Chapter 37: Party

Theo had never seen the entire town of Broken Tusk assembled in one place. How they assembled everyone on such short notice was beyond him. The town gathered in the square, smiling and greeting their new mayor when he arrived. Fires were built around the monolith, holding massive cooking pots and pans. A torrent of scents washed over him as they approached.

“How did you manage this?” Theo asked.

Luras just smiled, clapping his hand over the alchemist’s back.

“This is great,” Tresk said.

Perg came to stand by Theo, placing her arm around his shoulder. “This is the first step for us,” she said, taking a deep breath. “You’re the mayor now, but once the city upgrades, you’ll get a new title.”

“And more authority,” Luras said. “That’s the important part. Once we get bigger, we can govern ourselves more.”

“I mean, the capital is leaving us alone,” Theo said with a shrug.

“For now,” Perg said. “Give it time. They’ll take an interest in us. Once we have enough influence, they won’t touch us.”

“Good to know,” Theo said.

“For now, we party!” Tresk said, pumping her fist.

Theo went around shaking hands and receiving well-wishes from the citizens of Broken Tusk. They were all excited to let him know how much of a natural fit he was for the position, but he had his doubts. He knew his heart was in the right place, but doubted his ability to lead them to greatness. As a few of them said, though, it was hard to argue with the results. In a few short weeks, the town had grown more than in the past century.

The alchemist sampled a little bit of every dish on offer, making the rounds with Tresk to sample what the townsfolk came up with. Both of them favored the spicy dishes made with the [Fire Salamander Eggs]. There were incredibly inventive pots of spicy noodles with tender wolf meat. Theo couldn’t get over how good that dish was, and made a point to get the recipe from the farmer who created it. He vowed to learn the secret of creating [Zee Kernel Noodles] from scratch.

“We need a mill,” Theo said, returning to Perg and Luras.

“Here he goes again,” Perg said, feigning annoyance.

Theo shrugged, flashing a sheepish grin. “I can’t help it. There are too many opportunities.”

Theo spotted Aarok, flanked by a pair of adventurers, approaching through the crowd. He wordlessly beckoned the alchemist to follow him, shrugging when Tresk padded closely behind. The guildmaster knew it was pointless to keep her out of the loop because of the Tara’hek communication. They ascended the battlements of the wall, looking out over the swamp. The setting sun cast the marsh in a dim, orange light.

“I suppose I have to call you mayor,” Aarok said, chuckling.

“I don’t care what you call me,” Theo said.

Aarok waved him off, shaking his head. “I’m nervous, Theo.”

“About what?” Theo asked, knitting his brow. Something in the Half-Ogre’s eyes sent a chill down his spine.

Aarok patted the crenulations of the wall, nodding his head. Something was running through that man’s mind that Theo couldn’t figure out, and he just waited for him to speak. “The walls are a good measure. Recruiting more adventurers helps, too. But I have a bad feeling about the [Swamp Dungeon].”

“What’s the issue?” Tresk asked. She brought a fat piece of meat with her the whole way and was currently gnawing on it.

“I have a theory, but I need to request some resources from the capital,” Aarok said.

“Which is where I come in,” Theo said. “What’s the theory?”

“I think the dungeon is growing in strength because of something else,” Aarok said. “We haven’t seen the core in ages, it’s simply too deep, but it’s getting power from outside of the swamp.”

“Is that possible?” Tresk asked through a mouthful of meat.

“That’s where the resources come in,” Aarok said. “I need some books—records of monster waves.”

“You think it’s a monster wave?” Tresk asked, gawking. “The southlands have never seen a monster wave. We’re just too small—not enough magic.”

“Until you consider a confluence of events,” Theo said, trailing off. His mind snapped back to what Zan’kir said about the dungeons, and his rebirth in Broken Tusk. “The Harbinger… The entity that reincarnated me here… That had to be some powerful magic.”

“Exactly,” Aarok said. “Look, this isn’t anything to worry about. We’re two steps ahead of the problem already.”

Theo suddenly wished he didn’t dump all his money into things like seed cores. Upgrading the town to level 20 would have been a boon against whatever threat they faced, but he couldn’t worry about that. They’d taken the right precautions to protect the people—Aarok was right. Between the walls and the Adventurer’s Guild, they were ahead of the curve. His intuition told him there was more he could do about defending the town.

“I’ll contact Fenian and the capital tomorrow,” Theo said. “My handler Lauris will get you the information you need.”

“Why contact the merchant?” Aarok asked.

“Merchants know things,” Tresk said. “They’ve always got an ear to the ground and a hand in your pocket.”

Aarok snorted a laugh. “I just wanted to make sure you were properly worried about the situation.”

“Hah! Theo is always worried about something,” Tresk said, striking a pose. “Not me. I’m never worried about anything.”

Aarok sighed. “That’s a problem, too. You owe some guild dues, Tresk.”

“You need a guild hall,” Tresk said, sneering. “I won’t recognize your authority until you have a proper hall.”

“How much does she owe?” Theo asked.

“A silver for the month,” Aarok said.

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Theo produced a silver coin from his inventory and handed it over, preferring to avoid any issues with the guild. If they were truly the first line of defense, he wanted to make sure they were funded. His mind wandered to that realm of the town.

“Speaking of,” Theo said, thinking out loud. “Is the guild properly funded?”

“For now,” Aarok said. “The capital is footing the bill for my quests, and almost everyone is paying their dues.”

“Everyone except Tresk,” Theo said, casting a glare at his companion. “You need to pay the man next time.”

