Rise of the Living Forge - 104-106 (Patreon)

There were a number of masons in Milten – more than Arwin had expected. But, as he walked down the street in search of the fourth shop of the day, he mused that there weren’t very many brave masons.

They’d all been more than interested to help him out until he mentioned that the construction would be taking place on the haunted street. He didn’t even have to specify which one. That was probably a good thing. If there was more than one haunted street in the city, something definitely would have been up.

Either way, nobody had been willing to take his money. Arwin grumbled in annoyance under his breath as he continued down the street of the crafts quarter. It was beyond him how there were so many masons in the city and how absolutely none of them had the balls to work on a supposedly haunted street.

Who’s even keeping these rumors up? I’ve been there for a while now and there hasn’t been a single instance of a haunting. Some candles getting snuffed out do not constitute a ghost. These people must be terrified of their own shadows.

He was still shaking his head when he came up to yet another mason’s store. There wasn’t a plaque on the wall or any sign to identify it. The only way Arwin could tell the store belonged to a mason was the stacks of stone and tile he could see through the window.

Arwin stepped in and the door creaked in announcement of his arrival. A short man poked his head out of a room at the back, his balding head desperately holding onto the last few strands of hair at its top.

“Are you open for work?” Arwin asked.

“Depends on the work. And the pay. Mostly the pay,” the man said. He stepped fully into view and leaned against the doorway, arching an eyebrow and crossing one leg over the other.

Arwin stared at him. He wasn’t quite sure what the man was trying to do. The mason seemed to realize his attempts weren’t working, because he straightened back up and let his hands drop. He gestured impatiently.

“Go on. Out with it. What do you want?”

“I need a building made. I’ve got the material already,” Arwin said. “And I’m willing to help as well. You can just tell me what you need me to do.”

“Simple enough,” the mason said. “How big?”

“A smithy. Nothing too crazy. One story, a back room to work in and the other a storefront. I’ve already got a plot of land.”

Technically I don’t, but I don’t see anyone showing up to try and take it from me.

“I’d consider doing it for 200,” the mason said.

Ouch. Heftier than the other masons by a fair margin. Most of them dropped their prices when I said I’d help and I had all the materials I needed.

“Do you care where it is?” Arwin asked carefully.

“Not particularly. Why?”

“It’s on the haunted street.”

The mason scratched the bottom of his chin. “Okay. Is the ghost going to help?”

“Unlikely.”

“Then 200. You don’t help, though. That’ll interfere with my class progress. 100 up front, and then 100 once it’s complete. No modifications, but I’ll follow any instructions that you give me so long as they’re realistic. How’s that sound?”

It sounded pretty good. Arwin thought for a few seconds as he tried to see if there were any loopholes or other problems in the offer. Nothing immediately jumped out. There were always ways to get around things, but it didn’t seem like the short man was looking to try for them.

“200 is good, but I don’t have that much gold on me right now. Would you be fine with starting for 50, then getting the rest of it a little later?”

The mason’s eyes narrowed. He studied Arwin in turn, then crossed his arms in front of his chest. “I’ll work until a quarter of the building is done for 50, but I won’t do any more until you pay me a minimum of 100.”

“I can work with that,” Arwin said. He pulled 50 gold out of his pouch, leaving him with just 9 silver in his name – He’d spent the rest of it on materials – and handed it over to the mason. “Deal?”

“Deal,” the mason said, offering his hand. “Name’s Ridley. You are?”

“Arwin.” They shook.

“When can you get started?” Arwin asked. “The sooner the smithy is done, the better. I’m currently working out of an old shack.”

“Today. I’ve been a bit low on work as of late. Milten used to be growing at a rapid rate. It was the whole reason I moved here,” Ridley said with an annoyed huff. “Things were great for a little while, but then most of the work dried up out of nowhere. The city just forgot it was trying to expand and now all the jobs are tiny repair ones or guilds that try to underpay you. Lead the way so I can scope out what I’ve got to work with.”

