Chapter 71 – Volatility

“Ah! Shiny, I wanted to—” called Kairon after the imp, only to be cut off by Nod.

“Did you know?!” squealed Nod. His scrawny red legs ate the distance up between them in moments, his voice carrying through the citadel district. “Six imps hurt! Six! And just made!” The supervisor’s claws were practically chomping at his pronouncement, each word accompanied by a click.

Bob and Shake weren’t far behind their manager, nodding profusely. Each already had bark in their grips, scrawling crude notes about the brood imps that had suffered wounds from the ichor well’s construction.

Kairon licked his lips. “You know, Shiny did mention that. It’s my fault, really. I got so caught up in the excitement of the process I failed to properly account for its… volatility.”

“Will file litigation?!” said Nod. “Will they?”

“I certainly hope not. I think we can care for our injured, and rectify any wrongs. I trust you’ll see to that?”

“Obviously!” snapped Nod. He let out a small huff. Then, brow scrunching, he pointed an accusatory claw back at Kairon. “Master! How not know about? Not know risk of… of…” He struggled for the word, only now just realizing he wasn’t sure what the new building was called.

“Ichor well,” supplied Kairon.

“Ichor well! Didn’t know? Hurt imp during build? Big splash!” He raised both arms, making a whooshing motion in the air.

“Of course not, Nod. Of course not. While I again stress I should have taken more precautions, I truly had no way of knowing what the plane would do. Correct, Sythara?” Kairon gave the demoness a pointed look.

“I must inspect this fascinating substance, child. I will let you speak to the little ones.” With a flourish, she swept up her tentacles and made for the finished ichor well.

Sighing, Kairon let half of his mind listen to Nod’s tirade, while the other shot off mental orders for Bean, his crew, and the brown squad members to turn around and rejoin them. While he felt for their desire to avoid the DR confrontation, he needed to figure out more about this new building. And for that, he needed supplies for testing.

By the time Bean, his crew of nineteen other workers, and the three fists of warriors that made up the growing brown pack arrived, Nod was finally settling down.

“…See master! Need discuss first! Check DR! Could have prevent… Risk!” Nod pointed at Kairon’s forehead. “How protect if not ask? Not tell? Hmm?”

“You are entirely right, Nod. Next time, I will ensure I consult with you before any… volatile constructions take place. That way you can prepare safety measures. Is that fair?” he asked in a placating tone.

“Hmph!”

“Great. Thanks Nod—I mean it.” He did. Nod’s embracement of compliance spoke to his very soul, and boded well for his own future development. Him and Shiny both had that coming.

“Now, please sit in on this conversation. I’ll need your support for it.”

“Yes! I think I will! Bob! Shake! Take note! Prevent any more… Surprises.”

Satisfied that was dealt with, Kairon surveyed the gathering. They’d split into three groups—brood, demonic resources, and wrath.

“Everybody else, as you may have heard, this is the Ichor Well. I’ll be expecting you to disseminate what I’m about to share with the rest of your brothers. First, let’s go see just what we’ve made. It’s time for some experimentation!”

“Ohh!”

“Pool!”

“EAT?!”

“No!” snapped Nod. “Not eat! Did see what did? It boil you. You become dead! Understand?”

“Sorry… Yes manager Nod…” whimpered the last brood imp.

Kairon set off for the well, Nod and the other imps close behind.

With a plop of his walking staff, he paused by the edge of the newly constructed well, sparing a moment to observe Sythara’s tentacles gingerly flicking at the surface of the crimson waters. She was muttering something nonsensical under her breath, a manic shine growing in her eyes.

“Sythara! This is most certainly a controlled research substance and categorized as such.”

“Of course, child. Of course.”

Figuring she could take care of herself, he peered downwards at the ichor well itself. From up close, it was an entirely new beast. A sound like rushing rapids filled the area, evidence of the strong currents below. The whirlpool effect made it so that the ichor at the edge was just below the rim, while that in the middle was several meters down.

Pursing his lips, he stepped onto the wooden boardwalk, its crude and uneven planks creaking under his weight. The city lord held out a claw. “Spear.”

“Yes master!” replied Bear, the de-facto pack leader of brown pack. So far, brown pack only had three squads to its name. Two short of what a true pack required.

Without hesitation, the pack leader shoved a wooden shaft in Kairon’s claws.

The city lord leaned forward, gazing down at the churning liquids. Shrugging, he carefully bent on his limp foot, dipping the metal tip of the weapon into the pool. Removing it, he held it up. The iron spearhead now sported a coat of dark ichor. It didn’t drip or run, however. It stayed still like some sort of sludgy paint.

