Rise of the Living Forge - Chapters 181-182 (Patreon)

AN: That was odd, I thought I uploaded the wrong chapters yesterday, but they were correct... I'm not sure why I thought they were wrong.

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A wave of rotten fog rolled out of Flesh Abomination’s exposed, bloody neck. It was a thick brown color and it rolled across the ground toward him like the tide coming in. Arwin didn’t know what it would do, and he had absolutely no plans of finding out.

He bounded over the fog with a small boost from [Scourge] and landed on the monster’s shoulders, bringing his hammer down into its back. The Flesh Abomination stumbled and fell forward into its own fog.

Arwin launched himself off it, landing safely outside of the rancid monster’s range. The endless thump of its heart echoed through the room as it rose, apparently unbothered by the large dent in its back.

Rodrick and Olive stood on the other side of the monster, biding their time until the smoke dispersed before attacking. Flesh stitched back over the monster’s wound as it lumbered toward Arwin.

I’m evidently going to have to hit it harder if I want to do serious damage, but I really don’t have the energy to spare swinging Verdant Blaze around with reckless abandon.

Rodrick took several steps back and sprinted forward, water splashing at his feet as his armor accelerated him. He leapt over the dispersing fog, clearing it in one jump, and rolled past the Flesh Abomination as the monster swung a lumbering hand at him.

The monster’s fist slammed into the ground with enough force to shake it. Cracks spiderwebbed out across the floor and it lifted its hand, debris raining down from its purpled, swelling fingers.

Rodrick came to a stop beside Arwin, turning to face the monster. Olive worked her way around it, her sword drawn, eyes searching for an opportunity to attack. The monster wasn’t fast, but it was definitely strong.

“Lillia, how much shadow do you have to work with right now?” Arwin asked. He and Rodrick backed up toward the center of the room. They remained close enough to keep monster remained focused on them so it wouldn’t turn to any of the others. “Can you hold this thing down?”

“Not very well,” Lillia called back.  “We saw how strong it was. I could maybe trip it up for a second if Reya was helping. It doesn’t look like attacking would do much more, though.”

“Okay. Reya, get ready,” Arwin said. “Be prepared to use [Imprison]. I want to knock this thing down. Once it falls, Lillia — hold it down. Olive can then go for a strike, and it’ll be your job to make sure it can’t hit her while she’s doing that.”

“Which leaves us to knock it down?” Rodrick guessed.

Arwin nodded and lowered his stance. “Unfortunately. Do you have it in you to activate your berserker skill again?”

“Yeah, I reckon I’ll make it,” Rodrick replied.

The Flesh Abomination lurched forward and reached out for both of them. Rodrick’s sword flashed down as he dodged to the side, leaving a glowing cut along the monster’s skin. Flesh peeled back and blood sloughed from the wound, but the abomination barely even seemed to notice.

Arwin ducked under the monster’s other hand and thrust his foot behind the large monster’s legs before twisting his body and slamming Verdant Blaze into the creature’s chest with a [Scourge] empowered blow.

Bone crunched and the abomination stumbled back. An enormous weight slammed down on Arwin’s leg as the monster tripped over it. It pitched back and crashed to the ground. Even with his greaves protecting his leg, he felt the bone snap beneath the monster’s weight.

He let out a snarl of pain and fell, catching himself by slamming his hammer’s head to the ground like a crutch. A bolt of yellow light shot from Anna’s hands and slipped into his leg, setting the bone and pulling away some of the pain.

Arwin didn’t have time to thank her. The abomination’s wound was already starting to knit shut and it was halfway back to rising to its feet. He swung Verdant Blaze once more, striking the monster in the top of the chest and throwing it back to the ground.

[Scourge]’s reserves were already dangerously low. He wasn’t sure how many more swings he had left in him, but they needed the monster pinned down. As soon as it hit the ground for the second time, bands of shadow shot up and tightened around its arms.

Olive strode forward and brought her sword down toward its chest.

A loud groan filled the room and the shadows started to tear as the Flesh Abomination forced itself upward. Lillia’s hands trembled and she gritted her teeth, pouring more power into her magic.

The abomination ripped through the shadows and swung a hand for Olive. A flash of blue slammed into the monster, halting it for an instant, and Rodrick lunged. He slammed into Olive and carried her out of the way of the monster’s hand as it swept past her, catching nothing but air.

Arwin cursed under his breath and hopped back to avoid a rancid hand as it swept for him. The Abomination clambered back to its feet and turned toward Rodrick and Olive, shuffling in their direction.