Arwin headed back out onto the street and Ridley followed him. The two walked silently, their conversation dried up, until they’d made their way back to the smithy’s lot. Ridley crossed his arms and pursed his lips once they arrived.

He walked around the land and studied Arwin’s work with a skeptical eye. Once he’d made a few loops around it, he headed back over to rejoin Arwin.

“You already started working on it?”

“That was what made me realize I needed help.”

“Well, you were right. I can work with this, though. I think it’s easy enough to tell what you’re going for. Any other specific requests?”

Arwin thought for a second before shaking his head. “Nothing that comes to mind. I’d like if it looked nice, but I don’t really want to pay more than the agreed upon amount. I need the money for other purposes.”

Ridley nodded to himself. He turned back to the smithy and tapped a finger against his chin. “Yes, that’s quite fine. Where are the rest of the materials you said you had?”

“In the cart next to that tavern.” Arwin pointed and Ridley followed his finger. “When you run out, the first smith on your road is holding more material in store for me. I’ve already purchased it.”

“Doesn’t look like much of a tavern. Where’s the sign?”

“It’s a work in progress.”

“Emphasis on in progress,” Ridley said through a snort. “Let me know if they need some work as well. You could tear the place down and make it look far nicer. The ghost would probably thank you.”

“There’s no ghost. It’s just a rumor.”

Ridley turned back to Arwin. He craned his neck back to pierce him with a sharp look and arched an eyebrow. “You’re delusional if you think that. I just reckon the ghost doesn’t bother people that don’t bother it.”

“What makes you so sure?” Arwin asked. “I’ve been here for a while and I haven’t seen a single sign of a ghost.”

“Do you know how many people have gone missing on this street in the last few weeks? All ruffians, mind you. An entire gang got wiped out. A local thieves’ guild started moving in, then lost a bunch of their men and immediately thought better of it. And you’re telling me there’s no ghost?”

Arwin nearly burst into laughter. He fought to keep a straight face and hurriedly wiped at his face, clearing his throat. “I suppose you may have a point. I just never thought about it since the ghost didn’t bother me.”

Ridley shook his head. He knelt by the laid bricks and ran his hand across them. Arwin had no idea what he was doing, but he thought better of asking. Ridley didn’t seem like the type to entertain questions.

“Is there anything else?” Ridley asked. “If not, I want to get started. Make sure you’ve got that money sooner rather than later. I don’t want to be sitting around and waiting for weeks on end to get paid.”

“I’ll have it,” Arwin promised. “How long until you think you’ll be a quarter of the way through?”

“Three or four days. I work fast.”

You can build a quarter of a house in three days? Holy shit.

“I’ll be ready.”

“Make sure you are.” Ridley set off to the cart without another word. Arwin took the clear dismissal and headed off to his temporary smithy. If Ridley was going to insist on building the smithy himself, that meant he had more time to figure out what he was going to work on next.

Arwin didn’t have any shortage of options. The other members of his guild could always use more equipment. He’d still yet to make any gauntlets or boots – and then there was The Heart of the Devouring Prism. It likely held secrets to mastering [The Hungering Maw].

It wouldn’t be long before the Wyrm Horde became a problem. Everyone needed equipment. But, if [The Hungering Maw] got bad enough to kill him before that happened, equipment would be the least of their worries.

Arwin pulled the crystal out and held it before him. The Mesh shimmered and bloomed before him as its information appeared, but he dismissed it. He’d already read what the crystal did.

Reading the same information over and over again isn’t going to get me anywhere. What I need is testing. I can’t exactly just start testing this thing, though. I don’t fancy the idea of somehow bringing it back to life on accident.

He could always eat it. It was a magical item. Arwin grimaced at the thought. Eating it was definitely at the very bottom of his list. The skeleton had tried eating it as well – and things hadn’t gone too well for it. It seemed as if the crystal had a way to infest its host.

I can’t eat it. I can’t just start randomly feeding magic into it to see what happens. Both of those give the crystal a chance of doing something I don’t want it to. So… how do I study it?

Arwin squinted at the crystalline heart. He turned it over in his hands, running fingers over its polished surface and down its ridges. Minutes passed. His annoyance grew.

