The Newt and Demon-7.49 - Arena Construction

The next morning, Theo tested his danger sense some more. He found it extended to actions by non-sapient creatures, including exploding potions.But it wasn’t nearly as helpful as his future sight. That was something he would have to learn to live with. Since a god had told him his ability was too overpowered, there was little he could do about it. Instead of complaining, he would hone this new power until it became second nature to him.

After having breakfast and attempting to blow himself up, Theo went to the lab and found Salire working hard on a set of restoration potions. Of course, since there was the potential for combat-based sports in their future, the city wanted as many healing potions on hand as possible. However, the budding alchemist didn’t stop there; she also created digit and limb restoration salves while she was at it.

All of that meant the lab was quite busy, making it difficult for Theo to accomplish his short-term goal for the day.

“I think ensuring the people in town don’t die is more important than testing your conch shell,” Salire said, offering the alchemist a sly smile. “It won’t take me all day to finish these off, though. I should be finished around midday.”

“Fair enough. I guess I’ll go see how the arena is coming along.” Theo considered the other things he had to get done in town, but there were a few alchemical experiments he wanted to pursue. However, with the lab so busy, there simply wasn’t enough time.

One thing he could do was to expand the size of the Newt and Demon. It was at level 30, and while it might be prohibitively expensive, he could bring it up to level 40. Any upgrade would be nice, but Theo hoped for one that would give him an additional floor. They currently had two floors dedicated to brewing potions, and Salire could easily occupy those. Finding another lab building seed core might have been an option, except he hadn’t seen one for sale anywhere.

And it wasn’t as though coresmiths were growing on the trees outside his lab. The elves had a monopoly on those, as far as he knew, and he had no luck recruiting any of them to his town. Instead, he would need to share the space with Salire and figure out how to make it work. Since Theo had fallen into more of a research and development role, it wasn’t as much of an issue. However, there was always room for improvement. For now, he headed off to see the progress the arena had made.

The construction efforts on the arena were visible from the harbor. Theo looked down the straight path leading out into the bay, and he could spot it. Although it was tiny in the distance, he could see it. Walls were being erected on the sides as Ziz and his ever-growing gang of stonecutters went to work. They were tireless creatures that were to be feared, even without the help of stamina restoration potions. They worked without rest. It was a bit psychopathic.

As the alchemist made his way across the causeway, which was currently occupied by a gaggle of citizens enjoying the newest structure, he made a few changes. As expected, the flow of water through the bay was an issue. Mostly, it was the fishermen who were having issues moving to their favored spots. Although Theo had never attempted such a technique, he used his Earth Sorcerer’s Core and pulled parts of the causeway apart, smashing rocks together with enough force to grind them until they stuck. He couldn’t tell if he had melted the material, but with great effort, it allowed him to form rudimentary shapes, such as an archway.

In the center of the causeway, Theo created a bridge. It was long, with a supportive pillar in the center, but he ensured it was tall enough for the small fishing vessels to pass underneath. Naturally, a group formed behind him as he changed the only way to or from the barrier islands. While they complained, they were satisfied when the structure was completed.

The idea behind the arena was simple. Theo wanted to create a massive stadium where various games and competitions could be held. The goal was to have a wide open space in the middle, with raised seating on all sides, mimicking the Colosseum of ancient Earth. He hoped the result would entertain the locals and exalt those with skills from around the world. If the side-effect was bringing more mortals along, allowing them to bypass Death’s system, the alchemist would be happy.

Theo inspected what little of the arena had been constructed. From a distance, it appeared as though they had only created a few feet of vertical wall on the outside. However, as the alchemist tore through the exterior, he looked up at 30-foot-tall walls made from finely hewn stone. Each stone was set together with such skill that he had to question whether it was the work of Ziz or Khahar.

Naturally, the work wasn’t being done on the structure itself. Instead, the stonecutters had developed a unique method for building large structures. They prefabricated sections in another location and then used a stonecutter’s skill to place them where they needed to go. Ziz would create a section of the arena, stowing it in his inventory. When he brought it out, that section would weigh nothing to him. It might’ve been odd to watch a half-ogre haul around a two-story section of wall, but that’s the way they worked.

Ziz walked past, holding a massive column over his shoulder as though it weighed nothing. He waved and smiled at Theo as he went, chuckling as he swung it and nearly decapitated someone in the distance. Once the pillar was in place, he came over to have a chat.

“You certainly have a flair for the dramatic,” Ziz said, slapping Theo on the shoulder. “What do you think about our progress so far?”

“I think you people are sort of fabulously insane.” Theo shook his head as he looked up at the massive structure. They’d be done by the end of the week if they worked hard enough. “Is there any difficulty building on my artificial island?”

“Absolutely none.” Ziz stomped his foot on the ground as though to punctuate his point. “You built this thing rock solid, but if I were you, I would expand it out a bit more in every direction.”

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“You’re the architect,” Theo said with a shrug. “Whatever you need me to do, I’ll make it happen.”

“Now, about the additional structures on the barrier islands. Do you have any idea what you want them to be?”

This was a plan that Theo hadn’t thought out completely. He had a general idea of what he wanted to do, but no details. His goal was to create something impressive. He envisioned a trader leaving Broken Tusk for a week, only to return and find an entire city resting on the edge of those barrier islands. It needed to be something so remarkable that they wouldn’t soon forget it. Even more impressive would be the fact that they didn’t use any seed cores to make it happen. Certainly, he could use the incorporation upgrade from the town to bring these buildings under his influence, but everything would have been built by Broken Tusk’s sweat and blood.

