Rise of the Living Forge - Chapters 135-136 (Patreon)

Arwin woke the next morning to find that only a single side of his body was warm. The rest of it was swallowed by the frosty fingers of a strong chill that seemed to have gripped the entire room. A shiver ran down his spine.

Holy shit, it’s freezing. Why is it so cold?

Lillia shifted beside him. She yawned but cut herself off halfway through it with a curse, attaching herself back to Arwin’s arm. “Godspit. It’s freezing in here.” She hesitated for a second and he felt her wince. “I didn’t wake you up, did I?”

“I think it was other way around,” Arwin said. He was still trying to debate on if he was displeased with the cold or not. On one hand, it felt like his entire left half was about one degree from freezing solid. On the other, it was keeping Lillia beside him.

A moment after the thought struck him did a grimace pass over Arwin’s lips.

My priorities are seriously wrong here. I can’t let this go on any longer. There are only days left before we deal with the Wyrms. If I’m distracted like this the whole time, I could seriously slip up and get someone injured.

I’d be stupid to do anything now, but I need to give myself a deadline so I know when it’ll be over. If I don’t, I’m going to keep kicking this rock down the road and remain distracted by it the entire time.

***

Lillia was, as she had been finding herself feeling more frequently, grateful for the dark. It kept Arwin from seeing the embarrassment on her expression perfectly. If the Lillia of just a few months ago had known that she’d be using a mild chill to cling to the Hero’s arm like a lost child, she would have put herself out of her misery on the spot.

It would have been simple enough for her to release Arwin and stand up, heading over to the kitchen to start a fire and beat off the rest of the chill. She could have even asked him to summon some of his [Soul Flame] to banish the cold from the unusually chilly morning.

That would have taken her excuse away. And so, instead of taking any of the myriad paths that were open to her, she chose to remain exactly where she was.

I really need to do something about this before the Wyrms. What happens if somebody gets hurt because I’m too busy giggling in the corner to pay proper attention to the fight?

It’s not like I can tell him anything now. We’ve both got too much riding on us to worry about anything other than the upcoming fight. I’ve got to finish my preparations for it, and that means I can’t afford a distraction any more than he can.

What I need is a deadline. I’ll tell Arwin about my feelings after the Wyrms are dead and we’ve got some time to ourselves. That’ll let me focus on what I need to do now.

Lillia nodded to herself – and made absolutely no moves to release Arwin’s arm. They were still in bed, so there was no reason to go that far. If he was going to leave a perfectly good arm in her vicinity, then it was only logical that he should be prepared to sacrifice it until they started moving for the day.

“Arwin–”

***

“Lillia–”

Arwin caught himself as they both spoke at the exact same time, then cleared his throat.

“Sorry. You go.”

“No, you can go.”

Well now it’s fried, isn’t it? I don’t even know what I was going to say. The hell do I tell her? ‘I need to talk to you after all the Wyrms are dead’? That sounds like a threat! And if I say any more, it’s obvious what I’m getting at and there’s no point pushing it off at all.

“I was just going to say that we’ll handle these Wyrms and be on with life in just a few days,” Arwin said lamely. “I’m looking forward to that. What were you going to say?”

“I – uh, same thing.”

You were also planning on using the exact same lame line that I was?

“Right,” Arwin said. It wasn’t like he could say much. Even if he couldn’t tell Lillia his plans, that changed nothing. They would speak once the Wyrms were dead.

“Right,” Lillia agreed.

Neither of them spoke for a moment. Then, nearly at the exact same time, they both moved to stand. Arwin almost tripped over Lillia before he caught himself.

“Whoops. Sorry,” Arwin said. “Are you going to show me where the exit is, or am I going to have to feel for it again?”

Lillia cleared her throat. Her hand found Arwin’s wrist and she pulled him out of the room and into the kitchen, releasing his arm once they were in the light again. The chill wasn’t any weaker in the kitchen than it had been in her room.

Any lingering thoughts that Arwin had faded away as they headed out into the common room. Rodrick and Anna had already come down and were sitting in the same stool, Anna perched on Rodrick’s lap.

He’d wrapped them both up in a sheet that looked to have been stolen from their room. They both glanced over to Arwin and Lillia as they walked out.