“It’s a bloody crystal, not a puzzle,” Arwin grumbled to himself as he pulled his gaze away and shook his head. “Staring at the damn thing isn’t going to solve anything.”

That left him with a pretty big problem. If he couldn’t study the crystal, he couldn’t progress the Challenge the Mesh had given him. There was always the option of trying to find an entirely different item that would somehow give him insight into how [The Hungering Maw] worked, but he had no clue where or when that would happen.

The Mesh didn’t give impossible tasks of its own volition. That much, Arwin knew. There had to be a way to figure this out. There was a tiny chance that the Mesh’s solution was for Arwin to eat the crystal and turn into a monster. He wouldn’t put that past it.

It always gives options, though. That could be one path, but it isn’t the only one. Sure, maybe I wouldn’t transform, but I’m not taking that risk.

As Arwin dug through his mind in search of a plan, one finally came to him. The very same plan that he’d originally had when he’d first seen the crystal. A grin spread across his face and he let out a bark of laughter.

Of course. If I can’t use the crystal as it is now, I’ll just change it.

“You’re going to be part of a weapon,” Arwin informed the crystal, holding it up before his eyes. “But that begets a question. What kind of weapon do you want to be?”

Chapter 105

That question was easier asked than answered. Arwin was trained with most weapons, but Verdant Blaze covered just about all his needs for close quarters combat. The crystal was also enormous. He couldn’t stick it onto a dagger. Anything that held it would have to be huge.

He didn’t really want to make a large sword or another hammer. They’d probably work, but it felt like a waste. Anything he made would likely take on a portion of the crystal’s powers.

To be honest, even if I can contain the crystal’s magic to keep it from affecting me, I don’t know if I’d want its power anywhere close. Maybe this would be better as some form of throwing weapon? I could bind to it with Arsenal and reuse it.

Arwin paced in circles around his anvil as he thought. A throwing weapon definitely had potential. The crystal was unwieldy and heavy, but he could use [Scourge] to fling whatever it ended up in.

Maybe a javelin or a spear? But I’m really not all that accurate with those. I could throw them, sure, but I don’t know how often I’d actually hit my target. It would be much better if I had a…

“A bow,” Arwin muttered, his eyes lighting up. “That’s it. I’ll make it part of a bow. It would have to be one big bloody bow, but [Scourge] would let me draw the string. It wouldn’t be the first time I used a bow, and I’m a decent shot with them. Adapting to such a large weapon might be difficult, but it’s better in the long term.”

Arwin nodded to himself as he spoke. The longer he thought about it, the more promising the idea seemed. Any magical effects the crystal had would likely get transferred into its arrows rather than effecting the wielder.

It would give him a way to study the crystal and what it did without putting himself or anyone else at too much risk. All he had to do was figure out how to actually make a bow. He wasn’t about to do it out of wood. That would have required a bit more skill than he had with the material – and it wasn’t like he could forge a tree trunk.

If I use a flexible metal like Brightsteel, I could make the bow bendable. I’d have to use a lot of it, but it would be basically unusable unless I’m using [Scourge]. I suppose that was always the plan, though.

Brightsteel could make up a portion of it, but he’d need more than that. A string, for starters. Something that could handle the enormous draw weight of what he was planning. That wouldn’t be cheap.

Beyond that, there would need to be parts of the bow made from a harder material that could withstand the string dragging across them.

I’ll need an arm guard as well. If I don’t have one, I’ll chop my arm off on accident when I shoot my first arrow. First things first. I need to see what I have to work with.

Arwin’s pacing slowed to a stop. He put the crystal back into his bag and took out the foul-smelling metal that he’d taken from the Rot Giantling. It smelled just as bad as it always had, but it was the hardest metal he had.

I wish I had something better to scrape with than just my bare hands. I don’t think Brightsteel would work too well against this, though. It would just end up bending. Ah, I know.

Arwin took a second piece of metal out of his bag. They were both covered with crud – but the film on top of them wasn’t going to be anywhere near as hard as the metal itself. He braced one piece against his anvil and got to work scraping away at it with the other.

