Rise of the Living Forge - Chapters 109-111 (Patreon)

When Arwin got to the tavern, he found that he wasn’t the first one there. A tall man stood in the dim orange light cast by the lantern. Lillia leaned against the doorframe across from him, her expression unreadable in the dark and posture guarded.

As he stepped inside, the man turned to face him. He had pointed features like those of a hawk that were softened by a bushy unibrow that connected the expanse of one side of his temple to the other. It vaguely resembled an escaped caterpillar that had frozen in place, hoping to not be seen by its pursuers.

“You must be Ifrit,” the man said. He adjusted the well-worn suit he wore and fixed his tie. “Is now a good time?”

“That depends on what you want,” Arwin said, grateful that [Arsenal] had deactivated and he was fully clad in his armor. There wasn’t all that much reason to be distraught either way. His mask was really more of a marketing tool than an actual disguise. Even if he’d been caught without it, it didn’t matter much.

“I’m Jake.” The man extended a hand and looked down the bridge of his nose at Arwin. “With the Merchant’s Guild.”

They can’t be here to try to take the land for the smithy from me, can they? Nobody else is using the damn thing. The city can screw off.

Arwin took his hand, a chill running down his spine.  “And you’ve come here…”

“To discuss some work you’ve been doing in the market.” Jake’s grip was firm, just barely. He released Arwin’s hand and adjusted his coat once more. He seemed rather uncomfortable in it. “I believe you set up a stall, yes?”

“I did,” Arwin allowed suspiciously. “Why?”

“Did you register that with the guild?”

“No,” Arwin said. “I’ll be honest, I didn’t even know you existed. How would I have registered with you if there’s no information on you?”

“There most certainly is information. It’s in our handbook.”

“Which is…”

“In our guild office.”

“Right,” Arwin said. “And how was I supposed to know your guild office existed in the first place?”

“Well, you just do.” Jake’s brow furrowed in confusion as if Arwin were speaking to him in a different language. “Everyone knows about the Merchant’s Guild.”

“I don’t.”

“Ah. Well, now you do.”

“Lovely.”

“So, now that you know, you’ll have to abide by our rules,” Jake said with a self-satisfied nod.

“Why?”

Jake’s confusion returned. “What do you mean, why? It’s how things work. The Merchant’s Guild regulates all trade in the city. We make sure all the merchants in it are selling what they promise to sell, and we ensure their promises hold true. It’s how shoppers can rest assured that they won’t get scammed.”

Arwin went to leave a snarky comment – then paused. That sounded surprisingly reasonable. Having a body that made sure nobody was going around and scamming everyone they sold to was actually a pretty decent idea. That didn’t make him like it any more.

“I’m not particularly keen on sharing my profits with anyone,” Arwin said. “I understand your perspective, but I don’t even have a permanent stall. Just a wagon that rolls through every once and a while. I can’t afford exuberant fees to be part of a guild.”

Jake gave Arwin an understanding nod. “I know where you’re coming from. It’s only logical to want to protect your interests. However, I can assure you that our fees are far from exuberant. We do our best to scale to everyone’s size. If you’re only renting a small wagon like that and dealing in specialty goods such as custom-made armor and weapons, the only thing you’d need would be a minor vendor’s license.”

And I’m sure I’ll be thrilled to find that said license only costs a mere 100,000 gold plus taxes and other hidden fees. I’ve seen how Milten is run. This city is a shithole.

“And how much would that be?” Arwin asked.

“One gold a year.”

Arwin blinked. “What?”

“One gold,” Jake repeated. “So long as you’re operating on your own and not employing anyone else. If you set up a full storefront, the price will increase. We’ll have to do a safety check on your building and make sure there aren’t any forms of magic that influence people’s decisions to purchase items anywhere inside. Those licenses can range from five to five thousand gold, depending on the size of your operation and the number of employees you have.”

Arwin squinted at Jake. Now he was certain that the man was lying. “Just one gold? For an entire year? No other fees? What about fines?”

“So long as you’re selling what you promise to, then there are no other fees. If it’s found that you’re lying about your goods, the guild may force you to take back an item or weapon and fully refund whoever purchased it.”