“It’s cold as shit,” Rodrick said. “I looked outside already and immediately regretted it. Not snowing, in case anyone was wondering. I reckon it would be if it started raining.”

“Is it meant to get this cold in Milten?” Arwin asked with a shiver. He called a ball of [Soul Flame] to his hands and held it out to try and warm the room a little bit. There wasn’t nearly enough energy in it to do much, but everyone scooted a little closer to him.

“I’d heard it can get cold, but this feels worse than it should be,” Anna said. “We’d probably be best off asking Reya. She’s lived here for a while, but she just ran out the door a few minutes ago. Maybe Olive would know? I’m not sure if she’s a Milten native.”

The stairs creaked and they all turned as Olive headed down. She’d employed the same strategy that Rodrick and Anna had, wrapping herself tightly with every single sheet from her bed.

Olive waddled down the stairs and made a beeline to leech some heat from the fire in Arwin’s hands.

“Pick up on anything we were talking about?” Rodrick asked.

“Yeah. It can get pretty cold here, but I haven’t been in Milten that long,” Olive said. “I don’t think this is normal. I’ve only been in Milten for a little while. Where did Reya run off–”

The door flew open to reveal Reya, covered in sweat and bouncing from foot to foot. A strong gale swept into the room as she ran inside and slammed the door shut behind her.

“What were you doing?” Anna asked.

“Going for a run. Best way to escape the cold is to run away from it.” Reya wiped the sweat from her brow and shivered before hurrying to join the growing group. “That only works until you stop, though. I hate Milten winters.”

“You’re telling me this is normal?” Arwin asked.

“Eh. It’s a bit worse than I’m used to, but it’s not the coldest Milten has become either. Nobody is going to come out for a while, I’ll tell you that. Half the reason the winters were so rough on the streets is because there’s jack shit to steal since everyone is hiding inside.”

She glanced at Olive, then cleared her throat and reddened. “Not that I was trying to steal something. I was just going for a run.”

Is she embarrassed about her past?

“How long is it going to be like this?” Rodrick asked.

“About two months.”

“I’ve discovered the next thing I’m adding to my inn,” Lillia declared. “Some damn braziers so we don’t all freeze to death overnight.”

“We should go check on the Wyrms.” Rodrick heaved a sigh. “Changes like this can herald stuff. I don’t know what, but we can’t leave anything to chance. Also, I want to put Reya’s theory about running to the test.”

“Hold on,” Arwin said. He took a step toward the stairs toward his room, where Rodrick’s greaves were currently waiting for him. Everyone moved with him to stay near the [Soul Flame]. He glanced at Lillia. “Could you…”

“Yeah. Give them a second.”

A moment later, an imp headed out of Lillia’s room with a leather-wrapped bundle balanced on top of its head. A second one headed down the stairs bearing the bundled greaves. Olive nearly jumped out of her shoes and hurriedly started unraveling herself from her self-made prison.

“Imps! In the tavern!”

“It’s fine,” Reya said, grabbing Olive before she could finish unrolling. “They’re not real imps.”

Olive paused. She squinted at the imps as they deposited the two bundles and scurried back into the shadows.

“Those are imps. In maid outfits.”

“They’re mine,” Lillia said. “Just a part of my class. I can form shadows into objects, and that’s the peak of what I can handle right now.”

Olive didn’t say anything for a moment. Then she started twisting in the other direction, re-rolling herself in her blankets. Evidently, between the potential of real monsters in the inn and having to face the cold, Olive chose staying warm over answers.

“What are these?” Anna asked.

Wait. How am I supposed to send Olive away? It would be incredibly rude.

Ah, I’ve got it.

“Gifts for Rodrick.” Arwin said jerked his chin toward the bathroom. “They’re what I’ve been working on recently. Go try them on.”

Anna glared at Arwin as Rodrick shifted her off him and hopped to the ground. He bundled her up in the blanket and plopped her back on the chair.

“You stole my warmth,” Anna accused.

“But I got something shiny. Warmth is temporary. Fancy metal is forever. Be back in a second, hon,” Rodrick said, waggling his fingers as he grabbed both bundles and darted into the bathroom.