It was slow and tedious work. Even with [Scourge], Arwin felt like he was making almost no progress. The only thing that kept him going were the strips of trash that reluctantly peeled back and fell away.

Hours slipped away. Arwin’s back streaked with sweat and his muscles burned as the repetitive motion worked its way into him, dragging claws of weariness through his being. If it had been even the slightest bit exciting, it might not have been that bad.

It wasn’t. The scrape of metal grated against his ears and the foul smell remained an ever-present annoyance in his nostrils. But, with every scrape, more metal was freed from its ancient confines.

A faint ocean blue rippled like waves beneath the grime and buildup. Arwin worked faster once he had an end in sight, and he was finally rewarded with a fully cleaned sheet of metal by the time the end of the day came around.

He set the piece he’d been using to scrape it aside – some of the metal on it had been exposed as well, but he didn’t have the motivation to clean it as well. Arwin brushed the pile of rancid shavings over to the corner of his shop, then held up the fruits of his labor.

It was beautiful. The metal danced in the light. Swirls of faint green ran throughout it, invisible to anything but the most scrutinous eye. The metal itself was incredibly smooth. None of Arwin’s rough work had so much as scratched it.

This is perfect. Not the material I ever would have thought I would have thought to use for a bow, to be honest. I bet it would make an incredible set of armor… but that can come later. I don’t have all that much of it. What should I call this, though?

“Maristeel?” Arwin mused. “That sounds decent enough. I have no idea if this is actually from the sea or if it’s steel, but who cares. I named the damn thing. I get to decide what it’s called.”

He was tempted to get to work immediately. Arwin nearly did – but he stopped before he could reach for Verdant Blaze. Setting the plate of cleaned Maristeel down, Arwin headed over to the door and pushed it open.

The sun had set. It looked like it had been down for about an hour or two judging by the position of the moon in the sky above. He turned back and drew the [Soul Flame] that had been granting him light to work by out of his hearth. Arwin set out across the street and returned to the tavern. He’d promised Lillia that he’d join her for dinner, even if it got late.

She was in the common when he arrived.

“Sorry. I’m a bit later than I thought I would be,” Arwin said.

“It’s fine.” Lillia took a sip from a mug in her hand. “I did say any time would be okay. We might have to be a little quiet, though. The others are already asleep.”

Lillia sniffed the air as Arwin approached. A grimace passed over her face and she thrust a finger toward the back of the room. “Nope. You’re not eating like that. You were working with that rancid metal, weren’t you?”

“Is it that bad?” Arwin smelled his fingers and grimaced. It was a mixture of sweat and seven-day old fish that had been left out to stew in the sun. “Okay. It’s that bad. I’ll draw up a bath.”

“There’s already one waiting for you. Fortunately for you, I predicted this may have happened and retrieved one of your sets of clothes as well. You might need to get some more in the near future. You’re running out.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

Lillia nodded in response. He headed past her and over to the bathrooms. As Lillia had said, there was already a large tub full of water waiting for him, his clothes draped over a wooden hanger protruding from the wall to its side.

He wasted no time in taking advantage of the awaiting water. It was cold, but a little application of his [Soul Flame] brought everything up to heat quickly. Arwin scrubbed himself down and worked the smell out of his skin as best as he could. He didn’t want to sit around in the bath for the rest of the night, but Lillia had been right about the smell.

It took him around thirty minutes before he was satisfied with the results. Arwin re-clothed himself with the spare set and then headed back out to rejoin Lillia. She was still sitting at the counter, though she’d finished her drink.

“That was great. Thank you,” Arwin said as he drew up beside her. “I–”

The rest of his sentence caught in his throat as Lillia leaned in, smelling at the nape of his neck. Her hair brushed against his skin before she pulled back and gave him a small nod. “There. That’s better.”

“I – ah, yeah.” Arwin cleared his throat. “It is. When did the others go to bed?”

