Chapter 41: Rent

Theo always enjoyed his morning ritual of food and tea in the morning. As he sat there with Tresk, gazing out into the darkness of early morning, he felt content. The Marshling went over the loot she found in the dungeon so far, which was mostly junk. In the alchemist’s eyes, it wasn’t a waste of time. The stronger she got, the better. He had no way of defending himself, if anything were to happen, and would rely on her for that.

“I still don’t have anyone making good on the quest I posted to the adventurer’s guild,” Theo said.

Tresk swallowed a mouthful of leftover spicy wolf meat stew. “Cause you gotta go to the guild.”

“What?” Theo asked, knitting his brow. “Really?”

“Yeah, if you posted a collection quest, they’ll deliver it to the guild,” Tresk said, giggling.

A tingle in Theo’s mind drew his attention away from something that should have been obvious to him. The Newt and Demon was trying to say something to him, or so he thought. It was like an itch at the back of his mind that he could only scratch by bringing up the building’s information screen.

[Alchemy Lab] [Alchemy Shop]

[The Newt and Demon]

Owners: Belgar (Theo Spencer), Tresk

Faction: [Broken Tusk]

Level: 10 (31%)

Rent Due: Today

Expansions:

[Alchemy Shop]

“We have to pay rent today,” Theo said, the furrow of his brow deepening. “Wait, who do I pay rent to?”

Tresk laughed, slapping her knobbly knees. “Sorry, the image of you paying rent to yourself was too much.”

Theo poked around at the interface for a while before giving up. He summoned his mayor screen instead, cycling through the seed core buildings in town before finding the Newt and Demon. The weekly rent on his level 10 building was somewhere around 1.5 silver, and could be paid to… himself. He manually clicked a button, and his rent timer reset.

“Okay,” Theo said, the creases in his horned forehead growing deeper by the moment. “I told the town that I paid rent to myself. What does that mean?”

“I don’t know,” Tresk said, slurping her tea. “The rent is for the land, right? Maybe we have to pay it to Qavell. Try poking around some more.”

Theo obeyed. Despite his high [Wisdom], Tresk had a natural way of thinking about how this world worked. Despite his previous experience with the screen, it was too cluttered for him to remember where everything was. He browsed the finance screens for some time before finding owed rents, nodding to himself. It was obvious now, but everyone paid rent to Miana, when she was mayor, then she sent the money off to the capital every month. The town calculated the rent of each building, aggregating it based on the current tax rate. Broken Tusk’s flat rate was 10 silver a month, plus a rate based on citizens, owned land, the amount of seed core buildings, and the town’s level. It was all too confusing for the alchemist. He made a mental note to pay the tax in 10 days.

“Found it,” Theo said, explaining how the system works.

“That makes sense,” Tresk said. “Didn’t you offer to cover the excess taxes people couldn’t pay?”

“Yeah, and I’m going to hold onto some coins after we sell this next batch to Fenian,” Theo said. “I want some cash on hand just in case.”

“You should ask him about that new potion,” Tresk said. “Assuming it’s not forbidden.”

Tresk stood from the spot, putting on her best evil voice and saying, “forbidden.” She vanished right in front of Theo’s eyes, using the superior effect of her [Assassin’s Core] before reappearing right behind him.

“Forbidden,” Tresk repeated.

Theo made to snatch her arm, but she was too fast. “You’re slippery,” he said. “Come here.”

The alchemist did his best to catch the Marshling. He never considered how dexterous she was, but it felt like trying to grab the wind itself. Tresk was disappointed when he gave up, pouting for a moment before getting over the entire ordeal.

“You’re slower than a [Swamp Turtle],” Tresk said.

“A lot slower,” Theo said, heaving breath. “What’s your plan today?”

“Grinding in the dungeon,” Tresk said. “I’m getting garbage for gear, but that’s not the point. Gotta get stronger. Gonna go deeper.”

“Take the [Lesser Hallow Ground Potion] with you. Here, let me craft some poison before you go,” Theo said.

“I’ve been out for a while,” Tresk said, following the alchemist as he made the potions.

Theo already cooked the [Widow Lily] down the other day. He withdrew the poison essence from the [Dimensional Storage Crate] and set off the reactions. The alchemist made 10 [Basic Poisons] for her, each one coming out at excellent quality. Tresk was beyond excited to get new poisons, but he wished she would speak up about being out of supplies. She didn’t want to speak up because she thought he was too busy, something he understood. But her safety was the most important thing to him.

