Theo sat awkwardly at the dinner table. The entire meal had been without words so far. Sarisa and Rowan had cooked a lavish meal of steak and an oversized lobster, something the alchemist could only assume was appeasement. Tresca had shown her power. It wasn't just that she had drawn on the power of the dreamer's core. She had utilized celestial energy to enhance her body, pushing herself well beyond what should have been possible for any mortal. If you had to guess, she was fighting close to the level of the gods, and the worst part was she was holding back.

If Tresk were to find out her full strength, Theo did not know what would happen. He considered the reality of the energy they had absorbed and how it put them so far above everyone else. And this wasn't a good thing. If they didn't hold the thrones of power, then whatever happened after the reset would surely see them ejected from the sector. The alchemist shook the thought from his mind. They had the thrones, so there was no need to worry about that. The only thing to worry about now was breaking the silence.

“So, this steak is excellent,” Theo said.

Sarisa and Rowan jumped at the same time.

“Tough crowd,” Tresk said.

Sarisa shifted uncomfortably in her seat. “Yeah, you know. We were pretty close to the arena floor for that fight…”

“I mean, I’ve seen you fly, Tresk,” Rowan said, tipping his head toward her. “We’ve seen Theo do some things that are impressive. We’ve always known you guys were strong, but that level of combat is unimaginable.”

“I feel like a fly,” Sarisa said weekly. “And you’re the spider.”

Tresk frowned. It might have been the first time Theo felt her feel true regret or sadness. “I’m still the same crazy little marshling. Look at me. Doing wacky stuff!”

“Still… you have to admit. You’re scary,” Rowan said sheepishly.

Tresk deflated even more.

Theo felt a flash of anger rise in his chest that he battered down. He wanted to make Tresk feel better, but both Sarisa and Rowan were right. This wasn’t the kind of power that a mortal should have. It was well beyond anything anyone should experience in their lifetime, and only the reset would fix that. Theo and Tresk wouldn’t be gods in the new world, but they wouldn’t linger on the mortal realm longer than needed. Theo wasn’t even sure he would be allowed down here again.

“What we have to remember,” Theo said, taking the role of mediator. “This is a mixed world. We’re denizens of the Middle Realms, while you’re currently operating in the Mortal Realm. The power we have is meant to protect you, not to harm you. A display like that was an exhibition.”

Sarisa nodded, looking up and finally meeting the gaze of Tresk. “I think it would be worse if we didn’t grow up together.”

“Yeah,” Rowan said, straightening his back slightly and puffing out. "Where's that little marshaling that used to get lost in the swamp? Where's the girl who used to get stuck in a log every single day?"

"She's still here," Tresk said, a smile finally spreading across her face. Theo could feel the anxiety in her chest reducing. It didn't take much to make her happy, and that seemed to do it. “We're just operating on a different level now, that's all.”

Although Theo could tell that didn't completely appease the others assembled at the table, it was good enough to get regular conversations started. He was happy about that. Tresk, at her core, was a very defensive and sensitive soul. If she thought the people she grew up with didn't like her anymore, she would fall into a deep depression. The conversation around the table turned to telling stories about her. She was a precocious child who always got into trouble. Fortunately, the other children in town were always there to pull her out of it.

Dinner went on longer than normal, which was nice. Theo just listened as the others talked, only politely laughing when they told another story about Tresk getting stuck. Logs, between rocks, in the mouth of a snapper. There wasn’t a place the girl wouldn’t get trapped in. When that was finally over, it was time to head to the Dreamwalk to test the alchemist’s newest venture.

Alex took to the skies right away. It didn’t pass Theo’s notice that Tresk had summoned the image of Broken Tusk during her childhood. She looked at the river fondly, her eyes glazing over the city without a wall.

“You good?” Theo asked. He knew she wasn’t the kind of person to dwell. She also wasn’t wordy.

“Yup. Gotta grow up sometime, right?”

“That’s right,” Theo said with a nod. With a flash of intent, he summoned a group of people before him. “This might not truly work, but we’ll see how far the Dreamwalk lets us get today.”

“What’s the theory?” Tresk asked, tilting her head. Theo could feel her digging in his brain. “Dragon magic, Reforge Soul… profit?”

“That’s as far as I got.” Theo shook his head, recalling some important properties he would need. “Reforge Soul is a combination of the Burning Regen and Soul properties. We can double down by infusing the potion with the Soul property again. That’s the most potent version of the potion.”

“How does that work in spell form?” Tresk asked.

Theo smiled to himself, recalling the ad-hoc spells he had formed in the arena. “I didn’t think I had it in me, but there’s no reason I can’t make a spell version of this. Infused with dragon magic, who knows how potent it will be?”

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“Okay magic man, make your spell,” Tresk said, waving a dismissive hand. “And make it snappy, I’ve got dragon magic to master.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

The most simple version of this spell wouldn’t work. Theo was certain of that. The ward system he used for spellcasting was something he had borrowed from Toru’aun, and it was imperfect. A ward could easily be infused with the power of a property, borrowing those concepts from his alchemy. But lower potency wards didn’t take well to advanced properties, especially legendary ones like Soul, very well. Instead, Theo would design a spell, then infuse it into his aura.

