Rise of the Living Forge - Chapters 282-283 (Patreon)

Olive stood as still as a statue in the shadow of the alleyway behind the Devil’s Den, determination gripping her features. The wooden arm pressed against her shoulder, silent. Arwin and Reya stared at her in anticipation and worry as they all waited to see what the Cursed item would do.

A second slipped by.

Confusion started to make its way into Olive’s expression. A tiny frown played across her lips and she scrunched her nose as she looked down at the arm and gave it a small tug. The wood didn’t budge. It seemed to be stuck fast.

“Huh,” Olive said.

“That’s it?” Reya asked, blinking in surprise. “It’s done? I totally thought it was going to stab you or something. That’s almost a little bit disappointing. Don’t take that the wrong way. I’m glad it didn’t stab you. I just expected it to.”

“Thank you,” Olive said dryly. “I’m sorry to hear you’re disappointed. I…”

Olive trailed off, a frown stretching across her lips. Her head tilted to the side as if to hear a song playing far in the distance.

“What is it?” Arwin asked. “Do you feel something?”

It was several moments before Olive responded. “No. I… I don’t think so. I don’t feel anything, but I think I smell something.”

“Wasn’t me,” Reya said.

Olive, who Arwin strongly suspected had been the one to infect Reya with that particular brand of humor, didn’t so much as respond. Her mind wasn’t with them in the alleyway. The confusion in her features only grew stronger as she sniffed the air.

“What is that? I—”

Olive stiffened mid-sentence. Her eyes went wide and she took a step back, her eyes staring up into the air above Arwin’s head.

He instinctively followed her gaze. There was nothing there. Unless she was looking at some of his stats, she was seeing something visible only to her. Arwin and Reya exchanged a glance.

“Should we do something?” Reya asked.

“I’m trying to figure that out,” Arwin replied. He was fairly sure the arm couldn’t be hurting her yet. Not unless Olive had decided to try to activate it at full strength for no reason. He approached her carefully, holding his hands out. “Olive? Are you okay?”

Olive didn’t respond. Her arm rippled as roots roiled beneath it and pressed against her shoulder. Wooden fingers twitched once, twice. They curled, closing into a fist like an old machine being used for the first time in years, then unfurled once more.

Muted creaking filled the alley as her arm curled upward toward her chest. She then extended it before her, her eyes focusing on the new fingers. Roots bulged within the arm as she clenched her hand back into a fist. Every motion she made came easier than the last, though the arm still moved far slower than a normal one would have.

There was still something distant in Olive’s gaze, as if she could see something that wasn’t there.

Arwin watched her, stuck between decisions. It didn’t look like she was in pain, but given the arm’s nature, he was a little concerned that Olive wasn’t currently the one in control of her body. There was no way to tell for sure yet, and that shouldn’t have been possible, but he’d been caught off guard too many times as of late to risk not being prepared.

Olive craned her neck back to peer into the sky. Her hand extended, lifting toward it as if attempting to grasp the clouds.

“Olive?” Reya asked, warily approaching the other girl and reaching out to touch her shoulder. She remained on the tips of her toes, ready to dodge back at the slightest notice. “Are you okay?”

Something passed over Olive’s features. Her hand lowered, and when she turned to Reya, her gaze was hers once more. Her face was awash with awe and disbelief.

“Look,” Olive whispered. A tear trickled down her cheek as she held her new right arm out. She flexed her fingers one by one, then straightened them all out again. “I have an arm. I have a hand.”

“You already had one of those,” Reya said with a relieved smile. “You’re not mind controlled or anything, then?”

A snort of laughter burst out of Olive and she wiped her eyes with the back of a sleeve. “Way to ruin it. I’m not mind controlled. I think. I feel normal. It was just a very weird few moments.”

“What exactly happened?” Arwin asked cautiously. “And you are okay, right?”

“I’m fine. It was like I was speaking to something in my mind,” Olive replied after a moment of thought. She glanced back down at her hand and trailed off, staring quietly at it.

“Olive?” Arwin pressed.

“Oh, shit. Sorry.” She tore her gaze away from the arm and shook her head. “I’m fine. I saw… visions, I guess. Not actual visions. Emotions. Desires. The arm showed me what it wanted from me, I think. I don’t think it’s a very nice arm. Well, it’s a nice arm, but it’s not a nice arm. It wants to kill things. A lot of things.”

