noveltune 5.22 - Chatting with Droggy
5.22 - Chatting with Droggy
5.22 - Chatting with Droggy
A calming breeze blew down from the mountains west of the Terogal Ocean. No one had come up with a better name for the places here. Things were always referred to as the ocean, or the mountains. There were many mountains within the realm. Certainly, there was only one ocean. But the cornerstones of history that saw things being named were lacking here. It just was, and the beings within the realm accepted it.
Drogramath adjusted his coat, popping his boots off awkwardly as he approached the white sand beaches. The demon god dug his toes into the sand. The phantom of a smile graced his face, before it returned to a neutral countenance.
I like your realm.
Really? Theo asked, finding a fallen log to sit on. Ive noticed how the gods all pick themes.
My realm is a confusing landscape of glass structures. Massive greenhouses to grow my reagents. Drogramath looked off into the ocean. The sound of the waves lapping against the shore played a calming melody. Balkors was a word of undeath. Tworgnoth rests on a copper throne, in a cogwork realm. This seems more like the mortal realm than anything.
The entire exchange had been weird. Theos thoughts hadnt landed on how he felt about the situation. Yuri prevented gods from interacting with the mortal realm, but that didnt stop the owner of a Mortal Dreamrealm. Whatever that was. The alchemist could invite whichever god he wanted into his realm. They could come to sip tea, or dip their toes in the ocean. Any thoughts of ascension wars, or ploys back on the mortal realm seemed to fall away. The facade of power melted, revealing the gods for what they truly were.
Youre just people. Arent you?
A simple question, with a difficult answer, Drogramath said. The demon god flinched. Ah. An official warning from the Arbiter. He doesnt want me telling you the truth about Dronon.
Dont get yourself in trouble for my curiosity.
Drogramath shrugged. He seemed so easily defeated. The gods were so long-lived, perhaps he stopped caring a long time ago. That energy Theo had witnessed at the start of all this had somewhat vanished.
The world was seeded. You know that, dont you?
Yes.
We call the first conflict for the heavens the First Ascension War. Or the First War of Ascension. People from Earth were seeded Ah.
A loud pop, and Khahar appeared behind Drogramath. The Arbiter was scowling.
Why bother giving us free will if we cant tell him? Drogramath asked, sounding bored. Why does it matter if he knows?
Khahar glared. He was at war with himself.
When the world was seeded, Khahar said, picking up where Drogramath left off. People from Earth were sent first. Not everyone was sent at the same time. Youre a good example of that, Theo.
They say things were good for a while, Drogramath said.
Khahar scoffed. We were at each others throats from the start. But ascension was never an option. Not until the Second Seeding.
Drogramath shrugged. The first races were the elves, the dwarves, and the Khahari. When the Dronon were seeded things erupted. Ascension was unlocked, and we were behind.
Enter the cycle of destruction and rebirth, Khahar said. The best theory is that a different being brought the Dronon here. One of malicious intent.
The baleful eye, Drogramath sighed. What a mockery.
The point is, Khahar continued. There might be a Third Seeding. Or a fourth. We just dont know when it will happen.
That was too much information for Theo to process at once. The Dronon werent from Earth. And there might be more people from different places coming to this planet. They werent exactly aliens though, were they? Everyone in this world was an alien. Nothing native existed in this world. What a haunting thought.
Why tell me? Theo asked.
Good question, Khahar growled.
Because he deserves to know. This Mortal Dreamrealm is outside of the plan, isnt it? Anything outside of the plan stinks of him.
Khahar answered before Theo could ask. That Baleful Eye Drogramath was talking about The Harbinger set this world in motion, then stepped away. The other being left a series of instructions hidden away in the system. This place is likely a result of that.
So, wait I thought I was caught in a heavenly pissing match. Youre saying the dick-measuring contest is even bigger?
Well, when you put it like that Drogramath trailed off.
Im saying we dont know. Until we have control of the system, we can never know. Even then, Im not sure we can do anything about it.
Okay, Theo said, standing and stretching. Im going to push all that crap out of my head and take a walk.
Neither Drogramath nor Khahar called out as the alchemist walked away. He might have had more pieces to the puzzle, but he wasnt sure if he wanted any of them. And Yuri wanted to take control of the system? Thats what those thrones were about. Taking control away from the monitor system so they could hunt down whatever vestigial code the Baleful Eye left. Theo walked along the beach for some time before the demon god came to walk with him.
Youre the first Drogramathi to do industrial alchemy, Drogramath said, keeping pace with the alchemist. At scale, anyway. I had a small operation back in the day.
How does that work? Theo asked, trying not to laugh. Did you show up with a [Drogramath Alchemy Core]?
Drogramath chuckled, perhaps for the first time since Theo had met him. I had a basic [Alchemy Core]. Before the war, it evolved into a [Demon Alchemy Core]. Now I just have an [Alchemy God Core]. I dont care for god-level alchemy, though.
