8.13 - ABLATE

Taking care of the situation at Slagrot was one thing but as Theo sat at dinner that night, he couldn’t keep himself from probing the magical potential of the reagents he had pilfered from the volcano. Both the Lavashroom and Spit’s Pumice felt weird in his hands, as though they were different from the other reagents he had worked with. Both appeared to be normal reagents when looked at from a high level, but underneath their exterior waited something else entirely.

“No playing with your food, Theo!” Fenian shouted, spearing a large kernel of zee and taking a bite from the side. “We have plenty of time to destroy Balkor’s remnants.”

“That’s not my problem,” Theo said, placing the reagents on the table and taking a bite of his food. “I think I need to use my new skill to make the solution to destroy them.”

“So? Do it,” Jan said. He had already finished his food and was waiting patiently with his hands in his lap.

“It will require some experimentation for me to get right,” Theo said. “And I just can’t get my mind off of it.”

“I killed a dragon!” Tresk shouted. It was the 500th time she had yelled it, and she wouldn’t stop doing silly poses or pumping her fists in the air.

Although Theo wanted to retreat into his thoughts, he was there for his companion. This was her moment to shout about her victory over the dragon, and the alchemist didn’t want to diminish her accomplishment. He put aside those things for now, intent on studying the reagents as much as the Dreamwalk would allow him. A few too many bottles of zee liquor were passed around, and Theo had to excuse himself and Tresk after a while. The others could celebrate all night for all he cared, loud noises never pulled them from their deep slumber.

Tresk was happy to plop them back down into that volcano. She imagined the scene from the fight just as it had been, the lava dragon flying around and shooting fire. Theo found a quiet corner as Alex got to experience the battle. Both of them zipped around the wide-open area, screaming with excitement as they fought the dragon’s replica.

“Are you going to work with me tonight?” Theo asked, settling in with his thoughts and the power of the Dreamwalk around him. “I need to reveal the properties on these items.”

The alchemist held the stone and the mushroom in his hands, extending them as though to offer them to the realm. He felt it push back in recognition, as though probing the items and determining their worth.

“I know this is a weird request,” Theo said. “But I have a strange feeling about these reagents. The potion I need to brew will destroy a piece of an ascendant. What’s left of his soul is poisoning the mortal plane. Leaving them where they are isn’t possible.”

The Dreamwalk pushed back, assessing his request. The realm could be rejecting at times, not allowing Theo to do things he had done before. Perhaps it was the excitement of defeating the dragon coming from Tresk, but it sent the faintest mental confirmation to his request a moment later.

“Thanks,” Theo said, settling down with his reagents and getting to work. First, he would deconstruct the pumice. It turned to ash in his hands, the smoke rising into the air as the three properties revealed themselves. “Hmmm…”

The alchemist summoned the properties for Spit’s Pumice, reading through them and nodding along.

Properties:

[Flame] [Dissolve] [Ablate]

The first two properties were ones Theo already had access to. The Ablate property was the one that drew his interest. From the sense he got inspecting the reagent, he knew this was a property powerful enough to remove the layers of magic binding Balkor’s phylactery. But it was missing something. Something the alchemist expected to find in his next ingredient. He got to work on it, dissolving the Lavashroom away until only chalky dust remained. After revealing the properties, he inspected them.

Properties:

[Flame] [Pyro] [Accelerant]

Theo was certain he was looking for the Accelerant property on the Lavashroom. That’s the one that felt right. But as he considered how to use them with his new form of alchemy, he was unsure. His instincts said he needed to combine them in a novel way, although what that was he couldn’t say. One thing he knew for certain was that he couldn’t do it here in the Dreamwalk. Gaining the properties was one thing, but he knew it wouldn’t let him go far enough to make a completely new potion.

Theo instead watched Tresk and Alex do their thing while working on his Herbalist core. It was slow, especially as the core drew closer to Level 40, but it was better than nothing. Deep down, Tresk knew that the dragon she had defeated wasn’t a true dragon. He was surprised to see that it didn’t bother her as much as expected. In her mind, a dragon was a dragon and it still counted.

“Ya gonna need help with that tomorrow?” Tresk asked, gesturing to a pile of dust on the ground. Theo had tossed the primal essences onto the ground, not thinking much about what to do with them. They were the imagined versions, after all.

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“Maybe. I’m not sure what’s going to happen when I try emulating the Suffuse Potion,” Theo said. “Depends on if I have mastery over the skill yet.”

“What’s your opinion on that?” Tresk asked. “Do you understand it well enough yet?”

“I think I can do it,” Theo said. “I can’t really check from here, but I think it has to do with how well the two reagents get along. If they play nice, the connection will be easy. Otherwise, I’ll have to force them to work together. I get the sense that combining properties with this method will be even more hit or miss.”

“Let’s not forget to talk to Elrin once you get it working,” Tresk said, waving a finger. “Gotta get more Shards back to the mortal plane.”

“Easy peasy,” Theo said.

