5.42 - Garden Plot
The dining area in the manor was filled with the scent of a cooking fire and a freshly made breakfast. Sarisa had created more than her normal dish to celebrate the return of her brother. He was still in town during his vacation, but she thought it was fitting to make him sothing nice for his first day back. Theo was under the impression that he would have been gone for longer, but there he was. The half-ogre man didnt have a mild scowl on his face like normal. He was smiling.
Must have been a good vacation, Theo said. He smiled as he dabbed a piece of wheat bread into the runny part of his pozwa egg.
An excellent vacation, Rowan sighed.
You guys can take days off, Theo said with a laugh. You dont have to work for weeks before taking ti.
Sarisa shrugged at the suggestion, reclining slightly in her chair as she sipped moss tea. Maybe you should take the sa advice.
I have a twenty-four hour vacation every day. Into a world I can shape to be whatever I want. Theo smiled at his assistants. Terogal had beco a personal vacation ho for him and Tresk.
He has a point, Rowan said.
Rowan and Sarisa went back-and-forth on the importance of a good half-ogre work ethic. Theo went into his own mind, finding the information from the Reagent Splicing skill unfurling in his mind. He now understood the best way to splice many of his reagents together. So were obvious things. The alchemist had spent ti propagating his reagents by taking clippings or seeds, so so thods transferred over. Those that didnt were provided by the skill, only leaving him to decide which to try first.
The only thing left for Theo to decide was a core for his new core slot. With how much ti alchemy, herbalism, and magic took from his schedule he didnt want anything that was active. He was more interested in a core that was passive, like his Governance Core. That required research, which would take ti. There was also the idea of transforming any of those cores into a Drogramath core, which might have interesting effects. There were too many things to think about when there were plant hybrids to make.
The alchemist finished his al, chatting with Sarisa and Rowan for a while before heading out for the day. Salire was already at the Newt and Demon, swapping the essences out and preparing for another run of Hallow the Soil. She already had the required suffuse potions brewing, which was surprising. Salire had done so independent experintation, finding that she could brew that potion just fine. So long as it was at second tier or below, which is what they were running. The pair had abandoned the plan to do third tier potions, as it had an extra, annoying step.
Youre getting better by the day, Theo said, helping Salire load so Dragon Talon Mushrooms into the grinder. Are you going to take over my lab?
Be careful, Salire said, pointing a finger in warning. I just might.
Theo smiled and got back to work. With the way things were going, there might be enough room in the alliance for two alchemists. Once he got his hands on so Town Seed Cores, and reclaid so land in the north, it would be open season for expansion. That ca with problems from whatever nations could reach them from the north, resulting in the need for defensive asures up there. But he only had plans to make more friends, not enemies.
Salire and Theo labored, preparing only two stills for a batch of Refined Suffuse Essence. As they worked, the alchemist felt as though he was gliding around the lab. Lacking the ta barrier between his alchemy core and his soul had resulted in a feeling of extre excitent when performing alchemy. His assistant pointed this out.
Youre normally so brooding, she said, watching him dance across the lab.
Ah, Theo said, suddenly rembering to be embarrassed about the act. Ive been making ntal notes about the effects of the ta barrier. Alchemy feels like a part of , now.
Salire danced from one foot to the other. Oh, Im going to take that skill.
Theo laughed with her, placing his hand on her shoulder and nodding. I think you should. The ta barrier is this mbrane that makes you feel like soone else. I hate it.
Speaking of I dont want to make assumptions, but I might need a soul potion.
Wisdom? Theo asked.
Yes.
Are you feeling the effects?
Not yet. But Im getting there. I put a lot of my points in Wisdom to start, but changed to Vigor for my other job.
No worries. Ill start the potion the next ti I go to Terogal.
Thank you!
This is only a temporary fix. You can only drink one soul potion, and if you pump Intelligence like youre going to need two of them.
Yeah
This problem ran deep, and Theo knew that no solution was on the horizon. The only thing he could think to do was more alchemy. The alchemist clapped his hands together, gaining Salires attention. I have a task for you.
Im ready, she said, showing far too much conviction.
Make a list of each reagent we have access to with the idea of splicing two together. Imagine which would make the best matches.
Salire withdrew a notebook, then flipped through the pages. I can do that. Already have a list of our reagents.
Perfect. Im going to clear so space in the greenhouses, and prepare the experintal garden plot.
Lets do it!