Humming, he handed the spear back.

“Bear, give it a few swings, would you.”

Nod coughed loudly into his claw. “Master… Not safe.”

“Nod, these are warriors. They know the risks.”

The DR supervisor crossed his arms, before bobbing his chin at Shake. “You try.”

Shake, to his credit, didn’t even hesitate. He strode up to his master, tiny claws outstretched.

For a moment, Kairon thought about denying the request, but decided against it. What harm would it do? “Careful, Shake,” he instructed, allowing Bear to give him the oversized shaft.

Short as he was, it looked odd in the smaller imp’s grip. It worked, though. Barely.

Shake took a deep breath, before moving to the side and giving it a few gentle swishes in the air. The DR assistant wielded it less like a weapon and more like a broom. Regardless, no drips or spillage came from the weapon.

“Harder, please,” instructed Kairon. “I’d like to evaluate the stickiness of the ichor.”

The little imp obeyed. He tensed his tiny arms, before whacking the spear with all his might into the ground. Then again. And again. A dozen swings later, Shake stopped, struggling to catch his breath.

“That’s enough, Shake… Thank you.” It had become quite evident the ichor was nearly glue. It stuck. Not even a tiny splatter.

“Master…” began Bear. “This seem… useless.”

Kairon studied the places on the ground where Shake’s blows had hit, but saw no evidence of damage. “Perhaps the ichor only reacts to certain kinds of materials. From where I come from, we have all sorts of acids that only work when they mix with other chemicals.”

Rubbing his chin, Kairon began having various items brought to him for testing. Three swords, a hunting knife, a spear, several small branches, a piece of ashroot, and finally a golden coin.

One by one, he dipped them into the ichor before setting them to rest on the stone of the citadel district.

The wrath warriors observed, unimpressed at the lack of reaction.

Nod, however, seemed much happier.

Kairon gave it a full five minutes. Yet, no matter how long they waited, the ichor was like a frozen sludge. Sludge that, so far, did nothing. It just stuck to what it was applied to and stared back at the demon, uncaring.

“Huh. Think broke?” asked Bear curiously.

Then, a thought struck him. This was a wrath building. He recalled what the description had said:

New Structure — Ichor Well — A source of wrath and fury

A source of wrath and fury… As far as I know, ichor means blood. In the demonic sense, likely the blood of some entity from the plane.

Thoughts of Vorathrex flew through his mind. The raw, rageful Vorathrex that had appeared on his initial summoning. The one that had waded through Valdren soldiers like fish in a pond, the power of wrath leaking from his massive muscles.

If the entity this ichor is from, or even entities, are anything like him… then we are going about this all wrong.

A source of wrath and fury. Wrath. And it’s a source of it. Which means…

“Bear. I want you to try exactly what Shake did. Dip a spear into the well. But, this time, I want you to attack that log. Pretend it is an enemy.”

Shrugging, Bear did as instructed.

“Master…” began Nod.

“No. Not this time. We need to test this. Shake already did the pre-trial. Now it’s the warrior’s turn. Besides, you saw the tests. The ichor looks harmless, does it not?” replied Kairon, a tiny smirk on his lips.

Nod grumbled, but held his tongue. It did seem to be harmless so far.

Spear in hand, Bear stepped up to the rim of the well, dipped it within, and then approached a small log Kairon had placed nearby.

The warrior grunted, striking forward with a half-hearted swing. There was a slightly impressive thud, but no reaction. The ichor still clung to the spear tip.

Kairon considered the warrior in front of him. Then, he thought back to what made Boney grow. To what made Vorathrex want to consume. To what made the pit do what it did.

He doesn’t need an evolution. He just needs to tap into the inner aspect of rage that the plane created him with.

“Bear. Have you had your turn in the pit?”

“Yes master!” He held up one forearm, showing the fresh bruises and scars not fully healed.

“Do you know how the pit made you feel? How it made you want to destroy?”

Bear shuffled for a moment. “Uh… Well… I… Think?”

“No. Not think. You must feel. I’ve seen the pit training. You don’t just think. You feel. Let the wrath guide you,” instructed Kairon. He wasn’t sure where the words came from, they just seemed right.

“Guide! Yes master!” A tiny glow appeared in Bear’s pupils. Turning, he glowered at the log. Both his feet adjusting his combat stance. “Pit…” he mumbled. “Mmm….”

