“A giant squid?” Salire asked, shaking her head. “Glad I’m not involved in the adventuring world.”

    The day was wearing thin, but Theo wanted to visit the lab before he went to bed. The sense of accomplishment related to dealing with the dungeons was growing. With every new dungeon destroyed, he felt as though the town was a little safer. But they had to keep on top of the problem, or it would get out of control. The Hills and Ocean Dungeons were now destroyed, but that left a few more. He reviewed the screen provided by Xol’sa’s Dungeon Engineer class.

    [Swamp Dungeon] L30 Dormant

    [River Dungeon] L19 Dormant

    [Mountain Dungeon] L3 Dormant

    [Cave Dungeon] L45 Dormant

    The Mountain Dungeon, which was to the north near the quarry, would need to be dealt with next. Theo had no intention of allowing it to get to the negative levels. They would destroy this one before it created the horrible beasts found in the others. If they started on the problem early, he wouldn’t even need to be involved. Huzzah. Before getting the next round of space elves, he wanted that dungeon gone. It would give enough wiggle room for the other dungeons to descend in levels, and they could avoid a disaster.

    “So, are we working on anything fun today?” Theo asked.

    “Not really,” Salire said with a shrug. “I’m building my confidence with mana infusion. You’re not running the squid bits tonight, are you?”

    “I don’t plan to.”

    “Good. That gives me room to test some stuff,” Salire said, waving him away. “Now, leave me. I seriously can’t concentrate when you hover.”

    Theo nodded, bidding her farewell and heading out the door. He understood how the added pressure of another person standing nearby could stifle the learning process. Salire was always a person who appreciated instruction, but needed time to digest information in her own way. As he left the lab, he spotted the position of the sun.

    “Who can I bother?” Theo asked, tapping his chin. After a few moments of thought, he snapped his fingers. “I have just the man to bug.”

    Broken Tusk had taken off thanks to the help of Fenian. But when someone needed to step up to satisfy the daily needs of townsfolk old and new, the young man that filled the role was Azrug. Brother of Xam and all-around little shit, he had filled some big boots. Now he owned a few fiercely independent businesses in town. His general store was located near the Marsh Wolf Tavern in the center town, offset from the cluster of buildings owned by Throk.

    Of course, Azrug wasn’t working the front counter in the general shop, but Theo still stopped by to see what kind of stuff they had. There were an assortment of items that leaned toward gear for adventurers. He hummed to himself when he saw a few potions on the shelves... Potions he had crafted.

    “That little brat,” Theo said, shaking his head. If he cared more about his alchemy store making a big profit, he would complain. Azrug could also get away with a lot. He was ambitious enough to accomplish a lot.

    Another venture Azrug had started were some stables. Theo didn’t find him there either, as there wasn’t any overland travel on the continent. Instead, he was in the market. Theo found the half-ogre taking his role as Lord Merchant seriously. He was chatting with a group of elves about something. Likely something related to trade. The alchemist had avoided these talks since it had been proven he wasn’t good at it. In cases like this, it was best to let those with the talent take care of it.

    “What do ya need Theo?” Azrug asked. A sly smile spread across his face. “Life has been good since you no longer bother me.”

    “Show your leader the respect he deserves,” Theo said, folding his arms.

    “My lord,” Azrug said, bowing dramatically. “Shall we discuss the food I’ve ordered for the town in the stead of Alise?”

    “Nah. What do you think about the market?”

    “The market is great,” Azrug said. “We’re funneling a ton of money into the town from the taxes we collect on sales. We charge the merchants for docking at the port, then charge them a percentage for selling stuff here. They seem fine with it, though.”

    “Taxes and taxes, huh?” Theo asked. “So, what’s your take on money? The world is restarting soon, so why chase it?”

    “On the off-chance money is useful on the other side, we’ll have it. Even if it isn’t, I get experience from selling crap,” Azrug flashed a wide smile. “I’m hoping levels translate, so that’s my motivation. And you know what? This is fun. Do you know what fun is?”