Salire was more excited about the task than Theo had expected. He left the lab and headed to his greenhouses, finding everything to be the way he left it. The Plant Golem was doing its job by preventing hybridization, clearing the weeds away, and other general maintenance. Each greenhouse was packed with reagents, all growing at ever-increasing rates thanks to the various upgrades he had applied. The alchemist ordered a few corners in each greenhouse cleared to make way for hybrid reagents. There was no better ti to push his alchemy as far as it could go.
After he finished creating a new set of orders, he went next door to the Herbalists Workshop, finding the garden plot behind the building. Any upgrade that had the text appears behind the workshop, building, etc ant that building was upgradable. The plot could hold nine reagent plants, depending on the size. It was made of a low stone wall with a gate, within which was freshly tilled earth. Inside the plot, the air seed still. Almost stiflingly so. Despite the open-air arrangent, the inside of the plot was sealed from the outside world. He inspected the plot before moving on.
[Experintal Garden Plot]
Owner: Theo Spencer
Faction: [Southlands Alliance]
Level: 1 (0%)
Rent Due: SUSPENDED
Expansions:
None
The upgrades produced by the attached plot might be good, but that wasnt what Theo was after. He wanted more area to test his new reagents. And there would be a lot of reagents to test if his new sense for alchemy was anything to go by. The alchemist shoved cores into the building, trying to be as efficient as possible. Each level the plot gained saw the gray stone wall moving a foot or so in any direction. When the plot hit Level 5, the list of three upgrades appeared.
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[Precision Control]
Gives the owner of this plot the ability to control cultivation rate, and growth rate on a per-plant basis.
[Nurturing Soil]
The soil within this plot will always provide maximum nutrients. Plants within will never wither, and will always have the exact amount of water required.
[Perfect Climate]
Every individual plant within the plot will experience a perfect environnt for growth. The preferred temperature, soil quality, humidity, etc of an individual plant does not affect the others.
This was an herbalists dream. Theo felt a shiver of excitent run through his body as he read the description on each upgrade. He wanted them all. Precision Control was the least useful, but he could isolate plants instead of setting rates for the whole plot. Nurturing Soil would make it so he didnt need to assign a golem to the plot. Perfect Climate was sothing he would pick down the line. Either when there was no other good option, or when the building got high enough. But he didnt have any non-native plants, and if he did he would use his new splicing ability to alter that plants preferences. He selected Nurturing Soil for his first upgrade.
Before moving on to the next upgrade, Theo took a second to inspect the features of the plot. It claid to allow him to alter factors of growth for all the plants. With a touch and a little ntal prodding, a new system interface appeared in his vision.
[Experintal Garden Plot Controls]
Cultivation Rate: 0%
Growth Rate: 0%
Hybridization Rate: 0%
Watered Rate: 100%
Nutrition Rate: 100%
Available Spots: 12
Spots occupied: 0
Environntal Condition Preset: Humid Swamp
Soil Preset: Rich Swamp
Now that's so fine control. Theo could press a button near so entries, changing the rates. The interface was easy to use, but he moved on. There were more upgrades to get. He inserted more Monster Cores into the building, watching as it expanded to gain more plots. Three rows of four beca four rows of four by the ti it hit Level 10. The new upgrade appeared alongside the old ones. The alchemist inspected his new upgrade option.
[Stable Conditions]
Unstable plants placed within the plot will not degrade. Any drastic magical expulsions will be contained, never leaving the plot and leaving the other plants within the plot unhard.
Drastic magical expulsions was a fancy way of saying explosions. Theo hadnt considered exploding reagents before, but now that they were ssing with splicing it was possible. This upgrade fell into the sa category as the Perfect Climate upgrade. He didnt need it now, but it could be useful later. Instead, he went for the Precision Control upgrade. Then he was back at it, shoving more cores into the building. The four by four arrangent because five by four when it hit Level 15. A new upgrade popped up. The alchemist checked his supply of cores before inspecting the upgrade, finding that it was dwindling once again.
Rats, Theo said, inspecting the new upgrade.
[Recovery Factor]
A small tank of magical energy appears near the Experintal Garden Plot (this tank is not upgradable.) The tank accepts motes, which are converted into liquid magical energy. This energy may be used to stabilize recently spliced plants, ensuring they survive the splicing process.
Theo didnt have to think long about that one. Since he was new at the splicing ga, this would play well with his current plans. He selected the upgrade, then went around the side of the plot to watch the magical tank appear. A device that looked like one of Throks artifices appeared. The stout little copper tank had a mote port on the side, and a gauge showing how much magical energy it had. The alchemist inserted one mote, watching the quantity of magical energy inside increase. Upon closer inspection, he found a list of controls for the tank.