“I’ll get you for this,” Anna said.

“Sorry,” Arwin said with a chuckle. “You could have always followed him, you know.”

“No. I’m not leaving my sheets, and I’m not going to waddle after him. I’d trip and fall on my face.”

“What did you make–” Olive started, but she didn’t get a chance to finish her sentence.

“Holy fuck!” Rodrick exclaimed. His voice carried through the walls as if there was nothing there and he let out a disbelieving laugh. “No goddamn way.”

There were several muted thumps from the bathroom, followed by a muffled curse and more delighted laughter.

“No damn way,” Rodrick said. “No bloody way. I can’t believe it. Holy shit.”

Olive raised an eyebrow. “Now I really want to know what you gave him. Why does it sound like he’s just found out he has a child?”

“Another one!” Rodrick exclaimed, his voice raising in pitch before he froze. A second passed in silence before his muted whisper came – somehow still audible through the walls. “Wait. You’re kidding me.”

“Were those walls always that thin?” Arwin asked.

“Yeah. You can hear everything in there. Might want to make those thicker,” Reya said. “Might be weird if someone’s taking a bath and they’ve got people listening in.”

Lillia coughed into a fist. “Yeah. I’ll look into that at some point.”

“Holy shit! My ass looks great in this!”

They all looked back over to the bathroom. Rodrick’s words had definitely been nothing more than a hushed whisper, but they’d somehow carried all the way through the common room.

“Arwin?” Anna asked, her eyes narrowing. “Did you make Rodrick lingerie?”

“No. He’s just weird.”

“Fair enough,” Anna said. “What did you make him?”

Before Arwin could answer, Rodrick stepped out of the bathroom. He wore the entire Ripple set. Its attributes had hidden themselves from view, but that did nothing to stop the beautiful armor from shimmering in the dim light.

“Well?” Arwin asked, trying not to laugh. “What do you think?”

“It’s okay, I guess.” Rodrick adjusted the breastplate and scratched at the side of his neck. “I’m cool about it, though. I get gifts like this from admirers all the time.”

“Do you, now?” Anna arched an eyebrow. “Turn around.”

Rodrick turned in a circle. “What do you think? Does it suit me?”

“You were right,” Anna said. “Your ass does look good in it.”

“Wait. How thin is that wall?” Rodrick asked, a look of horror spreading over his face.

“Thinner than you’d hope.” Arwin clapped him on the shoulder. “Glad you like the armor, though.”

Chapter 136

The look on Rodrick’s face told Arwin that he more than just liked the armor, but the former paladin settled for giving him a firm nod and wiping the embarrassment from his features.

“I’ll put it to good use. Thank you.”

“I expect that you will,” Arwin said with a nod.

“And, speaking of putting it to use, I do think we should take a look at the forest,” Rodrick said. He shifted his weight from one foot to the other, a pensive frown crossing his features. “We don’t know what caused it to be so much colder than it should have been today, but any changing variables are bad news when it’s this close to executing a plan.”

“I’ll go with you,” Reya said. “If only because it gives me something to do other than freeze.”

“I can as well, if you need a third body,” Olive offered. “If I don’t, I might end up staying in bed all day.”

“Three is a good number. We aren’t going to be doing any fighting if we can avoid it, but a bigger group will make it safer nonetheless. No time to waste, then. Let’s go.”

Olive unrolled herself and shuddered at the cold before nodding. “Lead the way.”

They hurried out of the tavern, moving at a brisk pace in an attempt to keep the cold at bay. Lillia pushed the door shut behind them with a shadow before any more of the chill could seep into the common room.

“I’m going to finish up my own work as well. Still have a lot to do,” Arwin said, following after the others. “There’s no chance I finish everything I want to before we have to leave, but every hour counts.”

He raised a hand, then pulled the door back open. A cold wind buffeted his face and he grimaced, stepping out and making sure the door was shut behind him before striding down the street.

Ridley, as usual, was still working on the smithy. The mason had donned a heavy fur coat and was hard at work on top of the stone brick building. He nodded to Arwin, who returned the gesture as he passed.