“I’ll pay when he has a hall,” Tresk said, turning up her nose.

Theo ran his hand over his face, letting out a groan. “Fine. Aarok, let me know if you’re ever having issues with funding. Work with Miana—when she clears out her old house at the square, you can use it as a hall. When Fenian gets in town, I’ll buy a seed core for a guild hall.”

“Wow. That works,” Aarok said. “Don’t you need a place to do mayor stuff?”

“No. I’ve been doing my Lord Administrator stuff from the Newt and Demon,” Theo said.

The group fell into silence for a while. A group of marsh wolves threatened in the distance and the two adventurers standing with Aarok nodded to each other, descending the stairs and leaving the safety of the gates. Theo appreciated how much they did to keep the town safe and had to make sure he was on top of keeping the guild happy. The adventurers down below battled the wolves with trained precision, no longer displaying the novice styles they showed at the start of their training. The alchemist understood nothing about fighting, but it was clear they were good.

The shining jewel of Broken Tusk was its alchemist, Theo. The key to his strategy was to reinvest his wealth into the town. He could horde the money, or invest it into alchemy supplies but that wouldn’t have as big of an impact. Building his town would give the highest return in the long-haul, and it’d make people’s lives better. It was a win-win.

“Back to the party,” Tresk said, tugging on Theo’s sleeve.

“Right,” Theo said. “Aarok, I want to have a town meeting tomorrow. I’ll summon all the relevant people once I’ve spoken to Fenian and Lauris.”

“Sounds good,” Aarok said.

Tresk and Theo returned to the town square, finding the fires burning higher as the sun dropped lower on the horizon. The alchemist looked, but didn’t spot Azrug among the townsfolk. He’d need to check on the boy tomorrow to make sure he was alright. He cast those thoughts of worry out of his mind and enjoyed the company, making his rounds once again. Perg led some townsfolk in a dance on the northern end of the square. It seemed a warlike thing, barely dancing, from his point of view.

“Looks more like fighting than dancing,” Theo said, watching.

“Marshlings don’t dance,” Tresk said, waving a dismissive hand.

“Yeah, I’m a horrible dancer,” Theo said.

“This is my best one,” Tresk said. She bobbed up and down awkwardly, a stupid grin playing across her face.

Theo joined her, bending at the knees and keeping his arms straight at his side. Other townsfolk joined with them, laughing at how stupid the dance was. Before long, everyone was bobbing up and down, trying to keep a straight face.

“Well, that was awkward,” Theo said. Everyone suddenly stopped dancing, trying to contain their laughter.

The party went on after dusk. Theo ate more food than he’d ever had in his life, finding himself waddling around to talk to people. He even spotted Zan’kir among the crowd, awkwardly grabbing food and talking to the other members of the town. The alchemist made introductions for him, especially to Aarok who returned sometime later. The Half-Ogre was excited about having a new adventure in town.

“I’ll be departing tomorrow for my family,” Zan’kir said.

“Not a problem,” Aarok said. “Just remember to check in with me when you get back. We’ll get your membership sorted.”

“Yeah, just watch out for the hidden fees,” Tresk said, scowling.

Theo and Tresk left when their stamina bars were draining low. The Marshling deposited some materials she got from the dungeon into their dimensional crate, and the pair lingered in the lab section of their home for a while. While the alchemist put on a brave face for Aarok, he wanted to do everything in his power to protect Broken Tusk.

“What is a monster wave?” Theo asked, jotting down some notes on a piece of parchment.

“A whole bunch of monsters,” Tresk said with a shrug. “I don’t know much about them, though. Like Aarok said, they don’t happen in the southlands.”

Theo considered the idea before responding. It was easy to think about a “monster wave” as a bunch of monsters, but what did that mean for Broken Tusk? Would the monsters engulf the town, besieging it for a long period‌? He found it hard to imagine the town surviving for any prolonged battle. The walls were sturdy, but he needed to explore other options.

“What are you writing?” Tresk asked.

“I’m trying to keep ahead of the game,” Theo said, tilting the parchment to catch enough candlelight. “I don’t want to respond to problems when they come. I want to be prepared.”

Tresk grabbed the parchment, tearing some from a roll and scrawling. She made a crude representation of the town, detailing which sections were the weakest. “So, attacks are coming from the west right now. That’s not a surprise, because that’s where the [Swamp Dungeon] is. If Aarok is right, and something else is giving these monsters power, they’ll come from another direction.”

Theo pointed to the north, then south. “Not from either of these places. The hills to the north turn into mountains, and the south is worse.”

“Right, so whatever we do, we need to focus our attention on the east,” Tresk said. “Do you have anything in mind?”

Theo thought for a moment. Something itched in the back of his mind, like a long-gone memory. Something he should have known about, but it just wouldn’t surface. “Whatever it is, it needs to be automated,” Theo said. “Maybe a defensive artifice.”

“That’s Fenian’s domain,” Tresk said.

The alchemist let out a heavy sigh, finally nodding to himself. “Right. All this means I need money.”

“Lots of it,” Tresk said.

Theo stood and marched to the bedroom, putting out the candles with Tresk close behind. “It’s back to the grind tomorrow. Making potions that sell for big coin.”

The pair settled into their beds, Tresk snoring almost immediately. Theo was left with his thoughts on the matter. Getting to level 10 would change everything. He knew that from his intuition. He could only imagine the price a higher-tier potion would fetch and was eager to find out. During his strategizing for the next day, sleep overtook him. He drifted off with the sound of Tresk’s dreams playing through his mind. She was dreaming about steak again.

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