[Recovery Factor Tank]
Stored Energy: 5%
Release all energy
Release energy to specific plant
Purge tank
Set specific instructions
The button labeled Set specific instructions had a series of commands he could issue. Theo could tell the tank to release energy onto a plant, sustaining it so it always had energy. He could do the sa for every plant. There was even an option to only release energy in an ergency situation.
Very interesting, Theo muttered to himself. He scratched his chin, inserting motes and observing the tanks energy increase.
He hasnt talked to himself in a while.
Theo looked up from his tank, narrowing his eyes at Rowan and Sarisa. They had been whispering conspiratorially. He stood, pointing at his assistants. You leave alone. Im having fun.
He never has fun, Rowan said in mock shock.
By the gods. Was he replaced?
With a copy, perhaps.
A joyous copy.
Rowan grabbed his sister by the shoulders, shaking her. Can we keep him?
Theo turned away so they couldnt see his smile, stifling a laugh as he got back to stuffing cores into the garden. The vicious mockery only went on for as long as the half-ogres had attention, then the area behind the workshop was silent yet again. Only the gentle rumbling of the plots expansions filled the air as the alchemist worked. The notification popped up, allowing him to pick an upgrade for Level 20. He inspected the newest option, noticing the five by five plot before him.
[Accelerated Research]
Researching reagents originally grown within the plot will reveal more information.
It was hard to tell if this one was good. Theo hadnt worked with the research aspect of the workshop enough to pick it just yet. Instead, he went through the other options. He settled on Stable Conditions instead. If anything could go wrong in the plot, an explosion would be horrible. He was satisfied with where the plot was at, stepping back to get a better look at it. The low stone walls had expanded out enough to house five rows by five columns of plants. Before going to check with Salire, he inspected where the plot was for now.
[Experintal Garden Plot]
Owner: Theo Spencer
Faction: [Southlands Alliance]
Level: 20 (12%)
Rent Due: SUSPENDED
Expansions:
[Nurturing Soil]
[Precision Control]
[Recovery Factor]
[Stable Conditions]
Theo nodded with approval before returning to the lab. Sarisa and Rowan followed behind, one remaining in the shadows and the other out in the open. The alchemist had gotten used to their shadowing, and hardly noticed them anymore. Salire was still working on the list of items and potential hybrids, but it was already comprehensive. Sothing that was missing from her analysis of reagents was elental alignnt. As he thought about it, he realized he didnt have much of an expansive understanding of the topic. Just raw instinct and assumptions.
When youre done, et at the workshop, Theo said, collecting a few reagents Salire had already set aside.
Ill be done soon, Salire said, writing furiously. Just about there.
Theo returned to the workshop, settling into the unfamiliar interior. There was sothing strange about doing work related to alchemy in the new building. He rearranged what little furniture was in there before opening two windows to get a breeze going. He would need to have one of Throks air conditioners installed if he wanted to work without the oppressive heat. He finally settled down at the table, pulling an uncomfortable chair up and sighing as he sat into it.
With a single Mages Bane flower on the table, Theo focused to let the wisdom of his unimpeded cores settle in. He couldnt tell if it was intuition, experience, the research upgrade, or the state of his new cores but he knew it was a Lightning alignnt reagent. He also knew that ant it would hybridize with other Lightning plants easily. He treated this as an exercise to test how his new cores interacted with his mind. After a few simple tests, Salire arrived at the workshop.
I like the new place, she said, dragging a chair over to the table. Needs more furniture.
Agreed. Let see your list, Theo said, holding his hand out. Salire placed the notebook in his hand, already opened to the right page.
Salire had identified a lot of stuff that made sense. She had used the logical idea to line properties up by effect type. Healing reagents with healing reagents and so on. Theo didnt see this as the way to create hybrid plants, but it was a start. His thought was to first take plants that would work with the splicing process first. Only then could they look at properties that worked together.
This is a good start, Theo said, flipping between the pages. I have a feeling that thistle and zee wont combine, though.
I wrote everything that might work, Salire said, scooting closer to press her finger into the page.
It feels weird, Theo said, digging deep to find a way to express this new intuition. Like all my experience is coming together to combine with the power of my cores. I just know zee and thistle wont mix. But I think Mages Bane and Lightning Poppy will.
You have more experience with zee and thistle than you do with those two flowers. Especially in growing them. You helped with the farm.
That might have sothing to do with it, Theo said with a nod. Okay. Lets focus on one thing at a ti. I need to learn how to use my new Reagent Splicing skill.
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