Rise of the Living Forge - Chapters 169-170 (Patreon)

Hard, chilly stone pressed against Arwin’s side and there was a nasty crick in his neck. He probably would have been considerably colder if there hadn’t been a familiar warm weight on top of his chest and against his arm.

His eyes fluttered open and he blinked the sleep away. There was a layer of darkness covering everything but he could still vaguely make out his surroundings. He was still in his smithy, in the exact spot where he’d flopped to the ground the previous night.

He probably would have been a bit more comfortable if it wasn’t for just one problem. A violent burning pain had Arwin’s stomach in a vice grip. It felt like he’d swallowed a ball of hot lead.

Arwin’s hand shot down to his pocket and he yanked out one of his last bracelets.

Metal Bracelet: Average Quality

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

[Watery]: The memory of a flowing river runs in the flame that heated this metal, infusing it. This item can allow its wielder to move through the water at a slightly increased pace at the cost of magical energy.

Arwin shoved it into his mouth as fast as he could. Metal turned to magic and rushed down into his stomach, which heated as [The Hungering Maw] consumed the detrimental effect. Arwin got a whiff of strong saltwater and rancid seaweed as the magic flowed through his body. He blew out a sigh as the pain abated enough for him to think properly again.

It wasn’t that long ago that I ate magic. It hasn’t been 5 days yet. Did crafting a magical that used so much energy end up triggering [The Hungering Maw] early? That’s concerning, but I’ve bought myself at least an hour or two. I can make another bracelet after I get up.

There was just one small thing stopping him from doing just that. Lillia laid on top of him. Her face was peaceful in sleep and she’d tucked her tail between them to keep it warm. She must have stayed with him after he’d fallen asleep, and it looked like he’d somehow managed to avoid waking —

A yawn slipped out of her mouth and she lifted a hand to rub her eyes.

Oops.

Lillia looked up at him, then gave him a small smile. “I can’t say I love your new choice of a bedroom, but it didn’t really go all that differently for me. It’s certainly a bit brighter.”

Arwin groaned and sat up, holding Lillia in his lap so he didn’t end up dumping her onto the floor. “Trust me. It wasn’t voluntary. Thanks for showing up yesterday. I’m pretty sure you saved me from completely butchering Anna’s armor — and my own head.”

“You’re welcome. I figured something was probably wrong when you didn’t show up about halfway through the night after you promised that you would. I watched you work for like an hour before you almost fell over.”

“Sorry,” Arwin said sheepishly.

“Sorry? I was having fun. I’m not going to complain about watching you swing a hammer.” Lillia flashed him a grin and leaned her head against his chest. “Just don’t push yourself too hard, Arwin. There’s only so much one person can wring out of themselves before there’s nothing left to give.”

Arwin’s arms tightened around Lillia and he blew out a slow sigh. “I know. I didn’t really think this would drain me so badly. I’ve just never tried making such a large piece of armor in the new style. It worked really well, but it was brutal. It drew so much more power than I thought it would.”

“Are you sure there’s nothing we can do to make your load easier? I’m often caught up advancing the tavern, but the others aren’t all busy and I know they’d love to help.”

“I don’t think so. Class advancement is a singular thing, after all.”

Lillia craned her neck back to look up at him, a flicker of confusion passing over her features. “What do you mean? It doesn’t have to be.”

It was Arwin’s turn to look confused. “I’m not sure I follow. There’s nothing you can do to help me advance my own class, is there? I’m crafting. That’s a pretty solitary activity and the Mesh isn’t going to give you credit for helping. Are demon classes different?”

“No, they’re not different, but all the demon crafters I knew worked together to lighten each other’s loads wherever they could. Even if they didn’t get benefit from doing work for the other, we’ve found that shouldering the load together lightens it for everyone. Is that not what humans do?”

“Not really. We generally do everything other than fighting on our own,” Arwin said with a thoughtful frown. “Do demons have a very strong sense of community?”

Lillia nodded. “We live and die as a whole. That’s why most of our armies are generally referred to by familial words. I wasn’t joking about the group leaders often being called Mothers.”

“Are demons a matriarchal society?”

“I’m not sure I’d say that. It’s pretty equal. Mothers don’t have to be female, though they often are. It’s more about their job. Mothers guide and protect their groups.”

“Does that mean there are Fathers as well?” Arwin asked, his curiosity piqued.

“Yes. There are a lot less of them, and their job is to protect the interests of the demon tribe as a whole. While Mothers focus on making sure each member within their group is safe and properly taken care of, Fathers only care about the overall tribe. If anything stands in its way — even a member within it — they handle the situation.”

“Demon culture is fascinating,” Arwin said. “We don’t have such defined roles for anyone beyond public offices and titled roles like the Hero. I mean, guild leaders exist, but they don’t really have such a clear purpose. They just run the guild.”

“One day, I’ll take you to a demon tribe or a monster city so you can see it for yourself. You might have to keep your armor on the whole time, though.” A grin played across Lillia’s lips. “You can see the moss while we’re at it. I still miss it.”

“I’ll look forward to that,” Arwin said, and he meant it. He knew a lot about the experiences that Lillia had gone through — but at the same time, there was so much he didn’t really understand about her or monsters as a whole.

He rose to his feet, bringing Lillia with him, then lowered her to the ground. They both turned to look at the chestpiece he’d made the previous night. Even though the [Soul Flame] had vanished from the hearth, likely when Arwin had completely ran out of energy, the black armor glistened in the dim light.

“You really outdid yourself this time,” Lillia said, her tone laden with disbelief. “An Epic item. That’s your first one, isn’t it?”

