Rise of the Living Forge - Chapters 284-285 (Patreon)

It struck Arwin that telling Lillia he had a potential answer to the positively enormous threat hanging over their heads right before they had been about to go to sleep probably hadn’t been the best idea. It wasn’t exactly the type of thing that encouraged relaxation or deep restfulness.

It was too late to take it back.

Lillia practically flew off the bed as she leapt upright, scattering straw in every direction and nearly strangling Arwin’s leg with her tail in the process.

“What? How?”

“It’s just the beginnings of an idea,” Arwin said hurriedly. “It won’t actually make him any weaker or make the fight easier, but it’ll give us a way out if we do manage to beat him. Don’t get too excited. It’s still only—”

Lillia swung a leg over Arwin’s chest and straddled it. He let out a surprised grunt, but he made no move to try to throw her off. She was like a warm, soft blanket. One that had claws, which he was quickly reminded of when she took the sides of his head between her hands. Her hair pooled on his chest as she leaned forward until their noses were practically touching.

“Arwin,” Lillia breathed, rubbing his cheek gently with her thumb. “The idea, not the reasoning as to why it won’t work. You don’t get to say you’ve got an answer and then spend an hour saying why it might not work.”

Arwin cleared his throat, vividly aware of how close they were. He could smell the distant scent of honey and freshly baked bread that seemed to permanently linger within her hair.  He could feel her body pressed against his. It wasn’t like they hadn’t slept in close proximity before. They’d slept in the same bed for quite some time now, but this felt… different. Closer.

“Right. The idea,” Arwin said, fighting to keep his focus. Of all the times to get distracted, this was probably pretty close to the worst. Lillia would probably strangle him if he delayed answering her question any longer. “It’s Raen’s request. A magic item that changes someone’s form perfectly. What if I made it too good?”

“Too good?” Lillia asked. “What do you mean?”

“It’s only meant to make a few minor changes to someone’s appearance,” Arwin said. “But what if I make it completely warp their appearance? Their voice, body shape, everything. I can definitely find a way to get it Cursed in a way that it can’t be removed. If we can get it onto Twelve, then get spotted by someone during a fight, we would have an ironclad alibi. Nobody would be able to accuse us of killing Twelve because we were fighting off some random guy that came after our guild.”

Lillia froze. She processed his words for several long seconds before she spoke again. “That… might actually work. But what if he just reveals information? Even if it’s in a different voice from a different appearance, that could be enough to keep attention on us.”

“It could be,” Arwin allowed. “But what if I managed to make the bracelet do more than make Twelve just look like more than just a random person? What if I made something that would make him look — and sound — like a monster?”

“A mistake,” Lillia breathed. “That’s it!”

“Huh? A mistake? I’m not sure I’m following—”

The rest of Arwin’s sentence was swallowed in a muffled yelp as Lillia pressed her lips to his for several long seconds. His eyes widened in surprise and his brain fizzled out until she pulled back, her hair tickling the sides of his face as she let out a breathless laugh.

“We take the blame for a mistake,” Lillia said, sitting back on his chest. The end of her tail smacked against his leg as if she were clapping her hands together to punctuate her words. “That’s it! Nobody voluntarily messes up.”

“Now it’s my turn to be confused, I’m afraid,” Arwin said. He touched a hand to his lips, still trying to recover from the whiplash of the last few seconds.

“The Devil’s Den is a monster-themed tavern,” Lillia said. “But nobody would actually expect that we would have real monsters.”

“Right,” Arwin said. “That’s the whole idea.”

Lillia tapped a finger on his chest in approval. “Exactly. But what would happen if I were to come out and say that we were trying to up the experience for people by capturing a real monster and chaining it in the middle of the tavern?”

“It… probably wouldn’t be too unbelievable,” Arwin admitted, his eyes lighting up as he realized what Lillia was getting at. “It would be insanely stupid and incredibly dangerous by the average adventurer’s standards.”

“So when we dispatch a monster in public and I then apologize for letting it escape, all the ridicule goes onto me for being stupid. I promise to never do something that stupid again, then offer discounts as an apology.”

“Nobody would ever expect you to take responsibility for a mistake you didn’t make,” Arwin muttered, shaking his head. “And the truth is so ludicrous that the cover story will almost completely protect us if we can pull it off.”

Lillia leaned forward again, crossing her arms and resting them against Arwin’s collarbone.

“Can you?” Lillia asked. “That seems like a tall order. You’d have to make this a perfect representation of a monster. If there’s even the slightest hole in anything, it all comes crumbling apart.”

