The Newt and Demon-7.62 - Under the Sea

Theo leaned over the rail of Fenian’s ship. A moment before, they had been sailing out into the bay of Broken Tusk. Now the Road stretched before them. But it wasn’t the same long stretch of shadowy cobbles he had seen before. Instead, it appeared as a stone-lined canal swimming among ‌endless darkness. Somewhere in the distance he could feel the influence of Uz’Xulven, her shadowy form seeming to lurk just beyond his sight.

“Didn’t know she could accommodate ships,” Theo said. “I’m also surprised the sailors aren’t freaking out.”

“They’ve already been through it before,” Fenian said. “Despite appearances, they’re tough.”

“I heard that,” one sailor said, punching Fenian in the arm.

“Ah, how you wound me,” Fenian said dramatically. “We’ll arrive soon enough. Hopefully the job isn’t too hard for you.”

“I’ll tell you when we get there,” Theo said.

Although the master of this domain didn’t make herself known, she still opened a portal for them on the other side. Theo wasn’t certain exactly how the Bridge functioned, it provided them access to the seas between the continent and the separated island of Gardreth. The ship pitched back as it rolled over a massive wave. With his Water Mage’s Core slotted into his chest, the alchemist clicked his tongue.

“This is deep,” he said, sensing the vast ocean below them. “So, this is where Balkor was destroyed…”

“That’s right,” Fenian said.

“And his magical energy still lingers in the air. Wait, are there pieces of Balkor below us?” Theo asked.

“Exactly,” Fenian said. “From what I understand, he is the only ascendant that returned to the mortal plane.”

“The dragon was here.”

Fenian narrowed his eyes at Theo. “This is the only ascendant with any real power that had returned to the mortal plane. A minor dragon is nothing compared to someone from the pantheon of demons.”

“Wait, what’s the plan?” Theo asked, finally turning away from the sea. “If you’re collecting Balkor parts for fun, I might need to step in.” freewёbnoνel.com

“Actually, that’s where the plan gets interesting,” Fenian said, clapping with excitement. “There’s something interesting about this area. It lacks those pesky negative dungeons.”

Theo shook his head. He couldn’t have predicted there were parts of an old god lingering on the mortal plane. Fenian should’ve taken care of that. “Because the energy the pieces of Balkor are emitting feeds the dungeons. Even just a little.”

“Exactly!” Fenian said. “Which means I can dig up the bones and redistribute them throughout the world to stabilize the dungeon system. Sometimes my past mistakes come back to haunt me as massive boons!”

“Well, I still think you’re an idiot,” Theo said. He couldn’t help but wonder if this was the best idea. Perhaps this area had become a microcosm of energy that just worked. Transplanted to another area, it might not end well. Yet Gardreth was so screwed as it was, he couldn’t imagine it getting much worse. “Why not? Pieces of an ascendant on the mortal plane aren't good. It should be a violation that allows us to use our throne cores, but I sense nothing.”

“Ah, very glad you see it my way,” Fenian said.

Theo took a steadying breath as he gaze into the sea. He released it, sucking in another one before holding his hands out. The open sea began to swirl, stirring in response to his will. Gritting his teeth, the alchemist drew on his Shadow Core to infuse his efforts with Zaul’s energy. A whirlpool appeared, the water sucking down with a great slurping noise. A column of air appeared in the sea, granting safe passage to the sea floor.

“I’m unsure if we’ll be crushed,” Theo said, gesturing to the hole. “But there you are. Hop in.”

“Encouraging,” Twist grumbled. But after a few moments, he jumped.

Jan was next, not even hesitating to get into the whirlpool. With a wink, Fenian jumped next. Theo was the last to go. He was uncertain if he could survive a trip hundreds of feet down, and skirted the edge of the hole. The alchemist grabbed onto the side of the wall of water, slowing his descent. And the trip took far longer than he had expected, the light of the sun barely filtering through from above. It was instead replaced with the faint glow of a magical light source.

When Theo’s boots finally touched the muddy bottom of the ocean, he collapsed the whirlpool. What little light had filtered through the hole above vanished in an instance. The alchemist spread his aura wide, creating a large pocket of air on the sea’s bottom. It spread out far as he stretched his ability thin. He pushed it until he was at his limit, sweat forming on his brow until he felt a familiar reinforcement of will. Tresk, Tero’gal, and Alex joined the effort, bolstering his mind.

“I can hold this for a while,” Theo said, drawing steady breaths as he dealt with the impossibly heavy load.

“Well, you’ve certainly created enough area for us to search,” Fenian said. “Much better than using your potions to survive down here.”

“It sure is,” Twist said, already poking at the ground with a stick. “Some of these pieces are easier to detect than others.”

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Theo scanned the faces of his companions. Fenian was the only one with an ashen face, his countenance fixed into an expression of concern. It only flashed for a moment, eventually melting into the same look of joy that normally painted the elf’s face. He trotted off, boots slopping through the mud as he searched for lost pieces of the dead god.

“You know, this reminds me of a story back home,” Theo said. “If we see some cyclopean architecture, I’m out.”

“I’m not even certain what that means,” Fenian said, pulling a strange artifact from the mud. He stuffed it in a bag at his side before moving on.

“Eyes peeled for Deep Ones,” Jan said with a chuckle.

“Ah, a gentleman of culture,” Theo said with a wink.

The search went on for a while. Theo refused to participate, though. It took almost all his focus to maintain the barrier around them. A few times, fish swam into the bubble. They would burst through in a spray of water, falling to the silty ground and flailing around. Twist was the one to return them to the depths, snatching each that fell and tossing them upward. It was all quite strange.