The rest of the Dreamwalk was mostly uneventful. When Tresk finally pulled them out, Theo felt as though someone had pulled the cork from a bottle, releasing pressure he didn’t realize was there. The knowledge he had gained within the dream realm came bubbling out, rising to the surface like some unwanted tide. The alchemist sat in the bed for a while, thinking he had some better understanding for how this was going to work.

Yet the cost of the Dreamwalk’s effort had taken something from Theo. Eventually, he rose from bed. But it was difficult. He found himself swaying on the spot after descending the stairs, standing and watching the others eat their breakfast as though viewing it from another person’s perspective. Fenian, Twist, and Jan had joined with Sarisa, Rowan, and Tresk at the table. Served at the table were plates piled high with greasy meats, almost as though they had anticipated his torpor.

“You’re looking rather green,” Fenian said, laughing as Theo fell into his chair.

“I think the Dreamwalk drained some of my life force or something,” Theo said, tossing a healthy pile of sausages onto his plate. “Almost like a hangover.”

“We know all about that, don’t we?” Fenian said, wiggling his brows at his companions. “You should’ve seen what Jan did after getting ahold of some pure elven wine.”

“Don’t remind me,” Jan grumbled, spearing a sausage and taking a bite. “You said it was ‘kinda strong,’ not that it could strip the paint off the hull of a ship.”

“Good thing Twist doesn’t drink,” Fenian said with another booming laugh.

Twist offered nothing to the comment, only concerning himself with the food on his plate. Theo listened as the others shared stories. A plan formed in his mind as the greasy food gave him comfort. This was a big turning point. If they could sort out Balkor’s problem, it would represent one of the last things he had to fix for the mortal plane. After that, there were only the shards to figure out. Then the mortal world would be ready for the reset. And just in time.

“Get up,” Sarisa said, patting Theo on the head. “I know your stuff is important. Gotta get it done.”

“Yeah, get up, lazybones,” Rowan said, dabbing the corners of his mouth.

“Speak for yourself,” Theo said, wobbling as he got to his feet. With a flash of his willpower, he steadied himself some. The familiar shadowy aura sprung out, surrounding him with a comforting field. “Come, I could use the company while I figure this out.”

“Well, what’s the problem?” Sarisa asked, leading the way and holding the door open for him.

“Thanks,” Theo said, heading outside. The humidity of the swap hit him, bringing some more clarity back to his mind. “My problem is one of process. I know I need to combine two properties from reagents using my new skill, but the template I’m working from revolves around the Suffuse property.”

Sarisa took a deep breath, closing her eyes. “Okay. That’s the potion you use to bind other potions, right?”

“Yep. It makes the elements of each potion play nice, creating another potion,” Theo said.

Sarisa followed close behind, cupping her chin as she hummed to herself. “Your new potion-making scheme is loose, right? Like all that willpower crap. The description on your new skill says you can bend the rules. Just bend the rule about suffuse potions.”

That was a fine place to start at. But the first thing Theo needed to do was to get somewhere safe. It didn't matter how sure of himself the alchemist was if he blew himself up while performing his experiments. He made his way to the giant metal cube and cleared out the workers there. They were, of course, thrilled to take the day off and were paid for their time, regardless. He established some barriers within the cube and then placed the two reagents down, eager to get to work. He started by adding each ingredient to their respective flask and decomposing them with his new skill, applying mana and willpower until they became the essence version of the ingredient.

Each felt stable enough on its own, but as he considered mixing them together, Theo got a sense that they wouldn't play well. As Sarisa watched from behind, he ran through scenarios in his mind.

“They don’t want to play well together,” Theo said, withdrawing another flask from his inventory. He placed it on the ground, drawing a tiny amount of essence from each vial and dripping it inside. The reaction was violet, but not destructive enough to do much more than shatter the container.

“You’re just not trying hard enough,” Sarisa said, huffing. “Try harder.”

Theo looked back, shooting her a glare. He turned back to his experiment after she gave him an unflinching stare and thought about it. It wasn’t just a matter of trying harder, but he could juice his willpower by increasing the potency of his aura.

“You asked for it,” Theo said, pulling an Aura Potion from his inventory and drinking it.

Theo allowed his aura to slip out. The metal cube was plunged into complete darkness and beheld with a murky gloom until the alchemist toned down that aspect of it. He took a deep breath and then held it, infusing every bit of his willpower into that aura and then likewise looping it back into his willpower. He focused on mixing the two potions, even as the metal cube around them rattled and the space seemed to warp inward towards Theo's efforts as he combined both essences. The only things he kept in his mind were the concepts of the suffuse potion and an image of what he wanted these two essences to achieve.

Sarisa fell over at some point, but Theo was too focused on the potion to stop. He felt it lash out, as though trying to break free of the bonds the system set forth. But he held his focus, pouring every bit of effort he had into it. The mixture took on a dark purple color, swirling within the flask without him touching it. Reality bent more, parts of the void slipping through right over his hands.

And then all was still.

“Job done,” Theo said, dropping his aura and holding the flask up. “Guess it worked.”

Clutching her chest, Sarisa looked up with fear. “Guess so,” she said, drawing a ragged breath. “Think I’ll need a nap.”