Oddly reasonable. Again. There’s no way these people have anything to do with the ones running Milten.

“That’s it?” Arwin repeated. “There’s nothing else?”

“Nothing,” Jake confirmed. He rubbed the back of his neck and let out a sheepish laugh. “To be honest, the fee is a pittance. It’s only there to ensure that all merchants are willing to comply. We rarely have any trouble.”

“He seems legitimate,” Lillia said. “I took a look at his badge. It’s magical, at the very least.”

“Are you sure you’re in the right city?” Arwin asked, not even bothering to hide his suspicion. “Milten is horrid. The way you talk makes it seems like everything should be sunshine and roses, but you’ll probably get gutted if you walk down the wrong street.”

“Probably,” Jake agreed with a cheerful smile. “Please understand – we don’t take any responsibility for the actions of anyone within Milten. Our responsibility is the safety of customers alone. This city is… less than ideal. It certainly has its flaws. The Merchant’s Guild understands that. We aren’t responsible for those flaws. The only thing we care about is that our own duties are executed properly. If you have issue with Milten, I suggest you bring it up with the local governance.”

That was a really roundabout way for Jake to say that he didn’t give a shit about the problems that plagued Milten. A fair take, all things considered. It seemed respectable that the Merchant’s Guild was even bothering with trying to manage anything this far out into the kingdom.

“I see,” Arwin said slowly. He went to get a gold. His fingers met nothing but leather. He’d spent every single gold he had. Lillia spotted the look on his face and pulled out a gold of her own.

“Here,” she said, handing it to Jake. “I already paid for the tavern.”

“Have you come up with a name for it yet?” Jake asked.

“No. It’s been about five minutes since we last spoke.”

“I was just checking,” Jake said as he tucked the coin into a pocket. “Names are of utmost importance, you know. It’s very difficult to properly register anything without a name. Fortunately for you, Milten does not have any ‘monster themed inn and or taverns’ within it. We’ll make sure to give you another visit once you’ve put up a sign so we can get everything properly set up.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Lillia said.

“Best of luck to both of you,” Jake said. He stepped away from the lantern and headed toward the moonlit streets, pausing as he reached the door to look back at them. “If you get that smithy of yours set up and start selling from it, please remember to register with us. We will fine you if you fail to do so now that you know about our existence.”

“So you wouldn’t have if we didn’t know?”

Jake flashed Arwin a grin. “No. But it’s too late for that now, isn’t it?”

He strode off and disappeared into the night. Arwin blinked. Part of him expected Jake to pop back up, but the man seemed to have left. He looked back to Lillia.

“That was… odd,” Arwin said.

“Tell me about it,” Lillia said. “I fully expected him to be grubbing for more money. It seems weird for any sort of authority group to actually not be a terrible piece of shit. Maybe he’s unique?”

“I suppose it’s too much to hope that one guild isn’t completely horrible?”

Lillia snorted. “Optimistic. I’ll believe it when I see it. Maybe they’re fine right now, but who knows what will happen in the future. They tracked us down pretty easily. I wonder how that happened?”

“I haven’t exactly been quiet about my location. It could have been anyone,” Arwin said. “I don’t suppose we’ll find out unless we ask. It doesn’t seem like anything to worry about at the moment.”

“We’re in agreement there. For the amount of gold they’re asking, it’s not a huge concern. We’ll just have to keep an eye on things to make sure they don’t surprise us with something,” Lillia said. She shook her head and let out a huff. “Whatever. How’d your work go? Did you manage to finish? I see you’re holding a bow.”

Arwin’s face split apart in a grin and he hefted the weapon in question. He went to unveil its stats, then froze an instant before he could and lowered the bow again. Lillia frowned.

“What’s wrong?”

“I have to take a bath first. Your rules, not mine.”

“Wait, that’s not fair. I want to see what the bow does.”

Arwin just chuckled and headed into the bathroom, much to Lillia’s avail. She couldn’t do anything other than stand in the common room and glare at his back. That said, he was just as eager to show her the weapon as she was to see it, so his bath didn’t take long.

He headed back out to find Lillia pacing back and forth in front of the counter.

“Finally,” she muttered. “Show me!”

