Rise of the Living Forge - Chapters 191-192 (Patreon)

Sorry guys, I've been getting DESTROYED by a fever and what I suspect may be bronchitis. I think it's getting better now tho

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Arwin left Wanda standing in the main room of the smithy and headed into the back, closing the door behind him. He waited for a minute before summoning his armor around himself and stepping back out.

It probably wasn’t the most convincing way to pretend to be two people, but unless someone actively suspected that Arwin and Ifrit were one and the same, there wasn’t really much reason to even start wondering about it.

Wanda certainly didn’t seem to mind. She’d settled into a crouch in the middle of the room and had supported her chin with both of her hands while she waited. When Arwin entered, she hurriedly straightened and cleared her throat.

“You’d be Ifrit, then?”

“I would be,” Arwin said. His helm muffled his words, making his voice come out heavier than normal. “And I can see why you need the armor modified. I think I could stitch two whole sets together and they still wouldn’t do you justice. How do you fit through doors with those shoulders?”

“Damn things are too small,” Wanda said with a throaty laugh. “Made for twigs, not real warriors. Especially not ones with northern blood.”

“Northern blood?” Arwin asked, tilting his head slightly to the side.

“My mum’s from the Frozen Ridges, up at the top of Lian,” Wanda explained in a tone that made it clear she’d said these exact words hundreds of times before. “She wasn’t all human. Gave me a bit more to work with than the rest of you.”

So I can tell. She could easily be part giant.

“Well, I’ll see if I can get something fitted for you,” Arwin said. “I’ll just need to take a few measurements first. This might take a bit.”

Wanda shrugged. “As long as it doesn’t take too much of a bit, that’s fine. I know resizing armor isn’t a fast process — and I’m not sure if this’ll be as much of a resize as it will be a reforging. If you need extra pay, just let me know.”

“The agreement was for a resize, and that’s what I’ll be charging you for,” Arwin said as he fished a piece of charcoal out from his pocket. There was almost no point in having Wanda try the armor on as it was now. Even if she could squeeze into it, he was pretty sure the plate would end up looking more like a bikini on her. “I’m going to make some modifications. This shouldn’t take too long. While I do—”

There was a knock on the door. Wanda and Arwin both paused, and Arwin headed over to pull it open. Madiv stood on the other side, his brow arched.

“Ah. Good timing. Madiv can keep you company,” Arwin said, stepping back and gesturing for the vampire to enter. Wanda sent Madiv a dubious look as Arwin headed into the back.

He didn’t wait to see how they got along. All he cared about was that there was someone to watch the literal hoard of gold behind him. Muted conversation from the room behind him brushed across his ears, but Arwin ignored it.

He took a set of armor and tossed some [Soul Flame] into the hearth, heating the scales and pulling them apart. Wanda had been right about this being a lot more than just a simple resizing, but he didn’t mind.

They’d promised her a good for a price. It wasn’t just about holding up to their promise, either. This was practice. He wasn’t in a spot where he completely understood smithing yet. He’d only just gotten started on his path to understanding, and the best way to continue progressing it was to find new problems and ways to solve them.

Well, that or find someone that actually knows what they’re doing. I doubt someone like that is here right now, though. The only other smith in the town is Taylor, and he definitely hates my guts.

Arwin scooped a handful of scales from his enormous supply and got to work. If he wanted to get Wanda’s new armor made anytime soon, he didn’t have a second to waste.

***

An hour later, Arwin emerged from the back of the smithy with the biggest set of armor he’d ever made in his life clutched in his hands. He had to use [Scourge] just to avoid dropping the massive pile of scale plate on the ground and crushing something important in the process.

“I don’t think the socioeconomic state of the horde would allow them to have advanced jobs like that,” Wanda said. She sat across from Madiv, legs crossed beneath her, and brow furrowed in deep contemplation. “They don’t have access to proper — oh! Ifrit is back.”

“Unfortunate. I was enjoying myself,” Madiv said, rising to his feet together with her.

What the hell were the talking about? Socioeconomic state of the horde? I don’t even know what that means.

“I finished,” Arwin said, depositing the armor in Wanda’s hands. “Try this on. It’s probably not going to be perfect yet, but it’ll let me take some measurements and make the rest of the modifications quite quickly.”