Arwin hesitated for a moment. He’d made some powerful items, but this one would have to do a lot. It was complex… but he was almost certain it was doable. The real question would be if he could get it done in the time they had before Twelve arrived. He didn’t want to overcommit to something out of the possibility of reason.  

But, the more Arwin thought, the more convinced he became that it could be done. It wouldn’t be easy, and he’d need a fair amount of help to handle the materials, but he had a guild to fall back on.

“Yes,” Arwin said. “I can do it. It might be a bit close on time if I have to upgrade the Devil’s Den with the heart as well, but I’m confident it can be done in the time we’ve got left.”

“Then all we have to do is make sure we’re as prepared to defeat Twelve as possible. If Rodrick manages to upturn some information we can actually use, this could actually be very possible,” Lillia said. “Do you have any energy left to work tonight?”

Arwin reached for his magical reserves. They were still painfully low. Even though they were recovering, he would need every scrap of power he had to properly make a Cursed item at the level they needed — not to mention help from Lillia.

Probably Esmerelda as well. She knows Cursed items better than anyone else here. Hell, if I get the chance, might even ask Wallace for some tips as well. This is an item that’ll require all hands on deck. I don’t think I can pull it off in the cloak of the night while rushing.

“No,” Arwin said. “This is too important, and I’ll need every scrap of power and help I can get. As tempting as it is to try to start right now, rushing is just going to cause me to mess up and have to start over. It’s better to rest and start in the morning.”

“Well said.” Lillia’s lips brushed across his cheek as she spoke. Her tail wound around his leg, and her hand found his in the darkness. “And how long do you need to rest before you’ll be back up to full strength?”

Arwin’s hand tightened around hers. “I think I can make do with what I end up with. I’ve never needed all that much sleep.”

Lillia gently pressed her lips to his, and he could feel the small smile on her face. The need for internal thought vanished, and Arwin’s body moved on its own. He looped an arm around her back and pulled her closer against his chest. Their bodies pressed together. They wrapped themselves around each other, the need for words lost within the pitch darkness.

There wasn’t much time until morning. There was even less time before they would have to sleep and prepare for the following day. But for that short time, the rest of the world couldn’t reach them. There was only the former Demon Queen and the Hero, and they had no need for any more words.

They’d fought more battles against each other than either of them could count. Arwin had thought that they knew every single thing about each other, but as it turned out, he was far from knowing everything. There was still at least one kind of fight that he’d never challenged her in.

In the all too brief amount of time they could steal from what remained of the night, Lillia ensured she rectified that.

Chapter 285

The next morning came too early, and it denied Arwin and Lillia the opportunity to relax for anywhere near as long as they would have liked.

Lillia unentangled herself from Arwin and rose to her feet. She found his wrist and pulled him up to stand behind her. As soon as he stood, Lillia turned around and pressed her face into his chest.

“This has to work, Arwin. We’ve been dancing around with assholes throwing their weight around for so long that it feels like I haven’t gotten a chance to breathe in weeks. Ridley finished modifications to the tavern and we’ve got a name building for ourselves, but we’ll never really be able to expand if we can’t actually grow the street. This has to end, and without bringing his damn guild down on top of our heads.”

 “I know what you mean,” Arwin said, wrapping his arms around Lillia and pulling her into a hug. He rested his head on top of hers, and his eyes narrowed in the darkness. “And I’m with you. One way or another, this comes to an end tomorrow.”

“Right,” Lillia said. Arwin released her and she pulled away, keeping a hold on his wrist as she started through the darkness and through the kitchen. She paused before they could step out into the light. “Let’s just make sure it ends the right way, Arwin. I’m not losing anyone else.”

“We will,” Arwin promised.

Lillia nodded. She grabbed the kitchen door and pulled it open, and the two of them entered the common room.

Esmerelda and Madiv were already there, as were Rodrick and Anna. There wasn’t any sign of Olive and Reya quite yet. A glance through one of the windows told Arwin that it was still quite dark outside. They’d all gotten up earlier than normal.

“I’ll get breakfast,” Lillia said, taking one look at the weary faces before turning and striding into the kitchen.

“She’s an angel,” Anna said through a yawn. “I’m starving.”

“Has anyone seen Olive today?” Arwin asked, stretching his arms over his head and working the cricks out of his back. “Is she okay?”

“I heard her and Reya speaking in Reya’s room last night,” Anna said. “I think they’re fine unless something happened in the morning. Why? Is everything okay?”

Looks like Olive hasn’t let anyone else see the arm yet. Reya would have come and found me if something was wrong, so they’re probably just asleep.

“Just checking in. I made her something and I wanted to make sure it was working properly. She’d probably prefer to explain herself,” Arwin said with a shake of his head. He heard dishes clatter in the kitchen, followed by the thunk of a knife as it started to cut into something.