There was no reason to make her wait any longer. He’d already built up all the anticipation he wanted. Arwin removed the concealment and let the Mesh identify the bow for Lillia.

Her eyebrows steadily crept up on her forehead and her mouth formed into a small o. She read over it several times, then finally tore her gaze away from the Mesh to look up at Arwin.

“Godspit,” Lillia said with a disbelieving laugh. “A Unique Set item. We haven’t even figured out what my Set does yet and you went and started another one? This thing is terrifying, Arwin. I’m not sure I love the part where it hasn’t accepted you as a master.”

“Me neither,” Arwin said. “But I’ll be honest, the only thing I really want to do is shoot something nasty with it.”

“Like a Wyrm?”

Arwin grinned. “Like a Wyrm. I’ll need a string and a big ass arrow, though. I don’t suppose your hair…”

“Is just normal hair.” Lillia rolled her eyes. “What, do you think my body is made out of precious metals?”

“I don’t know,” Arwin said defensively. “It’s not like I’m an expert on it. I figured it couldn’t hurt to ask.”

“You’re an idiot,” Lillia said through a laugh. She flicked her hand at him. “Hide the stats on that before someone sees it and gets a heart attack.”

Arwin did as she suggested. “So… dinner?”

“You made that thing and are worried about dinner? I thought you didn’t need to eat normal food.” Lillia’s tone made it clear that she was paying him back for making her wait to see the bow.

Suppose I deserved that. I still don’t regret it.

“I don’t, but that doesn’t stop it from tasting good.”

Lillia shook her head and laughed. “Fine. Come on. I’ve got more sandwiches.”

Chapter 110

When the next morning came, Arwin found that he’d mustered enough self-control to keep himself from showing anyone else the abilities of his bow. [Arsenal]’s powers returned and he dismissed the weapon. Letting Lillia see it had given him all the dopamine he needed for the time being.

Instead of showing the others a half-finished weapon, he decided to get his hands on a string and an arrow. Then he’d be able to show it off as an entire piece rather than taking away from the final reveal.

Arwin headed out into the common room, clad in his greaves. It wasn’t like he had a choice. It was wear it or carry it around until he reached the next rank – which, all things considered, he suspected likely wouldn’t be too far away.

Reya and Rodrick were both eating breakfast when he stepped out. They were dressed for the road and their faces told the stories of a pair that were preparing to set out.

“What’s going on?” Arwin asked.

“I was thinking it would be a good idea to check up on the forest,” Rodrick said. “We don’t know how long it’ll be until that Wyrm horde pops up, assuming it actually will. Looking into it a bit more would do a world of good.”

“And also be incredibly dangerous,” Arwin said with a worried frown. “What if the Wyrm sees you? Or if the horde is already there and just waiting?”

“It would be a bit too fast for the horde to already have matured,” Lillia said as she walked out from the kitchen behind Arwin. “But I agree that it might be dangerous. Why go alone?”

“We’re going together,” Reya said. “That’s the point.”

“We aren’t actually going into the forest,” Rodrick added. He reached into a pocket and pulled out a small metal tube. It rested in his palm, roughly the size of a cylindrical apple. “I’ve got this.”

“To throw at monsters?” Arwin asked.

A laugh slipped out of the warrior’s mouth. He thumbed the front of the tube and gave it a small flick. The tube expanded out with a series of clicks until it was about a foot long. “It’s a looking glass. Lets you see stuff from far away. Close one eye and stick the other one up to this.”

I know what a looking glass is.

Rodrick held it up so Arwin could peer into it. He rolled his eyes and peered into it. Arwin was rewarded with a very, very zoomed in view of Rodrick’s nose. He pulled back with a laugh.

“So you’re just going to walk up near the forest and then squint into it in hopes of seeing something?”

“Pretty much,” Rodrick said. “But a lot of our research is actually going to be talking to people. News travels. It’s not like nobody has been to the forest since us, and I’m sure most people didn’t run into the Wyrm.”

“The ones that did probably didn’t make it back to report,” Lillia said.

“Probably,” Rodrick agreed. “But a lack of information is still information. If we poke around a bit in town and then take a quick look from a safe distance, we should be able to put together some information. It certainly can’t hurt.”