His rickety temporary workspace somehow felt colder than the rest of the street when he arrived. Cursing under his breath, Arwin summoned a ball of [Soul Flame] and tossed it into the hearth.

The heat pushed the chill back by just enough for him to think properly. He had to focus the biggest potential boosts that he – or any of his allies – could get in the shortest amount of time.

As far as he could tell, that boiled down to gauntlets to protect his arms from the bow, an arrow for the bow to shoot, boots, and then anything else that he could fit into his schedule with the time he had remaining.

Both the gauntlets and the boots would take considerably more time and effort to make than the other options since he’d yet to make any himself yet. The bow arrow – he was pretty sure that would probably be pretty easy as long as he wasn’t too concerned about the traits that the Mesh gave it.

It’s not like I’ve made an arrow before – and that means the chances of getting a shitty detrimental trait are a lot higher than normal. But, even if that happens, I can just make another item and stick the detrimental traits onto that so I’m left with a normal arrow and a snack for later.

Making an arrow that was just a long metal rod with some fletching and a head to make sure it flew relatively straight would probably be doable enough, especially with the Mesh’s guidance.

He already knew it probably wouldn’t be the best, but he didn’t need it to last multiple shots. Arwin didn’t have any open slots to bond to it with [Arsenal], so he wasn’t going to be getting it back. Once he reached the next tier, making an arrow he could bind to would drastically increase his power and it would become a priority - but for the time being, a one-time use arrow would do just fine.

But he had something to take care of before he could make anything else. He was running a low on metal. Fortunately, he still had a fair amount of gold. Arwin called his [Soul Flame] back and hurried out and across the city to Taylor’s shop, dragging the wagon along with him.

The trip felt like it took three times as long as it normally did. Freezing cold buffeted him every step of the way, but he soon returned to the smithy, his pockets one hundred gold lighter. He’d purchased 3 bars of Brightsteel and 10 bars of Roughsteel.

The Roughsteel probably wouldn’t be great for any armor, but it would be good for experimenting and making some arrows. Arwin lugged everything into his smithy, then returned his [Soul Flame] to the hearth and set a bar of the Roughsteel into the flames to heat.

A short while later, he set it out onto the anvil and set about hammering it out. The Roughsteel was considerably easier to work with than the other metal he’d used, but it was also clearly of lower quality. It took him almost twice as long to work the impurities out of it with Verdant Blaze.

The Mesh didn’t seem to guide him nearly as much as he’d expected. It offered up vague suggestions while he worked, but not nearly as much as it had earlier on. That didn’t prove to be much of a drawback. He was making a glorified spear, which wasn’t exactly the most complex weapon to make a rough version of.

He sectioned the metal off, then chose a piece that felt amiable to becoming an arrow. Arwin worked that piece into a long cylinder, turning it over and striking it repeatedly. It was a little amusing to think of the piece as an arrow.

It resembled the haft of short spear more than anything that was meant to be shot from a bow. As long as it flew in a mostly straight line, Arwin couldn’t complain.

Arwin took the guidance that the Mesh offered whenever the inviting shimmers arrived. They were few and far in between. He spent the next few hours forming the rest of the huge arrow. He made its head out of a separate piece that he then attached to the haft with his hands inside the flames of the hearth, then put on large triangular fletching at the bottom of what still strongly resembled a small spear.

Arwin quenched the head of the arrow and studied the results of his work. It was far from perfect and he doubted it would shoot all that straight, but with the power that he’d be launching it from the bow with, he suspected it would suit his purposes as long as he didn’t aim at anything too far.

The Mesh swirled around the weapon, sending faint streams of power through his hands and into the metal as it registered – if only barely – the creation of the arrow-spear.

[Metal Arrow: Average Quality] has been forged. Forging a magical item has granted you energy.

Arwin wasn’t so certain about the last part. Considering that Verdant Blaze had barely even responded to the creation of the arrow, he suspected that any energy he’d gotten from its creation was almost negligible.

He scanned the arrow to see if its traits were going to be of any use.

Metal Arrow: Average Quality

[Brittle]: This item has a chance of shattering on every usage. Upon shattering, the magical power stored within the weapon will be released in an instant, causing a minor magical explosion.

