Arc | Chapter. 31: Workshops (Patreon)

Chapter. 31: Workshops

Rory didn’t know what to make of the things she saw yesterday, but she had decided to stop one more day in Ranedale out of curiosity, and in hopes to meet Jake, however as soon as he left the guild the man quickly vanished.

In the end, she didn’t have the chance to talk to him. A small sigh left her as she stood near the town gates. It was the early morning now, and she still hoped to get a chance to meet him. Jake was… a man of many rumors after all, his title not for show, having the ability to make use out of the strangest weapons.

But the most particular rumor of them all, was the fact that the man had been collecting S Tier weapons for many years. Of course, that wasn't necessarily alarming or worth noting for an S Tier adventurer, but according to people he was preparing to go on a journey for the fabled SS Tier.

And if he achieved it, he’d be the first human to reach that Tier in almost a millennia. That was exciting, last Rory heard he had stepped into level 145 just a few months ago. In just a few years, he’d be the first SS Tier human; his hundred plus year long career as an adventurer would be immortalized for the rest of history.

“What wouldn’t I give to meet someone like that…” Rory wistfully sighed as she turned and⁠—

Bumped into someone. She blinked, as she looked up only to be met with a familiar golden gaze.

“Who are you talking about?” The man asked as Rory gaped.

It was Jake…

“I-I, it’s an honor to meet you!” She hastily bowed. “I was just thinking about how amazing it would be to get to know someone like you!”

“Is that so?” Jake asked, raising his brow. “That’s nice. I’m traveling through the Black Forest, I better go now.”

With those words, he began to walk towards the gate. Rory paused for a moment as her mind blared. Was she too weird? Too fast…? No… She couldn’t let it end just like that, not when she was in front of the person. For a moment, she trembled before speaking up.

“I’m traveling through the Black Forest, if you aren’t in too much of a rush we could tag along maybe…?” she asked quietly.

Jake stopped. Rory’s heart skipped a beat.

Had that been too much? Had she made yet another mistake? Would Jake get angry?! Nervousness filled her being as she trembled in her spot, and finally the man turned to her as he slowly nodded.

“Sure.”

Rory blinked for a moment processing his reply, but before she could even squeak anything Jake turned around.

“Let’s go.”

“Aah, yes!”

And just like that, a new exciting journey began for her.

◇ ◇ ◇

Or at least that’s what she expected. The walk through the Black Forest had been boring, and it was all due to Jake. The man was constantly unleashing an oppressive aura around the vicinity that scared all the monsters away, and by extension it made Rory nervous too.

She didn’t really understand what to expect or anything of the sort, if anything it was a bit… weird. Would the legendary adventurer in front of her get angry if she forced conversations? She didn’t know, but they had been journeying for a few hours, and as someone that had taken this trip multiple times, Rory knew it was nearing its end.

“J-Jake… where are you heading after this…?” Rory asked nervously.

The adventurer continued walking. “I have a job to do in Rivas.”

“Rivas…?” Rory asked in surprise, that’s where she was heading too!

“That is correct.” Jake nodded. “I have been hired this morning, but it’s not official business.”

Rory paused, her mind processing. It wasn’t an uncommon thing, but for some reason the fact that an S Tier adventurer also engaged in shady business was quite the surprise for her.

“Do you have to kill someone?” Rory asked finally after a breath.

Jake paused for a moment, and turned towards her. His gaze was serious and unchanging, something that made Rory feel cold.

She shouldn’t have asked that…

The man let out a breath. “If you’re interested I’ll tell, but if word of this gets out I know who it is from.”

Rory slowly nodded. “I can keep a secret.”

Jake nodded and turned, resuming his walk once more. “I was hired by a Grand Duke of Rivas, he wants revenge on someone, apparently he intends to kill some other people too, but my only job is just that, revenge.”

“Revenge… against whom?”

“I think it’s overkill to hire me to kill this person, but the price is right.”

Jake shook his head.

“Her name has spread among some people, but she isn’t strong.”

She? Rory raised her brow and Jake continued.