Wanda hurried to comply. She pulled the armor on, tying it into place with practiced fingers. Within a few minutes, she’d donned everything. Arwin walked in a circle around her, then took his charcoal out.

There were a few spots where it was clear the armor was too loose or tight. Some of the gaps were just a little too wide, leaving openings, while others would restrict her movement. Arwin marked the armor up with the piece of charcoal while she stood in place, occasionally shifting her stance at his command.

Arwin then took the armor back from her and returned to the back of the smithy. This round of modifications took considerably less time. Just ten minutes later, he sucked the [Soul Flame] from the hearth and returned to the main room.

Two more adventurers had arrived while he was working and stood at the back of the room — likely more people that needed modifications to their armor. Arwin ignored them for the time being and held the reworked set out to Wanda.

“Here. This should fit now.”

Once more, she pulled it on. The huge warrior’s eyebrows lifted as she tested her mobility. “Well, I’ll be a crispy meat patty. This fits like a second skin. You managed it that quickly?”

The Mesh and my class definitely helped.

“I’m a smith. It’s my job.”

“I’ll say,” Wanda said. “And it’s just 400 gold? Nothing else? You’re not going to get me on some hidden fee or something?”

“Just 400,” Arwin confirmed.

Wanda shook her head in disbelief, then pulled a pouch of gold away from her side and tossed the whole thing to him. “Counted it out yesterday. All yours.”

“Pleasure doing business with you,” Arwin said. He added the gold to his growing pile. “Make sure to come back if you need any repairs.”

“Will you be selling more gear in the future?” Wanda asked. She looked down at her feet. “Sabatons, for example?”

“I’m still working on that,” Arwin admitted with a chuckle. “Working with scale isn’t the same as metal.”

Not that I could make them with metal yet either.

“I understand that. So it’s in the cards?”

“Likely. I’d check back in the Devil’s Den every once and a while. I’ll have my future plans listed there, as well as any exclusive offers.”

That got everyone’s attention. The two adventurers at the back of the room both broke their conversation and turned to listen more attentively. A small grin pulled across Arwin’s lips, hidden behind his helm.

“Exclusive?” Wanda asked.

“What you’ve got now is the armor I’m producing in bulk,” Arwin said. “I haven’t revealed my full capabilities yet. I can do a lot more than this.”

“Something tells me you aren’t about to say what.”

“Afraid not. Not today, at least. Just keep an eye out. You won’t want to miss it.”

“Somehow, I believe you.” Wanda shook her head, then popped her new helm on. “Thanks for the work, Ifrit. I’ll be putting this to the test. Feels solid enough, but we’ll see how it holds up in a fight.”

“Hopefully better than you anticipate.”

“I’d say I’ll get your ass if it doesn’t, but I may not survive if that’s the case,” Wanda said through a snort. “Good business model, if you think about it. Customers can’t complain if they’re dead.”

“Except that results in me running out of return customers.”

Wanda nodded thoughtfully. “A fair point. More of a long-term profits angle than maximizing earnings early on. That’s a good sign. I’ll be around, Ifrit.”

With that, she turned and headed for the door. The other adventurers hurried to get out of her way as she squeezed her way out of the smithy. Once she left, Arwin cleared his throat to get the others’ attention.

“Right,” Arwin said. “Let’s get you lot fitted, shall we? I’ve got a busy day ahead, so I don’t want to waste time. Who’s first?”

***

The next five hours swirled away. Adventurers from the previous day came in for the modifications to their armor one after the other. Fortunately, none of them were anywhere near as time consuming as Wanda had been.

It wasn’t long before they’d all been handled and Arwin’s coffers were even larger than they had been the previous day. Once it became clear that no more adventurers were coming, he took break in the main room of the smithy to look over his earnings. Seeing this much gold just sitting around in the middle of a relatively barren smithy felt wrong.

 Then again, a big chunk of this is about to vanish so we can keep the street. We’ve definitely got the funds for it now. Now all we need is for the Adventurer’s Guild to approve our application to be a proper guild ourselves. I hope they get to it sooner rather than later. I don’t want to screw Jake over.

“Madiv?” Arwin asked.

“Yes?” the vampire replied, looking up at him from where he leaned against the wall.