That was a good point. Information was always useful. Even if it wasn’t much, anything that Rodrick and Reya could gather would go a long way.

“Bring one of my imps with you,” Lillia said. “They’re not exactly the most dangerous fighters, but people are scared of demons. If anything goes wrong, it’ll buy you some time. They can ride around in your shadow so nobody picks up on them.”

“We’ll do that,” Rodrick said with an appreciative nod. He finished the rest of the food on his plate and pushed back from his chair to drop to his feet. “Thanks.”

Lillia nodded and flicked a hand. The inn was so dark that Arwin could barely even make out the streak of shadow that passed from her hand and flew over to his feet. Rodrick glanced at the ground, then back to her.

“That’s pretty neat.”

“Can I have one too?” Reya asked.

Lillia shrugged and flicked her hand again, sending a second shadow over to Reya. “I suppose it can’t hurt. Extra backup is always good. Just make sure nobody overzealous sees your shadows. They’re bigger than they should be, and anyone that’s fought monsters with dark elements is going to notice something might be wrong. They won’t immediately know what’s hiding in there, but nobody with an abnormally large shadow is up to anything savory.”

“Appreciate the warning. Let’s get to it, Reya. We won’t be gone long – expect us back by the end of the day,” Rodrick said. “Should we look into trying to do another dungeon soon? I’d like to try to push to the next level in my Tier before the horde, and I think Reya would benefit a lot from that as well.”

“We all would,” Arwin said. “The dungeon we’ve been going to isn’t going to be ready yet, though. It hasn’t been long enough to recover from a full wipe. We could take out some of the newest monsters that moved in, but I doubt there were a lot just sitting around and waiting. There’s another dungeon somewhere nearby according to Olive. Maybe we can convince her to show us where it is.”

“If she’s going to it, it’ll be an open one,” Rodrick said. “Be prepared to pay for entry – and to deal with others.”

“That’s fine,” Arwin said. He did some mental math in his head, then pressed his lips together. There just weren’t enough hours in the day. He wanted to make money crafting items to sell at the market. He needed to upgrade his equipment and that of his guild. He needed to figure out how his Sets worked and get his hands on a bowstring and an arrow for his bow. He also needed to work on his own advancement, though he could do that and crafting at the same time. “Damn. I feel like the tasks keep piling up. These Wyrms can stuff it. They have horrible timing.”

“Tell me about it,” Rodrick said with a grin. “My dad used to always say separate the urgent from the important. Not sure how much that’ll help, but giving advice always makes me feel smart.”

“Thanks. Be careful. Don’t take any risks. I don’t want to lose anyone else.”

“Don’t worry.” Rodrick’s smile fell away and his features turned dead serious. “I know how to get around without drawing the wrong kind of attention, and Reya is one slippery little brat.”

“I take offense to that,” Reya said.

“Good,” Rodrick said. “It doesn’t change anything, though. Let’s get to it.”

He and Reya waved and headed out the doorway. Arwin watched them leave, a twist of trepidation knotting his stomach, but it fell away. Rodrick and Reya could both handle themselves.

“Back to working on the bow?” Lillia asked.

“No,” Arwin said reluctantly. “I want to, but I don’t know where I’ll get the string. Buying one might end up being my best option. We need money either way, so I’m going to make some armor to sell instead. I’d like to learn how to make boots and gauntlets, but I don’t know if I’ll have time to figure it out before the horde. I might get a helm made for Rodrick and you, though.”

“Just Rodrick,” Lillia said with a shake of her head. “The armor you got me is already more than enough. I’m not going to be on the front line like he will be. Might as well get him a good set of armor that actually manages to survive one of his fights.”

“Given his current track record, that doesn’t seem likely,” Arwin said with a chuckle. Making Rodrick more greaves was definitely at the top of his priority list. The previous set had perished beneath the Crystalline Bonehemoth’s fist. “I’ll be in my little smithy. I assume you’ll just be upgrading the inn?”

Lillia nodded. “I should have some people coming today with pieces I had Reya buy yesterday. I need to get more boons from the Mesh, and the only way I can do that is upgrading the inn or cooking food to advance my tier.”