“So, we’ve got a lot of pieces already,” Theo said, lamenting the layer of sweat that now covered his body. An angry crab scuttled by. An alchemically reactive crab. “If someone could snatch some reagents for me, that’d be nice.”

“Sure, what are you looking for?” Jan asked.

There were too many reactive objects nestled on the seafloor to mention. Twist and Fenian went to dig through the mud while Theo directed Jan. Maintaining his focus on the barrier holding back the entire sea took almost all of the alchemist’s focus. He simply sucked the reagents into his inventory when he was presented with another deep sea oddity.

“How stable is your power, Theo?” Fenian asked, the mud sucking at his feet as he walked over.

Theo downed another Stamina Potion, battering away the exhaustion he felt flooding through his muscles. “I’d be worried if I slept like a normal person. But as far as I know, there’s no problems chugging Stamina Potions back-to-back. I could do this all day.”

Fenian nodded, his gaze lingering over the alchemist for only a moment before dragging over the scene before them. It would’ve been strange lingering on the bottom of the sea. But the strange pressure caused by the ocean above made their ears pop, and forced a weird sense to settle in all their heads. “The amount of pieces is… concerning,” he said after a strangely long pause.

“A god was destroyed on the surface of the mortal world,” Theo said, rolling his shoulders. “I’d be surprised if there were less pieces.”

Fenian offered a concerned look, only nodding before moving on to discover more pieces of Balkor. Theo truly expected to find some ruins while they were there, but perhaps that was too much of a vision he had built up in his mind. Instead, it was only the muddy ocean floor. At some point, Tresk appeared out of nowhere and helped with the effort. Alex remained behind, since she claimed the ocean couldn’t be trusted.

Theo suspected the sun had set overhead by the time he truly felt the fatigue of maintaining his barrier. Those in his party must’ve also sensed him flagging, as they picked up the pace. Fenian and Tresk dashed to the edges of the bubble, snatching up small pieces of the dead ascendant and stuffing them into bags.

“Can we really get them all?” Theo asked, a headache brewing in his skull. He was already soaked with sweat and had lost all faith they could get most, let alone all, of the pieces.

“I don’t think so,” Fenian said, skidding in the mud and coming to a stop. “How much longer do you have?”

“A half-hour,” Theo said with exactly no confidence. “Hurry it up.”

“We have bigger things to worry about anyway,” Fenian said, clicking his tongue. “From what my senses tell me, we’ve cleared away a small amount of the artifacts. Perhaps a quarter of them, but I cannot say.”

“That’s concerning,” Jan growled, joining the group. “You said this would be easy.”

“I said it would be straightforward,” Fenian said. “Anyway, we must return to the ship. Has anyone thought of a way to do that?”

Theo glared at Fenian. Of course the elf didn’t have a way to get up after going down. Using the Bridge normally meant they needed a vehicle, so unless someone had a carriage stowed in their inventory, things would get tricky.

“Can you pierce the veil, Tresk?” Theo asked.

“Maybe,” Tresk said. “Just gimmie a sniff of your willpower.”

“Everyone should gather,” Theo said, holding his arms wide as he waited for the others to draw nearer. It was easier if they were close.

Tresk was already gathering the power required for the teleportation technique. It wasn’t true teleportation, of course. But if she dipped them into the void, that would free Theo up to steer them back to the mortal plane, and onto the boat. To his surprise, the little marshling did an excellent job. He felt her rip through the fabric of reality, sucking everyone through using an interdiction event.

The system had no problem with this, allowing the party to pass into the void. In an instant, Theo changed from maintaining the forcefield around them to shrouding them all in a different protective bubble. This one prevented the damaging effects of the void itself from ripping them apart. He felt lighter, the strain of the effort almost overtaking him. Thankfully, Tresk was there to steer them toward the mortal world. But it was up to the alchemist to dial in their exact destination.

The faintly glowing orb of blue and green came into focus. Theo did everything he could to impart his massive willpower into the effects, angling them to the spot that felt right. There were no precise measurements when using willpower. One had to do it all by feel, and the alchemist had become quite good at it. In a snap, the party appeared on the deck of the unnamed ship, startling the crew.

Theo sagged back, falling on his rear. Tresk was there to support his head as she lowered him to the deck. The shifting moon was overhead, glowing with a faint green. It intermingled with a sprawl of stars, the sky appearing as a roving blanket strewn with gems. The sight was almost lost to him as the alchemist fought to maintain consciousness.

“It seems the alchemist lied about how easy that was,” Fenian said with a nervous chuckle.

“He’s just a tired boy,” Tresk said, adjusting the stray hairs that had fallen into his face. “Give him a few and he’ll be fine.”

More than just the rest, Theo could feel something flowing from Tresk to himself. It steadied him, making it feel less like he had such a burden on his shoulders.

“This might not be the best time,” Fenian said with a nervous chuckle. “But I didn’t want to alarm anyone while we were down there.”

“Great,” Theo croaked. “What now?”

“I directed the undead horde with a piece of Balkor before. It was a section that contained some of his soul,” Fenian said.

“Oh, you dirty man,” Tresk said, narrowing her eyes at Fenian. “Don’t tell me…”

“Your suspicions are true. These tiny pieces… Well, I’ll just say that Balkor was truly insane,” Fenian said. “They’re all phylacteries. He crammed small pieces of his soul in a few thousand bits of himself.”

“The absolute madman,” Jan said. “What the hell does that mean?