment.

"It was a brief adventure," Theo said. "I was only trying to bring a shard back to the mortal plane, but we ran into something strange. On the void island, a dungeon had appeared, and it was weird."

“Was it all corrupted with void energy?” Tresk asked, her face shifting to disappointment as she scanned his memories. “That looks like a fairly normal dungeon for what I expected. What do you think caused it?”

"Now, that is an excellent question," Theo said, rubbing his chin. “Although the island was soaked in void energy, it didn't seem to penetrate into the dungeon itself. I don't know; I'm no expert. We destroyed it anyway.”

"And good riddance to bad dungeons," Tresk said, nodding. "So, are you excited about our trip to the home of the ogres? I'm sure there are quite a few half-ogres in town who would love to go."

"I'd rather bring as few people as possible. The problem is that we're going to run into more issues than just the ogres themselves. I don't have much faith that our Arbiter won't give us trouble."

"Also, are we just teleporting around the world now? Is that something I'm allowed to do or is that another rule-breaking action?" Tresk asked.

"That's part of the reason I'm worried you might go to Slagrot, but we'll deal with that. Don't worry about it. I think teleporting around the world should be fine by now. From what I understand, we mostly have the backing of the system, and Khahar is the only one we truly have to worry about. You know how he gets."

“Cool. So, when are we going on a trip?”

“What?” Theo asked.

"If we can teleport anywhere in the world, we have to see the world, don't we?" Tresk asked. "What's the point of having that power if you don't use it?" freёnovelkiss.com

Theo didn't entirely disagree. He had a few things he needed to get done in town, but the more he thought about it, the more he realized that wasn't exactly true. He had things that he could accomplish, but were they vital? He was most interested in experimenting with the newest round of ingredients he had acquired, but everything else was secondary.

“How about we go tomorrow morning?” Theo asked. “As long as you pick an interesting location, I’m happy to visit. But if you pick something boring, I might veto it.”

"Oh hell yeah!" Tresks shouted, pumping her fist in the air. "I know exactly where we're going."

She scampered off before Theo could say another word. Instead, he just shook his head, watching as she went. He now had two items in his inventory. He was desperate to identify them. From the lab, he made his way north, passing by the familiar buildings. In Broken Tusk, it seemed he couldn't walk through his own city without being reminded of the progress they had made over the past year. When he finally walked by the statue in the town square, he couldn't help but shake his head. Azrug’s store was just down the road, and he turned into it, finding another employee smiling from behind the counter.

"Oh, I'll retrieve the master," the shopkeeper said, performing a slight bow before disappearing into the back room. That left Theo alone to gaze at the products in the store. They were items on display, in glass cases, and on wooden shelves. Everything from potions to dried foods and even artifices. Moments later, Azrug returned to the room, waving with an excited look on his face.

“You always bring interesting junk in here,” Azrug said, chuckling. “What is it today?”

"Two things," Theo said, removing a shard of pottery from his inventory. He placed it on the counter and looked at it, taking a beat before explaining what it was. "I encountered a strange type of monster that produced this ingredient. At first, I thought it was a construct, but well, just have a look."

"That's really weird," Azrug said, holding the piece up for inspection. He shook his head, setting it back on the counter. "I can identify it, but I'm not sure I've seen something like that. It seems to be made by a person, but the system recognizes it as a monster ingredient. Very curious."

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"The next one is even weirder." Theo said as he produced a jagged strip of paper-like material, flicking it with his finger to show how firm it truly was. He then set it down on the counter and slid it across. "This one's even stranger. It comes from a dungeon I found in the void, and even stranger, the monsters inside weren't afflicted by the void. So, I really don't know what it is."

Azrug scooped the item up, his brows knitting tightly. "It doesn't even have a system description," he said, tilting his head from one side to the other as the wood revealed some secret of the paper. He tested its qualities, flicking it through the air and tapping it against the counter. When he went to lick it, Theo stopped him.

"It's alchemically reactive," Theo said, holding out a cautioning hand. "I'm pretty sure it will react to half-ogre spit."

"Now chemically reactive without a system description that doesn't make sense," Azrug said. "Actually, it has a small amount of magic in it, which means the system should have recognized it. Any magical item gets a description, even if some mundane items don’t."

“I have a theory about that, but it isn’t firm. I think some of the system here affects the system on the void island, but it isn’t the same.”

“Different systems?” Azrug asked, the folds on his forehead increasing as his brows knit tighter. “Does that make sense?”