“Her name is Arc, the latest Medal of Bravery holder, and my mission is to kill her.”

Oh…

* * * * *

The morning had been uneventful, except for breakfast where once more I was served food that was just as good as the one in the fancy restaurant at Blackcrest. That alone put me in quite a great mood to start the day, though nothing really happened, not immediately at least.

There were no assassins, no falling chandeliers on the tables, no explosions with assassins rushing in⁠— nothing. I hung out around the house with Ceylon for some time, but ultimately nothing happened. Thomas, her father, had some stuff to take care of, so ultimately he left. Her mother seemed to always stay at home, but I still gave her one of my sensory crystals or whatever they were.

If she was in danger she would break it, same went for Ceylon’s father. And so that left me with Ceylon, we hung around her mother for some time before finally setting off to explore Rivas, the City of Workshops.

Unlike a lot of other cities ⁠— according to Ceylon ⁠— Rivas generated most of its income through manufacturing goods rather than tourism or any other kind of specialty, hence its name. It was also known to be the best place in all of Draliz for commissioning any type of goods, whether it was a weapon, armor, furniture, or even designs and art.

And so, we went around looking at things, however there was something that bothered me a bit. First was the furniture; the craftsmanship was nice, but since there were many workshops the quality was varied and I noticed that a lot of things were actually asymmetric even if just slightly. It… bothered me.

Next were the wagons which suffered the same problem. The wheels were even which was nice, but when it came to long measurements and even certain patterns they just felt wrong? I didn’t know if I was being hypercritical or what, but I found it hard to appreciate a lot of the craftsmanship we found around.

Armors and weapons were a completely different story, for I actually knew nothing about them and found myself admiring certain things. However, as soon as I saw engravings, I once more realized that I was just comparing them to things in my mind and thinking it's wrong.

Even some shop signs and the spacing in typography looked weird to me.

Finally, I sighed. “So, even now I’m still nitpicking when it comes to visual things…”

“Are you alright, Arc?” Ceylon asked innocently. “You know, there is quite a special workshop that I wanted to show you but if you aren’t filling it then…”

“It’s fine.” I shook my head and promptly smiled. “I’m just being weird, let’s go?”

She nodded and we went our way. If I was honest, I was enjoying my time with Ceylon, even if she was just treating me as her friend that just came to her city or something. It was nice to see more of Arlas.

◇ ◇ ◇

The workshop Ceylon was talking about was quite special, or rather it blew me away; it wasn’t something I expected to see in a medieval world. I found myself standing in the middle of a large warehouse, Ceylon wore a thick jacket and was lightly trembling, all while the craftsman responsible chuckled; a man entering his third age with a burly frame.

“It’s amazing is it not?”

I looked around for a moment before nodding. “I never expected to see something like this…”

I was blown away. Everywhere I looked there were ice sculptures, subtly illuminated by orange ground lights. I saw lions, people, wagons made of ice, even monsters. Every single thing was perfectly detailed to the point I could see no flaws.

I walked around, simply looking around in amazement. It was all so pretty, so… breathtaking. I let out a small breath of misty ice, as I simply looked around, I saw the refractions around as the room seemed to almost sparkle when we walked.

The craftsman simply smiled as I took in his works, it was pride, a feeling of pride from amazing someone else. And I could understand it. For some time I was enchanted, until finally I reached the end of the workshop. Where uncarved ice blocks remained, waiting to show off what they would become.

I blinked for a moment, it was… a weird feeling, a good one, just not one I could describe.

“So what did you think? Medal of Honor holder, Arc?” The man asked, laughing.

I blinked. “It’s quite… amazing.”

He nodded. “That it is, being able to make something from nothing.” And a smile appeared on his face. “It’s quite unique. I always ask this, every person says they aren’t interesting, but I’ll still ask. Would you like to give ice carving a try?”

I blinked, turning to him, and smiled. “Of course.”

It didn’t take long before I stood in front of an ice block slightly bigger than me, I had been handed different chisels and a hammer.

“Do you know how to do it?”