“Two or so hours ago. Anna and Reya were all worn out from traveling. I’ve just been mostly working on the inn. Repairing some of the extra rooms and trying to see if I can get the rest of the upstairs portion a little more livable,” Lillia said. “I’ll probably need to get some more beds in the near future. That’s a problem for later. Right now, I just want to eat.”

“There’s always work,” Arwin agreed. “We can handle that later. I’m looking forward to eating as well.”

“Really? I thought you were just keeping me company. I thought you didn’t really need food.”

“I don’t, but nothing hurts when it tastes good.”

“I think those squid tentacles might have.”

“They were perfectly fine. You’re just being overly critical of yourself.”

Lillia pierced Arwin with a stare that told him she didn’t believe a single word coming out of his mouth. A small grin pulled across her lips and she shook her head, rising out of her chair and brushing past him as she headed toward the kitchen. “Come on.”

“We’re not eating out here?”

“No. I want to turn the light out.” Lillia stopped beneath the lantern and reached up to it. “And the magical shade in my room mutes sound. It’ll make sure that nobody wakes up from us talking.”

Arwin shrugged and joined her. She reached up to the lantern and snuffed the candle out. Her hand found his wrist a moment later and she pulled guided him through the darkness. Lillia’s hand caught his shoulder a few steps later.

“Careful,” she whispered.

“What? I can’t see where I’m going. Did I almost hit something?”

“The doorframe,” Lillia replied. Arwin’s foot nudged into the hay that made up her bed and she gave his wrist a small tug. “You can sit down. I’ve got the food waiting. I made these so they’d still be good cold.”

She put what felt like a sandwich into Arwin’s hands, then sat down beside him. He lifted it to his lips and sniffed at it. It was a strange feeling to be about to eat something that he couldn’t even see.

“Is this a sandwich?” Arwin asked.

“Yeah. Meat, cheese, and oil. Not exactly fancy, but I’ve been devouring them today. They’re pretty good. I think they are, at least.”

Arwin took a bite out of his meal. He chewed silently for a few seconds before swallowing. She was right. The sandwich tasted great. It was plain, but all the ingredients held their own and melded into a perfect mix of flavors.

“It’s really good.”

“Thanks. I’m going to try to make a menu for the inn soon. Get signs for the front and everything. I still need a name and the like. Once I figure one out, I’ll get everything made.” Lillia’s shoulder brushed against Arwin’s and she leaned against him.

“Any ideas for one yet?” Arwin tried not to pay attention to her hair tickling the side of his neck.

“No. Not yet.” The smile in Lillia’s voice was evident. “But that can wait for tomorrow. I don’t really want to do anything other than sit here right now.”

“Yeah.” Arwin took another bite out of his sandwich and smiled. “Me too.”

Chapter 106

Something was wrong with Lillia’s stomach and she couldn’t quite place what it was. She’d been eating all day in an attempt to quench the twisting, gnawing pain that had been growing in it, but nothing seemed to help.

Lillia didn’t want to think about how many sandwiches she’d scarfed down since morning. It didn’t matter how great they tasted or how much she ate. Nothing seemed to fix the problem.

There was a possibility she’d gotten sick, but she couldn’t remember the last time a disease had managed to take purchase in her body. Demons were resilient. She hadn’t even eaten anything all that odd.

What is causing this feeling? It makes no sense. Nothing is wrong. There isn’t even anything to be concerned of. Arwin was right about Jessen not acting – that man is a madman, but a madman with a set of rules that he’d die if he broke. One look at his eyes was all I needed to know that.

So if that’s not the problem… what is?

Arwin shifted into a more comfortable position. His arms pressed up against her side and the thoughts skipped a few cycles in her head before kicking back on. His form was cast in gray hues in the darkness beside her, but it felt wrong to look. He couldn’t see her back so looking at him felt like cheating.

They’d finished their meal around an hour ago, but neither of them had made any move to get up or even say anything else. Lillia was grateful for it. She couldn’t really think of anything to say, and the knot in her stomach seemed to grow tighter whenever she tried to speak.

Maybe I am really getting sick with something. I hope it’s gone in the morning.