“Do you get more magical energy for making meals from more exotic ingredients?” Arwin asked, a thought suddenly striking him.

“Yeah,” Lillia said. “Why wouldn’t I? There’s a reason I haven’t been just trying to get stuff from inside the city every time. It’s no different than any other crafting class. Weirder ingredients, more challenge. More challenge, more reward.”

“I suppose I should have been able to tell that on my own.”

Lillia shrugged in response. “Sometimes the obvious answers are the ones we look right over. See you tonight?”

“Tonight,” Arwin agreed with a nod.

He headed out of the tavern. Ridley was already hard at work outside, standing beside the plot of the smithy. The mason had made good time and was well along in his construction. It looked like Arwin was going to need the money sooner rather than later, but he wasn’t concerned about not being able to make gear fast enough. Basic breastplates weren’t all that difficult to craft anymore.

The hearth waited expectantly for Arwin when he stepped into the building. He greeted it with a ball of [Soul Flame] before taking inventory of what he had left to work with. There was still some of the Brightsteel – enough to make a breastplate and a helmet if he was judging it correctly.

I think I start with a basic set of stuff to sell, then use that money to get more metal and make Rodrick some greaves.

That was as good a strategy as any. He could then build up excess money and pay off Ridley. When Olive got back, he’d ask her to show them the dungeon she was running and he could look for materials or money to make the rest of his bow there.

It was the plan that relied on the least amount of ‘if’ statements that Arwin could come up with. He would have preferred to finish the bow today, but that wasn’t how life worked. Arwin shrugged to himself as he set about putting metal into the hearth to heat.

Something shifted behind him. Arwin suppressed a sigh. He hadn’t seen who it was yet. There was no need to. There was only one person he’d met in recent time that had a penchant for showing up out of nowhere without making a single noise.

“Do you ever announce your arrivals like a normal person?” Arwin asked as he turned.

The drunkard leaned against the wall and took a sip from his mug. “No.”

“Have I done something to make you feel like I enjoy company while I’m trying to work?”

“Not particularly, no.”

“Then why are you here?”

“There really isn’t much else to do on this street. You’re a decent source of entertainment. It’s better than sitting around and waiting for something to happen.”

“Is that what you normally do?” Arwin asked. “You could just… find a different street.”

“I don’t particularly want to. This one is nice,” the drunkard replied with a shrug that somehow didn’t spill his drink everywhere. “And it’s nice to find someone to feel superior to.”

Arwin arched an eyebrow but didn’t even bother gracing that with a response. He couldn’t see a single thing that the drunkard could hold superior to him. Even if there was, it didn’t matter. There was no need to waste words when he had work to do.

“You really think that’s going to be enough?” the drunkard asked as Arwin took the heated metal from the hearth over to the anvil.

“Enough?” Arwin glanced up. “What do you mean?”

There was no response. The door swung askew and the drunkard was gone. He heaved a sigh and shook his head, summoning Verdant Blaze getting back to work. The day was young, but time was a scarce resource that couldn’t be wasted on men that liked the sound of their voice a little too much.

Chapter 111

Arwin’s estimations had been correct. He’d had just enough metal left over to make a chestpiece and a helm, and he finished the both of them well into the night.

It felt like an entire day had been consumed in the blink of an eye. Arwin couldn’t complain. He was pretty sure that his rate of production was ridiculous. Verdant Blaze and his [Soul Flame] drastically cut down on the time it took him to make anything, not to mention all the aid the Mesh gave him.

Seeing him complain probably would have brought tears of blood to a normal smith’s eyes. Arwin was intentionally hampering his work to avoid letting magic enter it and he was still finishing multiple pieces in a single day.

Then again, it was unlikely that a normal smith would have been able to use Verdant Blaze as a smithing hammer. Swinging around a huge chunk of metal for hours on end was beyond the limits of what a normal man could do.

Arwin dismissed Verdant Blaze and picked up the new pieces of armor he’d made. He left the makeshift smithy and headed over to the tavern. The street was, as it always seemed to be, largely empty.

But, when Arwin drew up to the tavern, he was struck by a very stark difference. Where there had once been only a pool of darkness in a doorway, there was now a door. It was made of plain but well-crafted wood.