The sun peeked over the eastern horizon by the time he was done crafting. Tresk took them and departed before he could object. Her excitement for the day was infectious. Theo wasn’t sure if he needed to drink the moss tea with her around, but wanted to keep the tradition alive. His plan for the day was still forming in his mind. He went downstairs, peering up and down the street. In the distance, north toward the center of town, he spotted a familiar face skipping down the road.

“Azrug,” Theo said, a broad smile painting his face.

The boy came up, flashing a devious grin. “Guess who got their cores?”

Theo pointed at the boy. “Is it that guy?”

“It is!”

“Come up and have some tea,” Theo said, holding the door open for Azrug. “I want to hear what you got.”

Theo and Azrug settled in upstairs, putting another pot on the [Flame Artifice] and propping the window open. A pleasant breeze flowed into the lab, washing away some of the funk that clung to the work area.

“They’re nothing compared to your legendary cores, but I started with a [Mercantile Core] and a [Shopkeeper Core],” Azrug said. “One ability each. The first one lets me judge the relative price of something within a certain distance. The other tells me how much stock is in a store.”

“Wow. So, I guess you really wanted to be a shopkeeper,” Theo said.

“Are you kidding? This is the best job I’ve ever had,” Azrug scoffed.

Theo poured two cups of tea, blowing on his cup to dull some of the heat. It was his second tea of the day, but this was a monumental achievement for the young boy. The alchemist wanted to change the way he thought about Azrug. He wasn’t a boy anymore, not with two cores. He was a young man, now.

“We should hammer out a better deal for you,” Theo said.

Azrug waved him off. “Our current deal is fine. I’ll get a lot of experience running the shop.”

Theo let out a breath. “Two copper coins a day. That’s not really fair.”

“You must be rolling in coins if you’re willing to give me a raise,” Azrug said.

“Well, I’m just glad that you’re alright. The Newt and Demon is at a point where we make most of our money from orders. Specifically, from Fenian. I think you should get a take of what sells from the shelves,” Theo said. “What do you think?”

“How can I say no to more money?” Azrug asked, scoffing.

“You’ll be the face of the shop from here on out,” Theo said. “I don’t have the time to make potions and run the town, so people are going to expect to see your face in here every day. I mean, they already do. Let’s say you get 10 percent of all sales. That’s not my merchant contracts, just sales made in the shop.”

Azrug screwed up his face for a moment, then brightened. “Ten copper on each silver?”

“Yeah, exactly,” Theo said.

“Deal,” Azrug said, reaching out his hand for Theo to shake.

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The pair finished their tea, talking about the transformation process. Azrug detailed how he got incredibly sick for a few days. He couldn’t even get out of bed while the cores took root in him. Theo listened, thinking about the convergence of events the entire time. The quality of his cores were rare, which wasn’t common. From what Tresk said, cores usually started at common grade. He dismissed the thought for now, taking his shopkeeper downstairs.

“We’re low on almost everything,” Azrug said, scowling. “How am I supposed to run a shop with low stock?”

“I’ll work on that today,” Theo said. “I need to check the adventurer’s guild to check my quest.”

A knock came from the door. A smile spread across Azrug’s face. He bounded across the shop, swinging the door open and affecting a deep bow. “Welcome to the Newt and Demon. Home of every potion you could ever want.”

The woman standing at the door had a shocked look on her face. Theo didn’t recognize her race, but shrugged it off. Her attire painted her as an adventurer, likely from the northlands. He simply smiled and patted Azrug on the back. “I’m off to check my quest. Good luck.”

Theo could still hear Azrug’s boisterous voice some ways up the road. The shop couldn’t have been in better hands. The alchemist was reminded of his “Lord Administrator” position within Broken Tusk. He’d been acting as mayor for so long without the tools to succeed. The situation was a mirror of what happened to the shopkeeper. He made his way to the square, intent on inspecting the new adventurer’s guild building.

“Theo,” Aarok shouted, scowling from the entrance of Miana’s old house. It reminded him of the old mayor. “Come collect your crap.”

Theo entered the newly repurposed building, finding a massive pile of reagents on the ground. He scooped them up with his inventory power, checking the quantities to find 1,000 of each restoration reagent. “They actually did it.”

“Yeah, and you owe the guild,” Aarok said.

Aarok led him to the old office and sat behind the desk. He rifled through a pile of parchments, snatching one up and reading it over. “Right. 6 silver coins for the completion of the quest. Gods, I’m going to ask for that in advance next time.”

Theo withdrew the coins from his inventory and handed it over. “That’s fine by me. Do you mind if I make another quest?”

Aarok shrugged, handing the stone device over. “Fine by me. Adventurers like simple work.”