Lillia’s eyes started to drift closed. It was hard to stay awake, no matter how badly she wanted to. It wasn’t as if the day had been all that hard, but her body wouldn’t be denied any longer.

Her breathing slowed and a small smile drifted across her face. If Arwin hadn’t wanted to be a pillow, he shouldn’t have been so comfortable. The last vestiges of her resistance crumbled and she sank into the embrace of sleep.

***

Arwin drifted off at some point. He wasn’t sure when. The passage of time in the dark was no easier to tell now than it had been before, and he didn’t particularly mind. Resting beside Lillia was nice.

A part of him felt guilty for that thought. Any feelings he may have had felt like they went in direct opposition to everything he’d learned, even if that was no longer true. Finding solid ground to put beneath his feet was difficult when his past was built on a tower of wobbling cards.

At least the nightmares were gone.

Lillia had shifted by the time he woke up after however long it had been since he’d fallen asleep. She’d slid down his side and was draped across his lap, curling around him like a cat seeking warmth.

It took every scrap of self-control that Arwin had not to jerk in surprise. He forced himself to remain still. Any sharp movements would just wake Lillia up, and he didn’t have an explanation to give her for when she awoke.

Wait, why do I need an explanation? She’s the one that fell asleep on me.

That was a very logical answer. It was also entirely useless. Arwin couldn’t think of anything more to say – so he did what any sane man would and distracted himself by turning his thoughts to his work.

With the new Maristeel he’d made in conjunction with Brightsteel, Arwin was pretty confident that he could make something that at least resembled a bow. He just needed something to make the string from.

From what I recall, the string can be the most important part of a bow. Shit string, shit bow. Then again, it’s not like you can have any part be bad and still have a good bow. Maybe that isn’t a great example. Either way, I need a string.

Buying one would probably be really expensive if I wanted it to be good enough to handle what I need. That means I’ll have to find it. Maybe a really hairy monster?

Lillia shifted in Arwin’s lap. Her hair brushed against him and a grin flickered across his face before he could stop it.

I wonder if demon hair is resilient. That would be kind of funny. How many pounds of force can you put on it? Maybe Lillia will let me test it, but something tells me I might need to look elsewhere.

There wasn’t any reason to wait to make the bow. Even if he didn’t have the string yet, adding the string in was probably the last step. A lot of archers carried their bows around separated from the string, so the Mesh would probably acknowledge the weapon being completed without the string. There was only one way to find out.

I’ll try to make the body of the bow. I’ve got Brightsteel and Maristeel for that. The hard part will be figuring out how to work the crystal into them. A string can come after that.

Arwin nodded to himself. And, in the process, he moved enough to make Lillia stir. He froze and repressed a curse. It was a little too easy to get lost in his own thoughts, especially when he was doing everything he could to distract himself from his actual position.

He kept as still as a statue in hopes that she would drift back off. There was no such luck. Lillia yawned and rolled over – then froze. Neither of them said anything for a second. She slowly sat up in his lap before scooting off.

“I fell asleep,” Lillia proclaimed, her voice more uncertain than it normally was. “Sorry.”

“It’s fine. I did too. Did you at least sleep well?”

“Better than I would have thought. You’re a surprisingly good pillow.”

“I’m thrilled to hear. If I ever have to start looking for a job, I’ll make sure to mention that.”

“No. I don’t like sharing,” Lillia said through a yawn.

They both paused for a moment. Lillia hurriedly cleared her throat and the straw crunched beside Arwin as she stood up.

“We should probably get back to work,” Lillia said, her words nearly tripping over each other in their haste to get out of her mouth. “There’s a lot that still needs to be done, you know. Prep for the Wyrms. All that.”

“Yeah,” Arwin said. A second passed. “You still have to lead me out, you know. I can’t see.”

“Oh. Right. Sorry.” Lillia’s hand found his and she pulled him to his feet. She didn’t make any move to leave. “Did you really mean what you said about liking the dark?”

“Yes. It’s peaceful and makes me feel like I don’t have to worry about anything else. I know this isn’t what actually happens, but my mind gets tricked into leaving all its problems at the door.”

