Rise of the Living Forge - Chapter 86 (Patreon)

Even if Arwin wanted to take back his realization, it was too late to avoid notice of Lillia’s body pressed against his and the faint scent of honey and freshly baked bread that lingered in her hair.

This isn’t right. I need to put a stop to it. I can’t allow myself to feel anything like this for the demon –

Arwin’s mind couldn’t even finish the thought that it had started to form. He wasn’t sure when it had happened, but he couldn’t see the woman in his arms as the demon queen anymore. She was just Lillia. The only person who could ever even come close to understanding his pain. The one that had been there to help him through it.

Shit.

The right thing to do was to pull away. He should have gently bid Lillia goodnight – or good day, whichever it happened to be – and have been on his way. He should have returned to his room and centered himself and crushed these feelings until nothing remained but the vague memory of the mistake he could have made.

The right thing to do was to leave her there, devoid of support when she had given it to him.

Is that really the right thing to do?

Arwin wasn’t sure. And, as it so turned out, he didn’t particularly care. There was nothing to be done about his feelings. They weren’t going to go anywhere today. They didn’t need to. A feeling understood was a feeling controlled.

Either way, it didn’t matter what he felt. The world could have been crashing down around him and it would have changed nothing. Lillia needed him right now. Arwin refused to move a muscle until that was no longer the case. Everything else could be dealt with later.

He didn’t know how long the two of them sat there, side by side, but the sound of the stairs creaking in the distance finally broke the silence as somebody headed down into the common room of the tavern.

Lillia’s shoulders tensed. She hesitated for a second before she released Arwin and pulled away. Part of him cursed the sound, and another part felt like it couldn’t have come soon enough. He let his arm fall away from her shoulders as she stood.

“Thank you,” Lillia said softly. “I’m sorry for unloading on you like that. I guess I wasn’t nearly as in control of my emotions as I thought I was.”

“It’s nothing to be ashamed of. I suspect I would have done the same if you hadn’t been there to help me through it.”

“Probably,” Lillia said, a note of amusement flickering through her voice. “Come on. Let’s go out and meet the others.”

Her hand found his in the darkness and she led him into the kitchen. The faint orange glow of candlelight from the lanterns illuminated the outline of her body before him. Even though Arwin could already see where he was going, Lillia made no move to release his hand. She paused as they drew up to the doorway leading out of the kitchen and into the common room.

“Lillia?”

“It’s nothing. Forget about it,” Lillia said with a shake of her head. Her hand tightened around his for a moment before she let go. “I’m ready to handle the dungeon so long as you are.”

Arwin thought for a second. If he hadn’t managed to untangle his thoughts, it may have been a risk. That wasn’t the case any longer. He knew what the problem was, even if he wished that he didn’t.

But as long as he knew, it could be handled. It could be controlled. Emotion was only a danger when it was an unknown. Anything that he already knew about could be accounted for and dealt with.

“I’m ready as well,” Arwin said.

The two of them stepped into the common room. Anna and Rodrick were both sitting at the counter, speaking in hushed tones. Rodrick was clad in his armor, and the way that he and Anna were swinging their feet impatiently told Arwin that they were eager to set out as well. Reya didn’t seem like she’d woken up quite yet, but that was just fine.

“Morning,” Rodrick said. “We setting out soon? I really want to stick my sword in something.”

Anna arched an eyebrow at Rodrick. He reddened and turned away, pointedly ignoring her.

“Yeah, whenever Reya is ready. I’m going to check on the smithy first to see what it looks like in the daylight so I can remind myself what I’m working toward.”

That’ll give me a little bit to gather my thoughts while I’m alone.

I think Rodrick is right, though. I thought I was done with all this shit, but I really want to hit something with my hammer.

In the back of his mind, a twinge of approval sputtered to life like a candle being lit. Somewhere, hidden within wherever [Arsenal] put his equipment when he wasn’t using it, Verdant Blaze reached out to him. It didn’t care if it was striking metal or flesh. It was all the same. Until as something gave way beneath it, the weapon would hunger.

That must be [Awoken] starting to build up enough energy to actually have an effect. It must be something of a sliding scale rather than either alive or inanimate. Though… I’m not sure if I’d consider Verdant Blaze alive. It more feels like it’s taken on a strong desire to be used, much like most materials I’ve interacted with.

“You doing okay?” Rodrick asked.

He looked over his shoulder, realizing that he’d been standing in the doorway without moving for several seconds. “Yeah. I’m fine. My thoughts were just drifting. Nothing to worry about.”

