The Newt and Demon

Theo yawned as he woke from the Dreamwalk. He saw little use in gaining many more levels and had instead been focusing on expanding his abilities outside the context of levels lately. But he still managed to push himself to level 34 in both his alchemy and herbalist cores, which caused his personal level to grow as well, although he still wasn't sure what he was going to do with it. With a shrug, he placed his free point into Strength. It was the only attribute he had less than a hundred, aside from Intelligence, and he dared not push that further than 30.

Breakfast was a simple meal of sausage and eggs. He was grateful that his new body could process so much fat without causing a horrible heart condition. Or perhaps it did, and he was simply unaware. Tresk seemed overly excited about something today, although she wouldn't tell him what it was. He thought it was because their Tara’hek core had risen to level 39 and would likely reach 40 any day. That would provide them with another skill or an evolution of an existing skill—that was pretty fun.

Just as Theo was preparing to spend his day working on his new properties, he groaned. The bell outside sounded, and he reflexively pulled up his tactical map of the town. He didn't see any overflowing dungeons, and there was no note of monsters escaping from the negative dungeons. That didn't stop Tresk from immediately teleporting away to figure out what was going on.

Instead of rushing up from his chair and joining her, he simply watched the events unfold through her eyes. Aarok was assembling the troops, not as a defensive action, but as an offensive one.

"Looks like we're going to be forced into the dungeons," Theo said, finishing the last of his sausages and leaving a bit of egg.

"Are we actually going to fight something today?" Sarisa asked, with an exasperated sigh. "I haven't been able to kill a monster in quite some time."

Theo lingered at the table for quite some time, not expecting to be drawn into whatever offensive action was unfolding. When a message flashed through the administrative interface, the alchemist gawked. Of all people, he was the one summoned to the battle. He was being pulled against his will.

"I'm the town's dainty little alchemist," Theo said, folding his arms. "I'm not supposed to go and fight."

"First off, we're a city now," Sarisa said.

Rowan roared with laughter. "Secondly, or anything but dainty. Actually, I don't even know why we're still guarding you. You could beat both our asses with your hands tied behind your back."

Theo sat grumpily in his chair for some time, but eventually Tresk came to collect him.

"What are you doing, lazybones?" Tresk asks. "We need your predictive powers in the dungeon."

Theo pointed a finger in the air. "I am a dainty little alchemist," he said.

"Oh, shut up," Tresk said. "Come on, we had a dungeon break from the Hills dungeon. And we need to thin out the number of monsters inside. You two are coming, too. Since, for some reason, you're stronger than most of the adventurers.”

While Theo wanted to object, he knew it made sense. With two negative dungeons in town, things would get dangerous if they didn't clear out the monsters. They hadn't yet taken action against the dungeons because they feared a dungeon break, but now that one had happened, the seal was broken. It was more important to reduce the monster numbers than anything else. With a sigh, he stood and shrugged.

"How many people are we taking?" he asked.

"A decent-sized strike squad," Tresk said. "Mostly stealthers, but we're going to do this the old Qavelli way. You know how those old war boys think."

Theo grumbled a few more times, but he joined Tresk. Sarissa and Rowan trailed behind them. In the city square, they had assembled fighters for the effort. Theo wasn't really sure how this was going to go, but if they were going to do so without casualties, they would need his predictive powers. More than that, he supposedly had quite a bit of defensive magic he could add to the mix. Not only could he summon powerful barriers, but he could also cast the haste spell on people. He had been practicing it, after all.

"Finally," Aarok grumbled, casting Theo a nasty look. "Time is of the essence. We're going to need to clear this dungeon as quickly as possible. We're bringing the wizard so we can destroy the core if we get there, but if the dungeon proves too vast, we'll settle for taking care of some monsters to alleviate future waves."

Theo spotted Xol’sa and Zarali across the way. They were mingling among the soldiers, who numbered at least fifty. Aarok had more information to give about formations and all that fun stuff. He didn't need to listen much, because he would be in the rear, focused on using his future sight to forestall any attacks and relay that information directly to the commanders.

"Theo in the field," Luras said, coming up alongside him and jabbing his oboe into the alchemist's ribs. "Never thought I'd see this."

"Yeah, yeah. I had big plans for today, but I guess I'm babysitting a bunch of weaklings in a dungeon."

"Oh, Mr. Big Pants Archduke over here, throwing his weight around," Luras said, producing more of a smile than Theo had seen in quite a while.

Theo was instantly reminded of the friendly jabs he exchanged with Yuri back in the day. That put a big smile on his face, and he ended up laughing with the other soldiers as they prepared to depart. Truth was, he wasn't certain if they were ready for an excursion into the negative dungeon. From what he had observed, from Tresk's perspective, it was a nasty place with an unforgiving range of monster levels. He went over his spells as they prepared to leave.

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His barrier spell would be the most effective, but he certainly could adapt a few others to fit their needs. He could also create a field of anti-magic, preventing monsters from casting offensive spells. And he could craft a ward preventing any specific type of magic from harming them.

Theo realized he might actually be a very powerful support mage, even if he had often neglected his mage core. Oh well. They were bringing him for his ability to predict the future, and his magic would just sweeten the deal. After a while, the troops were ready to go and began their march toward the dungeon. The alchemist brought up the rear with the casters, but he was also flanked by his guards and Tresk.

"You know, it has just been a lifetime since I delved into a dungeon," Zarali said with a wistful sigh. "I hope my strong husband can protect me."