“Again!” Arwin yelled. “I’ll help hold it down better this time!”

He sprinted toward the monster’s back and it twisted, a hand flying to meet him. Arwin dismissed Verdant blaze. He dropped to his knees and slid beneath the strike. Brown fog started to pour from the monster’s neck again as Arwin rose behind it, spinning and resummoning Verdant Blaze as he swung at the monster’s shoulder.

Bone cracked beneath the blow. It spun, nearly catching Arwin with a flailing limb, but managed to keep itself from pitching over. The relentless beat of its heart pounded away, matching the blood roaring in Arwin’s ears.

He made to jump forward, but spikes of bone erupted from the Abomination’s skin, jutting out from every direction. It charged toward him, each step making the ground bounce, and Arwin was forced to throw himself to the side to avoid being simultaneously trampled and impaled.

A flash of blue wrapped around the monster, locking it in place as Arwin rose back to his feet, and strands of shadow rose up to trip the Flesh Abomination. It slammed to the ground with a crash.

Bone erupted from its back, shooting out like cancerous roots that stretched toward everyone. Arwin shattered the bones with Verdant Blaze as they grew near him, then spun to help the others.

Rodrick shattered the ones that were reaching for him and Olive. Reya and Lilla broke the strands extending toward them, protecting Anna in the process. Shattered bone rained down to the ground as the monster pushed itself back upright, more tendrils of stiff bone sprouting from its chest.

The rhythmic thump of the monster’s heart grew somehow louder.

“We need to end this!” Rodrick yelled. “It’s getting stronger the longer we fight it!”

“Repeat the previous plan!” Arwin yelled back. “I don’t have enough magical energy to try anything else, so I’ll help hold it down when it collapses! Don’t let it get the bone burst thing off again. Kill it before it can!”

Olive’s hands tightened around her sword. Her face was pale but her eyes determined as she readied her stance once more. “On your mark. I’m ready.”

Arwin and Rodrick exchanged a nod, then sprinted toward the Abomination. Bones erupted to meet them and Rodrick’s body erupted with burning yellow energy. He let out a roar and swirls of water gathered before his skin, blocking the bones as they shattered against him. He slammed into the Flesh Abomination’s shoulder, sending it reeling.

A second later, Arwin’s hammer slammed into the monster’s right leg. Verdant Blaze ripped into the flesh and shattered bone, sending the monster pitching forward. Bone spikes scraped against his helm and along his armor, trying and failing to rip through the metal.

Olive burst forward even as the Abomination pitched forward. It hit the ground with a resounding crash and the loud crack of shattering bones, but white growths were already sprouting like springtime flowers all across its body.

Arwin ignored the bones that drove into his armor and swung Verdant Blaze, shattering the ones heading in Olive’s direction. She was already mid-swing, her sword cutting through the air at an agonizingly slow speed.

Shadows slithered around the Abomination and pulled it back down as it tried to rise. More bones pressed out from it, trying to push their way through Arwin’s armor and reaching out for Olive once more.

Rodrick’s blade flashed and more bone heading for Olive shattered before it could reach her. The glowing energy enveloping him faded away as he drained the last of his magical power, but the Abomination seemed to have a limitless amount of matter to work with.

Even more jagged bone sprouted from its body, forming a carapace over its arms and reaching for Olive like grasping hands.

Her sword drew closer and closer to its chest, but the bones were faster than she was. Concentration creased Olive’s features and her knuckles were white around the hilt of her blade. She had no plans of dodging.

 A wave of blue light slammed into the monster. The bone growth slowed to a halt for a flicker of an instant.

Olive’s sword bit home. It cut clean from one shoulder of the monster down to its abdomen, tearing through the monster like nothing was there. Smoke hissed from the creature’s flesh as the sword’s edge flickered with fire. Loud twangs rang out, but Olive didn’t stop to see what they were.

She pulled her sword down and slid it free of the Flesh Abomination’s pelvis. The two halves of the monster sloughed away, revealing several cut metal strands.

The bones growing from the monster cracked and crumbled, falling away as it collapsed, losing the will to fight. All the pieces making it up lost their cohesion and detached from each other, leaving only the still-thumping heart just to the side of where Olive’s blade had carved through the monster.

They all caught their breath for a second. Arwin’s armor had several grooves running through it from the sharp bones, but they’d failed to penetrate deep enough to do any damage. Judging by the glassy stare in Olive and Rodrick’s eyes, the Mesh had acknowledged their victory.