“I’m jealous,” Lillia said. “I can’t really get that. I can see through even the deepest shadow. Everything just looks grey. Nothing is really dark enough to stop my eyes. Great for fighting within my own magic. Not so good for anything else.”

“Good for leading me through it, though.”

Lillia let out a small laugh. “I suppose that’s true.”

“Why do you ask? Are you doing okay?”

“Yeah. I’m fine,” Lillia said, but she answered a moment faster than she’d needed to. “Just wondering what it was like to actually be blind in the dark. It feels like it might be liberating.”

“Or terrifying. If you don’t have someone you trust that can guide you through it, I don’t imagine it would be particularly enjoyable. The dark is only comforting when you know that there’s an end to it.”

“That’s an interesting way to look at it. It definitely gives me some things to think about,” Lillia said. She gave his arm a gentle tug before he could say anything, and the two headed out of her room and into the kitchen.

Arwin followed after her, nearly bumping into Lillia as she stopped a few feet later. A second later, orange light fluttered to life on the candle and she closed the lantern behind it, releasing Arwin’s hand.

“Thanks again for dinner,” Arwin said. “It was nice.”

“Any time,” Lillia said. “I cook for the others anyway. It’s not all that difficult and it helps me.”

“Again tonight, then?” Arwin asked with a grin. “If it helps you, that is.”

Lillia rolled her eyes and bumped her shoulder into his. “Only if you remember to take a bath the moment you walk into my tavern. You’re going to make the whole thing smell like death if you keep working with that metal.”

“I’ll do my best,” Arwin promised.

“Your best isn’t enough. Just take the bath.”

“Okay, okay.” He held his hands up in surrender, laughing as they walked over to the open doorway. “I will. By the way, you should probably get a door at some point. It’ll make the tavern look more official. Good things, doors.”

“I think you have an unhealthy obsession with doors, but I’ll get one soon. Probably when I get all the signs. I might send Reya out so she bargains the price down for me. It’s a bit hard to do much shopping when you look like this.” She gestured vaguely to herself. “I’m hoping to have the inn looking a little more hospitable by the end of the week.”

“With any luck, my smithy should be up and running soon after that,” Arwin said. “I’ll need to get another 150 gold to pay off the mason, but with any luck the majority of that will come from Olive. Anything else I’ll make up by making some more work to sell on the market.”

“Maybe we can actually start drawing some more attention to the street once we rebuild some of it,” Lillia said with a wistful note in her voice.

“The brave ones, maybe. Everyone is still completely convinced the place is haunted, and now I think it’s my fault.”

“What do you mean?” Lillia asked.

“It’s all the people I’ve offed. When I was talking to the mason, he said that the street was clearly haunted because of all the disappearances in the area. Those were me. With any luck, he’ll finish the building and go back to tell everyone the place isn’t that bad.”

A concerned frown creased Lilla’s brow but she nodded. “Yeah. Hopefully. Things will be really bad for me if we can’t get anyone to show up. I’ve got time, but not infinite.”

“People will come,” Arwin promised. “If not specifically for the tavern, then for my gear. It won’t be long before I start doing more custom work. And, when I do, then I’ll have a steady flow of people that need a place to stay. You’ll have no competition.”

Lillia’s frown was replaced by a grin. “I’ll count on that and keep getting ready to put people up whenever they need a spot to stay. All we have to do is make sure Milten doesn’t get wiped out by a bunch of Wyrmlings before that happens.”

“We’ll see what we can do,” Arwin said through a laugh. “I have some ideas for how to handle this, but only time will tell if they actually work. For now, I’m going to focus on getting [The Hungering Maw] under control. I think making that crystal into a weapon will take me a long way in that direction.”

“If there’s anything I can do, let me know.”

“Having something to look forward to at the end of the day is already more than enough,” Arwin said.

“Yeah. See you then.” Lillia quickly turned back to head deeper into the tavern.

Arwin watched her leave for a second before pulling his attention back to his smithy and setting off himself.

He had a bow to make.