Not really, but it was the simplest way Theo could think of to describe it. From what he understood, the system reigned from the high realms, influencing every other realm within it. This meant the void island should be under the jurisdiction of the same system everyone else experienced. The system was changing, altering the rules as they went along to suit the shifting needs of those many worlds.

"I really couldn't say," Theo said. "Can you do anything for that item, though?"

"No, this one's out of my skill set," he said, handing the chunk of paper back. "How about I just identify this and call it a day?"

"Sounds good."

Azrug cleared his throat, holding the shard of pottery up. “Now, where did you find it?”

“An island floating in the sky,” Theo said.

“Yeah, sounds about right,” Azrug said with a click of his tongue. There was a long pause where Theo could feel the magic swirling in the air. The young man then handed the shard back. “There ya go. No poop jokes in this one.”

“Is that something you commonly do?” Theo asked.

“Yup.”

The alchemist inspected the shard, eager to see if there was a hidden joke.

[Sky Shard]

[Alchemy Ingredient]

Legendary

A shard of pottery found nestled amongst the clouds. It is said that anyone who holds such an item is blessed with luck.

Properties:

[????] [????] [????]

Theo looked up from the item, spotting the wide smile on Azrug’s face. "Legendary… That’s weird. What's up with that line about luck?"

"That's just a bit of flavor," he said. "I like to add a little twist in the description. And this doesn't seem like something other people are going to get their hands on. Not if nobody's found it already. Anyway, I figured you're pretty lucky to have found such an item."

Theo withdrew some coins from his inventory, paying the man for his services. It was a nice description, and as promised, there were no poop jokes included. He thanked Bob and made his way out of the store after chanting for just a little bit. He found people thought less of him if he only approached them for their services before skedaddling. The alchemist thought it wouldn't be the wisest idea to take the pottery shard to the lab for deconstruction. Instead, he made his way to the giant metal cube, which was currently occupied by several locals who were creating more of the booze.

"We were just ready to clear out," one half-ogre said, wiping sweat from his brow. He then drank from a glass jar of boiling hot zee liquor and smacked his lips. "It's drinking time, boys."

The workers filed out from the giant metal cube, all cheering and chugging large glasses of liquor. Theo shook his head but allowed himself a secret smile. His fear with the half-ogres was that they would go wild with the booze, getting nothing done and spending their entire day fighting. Instead, they were mostly responsible about it. Once it became widely available, few indulged too much, and it had become a staple. Of course, most people watered it down, not drinking it in its purely distilled form, instead preferring to dull the bite of the aggressive drink.

Theo focused on his heightened senses as he decomposed the shard of pottery that had gone up in smoke, releasing a strange scent he couldn't quite place. It was almost metallic but also held an undertone of earthiness, as though he were sniffing the clods of mud. Once again, this was a reagent that refused to reveal its fourth property. Even when he withdrew another, it simply didn’t come.

The alchemist shrugged, inspecting the Sky Shard to see which properties he had revealed.

Properties:

[Mercurial] [Focus] [Automaton]

The shard had revealed three properties that the alchemist had never seen before. He couldn't get a sense of any of them, but he wasn't surprised when he considered the status of the item. It was a legendary ingredient, which placed it in a rare class of items. Theo had worked with the spirit plants before, and he placed those things above this item. But he was still impressed as he looked down at the primal essence resting in his hands.

Theo added the shard to his list of things to test. He still had to work with the Emberstone Moss and a few of the ingredients he found in the deep ocean. That only left one thing on his mind. There wasn't enough time for him to brew anything today. He would rather arrive at dinner on time and perhaps head to the bathhouse. But in the safety of the gigantic metal cube, he could try one last thing. The alchemist withdrew the shard of paper from his inventory and rolled it over in his hands.

Just holding the item was enough to send his danger senses tingling, but time didn't slow when he focused on them. He held the item at arm's length and let out a steady breath. The makeup of the item was tough to penetrate, but eventually he applied his reagent deconstruction ability, and the edges turned to smoke. An unseen fire spread across the surface, eventually consuming the entire item until it released an acrid scent into the air. Dark smoke billowed throughout the metal cube.

Theo felt something shift, as though his navel had dropped for only a moment. He blinked, focusing on the murky surroundings and unable to see more than a foot in front of him. His eyes widened, and his breath hitched. The smoke cleared, revealing a familiar landscape. He was no longer within the cube.

“Ah, shit.”