Arwin had to admit that he was mildly surprised that he hadn’t gotten anything himself. Achievements weren’t easy to come by, but this had been far from a simple monster. Sure, it wasn’t fully organic and seemed to have been made partially at Jessen’s behest, but he doubted Jessen had planned for the monster to start Overloading from all the extra magical energy in the dungeon.

It wasn’t like that was an easy fight. But if it didn’t give me an express reward… does that mean I already got it?

Rodrick blinked the Mesh away. His features twisted with disgust as he looked down at the heart and he turned his sword around in his grip, preparing to plunge it down.

“Hold on,” Arwin said hurriedly. Rodrick shot him a baffled look.

“What, you want to do it yourself?”

“No,” Arwin replied. He looked down at the heart as it thumped away, seemingly unaware that it was only meant to do that when it was inside a body. “But I think I might have a use for this.”

“I’m not cooking it,” Lillia said. “Even I have limits.”

“Thank god, but that wasn’t what I meant,” Arwin said. He knelt beside the heart and carefully lifted it from the gory remains of the monster it had been animating. He tried not to gag in disgust at the pulsating organ. “I can craft with scales and other monster parts. There’s clearly magic in this, and it definitely isn’t edible for anyone with half a brain. I think I can use this.”

“It’s going to squish when you hit it with your hammer. What will you even make?” Anna asked.

“I’ve got no damn idea, but I’ll find out soon enough,” Arwin replied. He stuffed the pulsating heart into his bag and pulled the flap over so he didn’t have to look at it any longer. He nodded to the others. “Now let’s check out the rest of the room and get out of this dungeon before we draw too much—”

The words of the Mesh snapped to life before Arwin as a rumble shook the dungeon beneath his feet.  

High-Journeyman Ranked Dungeon Break has been averted due to dungeon completion by [The Menagerie].

“—attention,” Arwin finished, his words falling from numb lips.

Chapter 182

The Mesh’s words hovered before Arwin’s face as if to taunt him.

“Godspit,” Lillia said, breaking the moment of still silence. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

“How did this get qualified as a properly ranked dungeon?” Rodrick demanded. “It was just a normal Journeyman tier dungeon when we went in!”

“What exactly does this mean? I thought it was already Journeyman ranked,” Reya said with a confused frown. “Why is the Mesh suddenly telling people that we completed it?”

“It was probably Journeyman tier, but it wasn’t officially recognized as that by the Mesh,” Anna explained. “There are different kinds of dungeons. The most common ones are just the ones that we’ve cleared before. They just… exist, I guess. They come in and out of existence and can have almost any kind of monster in them. Ranked dungeons are ones that have been recognized by the Mesh. They tend to be rarer and often have powerful monsters that don’t stay dead, even after you kill them.”

They all cast their gazes down to the flesh golem.

“You mean the Mesh is going to bring this thing back to life?” Reya asked.

“I think it took Jessen’s monster and ran with it,” Arwin said grimly. “So most likely, yes. Ranked dungeons are what the Secret Eye uses to gauge guilds and their individual members. Clear enough of them and you can get an official guild ranking. And the people to clear the dungeon first—”

“Get their name on an obelisk outside the dungeon,” Rodrick finished. “Well, that’s one way to make our name known. With all the people the Secret Eye had gathered up, it’s going to be really damn hard to miss that we somehow snagged the first clear.”

“Where was the reward for that? I’ve always heard the Mesh gives bonuses to the first group that clears out a ranked dungeon, but I’ve never managed to do it myself,” Olive said. She paused for a moment, then joined everyone else in looking down at Arwin’s bag, where the heart within still thumped away.

“You can’t be serious,” Anna muttered. “That?”

“We can worry about it later,” Arwin said. He pulled his thoughts under control and strode over to the corner of the room and started sifting through the strewn limbs. “We need to see if there’s anything else in here and leave as soon as possible.”

That snapped everyone back to the present. They spread out and quickly picked the room apart in search of anything that the Mesh — or Jessen — had left behind for them. A few minutes later, they all gathered back at the front of the room.

Arwin’s search had been disappointingly fruitless. He’d found a whole lot of monster limbs and bones, but absolutely nothing that would be useful to him or any of the others. The rest of his guild looked to have been a little more successful.

Olive held a silver bracer with a dark red ruby embedded at its center in her hands. It was covered with gore and blood, but the Mesh activated with just a single look that Arwin sent in its direction.