Ziz laughed when he heard the explanation from the alchemist. He shook his head, offering Theo a somber smile. “That’s a bit too poetic for you, demon. You’re not normally so flowery.”

“Well, look at this thing,” Theo said, gesturing to the arena around them. “It’s big. It’s impressive. This one structure is going to be bigger than Broken Tusk was when I first arrived here.”

“We’re not getting into a wangus-measuring competition with another nation, are we?” Ziz asked.

“I understand what you mean from context, but I’m not going to dignify that with a response,” Theo said. Of course he put on a brave face, but he was still smiling, doing his best not to laugh at the joke. “No, this one’s for us. Have you noticed the number of people coming out here just to check it out? They really like it. They think it’s neat, and that’s enough for me to do something stupid like this.”

There were many more hours until midday, so the Alchemist got to work. Ziz needed quite a bit more land mass around the arena to keep it from sinking into the ocean. If they wanted anything like a city on the ocean side of the barrier island, it would need much more reinforcement. Of course, that meant going to drag rocks from the nearby cliff and depositing them onto the island. Theo tried a couple of tricks, but he couldn’t get anything to work. He grasped at one massive boulder and attempted to drag it through the void to cut the distance between the cliffs and the island, but it didn’t work. The boulder simply fell into the water when he vanished into the void.

Thinking he was brilliant, Theo then tried to drag a boulder onto the Bridge of Shadows. He pierced through the veil, pulling the house-sized rock with him. However, when he arrived on the other side, a gaggle of living shadows attacked it, breaking the material down until it was dust.

“Why are you bringing rocks into my nascent realm?” Uz’Xulven asked, her shadowy form appearing on the endless road with her hands on her hips.

“I was trying to take a shortcut,” Theo said, looking around and feeling rather foolish after the attempt.

“Yes, rocks don’t belong here. Technically, you don’t even belong here, but the rules are still a bit fiddly.”

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“I’ll be honest, I didn’t expect to run into you in your own home.” Theo tried to suppress a laugh, but he couldn’t. “There goes my shortcut, I guess. How are you doing, anyway?”

“I’m bored, waiting for the restart. It appears it’s taking quite a while,” Uz’Xulven said. She was always a self-confident person whom Theo imagined was unflappable, but as time stretched on, things were getting to her. “You are going to hurry the migration, aren’t you?”

“We’re moving to the second phase. Once the shards are in place, the restart can happen, although we don’t know how long it will take.”

“Excellent… I’m getting rather bored,” Uz’Xulven said.

“Why don’t you just come down to the mortal plane?” Theo asked. “You could hang out with us while you wait.”

Theo felt a fizzle of something in his chest, then the gathering of energy. There was a snap, and the tall cat-person, Khahar, appeared on the bridge.

“That violates the Seal of Passage,” Khahar said.

“Um, actually…” Theo licked his lips, pointing a finger in the air. “I think you’ll find the Seal of Passage is defined as a barrier sealing the heavenly realms—the inner realms—and the outer realms.”

Khahar narrowed his eyes on Theo. “I’m gonna smack you. Uz’Xulven is here on lease from the old system. She’s trapped in the Bridge until we merge with the new system.”

“Damn. Thought I found a loophole there,” Theo said.

“Don’t worry about little old me, Theo. Besides, Khahar is wrong. I can still travel to the old heavenly realms.”

There was some debate on the topic after that. Uz’Xulven wasn’t supposed to move to those realms, but she had been. If only to ease some of her boredom, the power of the Bridge of Shadows had diminished in recent days. And she was bored. Khahar objected to her traveling, but Theo gave her the go-ahead.

“That puts it in a gray area,” Khahar grumbled. “Which means we won’t act against you if you want to travel between the outer realms. Just don’t go to the mortal world, okay?”

“Yes, father.”

As weird as the trip to the Bridge of Shadows was, it did nothing to ease Theo’s need to move a bunch of big rocks. He promised to dedicate the first half of the day to expanding the barrier islands. Ziz and his boys needed no help with constructing the arena. They had their techniques, and they worked very well. However, the alchemists had them beat with moving raw stone. No one could hover big old rocks above their heads quite like him.

Although he was quite impressed with himself, Theo couldn’t deny the power of the stoneworkers. When he finished expanding his part of the barrier island, the arena had grown considerably. Ziz was happy to give a tour of the area. The way he talked about things was fun to watch. The half-ogre had a way of swiping his hands through the air as though he were painting what he saw in his imagination into the real world. It was always inspiring to see someone so dedicated to their craft.

It stoked the desire he felt to improve his alchemy.

“Has half the day passed, yet?” Theo stood on the floor of the arena, looking around at the image Ziz had painted. He couldn’t see the man’s vision. Not entirely, but a ghost of the finished product was there. Right now, it was just too hazy.

“Looks like it,” Ziz said. “Why, you got somewhere to be?”

“Yeah, I have an entire nation to run and potions to brew,” Theo said. “Haven’t you heard? Some idiot gave me the title of archduke.”

Ziz placed a powerful hand on his shoulder. “I quite like that idiot. Maybe I can meet him one day.”