“As expected,” Arwin said with a relieved nod. As strange of a thing to be relieved about as that was, it was basically exactly what he’d been expecting. It sounded like Olive had used a very similar form of communication to interface with the arm that he did when he spoke with his materials.

“Are you feeling any murder-y urges?” Reya asked. “Do you have a sudden desire to stab anyone?”

“Not yet. I’ll keep you updated,” Olive said, completely straight faced. She glanced back down at her hand, then ran her left hand over its wooden surface and swallowed. “I — I have my other arm back. This doesn’t feel real. Is this really permanent? It won’t fall off when I go to sleep?”

“It’s permanent as far as I’m aware,” Arwin confirmed. “Just… don’t go testing it too aggressively yet. I would avoid activating its full power for at least a little while. Get used to it. I’m sure you’re going to need a lot of adjusting to get used to fighting with two hands again.”

Olive nodded slowly, but it seemed her mind had started to wander again. She just stared at her new hand, opening and closing it as if to remind herself that it was there.

Arwin couldn’t blame her. If he’d lost his arm and then suddenly gotten it back out of nowhere, he had no idea how he’d react. He was pretty sure he’d be double-checking that it was still there for the next few weeks.

“Do you want to sit down for a bit?” Reya offered. “Maybe we’re done with sparring for now. You’ve got to get to used to your new hand anyway. Have to remember how to walk before you can run… or how to grab things before you can punch, I guess? I don’t know. I don’t really have a good analogy for this.”

Tearing her eyes away from her new arm, Olive glanced to Arwin. She swallowed heavily. “I don’t know how to thank you, Arwin. I wasn’t prepared for a gift like this. It doesn’t feel real. There isn’t any amount of gold in the world that could pay for this.”

“You’re a member of the Menagerie,” Arwin said with a shake of his head. “I don’t expect payment for that. My role as guild leader is to do my best to make things better for everyone, and making items is the best way I can do that.”

“Godspit, man. That doesn’t change the fact that you just made me a fucking arm.”

“As long as you put it to good use, I’ll be satisfied.”

“I will,” Olive swore. She hesitated for a second, concentration crossing over her features. Her left arm twitched, but she brought her new limb up to her chest and pressed her wooden hand to her heart. “I swear I will. I’ll do the guild right, and I’ll find some way to pay you back for this.”

“I already told you not to worry about it,” Arwin said with a chuckle. “I’m not one for extended shows of appreciation. A gift is a gift, and attempting to treat it as anything else is just an insult. Seeing a friend happy is more than enough for me. Now go get some rest and get ready to use that arm of yours. We’re going to need it soon enough.”

Olive let her hand lower. “If those are your orders, then I won’t say no. I’ll do everything I can to be ready for when you need me.”

I suppose that’s the best I’m going to get her to settle for.

“Then I’ll be counting on you,” Arwin said with a smile. “And make sure you do actually get a little rest. Sticking a whole new limb onto your body can’t be an easy experience, even if it was surprisingly painless.”

“Are you going to take your own advice?” Reya asked. “Making an arm couldn’t have been that easy either. Don’t work yourself to death before we even get a chance to fight Twelve.”

“I’ll rest for a little,” Arwin allowed, glancing up at the darkening sky. “But there’s a lot to do and not nearly enough time to do it.”

“What’s next, then?” Reya asked.

Arwin turned to look back at the wall of the inn rising behind them. “Possibly the most important step. I don’t know if we’ll be using the heart or not yet, but I need to make sure every piece is prepared for the situation that we do. I’m going to going to prepare the Devil’s Den for a war.”

Chapter 283

Arwin swung by Lillia’s kitchen on the way back to the Infernal Armory to grab a plate of food. He was going to need it if the armory was going to be of any use to him again today, and there were still a few solid hours left to work with. Hours he couldn’t afford to waste.

He’d made the housing for a Dungeon Heart once before. That already made his task considerably easier. Re-making something with a few little tweaks was a whole lot easier that coming up with a whole new system.

Granted, he’d had a lot of help from Lillia that time around, but she was busy on her own preparations right now. They had to optimize time — and it wasn’t like he’d be working alone.

Arwin stepped into to the Infernal Armory’s back room and poured the food Lillia had prepared into its waiting maw. It vanished without a trace, and muted grinding noises marked the millstone within the building converting the matter into magical energy.