Sacrificial Bracer: Rare Quality

[Bloodwell]: Creatures killed while this item is worn will have their energy drained into the gem in its center until it is full. This item cannot contain the energy of any creature higher than Journeyman tier.  

[Sacrifice]: Activating this item releases the power stored in the Bloodwell, causing it to defend the wielder from physical strikes until the power is stored up. Activating [Sacrifice] will render [Bloodwell] inert until all the power within the gemstone has been spent.

“Nice find,” Arwin said with a nod. “Hold onto it for now. We can figure out who gets what once we get out of here. Anyone else?”

“Yeah,” Anna said. She stepped forward, but instead of taking out an item, she held out a bent-up piece of what had once been embossed metal. Arwin took it from her with a small frown. The metal disk was a bit smaller than the palm of his hand.

He could just barely make out what seemed to be an overflowing chalice depicted on it, but it was so damaged that any minute detail had been lost.

“This looks like a guild insignia,” Arwin said. “Where was it? Do you think it belonged to someone that wronged Jessen?”

“I’m not so sure. I found something that looks like it used to be a desk,” Anna said with a shake of her head. “The dungeon warped it and absorbed a solid half. I had to pry this out of the wall. I think it was a stamp or some other way for someone to identify themselves.”

“A guild Jessen was working with, perhaps?” Rodrick guessed. “Maybe suppliers or something.”

“It’s a good find.” Arwin handed it back to Anna. “Keep that close. Anything related to Jessen is worth keeping an eye on in case they end up showing up later to figure out what happened to their investment or business partner. I think I’ve got a badge from him as well, so that’s two potential different guilds that could be related to this. Anyone else?”

“I found some things that tasted edible,” Lillia said. “Nothing worth mentioning now.”

That felt mildly suspicious, but given that they were rather pressed for time, it wasn’t the time to dig deeper. The silence that followed Lillia’s words showed that nobody else had found anything.  

Their work complete, everyone headed back over to the exit of the room. Arwin pulled the badge from his bag and held it up to the slot, sliding it in. It popped out a second later with a click and the entrance rumbled open.

He poked his head out to glance around and see if there was anyone lying in wait, but the outside of the dungeon was barren of other adventurers. He stepped out and the rest of the Menagerie followed him.

The Secret Eye probably stopped letting people in once the Ardent guildmembers ran out and told them what happened — or after the dungeon upgraded to an official Journeyman rank. One way or another, that works for us.

“Let’s get out of here,” Arwin said. “Reya, make sure your hood is up. We don’t want someone recognizing you.”

“Oh, yeah. Thanks,” Reya said, hurrying to obscure her face once more. The darkness around Lillia intensified and she walked beside Reya, partially obscuring the other girl. Then they were off, heading back for the exit and the crowd of Adventurers likely waiting for them at the outside of the dungeon.

***

The not-so-dull roar of a crowd greeted the Menagerie as they emerged from the dungeon. Arwin winced at the bright daylight pouring through the entrance of the cave and exchanged glances with the rest of his team.

It didn’t look like people had dispersed much since they’d entered. They’d made good time through the dungeon, fortunately avoiding any other adventurers or monsters that remained within it, but it looked like that luck could only stretch so far.

There was nothing to do but head out. Arwin took the lead, dismissing Verdant Blaze and stepping out into the daylight to see what awaited them. He blinked the bright sun away, squinting as he took in his bearings. Almost instantly, his gaze was drawn to a tall black pillar rising up a foot above him at the entrance of the dungeon. A name glowed at its top, written in familiar flowing golden script.

The Menagerie

It wasn’t even slightly subtle. Anyone who ever went into the dungeon from this point onward would be faced with their name and would know immediately who had managed the first clear of the dungeon.

He could feel the heart in his bag still thumping away, but it was impossible to actually hear over the crowd. There were a lot of adventurers staring at them as it became abundantly clear just who the Menagerie were.

Rodrick was definitely right. This is one way to make a name for ourselves. Can’t take back the past, so I might as well lean into it.

“Ifrit. Of all the things I was expecting to result from allowing you into the dungeon, I can honestly say that this wasn’t one of them.”

Arwin looked to the side as Selen, the Secret Eye representative, pushed herself away from where she’d been leaning by the cave entrance and walked toward him.