Then, with a guttural shout, Bear flung himself forward.

“Die!”

In one swift lunge, he brought the spear lengthwise down upon the log. This time, something happened. Kairon thought he could sense the barest hint of the power of wrath, somewhere where Bear’s claws met the spear, and again at the tip. Like it was a tiny version of the wrath totem, radiating the tiniest measure of the plane’s wrathful vengeance.

A measure that, in this case, was more than sufficient.

Fluorescent red flames burst where the spear met wood, the small log exploding in a cloud of shrapnel and debris. When the dust cleared, no burning fire remained, but the explosive and kinetic impact of the ichor was incredible.

Bear, mouth agape, stared downwards, spear still extended at the end of his strike. He ran his eyes down the length of the mundane spear, and then at the charred skidmark left on the citadel’s stone surface.

Around, the warriors and brood imps alike were entirely silent.

“Well…” said Kairon in the silence of the imps around him. “That was certainly impressive!”

At his proclamation, the silence shattered. Warriors burst into applause, clawed hands clattering together. Nod and the DR imps broke out into a furious discussion amongst themselves, and Kairon heard Bean saying something about digging with booms to the other brood imps.

“Oh!” breathed a warrior.

“BOOM!” chimed in another.

“I want!”

“Me next!”

Amidst the DR huddle, Nod looked like he was about to have a heart attack.

From the side, Sythara had halted her own tests to join them. She approached the skidmark on the ground, tentacles flicking the shrapnel away to get a better look. “Child… this…”

“Ichor.”

“Yes. This ichor. I’ve never seen a demon with blood like it.”

“Learn what you can and report back to me on anything of note, please.”

She bobbed her chin. “I can do this.”

The city lord turned back, seeing the group of imps breaking into more and more chaos.

“Oh dear.”

Kairon cleared his throat. “Attention, please! Everybody!” He slammed his walking stick down, getting the group to quiet. “Listen up! That was quite the demonstration from Bear. Not just in how powerful our new ichor is, but how dangerous and volatile it can be. For the time being, Nod,” he waved at the little manager, “will be setting up some rules. First of which is that the ichor from this well is being designated as a controlled substance.”

“Control… Substand?” tried Bear.

“Substance!” snapped Nod. “Don’t you read? Regulation compliance basics.” The imp let out a tiny snort of derision.

“A controlled substance,” cut in Kairon, “is a designated material that can only be used under strict supervision. For now, that means my personal seal of approval on each droplet used. There will be no exceptions. No underhanded markets. No surprises. Is that understood?”

Grumbled sounds of agreement came from the group.

“Good. Furthermore, this substance is from a well. Bean. Nod. This part’s for you. Do you know where a well comes from?”

Bean grinned. “DIG! Come from underground!” he said happily.

“Correct. Which means that this substance could have… drastic implications on the environment of this realm,” Kairon stated gravely.

Only, no one really seemed to care. Why would they? The demons were corrupting this realm. Sythara decided to say as much.

“Child…” she said slowly, “do we really need to be worried about protecting the grass and trees when your very domain eats them with corruption?”

“Of course we do! Have you not read the demonic regulatory compendium?”

Nod bobbed his head up and down rapidly in agreement. “Yes! Read!”

“It clearly states that any material designated a controlled substance and that can negatively impact the environment is duly classified as an environmental risk and must be treated as such.”

In the distance, the purple pupil above the citadel flickered.

Again, silence.

Kairon rubbed the back of his neck. “Just… Nod and I will be making some instructions. Make sure to follow them. And when you speak of the well, ensure your brethren too understand what I’ve said. Got it?”

“Yes master!”

While the imps returned to chattering amongst themselves, Kairon reviewed his plans. His reasons for choosing the ichor well. And how it could be properly weaponized for the upcoming conflict.

Originally, it was primarily to act as a force multiplier for his wrath imps. Their claws and their spears could clearly be made incredibly volatile with the stuff. He’d need to have Vorathrex spend the rest of the day exploring the limitations of this, and ensuring the ichor didn’t kill his own warriors in the process.

The second reason he chose it was for the controlled substance designation. That was just as he’d hoped.

But now… A third reason began to cook in his mind.

What if he could use the ichor for more than just a force multiplier… But a battle decider? The only trouble was doing that would require some method of remotely interacting with the stuff…

Perhaps the void imps could help with that?

For now, the city lord decided to move forward on items one and two. Item three could come later.

“Bean. Bear. Your squads are going to have quite the amount of work to get done over the next day. I hope you’re rested.”