Red mist twisted across the ground at Arwin’s feet. Invisible footsteps strode across the room as the entity that inhabited the building came to a stop before him.

“You returned early. It is not yet the morrow.”

“There’s still more to do,” Arwin said. “But luckily, this next part shouldn’t be too difficult. I trust that meal was enough to keep you kicking for a few more hours?”

 The crimson mist rippled as the Armory seemed to shrug in response. “You have provided me with sufficient strength. I will be able to continue on. I am unsure if the same can be said for you. There is only so much strength within a mortal body.”

“Don’t worry about me,” Arwin said through a grunt. “I can make it through a few more pieces, especially ones that I’ve already made before. With your help, it should be quite simple. I need to make the housing for another Dungeon Heart.”

There was a short pause. The mist twitched.

“Another Dungeon Heart?” The Infernal Armory almost sounded displeased. “For what purpose? I am sufficient.”

“I’m not replacing you,” Arwin said with a snort. “I need to reinforce the Devil’s Den. Lillia’s building. We need it to become as powerful as you, since it’s the location where we have the biggest advantage.”

Mist twitched back and forth. Tendrils of it swirled across the ground before gathering back into a cloud near Arwin’s feet. “Understood. It will further our strength. Very well. I can aid with this. Are you certain that you have the mental capacity to properly create what we need? It is remarkably easy to damage a Dungeon Heart if it is used incorrectly.”

“I won’t be doing the final step today,” Arwin said with a wave of his hand. His jaw tightened and he blew out a short breath. “We can’t afford to get that greedy. If it turns out that we can’t handle Twelve… I’m not risking the others’ lives. But if we can, I need to be in a position where I can maximize the chances of success.”

The armory trembled around Arwin as an anvil rose up from the ground before him. Red mist swirled across its surface. It curled up the invisible figure of the armory, briefly illuminating its humanoid form before collapsing to the ground once more.

“Wise. We will prepare the initial components, then. That should be within our abilities for the day.”

The corner of Arwin’s lips twitched.

It almost seems worried about me. Maybe I really have to take a close look at how hard I’m pushing myself if the power hungry building is starting to wonder if there’s something wrong with my head.

Bah. I’ll deal with that when I get some breathing room. There will be room for rest after my preparation is done.

“Good,” Arwin said. He extended a hand and Verdant Inferno snapped into place, an eager hum rolling through his mind.

The sensation was joined by a tiny prodding sensation. A flicker of irritation, concentrated into a point and sent into Arwin’s spine. Visions of the hammer’s core — or rather, the lack thereof — floated through Arwin’s head unbidden. He winced.

Sorry. I’ll get on that soon, I promise. There’s just so much that I need to do, and I can’t risk focusing myself or you over the others. We have to optimize. But I swear, if we get a chance, I’ll make you a core. If not before Twelve, then soon afterward.

Approval flowed into him from the hammer.

“Okay,” Arwin said, turning his attention back to the Infernal Armory. Black veins slithered out from the wall and rose into the air behind him. He tensed his back as they slammed into him, biting into his flesh and pulsing with power as they connected him with his armory. Arwin rolled his shoulders, then bared his teeth in a mixture of a smile and a snarl. “Let’s get this wrapped up before bedtime, shall we?”

***

The moon shimmered overhead, well on its way through the sky, when Arwin next dragged himself out of the smithy. Every step through the silver-lit streets felt like agony. Every single one of his muscles ached something furious.

Smithing together with the Infernal Armory might have given him a huge amount of extra energy to work with but turned out to also be considerably rougher on his body. It really shouldn’t have been a huge surprise — pumping himself full of foreign magic to empower the items he made wasn’t exactly the gentlest process.  

Still, as weary as he was, a grin was plastered across Arwin’s features. He’d made progress today. A lot of progress. Not only had he finished Olive’s arm, but he’d also managed to make every single piece up until the last part of the housing for the Dungeon Heart.

There had been a few modifications from the design he’d used for the Infernal Armory. Some pieces had been replaced, some aspects polished. It was also definitely going to end up being cursed.

If they decided that they had a chance of defeating Twelve by the end of the next day, then he would have a place to put the Dungeon Heart within just around an hour of extra work. It was the most he could do for the time being.