Rodrick shrugged and Arwin headed out of the doorway to make his way toward the spot where the smithy had once stood. He was rewarded with the sight of a day’s work well done. While there was still a thin layer of soot on the ground, almost all of it had been removed. No stones remained to stall any construction. The plot of land laid in wait for a new smithy to be made upon it.

Arwin stood, his arms crossed behind his back, and looked upon his work. He’d always known that every building on the street would probably eventually have to be prepared if they wanted to bring any large amount of foot traffic to the area. Nobody wanted to go into an alley where it looked like they’d get run through.

He just hadn’t thought it would be happening this soon. Arwin made to turn back to the tavern, but something lying in a tiny pile of dirt flashed as the sunlight caught it. A frown crossed Arwin’s face.

A piece of metal I missed?

Arwin headed over to the shimmer on the ground and knelt beside it. A thin circular disk was rested on the dirt, covered with a thin layer of soot. The sun had caught on a tiny, exposed part of it.

He wiped the soot away with a thumb, revealing a glistening green color underneath. It was the scale that he’d taken from the Wyrm. Arwin tilted his head to the side. He could have sworn that the scale hadn’t been there when he’d been working yesterday, but there was always a chance he hadn’t seen it because of how dark it had been.

After a moment longer of studying it, Arwin tucked the scale into a pocket. It was nice to know that it hadn’t been lost in the flame. Wyrm scales definitely weren’t just ordinary material. He had no idea what he’d use it for yet, but he suspected it would turn out to be useful when the time came around.

He walked back to the tavern. If he spent any longer standing around the smithy, he’d want to start building something. That wasn’t something he could do until he had money to fund said building – and the one way he was going to get that money was waiting for him on a key hanging from Reya’s neck.

Everyone had convened in the common room by the time Arwin returned. Reya and Lillia were both clad in their armor. Rodrick had a cloak wrapped around himself to stop anyone from seeing the magical properties of his gear. Arwin didn’t even bother asking if everyone was ready. Their appearances told the story so their mouths didn’t have to.

“Let’s go,” Arwin said.

They piled in behind him and the group set out for the dungeon. The trip out of the city went smoothly. Now that they were all clad in relatively respectable gear, they just looked like any other group of adventurers and the guards didn’t so much as glance at them twice.

They didn’t have any trouble on their way over to the dungeon either. It was a warm, sunny day and there wasn’t a single cloud to interrupt the endless expanse of clear blue sky above them.

That luck came to a close when they drew up to the valley that the dungeon rested at. Three cloaked men stood at the entrance of the dungeon, kneeling around it. One of them was positioned so that Arwin could make out his features.

And, to Arwin’s displeasure, he recognized the man’s face.

It was Jin, one of the members of the thieves’ guild that had been after Reya. His eyes narrowed. The men hadn’t noticed them yet, but it would only be a moment before –

Jin glanced up. His eyes widened as he spotted the group standing above him and he hissed a warning to his compatriots. The three of them rose as one, all turning to face the newcomers.

“You,” Jin said, his voice riding the line between shock and accusation.

“Who are these buggers?” Rodrick asked as he rested a hand on his sword. “Nobody up to any good strolls around wearing a cloak like that.”

“You’re wearing a cloak like that,” Anna pointed out.

“Thieves’ guild,” Arwin said brusquely “Not friends.”

“What are you doing here?” Jin demanded. “How are you–”

He cut himself off, but it was too late. Arwin’s eyes narrowed. “How am I what? I believe there was an agreement between our guilds, Jin. You lot stay away from my street and I stay away from yours. Why are you snooping around the entrance of a dungeon that won’t work for you?”

“You’re ‘supposed to be dead,” one of the other men said, taking a step back. “I knew it. That damn street is haunted, Jin. He’s a ghost, and he’s back for revenge.”

“He’s not a damn ghost. He’s casting a shadow, idiot,” Jin said. He spat on the ground and shook his head. “Forget it. We were just leaving.”

“Hold on,” Arwin said, his voice growing cold. “Why is it you thought I was dead?”

“It was hard to miss your smithy going up like a ball of flame,” Jin replied. His answer came a little too quickly for Arwin’s tastes.

“Was it?” Arwin asked. “Because if someone’s place blows up, I usually try to figure out what happened before I assume they got cooked inside it. I think you’re lying to me, Jin. Are you lying to me?”

“Of course not. Why would I–” Jin whipped his hand toward Arwin mid-sentence. Arwin activated [Arsenal] and his armor slammed into place around him. Metal rang against metal as a thick needle struck him near the temple, but it failed to penetrate his helm and spun off to the side harmlessly before thunking into the ground at his feet.

“Gods damn it,” Jin cursed.

“Well, that answers that question.” Verdant Blaze took form in Arwin’s hands. “And now you’re definitely not leaving.”