    “I have fun sometimes. Blew up a dungeon today, which is pretty fun.”

    “Yeah, that sounds kinda fun...”

    Theo and Tresk stood in her memory of the dungeon. Parts of it were under water, but others were on the banks of random rivers. All sections of the dungeon were underground, encased in caves that seemed hewn by the very rivers themselves.

    “Of course, we have no intention of letting it get this far, do we?” Theo asked.

    “No, but the whole thing with the dungeons makes me sad,” Tresk said.

    “I am also sad,” Alex put in.

    “Right, but our options are to murder the dungeons or discover more giant horrors,” Theo said. “We got lucky with the Ocean Dungeon. Since it was underwater, I was able to use the fancy core you gave me to make a bubble of air. We won’t be so lucky with the river.”

    “Bah. I can still be mad about it.”

    “I am also sad.”

    Theo had been spending his time in the Dreamwalk mostly relaxing lately. It was growing more reluctant to entertain his efforts to push forward with his alchemy. Reaching tier 3 had been hard enough, and he couldn’t imagine getting all the way to 4 before they headed up to the heavens. Of course, it was impossible to predict the scenarios concerning the system after everyone left the mortal world.

    Tresk apparently picked up on that sentiment.

    “I have a strong feeling we’re missing something about the transition,” Tresk said. “We got some factors outside of our control, and some are compounding.”

    “An oddly elegant way to phrase that sentiment... You’re talking about Death and Elrin. The interaction of the gods with quasi-mortals, right? Then we have 3 loose-ends to think about. The System, Monitor System, and the Shards. I think those big chunks of crystal are going to play a far bigger role than we can expect.”

    “And our boy Elrin has a deep connection with them. Makes ya wonder, doesn’t it?”

    All Theo could do was make sure Elrin connected with the system, making sure something was done about Death. It was hard to find a path forward with that, considering how cloistered the System had been. It would freely interact with him, but he couldn’t know if it would go for any proposals. Then there was the problem with Death himself. His motivations were unknown, and the alchemist doubted he would ever crack that nut.

    “At a point, we’re going to only worry about ourselves and our people,” Theo said. “Because we can’t change the universe. Despite our best efforts.”

    “Speak for yourself. I’ll stab everyone if needed. A few well-placed daggers can change the universe.” Tresk struck a pose that didn’t inspire confidence.

    “The lizard that defied the System,” Theo said, shaking his head.

    “You’re changing your mind on this?” Tresk asked. “You already shied away from killing Death. Are you going to back out of our little council?”

    “Consider the interaction of the thrones,” Theo said. With a thought, he gave himself a pair of glasses and a gown. He thought it looked professorial, but the effect was lost on the lizard-girl. “We know they were generated by the system as a stopgap solution in answer to the Ascendants.”

    “Okay, where ya going with this, ya weird demon?”

    “We know the System is good about honoring stuff that’s already here. But are they going to go away when we ascend? Are we even going to have control over our own planets?” Theo asked. It wasn’t as though he was concerned... If a balance of power had to be established, he would give it all up. So long as his people were safe.

    “Consider the scenario where we don’t have our crap,” Tresk said, holding one hand out, palm up. “We’ll still be on another planet. And good luck to the System if it tries to break up our Tara’hek.”

    “Right. I doubt the system can even break our connection,” Theo said. “If you study the connection between our planets, it is like our Tara’hek.”

    “Attempting to understand the intentions of the System is futile,” Alex said. “Like understanding what the wind is thinking. I would like to fight some things now.”

    “I agree with the goose-dragon,” Tresk said, nodding at their companion. “We can bring this up to the other throne-holders when we can. We could also call a meeting with them.”

    “Perhaps we could bring Elrin along to Khahak. Get some dialog going concerning everyone’s intentions.”

    “Sounds good. Murder now, talks later.”