“Can you keep an eye out for a member of the Merchant’s Guild called Jake? I owe him a bit over ten thousand gold. I’m going to be working in the back, but just give him the money if he comes by. He might need a cart, but that’s probably something he’s dealt with before.”

At the very least we can get him the pay so he doesn’t get in trouble himself. Even if the Adventurer’s Guild drags their feet in officializing us, Jake’s superiors won’t cook him over an open flame if he’s paid off the land. 

 “Very well. Is there anything else?”

“Not right now. I’m just going to work in my smithy. Let me know if anything important happens.”

Madiv nodded and Arwin headed into the back room, closing the door behind him. He looked around the darkness, then tossed [Soul Flame] back into the hearth. After all the sets of armor he’d just made, he had quite a bit of experience making normal gauntlets.

Arwin pulled out a bar of Ivorin and set it on the anvil.

I’ve got a pretty good grasp of what I’m doing now, so I’d say it’s just about time to make the next piece in the Ivory Executioner set.

Chapter 192

Arwin set to working out the bar of Ivorin into a sheet while he thought about how he’d make his gauntlets and what aspects he wanted to try to get into them. Defense was obviously important. That was the point of armor.

That said, he didn’t want to make it so that he lost too much dexterity when wearing them. He needed to be able to wield Verdant Blaze effectively, and if it was too difficult to keep a hold of the hammer while he had the gauntlets on, it would be less than ideal.

Sure, he could just summon and dismiss them at will, but the best-case scenario would be when he could use all his armor in conjunction rather than one piece at a time.

They do have to fit in with the rest of the Ivory Executioner set as well. I don’t want to go too far away from how the other pieces in it work. That means I’ve probably got to focus on trying to create an ability based off getting stronger from killing something.

That was an interesting conundrum, as it was a lot more specific than all the other traits he’d intentionally made in the past. The Mesh had handled making the more personalized traits, especially for set and Unique items.

Arwin finished hammering the Ivorin out and split it off into pieces. He then took a few moments to go through each one, querying it to find the pieces of metal that were the most willing to become gauntlets.

Flickers of memory passed through his mind as he spoke with them. Resting in the back of an old warehouse, unused for years. Passing between hands of smiths, but never being used. There were just other metals that were easier to get, cheaper, and more effective.

The smiths in this region weren’t concerned with making art. They were focused on making armor as cheaply and effectively as possible. Nobody on the outskirts of the Kingdom of Lian was looking to spend a ridiculous amount of gold on a fancy chestplate that did the same thing that a normal one did but cost ten times as much, especially when there were other metals that did the same thing Ivorin did but looked more stunning.

The frustration and longing to be used was strong in the ivory-colored metal. It wasn’t quite to the intensity that the Maristeel had, but it was getting there. There was no doubt in Arwin’s mind that he’d have absolutely no difficulty crafting with any pieces of Ivorin.

But, as the last of the memories slipped from his mind and he pulled back, he caught a glimpse of their latest memory. A certain vampire slipping into a warehouse and stuffing the bars of metal into a sack. Then there was darkness, broken only when they were pulled out in the tavern.

Arwin bit back a mixture between a laugh and a sigh. He supposed he shouldn’t have been surprised. Madiv had just stolen the metal. Sure, nobody was using it, but he really didn’t need people knocking on his door pissed off about stolen materials.

I wonder who he even took it from. I’ll have to make sure he starts establishing some proper connections to suppliers soon.

He shook his head. For today, it didn’t matter. The Ivorin’s memories told him that their previous owner definitely didn’t care all that much. Even though Arwin hadn’t gotten a look at the merchant or smith’s face, the Ivorin hadn’t been used once.

Okay. I’ll deal with that later. Right now, I’ve got half of what I need. The Ivorin is prepared and ready. Madiv is getting Brightsteel, so I just need to figure out exactly what I’m going to make for gauntlets and how I’m going to impart the right traits onto them.

Arwin’s gaze swept over his smithy, taking in all the monster pieces that he had lying around. Wyrmling scales, fangs, and teeth. Plates from spider and centipede monsters. The still-beating heart.

“Which of those would somehow let me focus on getting power from slain enemies?” Arwin mused to himself. “They’re all technically items taken from things I’ve defeated. That would imply that they’d all work… but I suspect there’s more to it than that. Intent is a part of it, but I don’t know if there’s any way to do this other than practice.”