That would allow him to create a powerful ward, and ignore the system requirements by infusing it into his aura instead of a normal spell. “Easily done on paper, but…”

Theo got to work on the spell, opening his spellcrafting menu and going through the motions. It wasn’t easy, though. The interface wanted to fight him on the placement of the properties, outright refusing it until he had everything perfectly lined up. It took a few hours to complete, which was more time than he had initially wanted to dedicate to the first phase of this project. Tresk had long-since went off to train with her powers, leaving him to inspect the spell by himself.

[Reforge Many]

[Advanced Ward] [Linked Ward]

Soul, Reforge Soul

Create a directed field that reforges the soul of anyone it touches.

Trigger:

Manual

Duration:

N/A

“Not sure what I think about that one,” Theo said, tapping his chin.

The system claimed the spell would work, but Theo had his doubts. He took a deep breath, looking over the field of faceless people to reforge. Activating the spell, he watched as it spread out before him. His willpower allowed him to direct where it was going, and he washed it over those assembled before him. But he didn’t have fine control of the spell, causing some people to get more of a dose than he had intended.

They promptly caught fire, eventually falling to the ground, dead.

“Ah, yes. A spell that murders people,” Theo grumbled. “That’s exactly what I wanted to happen.”

A pink blur landed before Theo, impacting onto the ground. Tresk would’ve died, but instead tilted her head up with a bloody grin. “New murder spell?”

Theo shrugged, gesturing to the flaming people before him. “I didn’t expect it to kill them, but yes. New murder spell.”

“I like how they’re on fire,” Tresk said, finally standing and dusting herself off. “Maybe because they don’t have any souls? No soul plus soul magic equals fire. Simple math.”

“Could be,” Theo admitted. “But my instinct says otherwise. I wasn’t able to control the spell very well. Perhaps casting it free style would work better.”

“Free style? That’s not a thing. You’re making up terms.”

Theo shrugged. “I don’t know. I’m gonna add the spell to my aura and direct it. With any luck, I can input a lot more parameters to manipulate this thing.”

Tresk gestured to what few imagined people were still alive. “Well? What are you waiting for?”

Theo focused on his aura. It wouldn’t be as simple as Tresk had suggested. Weaving the spell into his aura was easier said than done. Summoning his aura, the alchemist inspected its quirks. The aura consisted of a loose amalgam of his mana, imbued with his willpower and bristling with power. He already knew how to dump more of his willpower into the bubble, so why not dragon energy.

“Hey, it isn’t black anymore,” Tresk said, clapping half-heartedly. “Not sure what I think about the purple and green.”

“Looks better than the gray-black,” Theo said, observing his aura. It was certainly infused with dragon mana, but it was hard to know what that meant. If his previous experiment with potions was anything to go by, the general power of it should have increased, but it had also gained a modifier that would alter how it functioned. “Now for the part I wouldn’t trust in the real world.”

Even before Theo added the Reforge Many spell to the array, he felt the Dreamwalk push back. Tresk laughed, taking a seat on the ground to watch. “Let’s see if you can talk the dream realm into it. It seems reluctant to apply the spell.”

“I can feel it pushing back already,” Theo said, lacing the spell into his aura after deactivating it. In the inactive state, the spell was bound with little issue. But when he went to activate the combined spell and aura, the Dreamwalk refused. “This is well within the bounds of the system. You and I both know that.”

Theo set his jaw when he felt nothing in response from the Dreamwalk. He couldn’t understand why it wasn’t playing fair, considering everything was within the rules.

“I don’t think the Dreamwalk can handle it,” Tresk said, tapping her chin. “Maybe a computational limit?”

“Well, that sucks,” Theo said. “If that’s the case, there’s no way to test this without going into the real world. Also, maybe we can upgrade it?”

“Maybe. Maybe not.” Tresk shrugged, clicking her fingers to summon the image of the void. They floated around, looking at distant representations of the Middle Realms. “What we could try is testing the gongs. Why not make sure they’re perfect, rather than passable?”

It had been hard to hold it back. Testing the gongs was a great idea, and Theo knew they had to get some work done before the festivities kicked off. But he couldn’t stop the shift in the Dreamwalk. Instead of shifting to the imagined landscape of a planet, he was back in the snowy field, surrounded by trees. Tresk tensed immediately, spotting the distant female figure in the distance.

“Man, you really held that back for a long time,” Tresk said. “I’m impressed.”

“Right? I thought she’d come out a lot sooner.”

Tresk was sensitive for once in her life, holding back whatever jabs she had loaded. Instead, she used a much less hurtful jab. “Ya kinda neutered yourself, bud. Not sure there’s much romance for you.”

“What about an old friend?” Theo asked.

Tresk shrugged. “Yeah, I think you could manage that. So, are we going to break her out or something?”

Theo shook his head. Plunging into Death’s Gate was an idiotic move. Only an absolute psychopath with nothing to lose would do that. “We’ll wait it out. Death is growing more friendly by the day, and honestly, I kinda like him. Whatever we need to do to earn a favor from him is easier than just going into the gate.”

“And who knows!” Tresk said, patting him on the back. “Things have a way of working out anyway, so don’t even worry.”

“Maybe. Anyway, let’s run those simulations,” Theo said, giving up on the aura thing wasn’t an easy pill to swallow, but he shrugged it off the best he could. While that rolled out of his mind easily enough, the woman didn’t. At least her name didn’t echo in his mind this time. Perhaps that was even more difficult to accept. Not that he couldn’t have her again, but that perhaps he had moved on.

Could she?