Tomorrow, I’ll focus on looking for a weakness we can exploit. Hopefully Rodrick finds something we can work with. If not, I’ll just get some extra pieces of armor polished up and prepared. Maybe finish the Ivory Executioner set or find out how to make Verdant Inferno’s core.

Don’t know which one, if either, yet. Can’t think properly anymore today.

Arwin dragged himself into the Devil’s Den. The common room was empty aside from Madiv, who sat in the corner of the room with a small glass of red liquid. He and Arwin exchanged a quiet nod. Everyone else had already headed off to bed in preparation for the next day.

As tired as Arwin was, he made his way over to the bath. Lillia would kill him if he showed up to bed without cleaning first.

He then made his way through the dark kitchen, the scent of freshly cooked meat and herbs still lingering tantalizingly in the air, and into the pitch darkness of Lillia’s room. Arwin edged toward the bed slowly. It was quiet, which meant Lillia might already be —

“You’re late,” Lillia said, her soft words still slicing through the darkness like a blade.

Arwin winced. “Sorry. I got caught up. I’m not too late, am I?”

“Late enough.” She found his hand in the darkness and pulled him down to the bed to sit beside her, leaning against his side. “How was progress?”

“Good,” Arwin said. “By all standards, good. I just don’t know if it was enough. I made Olive a new arm. I… think that should be a good thing. It’s cursed, but I believe she can control it. I’ve also got the majority of the preparation for installing the Dungeon Heart in the Devil’s Den wrapped up as well. All that’s left is a plan and the final polishing steps.”

“The hardest part, then,” Lillia said with a small laugh. She leaned back, pulling Arwin down with her, and they landed on the bed with a soft thump. Lillia’s tail curled around his leg and she rested her head on his chest. Her warm breath prickled against his neck as she made herself comfortable. “Rodrick is working on something. He said he’d share it tomorrow. I’ve got a few tricks ready as well. I think we might actually have a chance.”

“Tricks?” Arwin asked. “What kind?”

“I was trying to think what the biggest threats of dealing with an assassin stronger than you are. A normal fight with an assassin completely hinges on the first move. If you see them coming, you win. If you don’t, you lose. But with someone stronger than you, that advantage is gone.”

“Right.” Arwin extracted his arm from beneath Lillia’s side and let it rest on her back. “So we need a way to catch him off guard or severely weaken him.”

“Which is what I was working on. If we can get him to eat anything, that gives me an edge,” Lillia said. “But we can’t count on that alone. I was thinking — if we could get him drowsy or otherwise out of sorts before the fight starts, it would be a huge step in our favor.”

“You’re going to get him drunk, aren’t you?”

Lillia snickered. “No. A tempting idea, and one that I had myself, but he didn’t strike me as the type to waste time. I highly doubt he’ll eat much of anything voluntarily. Not unless it’s to prove a point… so I’m working with Esmerelda.”

Realization lit in Arwin. “Potions?”

“Yeah. She’s helping me make something that should make anyone who drinks it really sleepy,” Lillia said. “It won’t be as effective if it’s absorbed by the skin, but something is better than nothing — and it might partially apply Hearthmother to Twelve, giving me a bit of control. Maybe not enough to win the fight on its own, but I might be able to distract or stall him for a bit longer.”

“That is a good idea.”

“Yep. But it’s not going to help us with the aftermath. Even if we manage to beat Twelve… I doubt the fight will be quiet or private. There are too many eyes on it right now. His guild might come crashing down on us, and that is a fight we definitely can’t win, no matter how tricky we get.”

Arwin blew out a slow breath. “Yeah. The only way we can let ourselves take this fight is if we can do it without letting anyone realize what happened. It honestly would have been easier to take Raen’s offer, but…”

“It just makes me sick,” Lillia muttered. “If there’s any Godspitten way in this world I can avoid helping someone who was allies with Zeke’s killer, then I’m taking it. You can still make Raen that bracelet if we survive this.”

“Right,” Arwin said. “I—”

The rest of his sentence never made it out from between his lips. Arwin’s words died on his tongue and his eyes went wide as an idea struck his mind like a bolt of lightning.

“What?” Lillia asked.

“The bracelet,” Arwin muttered, his mind racing furiously. “I think that could actually work. I… I think I know how we might be able to kill Twelve without anybody finding out what happened to him.”