Esmerelda glanced over at them, an excited look passing over her features. “Made something? Something special?”

“Yes,” Arwin replied. “And I may have some questions for you regarding that kind of thing. I need help making a Cursed item. A very cursed one.”

Esmerelda’s excitement turned to delight. “I would be positively delighted to help. I happen to be somewhat experienced in the field. Through research, of course. All theoretical knowledge. Nothing all that applicable.”

She cleared her throat and glanced around at the rest of the Menagerie. Not a single person so much as blinked in her direction.

“You are not very inconspicuous,” Madiv informed Esmerelda in a low tone.

“Nonsense,” Esmerelda said. “I am a paradigm of secrecy.”

They’re both idiots.

“Rodrick, did you have any luck?” Arwin asked. “We’re low on time. Twelve comes back tomorrow. I’ve got the beginnings of an actual plan laid out with Lillia, but it’s all just pieces. We need to pull it together, and any information you might have been able to—”

“Who do you think I am?” Rodrick asked, a grin playing across his weary face. “I got the goods, Arwin. Not as much as I would have liked, but more than enough to work with. Twelve’s guild is nowhere near Milten. In fact — I’m quite certain that he himself isn’t here either.”

Arwin blinked. “What?”

“Give it a moment. I want to wait until the others got down here. Lillia is still cooking, and I don’t want to waste time repeating myself.”

Arwin grimaced, then nodded. “Can’t argue with that. We’ll wait, then.”

But what does he mean by not actually in this town? We all saw Twelve. Is it someone just posing to be him? Or is it a skill Twelve is using to project himself? There are a few of those, but they’re pretty high level.  

There was no point wasting time wondering over it when Rodrick would explain everything soon enough. Arwin wandered over to a chair and flopped into it. His fingers drummed against his thigh.

Minutes slipped by. Arwin occupied himself by listening to Lillia work while he thought on what materials he’d need to pull off the bracelet. He wasn’t sure on the metal yet, but there would definitely need to be multiple different monster parts that went into it. There was no way to get the number of traits he needed otherwise.

My Title will make it so Twelve can’t read the bracelet, which is a huge effort saver. That just leaves me with a complete shape-shift element. Perhaps some combination of a component from the monster we’re shifting Twelve into as well as something to ensure he can’t remove the bracelet. Esmerelda will definitely know more about intentionally cursed items considering her store is definitely stuffed full of them.

Arwin was still mulling over the possibilities when Olive and Reya made their way down the stairs and into the common room. His eyes shot straight to Olive’s right side. Her new arm was was still there, covered in a layer of bandages.

“You have an arm!” Anna exclaimed, practically jumping out of her chair in shock. She spun toward Arwin. “This is what you meant by making her something? You made an entire arm?”

“Good morning, Anna,” Olive said, lifting her right hand and waving. “And it’s a whole lot more than any arm. It works.”

“I’ll be,” Rodrick muttered. “You can do that?”

“Apparently. Didn’t realize I could until just recently,” Arwin said with an embarrassed grin. “How does it feel, Olive?”

“Incredible,” Olive said. She looked down at her bandaged palm, then flexed her fingers and shook her head. “A new lease on life. I was testing it all day — and for a fair bit of the night as well. It’s just like the real thing. I haven’t tried pushing it too hard yet, though.”

Arwin nodded. “Good. It’s not too cumbersome to get used to?”

“It’s a bit weird, but my body know how to move with two arms. It just needed a little reminding.”

“She punched herself in the face once,” Reya provided.

Olive glared at her. “It was an accident. I got too excited moving it around, and my head happened to be in the way. The arm works.”

The two of them pulled chairs out at the counter and sat down.

No more than a few seconds later, the kitchen door swung open and Lillia swept out, joined by several Imps, all bearing plates piled high with fried rice. The monsters distributed the food to the Menagerie, then all vanished into puffs of shadow while Lillia pulled a chair out for herself.

“This looks great,” Rodrick said, grabbing his fork and shoveling food into his mouth. He continued to speak thorough a full mouth. “Thanks, Lillia.”

The others all mirrored his words — and his actions. They tore into the meal, devouring it in what must have been record time. As delicious as the food was, every single one of them knew what was at stake and how much they still had to get accomplished.

Rodrick finished well before the others. Despite their best efforts to scarf everything down, he was a professional and his plate was polished clean within minutes.

“Time for business. I’ve got updates on Twelve,” Rodrick said, wiping his face with a napkin and leaning back in his chair. “First off — this one is personal. I found out who Twelve is. After digging through some registration papers from the Iron Hounds… Twelve is Jessen’s mentor. He supported Jessen’s endeavors very heavily.”