A rap on the back door yanked Arwin out of his concentration. He frowned and headed over to it, only to find Madiv standing on the other side with several bars of Brighsteel in his hands.

“You have incredibly good timing,” Arwin informed the vampire. “I was just hoping to get started now.”

“I am thrilled to be of service,” Madiv said in a dry tone. “Do you have my pay ready?”

Arwin took the bars from him and nodded to the pile of gold in the main room. “Just take it out of that. And… look, in the future, try not to steal everything. You need to buy it or something. We’re going to get into shit if you keep stealing.”

Madiv’s brow furrowed. “Why?”

“I — now isn’t the time,” Arwin said through a sigh. “We can talk about it later. Ask Lillia or Reya. Thanks for the delivery, though.”

Madiv nodded and Arwin shut the door again. He set the Brightsteel down, picked up one ingot, and got back to work in flattening it out into pieces. The Brightsteel was considerably pickier than Ivorin was, but he soon found several sections that were willing to become gauntlets.

He put the rest of it to the side and then got started forging a plain pair of gauntlets. Before he started getting fancy with their actual design, he needed to figure out how he was going to make his more complicated trait.

I’ll just try to make something simple, but still a step up on the previous intentionally made traits. Maybe something that makes me marginally stronger after every enemy I kill, similar to the pants with their movement speed increases.  

Arwin focused on making his first prototype entirely out of Brightsteel. Using a single type of metal would let him separate it a lot easier and give him multiple retries without wasting material.

He’d made so many pairs of gauntlets the previous day that the process flew by. He forged small plates, rounding them on the horn of the anvil, and made the individual parts for each finger joint. Every piece was quenched in oil and polished off with [Scourge] empowered strokes.

He tapped away at small pieces of metal with Verdant Blaze to make caps, then used rivets to connect all the moving parts and tested their range of motion. Through every step of the process, he pressed magic into the metal, keeping his intent sharp.  

Once the pieces were all ready and saturated with magic, Arwin took a Wyrmling tooth and pressed it into the back of each gauntlet. He used [Scourge] to work the metal like dough, pressing it over the teeth and then flattening it out.

Energy tingled at his fingertips and he let his hands drop. Arwin held his breath as the Mesh swirled forth and into the newly made gauntlets.

[Brightsteel Gauntlets: Rare Quality] have been forged. Forging a magical item has granted you energy.

Arwin waved the words away and immediately studied the gauntlets to see how they’d turned out.

Brightsteel Gauntlets: Rare Quality

[Broken Ravager]: This item longs to rip power from its fallen foes.

That was it. It wasn’t the most discouraging result — it proved that the intent had been correct. The trait was present, so it hadn’t completely failed. He just hadn’t had the necessary components to allow the gauntlet to properly execute the ability.

They didn’t have much smell either — not in either a good or a bad way. The gauntlets were just incomplete.

Arwin’s brow furrowed and he studied the gauntlets. If he wanted to store or steal energy, he probably had to give the gauntlets something to store the power in.

That made his thoughts drift to his chestpiece, where the large purple gem could store magical power from spells that struck it.

A gem definitely lends itself to storing power… but it doesn’t really sound like it would do much for actually taking power.

Arwin quickly made a bracelet out of Brightsteel. He set it and the gauntlets into his [Soul Flame] and lifted the trait from the gauntlet, shifting it to the bracelet, which went into a pocket.

Now that the gauntlets were nothing but plain Brightsteel again, Arwin hammered them out back into a sheet and sat there for a few moments as he considered his next step. A tooth or a claw felt like they’d both be good at ripping power, but not storing it.

Really, what I need is both. A gem to store power and a tooth to take it.

The thought was so simple that it was almost laughable, but actually executing it was a whole different task. Arwin chewed his lip. It already took a lot of concentration to make a trait with a single monster part. Using two would be exponentially more difficult.

Arwin pulled out the white gemstone he still had from the Challenge. A determined smile pulled across his lips and he gathered his Ivorin and Brightsteel. His prototype had given him the information he needed. The way ahead had to be by combining multiple parts in a single item — and if he could pull it off, it opened up so much potential that he couldn’t even fully begin to comprehend it.  

He flexed his fingers, gathering himself and focusing his intent.

Harder is the name of the game, isn’t it, Mesh? Let’s play.