A good door. Glad she finally got around to getting one. There’s something about a building that just doesn’t feel finished without a door. Maybe I’ve just got a door obsession.

Arwin pushed the door open and stepped inside. As usual, he’d showed up so late that almost everyone else had already retired to bed. Clinks from the kitchen told him that Lillia was still up. It sounded like she was working on cooking something.

She must have heard the door open because she poked her head out of the kitchen a few seconds later.

“Give me a second. I’m finishing up dinner, but it’s just about done,” Lillia said. “Rodrick and Reya made it back okay, by the way. They were both pretty worn out but it sounded like they got the information they were looking for.”

She ducked back into the kitchen. Arwin made his way over to the counter and set the armor down beside it. Part of him wished he’d had enough metal to make more than just two pieces. Going to the market just to sell two pieces every single time felt like a bit of a waste.

If I had more time, I’d try to make ten or fifteen before setting out. I just don’t have the leeway. Not yet. Once the Wyrm horde is dealt with, things will be different. Until then, I have to focus what’s urgent over what feels good.

Lillia hadn’t been joking about just needing a second. No sooner than Arwin had pulled out a chair and sat down did she step back out of the kitchen. “Okay. I’m done.”

“That was fast.” Arwin stood back up and pushed the stool back over to the counter. “What did you make? More sandwiches?”

“Yeah. I was frying up some thinly cut meat to put in them. You seem to finish your work at pretty much the same time every night. I guessed when you’d come back. Looks like I was right.”

“Am I that predictable?” Arwin asked with a soft laugh. “Wait. Why do you say meat? That feels… suspicious.”

“It was cheap.”

Arwin snorted. “Never mind. I don’t want to know. I’m sure it’ll taste good. I see you’ve been hard at work with the tavern as well. The door is a good addition.”

“I had some remodeling done to the upper floor as well,” Lillia said as she led him back into the kitchen and stuck a sandwich into his hands. “There are now five fully functional rooms, and the sixth is pretty close to being usable as well. Once I figure out a name for the tavern it’ll be ready to draw some people in.”

Assuming there are actually people in the area to draw in. Still need to work on that. That’ll be a problem to deal with after the wyrms.

“It’s looking more and more like an inn with every passing day,” Arwin said.

“That’s the goal. I’m glad to hear it’s moving in the right direction.” Lillia stepped past him and snuffed out the candle in the lantern. A second later, she took Arwin by his arm and led him into her room so they could sit down on her bed.

They sat in silence while they ate. As usual, Lillia’s cooking was fantastic. Arwin wasn’t sure what it was about her food, but the more of it he ate, the more he wanted. It was too bad that he couldn’t somehow flavor the magic he needed to eat.

Maybe I can grind up a sword and stick it into her food.

“How is it?” Lillia asked.

“Can’t even tell that the meat is mystery flavored,” Arwin replied as he polished off the rest of his sandwich. “It’s great, as usual.”

“Thanks,” Lillia said. “Sandwiches are good tavern food. Easy to eat without utensils. They’re pretty simple to make as well. It’s a good balance between flavor and time spent. Granted, I don’t have enough customers to worry all that much about the time of each meal yet, but I need to be ready for when I do.”

“That’s definitely wise. There will be a lot of changes on this street once the wyrms are handled. Preparing for them now rather than scrambling to adapt is going to save a lot of headaches in the future.”

“Speaking of which, how close are we to being ready for that? It feels like there are so many things that we need to prepare, but I don’t think we’re going to have time to get them all.”

“Not as close as I’d like to be. It’s fine. We’ll make it work. Tomorrow I’ll sell the armor I made today and make Rodrick some new greaves. The information Rodrick and Reya got today will be pretty helpful in figuring out how much leeway we’ve got to work with. I’d really like to get my bow functional before we have to take on the horde. That’ll probably involve going to Olive’s dungeon – though I think we should aim for that either way. Getting stronger before the horde hits is almost mandatory.”

“Yeah. It certainly couldn’t hurt. I think Rodrick wanted to think over what he’d found before he said too much on it, but from the way things sounded, we’ve probably got at least a week or two left.”