“And of all the things I was expecting to find in there, an imminent Dungeon Break wasn’t one of them,” Arwin replied, crossing his arms in front of his chest. “Why didn’t you call for an evacuation of the city? If it went off—”

“It didn’t,” Selen said. “The Secret Eye had things under control.”

“That’s a lie and we both know it. We personally stopped several adventurers from dying. If we hadn’t, everyone here and a good chunk of Milten could have been swallowed.”

“What makes you believe that you were not acting on the Secret Eye’s behalf?” Selen tilted her head to the side. “We did allow you in after all.”

Arwin didn’t even bother sighing. The Secret Eye only had one goal, and the safety of a random city in the middle of nowhere wasn’t it. She probably did actually believe things had been handled, as she definitely wouldn’t have been standing within range of the dungeon if she’d believed a Dungeon Break was going to occur.

The Ardent Guild definitely didn’t let her know just how close they came to getting killed, then. No way for us to prove anything in that regard, as it would just be a bunch of finger pointing. Getting caught up in that would just make us look petty.

“How’d you do it?” Selen asked bluntly. “The only way you could have cleared the dungeon would be passing through the locked door.”

“Did anyone ever try actually making a key?” Arwin asked, tilting his head to the side to gauge Selen’s response.

She blinked. “…making a key? You didn’t have it?”

That tells me all I need to know.

“How would I? I’m a smith. Why would I have some magical key that lets me into a dungeon this important? I just made a key and opened the door myself,” Arwin said with a shrug. The clamor from the crowd grew louder.

“What did you get out of it?” A man yelled. “What was in the fifth room?”

“A giant flesh golem,” Arwin called back, taking advantage of the distraction to let himself slip out of the conversation with Selen. He didn’t want to outright snub the Secret Eye, but the less he had to talk to them, the better. “Of the Overloading variety.”

“Aren’t you a smith?” a female adventurer near the front of the crowd asked. “How did your group manage to clear the dungeon when nobody else could? Did you really just make a key on the spot? I find that hard to believe.”

Before Arwin could respond, another person pushed to the front of the crowd. Arwin recognized them. It was Leon, Ted’s brother and one of the earliest people he’d sold his armor to.

“It doesn’t surprise me at all,” Leon said. “My guild has bought a ton of stuff from him, and everything he’s sold us has been great quality. If anyone could make a key in the middle of a dungeon, it’s Ifrit.”

“Do you have any gear for sale?” another adventurer asked.

“What about the loot from the dungeon?” asked yet another. “What did you get? Are you going to be auctioning any of it?”

The crowd grew louder and louder. Leon sent Arwin a wink, showing that he hadn’t made himself known purely out of chance. He’d spoken to lend more credence to Arwin’s story. Arwin inclined his head slightly in appreciation.

“We aren’t selling anything at this time, but I’ve got some gear in my smithy, the Infernal Armory,” Arwin called. “We got a fair amount of material from this dungeon and I’ll be making new sets of gear quite soon. If you’re interested in purchasing anything from us, please come by the Devil’s Den or my smithy tomorrow. Someone will be able to help you then.”

Selen could do nothing but watch from the side as he and the rest of the Menagerie started off, pushing through the crowd. There was just too much attention on them for her to get the details she wanted.

Adventurers parted, still pelting Arwin and the others with questions as they pressed back toward Milten. He didn’t even bother answering any more of them — he’d said what he wanted to and it wasn’t like anyone would have been able to hear him now anyway.

They finally broke free of the crowd and accelerated, heading back toward Milten as fast as they could. A few adventurers trailed after them, but the vast majority of the others remained at the entrance of the dungeon.

A new Ranked Dungeon right beside the town was absolutely nothing to leave sitting around. It would refill with new monsters faster than other dungeons, and even if the first clear had been claimed, finishing second and third was still better than finishing fiftieth.

Milten is about to get a whole lot of attention from traveling adventurers. There aren’t that many towns with a ranked dungeon that close to it. It might just be a town on the outskirts of the Kingdom of Lian right now, but it won’t stay that way for much longer.

A small smile crossed Arwin’s lips beneath his helm. The dungeon had turned out better than he could have hoped. It looked like the Infernal Armory was going to need to kick up production.

It wasn’t all sunshine, though. More customers meant more attention on them, and that meant more guilds that were going to want him off the board. The Ardent guild were already stepping on their toes, and they wouldn’t be the last.

Maybe it’s just about time I start looking into selling some basic magical items to select people. I’ve already shown people I’m more than just a smith. Now I’ll drive the nail home and make sure they never forget it.