I nodded. “I do.”

If I was honest, I could’ve used [Ice Manipulation] and other ice related skills to simply make a masterpiece in just a minute, but it wasn’t about that. That didn’t take much skill or effort, instead I wanted something more. Still, I held a natural advantage due to the fact that I could sense how the ice behaved and how it would crack, how rough or fast I could be with it.

But that also made me excited, to see what I could do.

And so with a nod, I started working.

* * * * *

Ceylon took the Grandmaster Ice Carver Gufo to a different room, all to thank him. His workshop was actually incredibly hard to even get a glimpse at, only reserved for the richest and most noble families in all of Arlow, if it hadn’t been for Arc’s own status this meeting wouldn’t have been possible.

At first she was nervous that Arc would react in the same rather lackluster way as she did in the other workshops. But she was wrong, instead Arc had been amazed by everything, pure enjoyment and appreciation written in her face.

And that was why, she bowed before the old Grandmaster.

“Thank you for letting us visit.”

He chuckled. “No, thank you!” And he laughed, wiping a tear from his eye. “It’s the first time in years someone reacts like that, let alone wants to carve ice. I saw passion in her eyes, something that can’t be said for a lot of people I’ve met.”

“Oh, is that so?” Ceylon blinked.

“Yeah, I have a feeling that girl has a lot of potential to even be my apprentice. At least if passion is all that matters.”

Ceylon paused, unsure if Arc would ever agree to something like that, but she also felt warmth from the fact that even Gufo, the person known for being cold and eccentric, had immediately warmed up to Arc.

“Anyway, let’s see how she’s doing.” Ceylon nodded.

They left for only five to ten minutes so she didn’t expect much but when they came back, the Grandmaster completely froze. Arc’s statue was rather formless still, which made Ceylon wince, but instead, Gufo let out a small gasp.

“How are you working that fast…?”

Arc did not reply as she focused on her work, and for the first time Ceylon saw something different in Arc.

Passion.

◇ ◇ ◇

Hours passed, I hammered with the chisel until my surroundings blended into the background as I simply focused on all the details of my imagination and what I wanted, slowly shaving away to achieve perfection.

And finally, I finished. I didn’t know how long it took, but I stared with a feeling of satisfaction at the statue of a familiar person. She had long frilled hair and an air of elegance, with an expression of surprise as her clothes blew to the wind.

I had made a sculpture of Ceylon for one reason or another, and it made me… happy.

Finally, as I turned to my surroundings once more, I saw Ceylon looking at me wide eyed, and the craftsman was too.

The first person to speak was the old man. “You⁠— Arc you are… a true master at this, maybe even a Grandmaster…” he said gaping. “That work is… amazing.”

I smiled, feeling a sudden feeling of pride. Then Ceylon spoke.

“That is… I… How did you even do that?” She gasped. “That is…”

“It’s fine.” I smiled. “We should leave now.”

Ceylon nodded slowly, still looking at the statue with some confusion. “Right, let’s go…”

Then we bid our farewells as we left close to midnight. Leaving the incredibly overjoyed craftsman behind.

* * * * *

The first thing Gufo did after saying his goodbyes was run back into the shop. He still couldn’t believe his eyes. He had given decades of his life to ice carving and even then, nothing he ever made, none of his masterpieces approached what Arc had just made.

He stood before the statue of the noble lady of the Arlow house, admiring it as a masterpiece as he took each and every detail. After minutes of appreciation, a long breath filled with emotions left him. Emotions of jealousy, of excitement, of childish discovery. Finally, after another minute, he whispered:

“I still have so much to learn…”

That simple realization, made his passion reignite for a skill he thought he had mastered. Finally after more time of appreciation, he steeled his resolve.

He was going to surpass Arc.

* * * * *

And at midnight, Rory and Jake finally arrived at Rivas. She quickly bade the S Tier adventurer a farewell as she simply stood in the middle of the road in a panic.

She had to find Arc before Jake killed her!

-

Figured a chapter like this would be quite nice. Gives Arc a whole lot more character.

What thonk?