"We both know you're more powerful than me," Xol’sa said. "I'll do my best to defeat the monsters, and you just make sure everybody doesn't die."

"How are the space elves, by the way?" Theo asked.

"They're doing well, actually," Zarali said. "That one man is finally waking up, but he's slow to do it. Don't worry, the other healers are taking very good care of him while I'm away."

Even the entrance to the Hills Dungeon looked cursed. As Theo stood outside the portal, peering inside, he could only think that what lay within was more than this small group could handle. He wondered if they had actually intended to go in without him, and shivered at the thought. I wasn't surprised when his small group was sent in first. They delved headlong into the portal and arrived in that endless landscape moments later.

To his surprise, Zarali summoned a barrier that dropped everybody into an obscured stealth mode. He nodded in approval, then looked back at the floating portal exit. The other soldiers came pouring through.

"Let me know if you need some mana potions," Theo said, nodding to Zarali.

"Oh, I've got plenty," she said, smiling to herself. "A few abilities let me restore my own mana, but I appreciate the sentiment."

Aarok laid out the plans. Tresk had done extensive scouting in the area, and she claimed to have a very good idea of where the dungeon core might be. Unfortunately, she believed it was in the giant floating monster that hovered above them—like some great sky whale.

"Hi, Frank," Tresk whispered, waving up at the giant sky whale.

As the plans were laid, Theo allowed his concentration to slip from the conversation. Instead, he focused on his future sight, watching the various monsters in the distance move around. He observed their shadows and the group's preparations, noting their departure in a few minutes. He drank a Potion of Limited Foresight and kept his various shields at the forefront of his mind. As the spectral expedition pushed forward, he watched a party member on the left slip from Zarali's barrier. A flying monster picked the member up a moment later and flew off.

"Stay within the barrier," Theo said, pointing an accusatory finger at the half-ogre who had lingered outside its protective embrace.

"I wasn't going to leave," she said.

"He can see the future," Aarok said, shaking his head. "We haven't even started moving yet, and you're seeing casualties."

"Yeah, so we'll prevent those," Theo said. "Don't worry."

Viewing the world through future sight was weird. Yuri had always talked about it as a thread of fate that was being changed and those potential futures. While Theo wasn't quite at that level, he could view his intended future as though he were scrubbing through a video, fast-forwarding and rewinding. When he made a change, he had to go back and let it play out once again. This time, as the party set out, the errant half-ogre was not scooped up by a flying monster. Instead, he stayed well within the barrier and took advantage of the stealth effect.

"So here's the score," Tresk said, walking alongside Theo. He was shocked that she wasn't in her own version of Stealth, but it seemed as though she had something to say. “Most of the area around here is open fields, giving Frank direct access to us. If Frank spots any of us, we're basically screwed. So, what we're going to do is move into a section with floating islands to shield us from the sky. That will give us a chance to fight them off.”

That made enough sense to Theo. He looked up, spotting Frank high in the sky. The creature tilted to one side and seemed to dive a bit. He raised an eyebrow, fast-forwarding his future sight to see what the sky whale would do.

"Halt!" Theo called, gaining the attention of the commanders, who relayed his order. Everyone stopped on that open, colorless field, looking back at him with confusion.

It took about a minute for the reality he was viewing to catch up to the present, but a massive chunk of something fell from the sky. Frank had tossed something at them, perhaps detecting their location, or maybe it was just random. The object impacted the ground with a resounding crash, shattering whatever material the floor was made of and creating quite a crater.

"We're good," Theo said, barely able to hold his focus on the present as he watched the swirl of futures around them. The group continued marching forward.

Of the monsters that occupy this area, most were strange amalgams—combinations of different things or creatures he hadn't yet seen. The alchemist watched as a rabbit with a pair of antlers hopped past them, just outside the stealth barrier. Despite its appearance, it was level 50 and would likely give them trouble if they engaged it directly. After about half an hour of marching, they finally found something other than a completely flat plain. Hills rose in the distance, and they could see the floating islands Tresk had mentioned.

"Anything else, future boy?" Tresk asked.

Theo scrubbed his future sight, wincing as he saw a small herd of creatures pass before him. They crossed into the barrier, were detected by the group, and began an assault. The monsters were a cross between a llama, a horse, and maybe a goat. It was hard to tell. He directed the group to halt and move to the right, avoiding the encounter entirely.

Light conversations sprung up within his group, but Theo couldn't give them any attention. He felt his mind buzzing as he watched those future maneuvers. Before long, the group was coming under the ledges of those islands, finding a decent space to rest for a moment as they regrouped.

"There's a cat-like creature lurking in the area," Theo said. He watched a massive panther emerge from stealth and assault the adventurers outside the formation. When he focused, he could see its outline in the distance. “I don't think we can avoid fighting it. Does anyone want to put an arrow in it?”

"Oh, come on," Tresk asked, removing a poisoned dagger from their shared inventory. "Why don't you take a shot?"

Theo shrugged, taking the blade from his companion and flipping it in the air. He caught it deftly before whipping it forward. His dexterity made the motion almost effortless, and the dagger slammed into the side of a hidden beast. It was a dagger tipped with one of their nastier poisons that went to work right away, The massive panther surged forward for only a breath before it tumbled to the ground.

“Wait, why don't we take Theo on more adventures?” Luras asked, chuckling from the front of the formation.

"Because he's a dainty little alchemist," Tresk shot back. "And he's a precious baby."