Arwin’s lips thinned. “That only makes my decision to be rid of him even more firm. Scum.”

Rodrick nodded in grim agreement. “Agreed. But we already suspected he was scum. This was just confirmation. It doesn’t help with the fight — unlike the next piece of information. As I told Arwin, I do not believe Twelve is actually in this town. There wasn’t much information on him, but the Ardent Guild had some.”

“And?” Lillia asked. “What’s he using? Some form of body-hopping?”

 “No. Advanced clones,” Rodrick said with a shake of his head. “To be specific, 11 of them. Plus his real body, that makes 12.”

“You’re kidding,” Reya said. “Seriously?”

“That’s bad,” Olive said, coughing into a fist. “Kind of funny, though. That’s some dedication to the bit.”

“He controls 12 bodies at once?” Arwin asked suspiciously. That was a really high level ability. Something far beyond Adept or Expert tier.

“No. I’ve read about this ability before. It’s pretty well known among assassin guilds,” Rodrick said. “The clones function on a set of commands. They’re not the same thing as the real person, but they follow orders and report back.”

“In real time?” Arwin asked.

Rodrick smiled. “No. Twelve can’t interact with the clone remotely. That’s the biggest limitation of the skill, and he basically confirmed that his real body wasn’t in this city to Tironal. The real Twelve is really busy with something, so he sent a clone over here.”

“That’s bad,” Reya said. “Even if we kill the clone, wouldn’t the real one still be alive?”

“Not if we do this right,” Anna said softly. “Sympathetic magic is dangerous. Especially types like this. Twelve is arrogant if he’s sending a clone around like this. If you use the right type of magic, you can basically use the clone to directly attack the host.”

“Which is why almost everyone that uses this kind of magic works in groups, and the clones kill themselves if it looks like they’re about to lose,” Rodrick added. “But, when they die, any knowledge they have dies with them.”

“How strong are they compared to the original?” Reya asked.

“Weaker. The extent depends on how much power Twelve put into the clone, but their biggest drawback is that they can’t replenish strength,” Rodrick said. “Which means if we tire the clone out while keeping it from escaping… we win.”

 “You’re kidding. That’s it?” Reya asked, her eyes widening.

“Easier said than done,” Lillia warned. “This is an assassin, remember? He doesn’t need much energy to kill us in a very short amount of time.”

“Exactly,” Rodrick said. “But I’m certain this is our angle. If we can disable the clone and wear its energy down, we win the fight. Anything it knows dies with it.”

“And if we can paralyze it before it can kill itself, we might be able to kill the real Twelve without ever touching him,” Anna added, her face grim.

“Is that possible?” Olive asked. “Let’s assume we can beat the clone. Do we have something that can—”

“Yes,” Anna said. “I can make it. The hard part won’t be counterattacking Twelve. Leave that to me and Rodrick. The difficult bit is actually wearing the clone down enough to finish it off while keeping anyone from realizing who we’re fighting. This all collapses if someone discovers we went up against Twelve’s clone. His guild will find out, and they’ll come for us.”

Arwin and Lillia exchanged a glance.

A small grin started to form on Arwin’s face. Rodrick didn’t miss it.

“What are you thinking?” Rodrick asked. “You look like you know something.”

“I had an idea last night,” Arwin said. “I can make a stronger version of Raen’s bracelet. If Lillia can hold the clone down in the tavern, we can put the bracelet on him and forcibly change Twelve’s appearance and voice into that of a monster.”

“Then I could take the blame for letting a monster escape into the city and apologize publicly,” Lillia finished.

Rodrick’s eyes widened. “Nobody would suspect you to apologize for something that didn’t happen. People hate responsibility. That’s brilliant.”

“I believe that may actually work,” Madiv said. “Genius, my Queen.”

Lillia shot him a glare and he cleared his throat.

“Queen of the Tavern, of course. This means that, if we can wear Twelve out and get the bracelet onto him...”

“Our whole guild versus a single assassin,” Arwin said, blowing out a slow breath. He flexed his fingers at his sides. “We can do it. If I upgrade the Devil’s Den, we can stall Twelve even harder when he’s inside it. Then we get the bracelet onto him when he’s weakened. If we keep safe and make him waste his power, we’ll be able to take him down. It’s not a guaranteed shot at success, but it’s a good one. Does anyone see any glaring flaws or reasons not to do this? It’s this or give the heart to Raen.”

The Menagerie was silent. Not a single person spoke up.

Their decision had been made.

Tomorrow, they would kill Twelve.