The alchemist filled the form out idly, creating a significantly bigger list this time. He included the restoration reagents as well as the stat enhancement ones. “How is the wolf population doing?”

“Increasing,” Aarok said. “Steadily, but it’s going up. We saw some goblins in the swamp, too.”

Theo blinked hard, turning his gaze back to the guildmaster. “The swamp is getting more dangerous, huh?”

“Nothing we can’t handle, for now,” Aarok said. “The research you got me has been helpful. It was obvious once I had the books. I’m going to send some scouts to confirm my suspicions, but I think we have a new dungeon.”

Theo’s mouth fell open. He had just finished fiddling with the interface, excited to see that he could put a generic entry for any reagent that enhanced stats. “What? Where?”

“Near the ocean, I think. They align with the cardinals. Some kind of magic I don’t understand. It’s not dangerous, not if we know about it,” Aarok said.

“We just have to be prepared,” Theo said, nodding in agreement. “Can you make this quest urgent?”

“I’d normally charge a fee, but for the mayor? I’ll do it for free,” Aarok said. “You’re hoarding money to buy defenses, aren’t you?”

“Yeah.”

“Fine. Just give me a 6 silver deposit for this new quest,” Aarok said. “The guild will foot the bill until the adventurers collect.”

Theo withdrew another 6 silver coins from his inventory and handed them over. This brought him down to 43 silver, 27 copper. He reviewed the quest before submitting it.

[Supply Run]

Quest

The proprietor of the Newt and Demon is requesting all adventurers to collect reagents for his potion empire.

Objectives:

Collect [Spiny Swamp Thistle Root] (1 silver per 500 max 1000)

Collect [Moss Nettle] (1 silver per 500 max 1000)

Collect [Manashrooms] (1 silver per 500 max 1000)

Collect [Stat-Bearing Reagent] (1 silver per 500 max 1000 each)

“Right. I need to brew some potions for the shop. Azrug got his cores,” Theo said. “Now he’s telling me I don’t have enough stock.”

“I was talking to Xam,” Aarok said, finally flashing a smile. “Rare cores from Broken Tusk. Very exciting news.”

Theo grunted a response before bidding the guildmaster farewell. On his way back to the lab, Fenian’s crystal gave a slight buzz in his mind. He didn’t want to consider how he knew it was buzzing from within his inventory, but withdrew it and held it in his hand anyway.

Theo. How is the order coming along? Fenian asked.

Extremely well—I’ll be done in a few days if all goes according to plan, Theo said.

Good. I’m still in the area, so let me know, Fenian said.

While I have you here, I have another potion question, Theo said.

More questionable potions? Let’s hear it.

The truffle produced another effect. [Hallow Ground], Theo said.

Really? Now that’s interesting. The experience boost property is dangerous, but that one is fine. I haven’t really seen that potion floating around—no idea what it would fetch. I’ll research it and inform you when I find out, Fenian said.

Right. Anything else?

That’s it, Fenian said, hanging up before Theo could respond.

The alchemist shrugged, pushing his way into the shop. He found Azrug there, alone and beaming.

“I made a very nice sale. We need more potions, though,” Azrug said.

“Don’t worry,” Theo said. “I’m going to brew an absurd amount of potions today.”

Theo went upstairs with the thought of a noble family going through thousands of potions. There wasn’t a cooldown for lesser potions, and chugging them constantly didn’t seem to have any negative effects. He imagined adventurers using the potions, pausing in combat to drink a few before going back to battle. The [Lesser Mana Potions] made sense for this, but he couldn’t get his head around the others. It was a fact he hadn’t considered until this point, the effect of the coin blinding his reasoning.

Why do these people need so many potions? Theo asked Tresk through the Tara’hek communication.

Depends. I don’t use many because I skip all the dungeon floors that don’t have bosses. I’ve heard of front-liners that down potions like water—they’re afraid of dying. Some [Dexterity] classes do fancy moves that take a lot of stamina, I guess that’s where they’re chugging the [Lesser Stamina Potions], Tresk said.

Thanks, Theo said, falling into his thoughts again.

As a crafting class, Theo had 42 health. His healing potions could restore between 20 and 40, but that seemed like a drop in the bucket for a front-line class. His intuition told him they’d be closer to 200 health in the level 10 to 20 range. It made sense that they’d be drinking so many potions if they only got 10% of their health restored. This led him to the conclusion that the next tier of restoration potions would have a significantly higher rate of resource replenishment, as well as a bigger price tag.

It was all academic, at this point. His interest in how people chugged away his hard work faded when he faced down the order Fenian placed. It was time to get to work.

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