“That’s good,” Arwin said with a nod. There was so much that had to be done that a few weeks hardly felt like enough, but it would have to be. They had to handle the Wyrms themselves. It was imperative that the Adventurer’s Guild didn’t come anywhere near Milten.

The farther away from them we are right now, the better. We can’t afford to let them anywhere near us until we’re strong enough to challenge them. A bunch of overgrown lizards are nothing in comparison to the guild.

For now, all that matters is just focusing on doing what I can.

There may have been a lot they had to handle, but that would come with the following day. For the time being, it was night and the only thing that either of them had any plans of doing was resting until the morning came.

***

Arwin hit the markets early when the next day rose. He lugged his cart out along with the two pieces of armor he’d made the previous day. It almost felt like overkill, bringing an entire cart just to carry a set of armor he could move with his hands – but the cart legitimized him and made it look less like he was just some random person on the side of the street trying to sell armor to anyone that would look twice at them.

He was a bit apprehensive of his chances at selling anything without Reya, but it turned out that he needn’t have worried. He was still in the process of hanging the chestpiece up on the pegs at the top of the cart when he caught a glimpse of a dark-haired man clad in leather armor standing at the base of the cart.

“You’re Ifrit, aren’t you?” the man asked.

“I am,” Arwin said, turning to face him and holding up the helm in his hands. “I only have two pieces today. This and the armor. Were you interested in buying?”

“We don’t get a lot of new smiths around Milten, and I’ve heard some decent stuff about your work. How much?” the man asked.

“120 for the armor and let’s say… 60 for the helm?” Arwin offered.

“180 total?” The man tapped a foot on the ground in thought, then shrugged. “Fair price. Done.”

Seriously? That was easy.

“You aren’t part of a guild, are you?” Arwin asked as he took the chestpiece down.

“No. I’m a solo worker. Never been a fan of guilds,” the man replied. “Why? You recruiting for one? I’m not buying if you’re going to try to make me join up.”

“Nothing like that,” Arwin promised. “Don’t worry about it. 180 for the lot.”

The man shrugged and pulled out his coin pouch, counting out the requested amount in stacks before sliding it over. Arwin handed him the armor.

“Pleasure doing business with you. If you need any modifications or want repairs done for cheap, feel free to come find my smithy. It’s on the haunted street. You can find me by going to the tavern at the street’s end.”

“On the haunted street?” the adventurer repeated, a chuckle slipping out of his mouth. “Interesting. I’ll keep that in mind. Thank you.”

Arwin nodded in response. He scooped the coin into his pouch and the man headed off without another word. Arwin hadn’t even learned his name. That was quite fine with him. He’d learn it if the man came back.

All in all, he’d been at the market for less than ten minutes. Arwin hopped down from the cart and picked it up. He headed back to the tavern with it in tow, stopping to buy two more Brightsteel ingots for a total of 60 gold and leaving himself another 120 to work with.

With the extra 120 that Olive was bringing him – assuming she survived the dungeon she was working at – he’d be able to pay Ridley off to finish the smithy and have some left over to buy more metal when the time came.

I really want to go to that dungeon she’s in sooner rather than later. Brightsteel is useful, but I don’t know if I want to make the entirety of Rodrick’s greaves out of it. I want something harder for some of the parts. I could work in the Maristeel, but I’d rather save that for trying to make a whole set rather than just a temporary job to keep him alive until I can get something really nice made.

Arwin made it back to the tavern and set the wagon down at its side. Ridley was working on the smithy once again – he’d made pretty good progress, and it looked like he was nearing the quarter completion mark.

He headed over to the mason. Ridley paused his work and looked up at Arwin as he counted out fifty gold and held it out.

“I got the rest of the pay for the first half.”

“Many thanks,” Ridley said as he took it with a nod. “The construction is going well. It’s been good for my class as well. I’ll come find you again when it’s time for the second half of the payment.”

Which is another way to say, ‘screw off. I’m working’.

Arwin hid a smile and nodded. He knew how Ridley felt. Getting interrupted was far from fun, even if it brought money with it. Raising a hand, he backed away and walked over to the tavern.

It was time to find out what Rodrick and Reya had learned about what the Wyrm horde.