[Hasty]: This item was forged hastily and with inferior material that wasn’t brought to its full potential. Its end will resemble its beginning. This item can strike faster at the cost of magical energy, but the chances of it breaking will increase with the amount of energy used.

Arwin’s brow furrowed. He was definitely removing the traits from the arrow. There was no doubt about that. He wasn’t even surprised about the poor traits – he’d fully expected them. There was no need to make a masterwork arrow if it was going to get lost the first time he used it.

Why is it that it turned out so poorly, though? For that matter, why is it that the items I make with the Mesh’s guidance seemed to be capped at Unique or Average? The less I listen to it, the better they become.

Arwin set about forming a bracelet with Roughsteel while he worked, heating it in the fire and sectioning off a piece to start bending into a circle.

I know that the Mesh demands challenge. It’s logical that I wouldn’t be getting the best possible results if I wasn’t pushing myself. But why would it give me the guidance in the first place?

Arwin’s thoughts ground to a halt along with his hands. The hot Roughsteel glistened a molten orange. Even if the Mesh had given him guidance initially, it wouldn’t just leave that guidance around.

It gave people a fighting chance. It didn’t baby them. And, with the amount of time he’d been relying on it to even a small degree, it was definitely helping. Even the bracelets he was making were slightly aided.

But that’s how it has to work. The Mesh is the reason that the items become magic, so I have to use at least a little bit of it if I want to –

Son of a bitch. I’m an idiot. When have I ever heard of a class that needs the Mesh to literally hand everything to them? I’m holding onto a crutch.

Arwin tossed the half-finished bracelet to the ground and grabbed another piece of Roughtsteel. He placed it into the flame, then got to work forming a bracelet again once it was hot enough.

He drew power – not from the Mesh, but from within himself. The magical energy coursed down his hands and into the bracelet as he worked it into shape. It was second nature at this point. And, most importantly, there wasn’t so much as a single shimmer or suggestion from the Mesh.

Arwin finished making the bracelet. Energy sparked at his palms and pulsed through the metal.

[Metal Bracelet: Rare Quality] has been forged. Forging a magical item has granted you energy.

Metal Bracelet: Rare Quality

[Potential]: This item contains magic with no guidance. It is pure potential that will never be manifest, but the magic remains all the same.

A laugh slipped out of Arwin’s mouth. He sat down on his anvil, staring at the bracelet in his hands. A quick sniff rewarded him with a fresh, clean scent. It was faint and distant, but it was good.

That’s what I was doing wrong. The guidance isn’t meant for me to use for every single damn item I make. It’s a crutch to figure out the basics – I need to put in the intention and magic myself. That’s how I make higher quality items.

But… how do I control the traits they get? The Mesh is implying I can. There’s so much to learn about this class.

Arwin shook his head in mute disbelief. He’d barely even so much as scratched the surface of the depth the Mesh expected him to go to in order to craft gear. And, even with the limited time he had remaining and the threat looming ahead of them, he couldn’t keep the excitement from building in his stomach.

If I can control the traits my weapons get instead of just randomly guessing, the gear I have now wouldn’t even be comparable to what I’ll be able to make. The Mesh doesn’t expect me to just follow its suggestions. It wants me to create completely unique items.

Energy crackled through the air before Arwin, nearly making him jump as golden letters manifested before his eyes.

Milestone 2 of [Curb the Hunger] has been completed.

Milestone 2: Shed your training aids and take your first step onto the path of true smithing.

Arwin studied the glowing letters in the air before him. At least he’d gotten confirmation that his theory was correct. He’d been crippling himself by relying on the mesh this entire time. But, almost more importantly, he was pretty sure the reward for finishing the 2ndMilestone was some form of item.

He looked around expectantly. The Mesh’s golden letters remained in place in the air, but nothing else emerged. His eyes narrowed.

“Hey. Forget something? I was promised an item.”

The letters, as if spurred by his words, changed.

Would you like to up the Challenge?

That was it. No items. Just another line of words shimmering in the air. Arwin’s brow furrowed as a sinking pit formed in his stomach. He was barely even thinking about the Challenge itself.

The Challenge – and its rewards – were useful, but this was an entirely different matter. There was no more denying it. The Mesh was talking directly to him.