Did you always intend for Drogramathi alchemy to be so helpful?
Youre missing the point. My alchemy outpaces every other class in the first leg of the race to ascension. By Level 50, every class youre helping will do their own thing better. Priests can heal better, laborers can build better, and so on. Youre a generalist. With all the good and bad that comes with that.
What was the name of your planet?
Ard. Doesnt sound right in the mortal tongue, but close enough.
What uh was the base for your species? We were apes.
Alignment:
Drogramath (Minor Bond)
Grade: Excellent Quality
Covers the target in a sludge that eats away at all metal.
Effect:
Unless cleared away or purified, this sludge will eat all metal (magical or otherwise) for fifteen minutes. The rate of decomposition depends on the rarity of this bomb.
While the [Rust Bomb] wouldnt go straight in the garbage heap, it was weird. There was one situation that Theo could think of for this bomb. When Fenian led the giant elven construct to their gates, this would have been perfect. Any metal-based monsters would be destroyed with ease. But there werent any, as far as he knew. Since the potion destroyed magical metal items, there was a scenario where he could toss the potion at a knight, depriving them of their weapon and armor.
You go into the maybe pile, Theo said, moving on.
Next up was the Deteriorate property. It was an unlockable property, but that didnt mean it was good. The impression Theo got from looking at the essence was strange. Memories of the [Cleansing Scrub] came back to him. There was an entire class of potions that were considered cleaning agents. Those potions were normally poured over things, rendering some kind of effect. The alchemist added the essence to a vial, mixing equal parts enchanted water and a metal shaving. The reaction wasnt as gross-smelling as the others, but it was still foul. A plume of black smoke filled the air as the reaction occurred. A moment later, the potion was ready for inspection.
[Potion of Deteriorate]
[Cleaning Agent]
Uncommon
Created by: Theo Spencer
Alignment:
Drogramath (Minor Bond)
Grade: Excellent Quality
Submerging any item in this potion for at least one day will completely destroy it.
Effect:
Items (magical or otherwise) submerged in this potion will be destroyed without a trace.
Items must be of equal or lesser strength to this potion.
Length of time taken to destroy items depends on the relative power between the potion and the item.
I dont even know what to think about that one, Theo grumbled.
The grimeling was, as expected, a useless creature. There might have been a niche use for the [Potion of Deteriorate], but Theo couldnt think of it. Even in a scenario where he needed to destroy a dangerously powerful item, that item's power was the problem. The description of the potion said it couldnt destroy items more powerful than itself. So, he moved on to the next potion.
The [Reanimated Skeleton Fragment] was an interesting item. Theo had already confirmed that this fragment did not drop from undead out in the world. Those undead generated by Balkor dropped nothing, unless they were carrying something in life. The fragment came from dungeon-generated monster versions of the undead. It held a property, withering, which was useful for poison modifications. Hone Edge was a decent property. Reanimated Dead was one of those properties he wouldnt touch even if he needed to. That only left the vial of green-silver liquid in his flask. [Refined Assail Essence].
From the outside, Theo had the sense that the Assail property was much like Berserk, or Desperate Attack. It would draw on the life of the imbiber to power an attack. He mixed the essence with enchanted water, watching as a faint cloud of greenish smoke rose from the vial. The scent wasnt unpleasant, but was distinctly related to the smell of gravedust. Gravedust, being a catalyst in the alchemical world, had a smell between fire-cracked bones and fresh earth. He shook his head, casting off his musings to inspect the potion.
[Potion of Assail]
[Potion]
Rare
Created by: Theo Spencer
Alignment:
Drogramath (Minor Bond)
Grade: Excellent Quality
The next physical attack performed by the drinker ignores all resistances.
Effect:
Applies the [Assail] property to the drinkers next attack. This effect ignores all resistances, regardless of their source.
This potion came with implications. A Wisdom of the Soul message popped up, confirming what Theo was thinking.
[Wisdom of the Soul]
The wording of the item prompt is too specific. Generally, resistances are considered to be a reduction in damage, or a resistance to that damage. But, the prompt claims that the source of those resistances doesnt matter. Anything protected by system-generated resistances would be vulnerable to this potion. While you dont have enough information, this potion might even eliminate the damage reducing effects of the invisible rank function.
Wisdom of the Soul was often cryptic. Theo had to remember that the ability granted to him by the [Wisdom of the Soul Potion] was taking guesses at points. The only drawback to the potion was that it limited the effect to physical attacks. The alchemist wasnt much of a physical attacker, so it was something for Tresk.
Theo stretched, rolling his shoulders to relieve imagined tension. His alchemy session was fun, even if it was stinky. The most satisfying part about alchemy was taking a reagent and refining it into something usable. The resulting potion might be useless, but knowing if it was useless or not was the important part.
Tresk flashed a sense of recognition through the Dreamwalk. Dawn was drawing closer, and she was interested in getting an early start on the day. Theo finished up his experiments and prepared himself to fall back into the real world.