“Yeah.” Arwin nodded. A faint pang throbbed deep in his stomach, reminding him that [The Hungering Maw] still hadn’t been fully sated. A grimace played across his lips and Lillia caught the expression before he could wipe it clean.

“Are you okay?”

“I’m being told that I need to eat magic again soon. I think I used so much power that I pissed my own body off and it’s hungry again.”

“How soon?” Lillia asked, taking a step back and shooting a look at the anvil. “Why are you just standing around here? Get to it! Or do you already have something you can eat?”

“I’ll make a bracelet. Give me a second,” Arwin said. His eyes landed on the pieces of chitin in the corner and he headed over, snapping a part off. He’d made a Chitinous Band before and it had turned out quite well, so there was no reason to change what worked.

There was enough scrap Brightsteel left over from previous projects for Arwin to get to work immediately. He tossed a ball of [Soul Flame] into the hearth and got to work heating the metal and working it into a band around the piece of chitin.

Fortunately, his magic had regenerated over the night and he was able to make the bracelet without too much difficulty. About thirty minutes of work later, magic rushed into the band of metal as the Mesh recognized it.

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

Chitinous Band: Rare Quality

[Chitinskin]: Activating this item will turn its wearer’s body to chitin and freeze them in place at the continuous cost of magical energy.

[Chittering]: While this item is active, its wearer’s movements will make loud clicking noises.

A grin split Arwin’s lips as he looked over his newly made item. It was exactly the same as the last Chitinous Band he’d made. His new smithing strategy was working exactly how he hoped it would. There was always the chance there would be more variation in complex pieces, but he could replicate traits he’d made before. He raised it to his nose and took a whiff. His nostrils were greeted by the scent of earth and cooked meat, which was a strange but not entirely unwelcome smell.

Not bad. I think that means [The Hungering Maw] feels like the magic in this is worth its time and it should fill me up properly.

Arwin popped the band into his mouth. His skin rippled and hardened as chitin covered it and his body stiffened. A line of warmth ran down his throat and into his stomach, which heated to counteract the detrimental trait of the band.

A short while later, the effects of the band faded away and he let out a relieved sigh. The pain was gone. His band had worked exactly how he’d hoped it would.

“All good?” Lillia asked in concern.

“Yeah. Thanks for waiting. I’m fine now. It looks like I might have to prepare some extra food before I get really invested into any major projects in the future.” Arwin looked back to the armor resting on his anvil. “It was worth it, though.”

“I can’t disagree there,” Lillia admitted. “If it’s as light as that description says it is, she’s going to be absolutely thrilled. I, for one, can’t wait to see what she looks like decked out in all black armor.”

“Agreed,” Arwin said with a chuckle. “Let’s go show her in a second. I reached the next level in my Tier after making that, so I want to see if I’ve gotten anything from it first.”

“Congratulations,” Lillia said. Arwin nodded in appreciation and mentally reached out to the Mesh, summoning the golden letters that made up his status.

Name: Arwin Tyrr

Class: Living Forge (Unique) (Tier: Apprentice 6)

New Skill Choice Available.

[You can’t do that] has been consumed.

[Giantsbane] has been consumed.

Two of your Skill options have been upgraded.

You may select one of the following skills.

[UPGRADED] [Dragon’s Greed] – Your hunger for magical power has begun to manifest itself in the physical world. Extend your senses to search the area around you for magical items at the cost of significant magical energy. The range of this effect scales with the amount of magical energy used.

[UPGRADED] [Quench] – Even the greatest of fires must meet their end. Draw the heat out of a nonliving target, rapidly cooling it with magical energy.

[UPGRADED] [Groundshaker] - Your body is as much magic as it is flesh. Channel the power within you and drive it out through a single point, sending a powerful vibration through the ground with enough intensity to shatter most nonmagical materials. This effect can be sent in a chosen direction and extended by spending more magical energy.

[Shieldwall]: Your desire to protect your allies has proven itself time and time again. Grant it even more strength. When a creature you view as an ally is under attack, magic will infuse your muscles and accelerate your speed when moving in their direction. Furthermore, by spending increased magical energy, your skin will harden and absorb the damage from a physical blow. The amount of damage absorbed scales with the amount of magical energy used.

Chapter 170

It was a slight surprise to get another skill so quickly after reaching Apprentice 5, but Arwin wasn’t about to complain. He didn’t miss the fact that he’d also been offered four skills instead of three this time around.

One of them, Quench, was a skill he’d seen in a previous round of offerings from the Mesh. It was, as it had been before, a rather tempting offer. However, all the new skills up for grabs were just as interesting — if not more.

He scanned over the skills, reviewing his options. Dragon’s Greed was completely useless in a fight. However, a way to detect magical items from afar was absolutely nothing to scoff at, especially with his ramping need for both food and crafting materials.

If it’s accurate, that could be really useful. I’d be able to tell if there’s anything worthwhile in a dungeon or an area with just a few moments of effort instead of having to clear the entire thing. It would also make sure I never miss up on something good and can avoid dragging around worthless garbage.

Then there was Groundshaker. The times when the skill would actually be applicable would probably be a bit limited if he wanted to avoid destroying his environment every time he fought, but that very issue was what made it a good option in other scenarios.

Anything that can disrupt people’s movement or cause them to stumble or otherwise trip up is an effective skill. Changing the battlefield is almost always going to go in my favor when I’m the one that knows when it’s coming.

The final skill offer was Shieldwall. Movement based skills were, as always, a really good option. The added benefit of raising his defenses even further made it quite a powerful ability.

Anything that lets me keep my allies alive is an incredible option.

Pretty much every skill had its uses. Quench, Shieldwall, and Groundshaker all had combat applications. Quench and Dragon’s Greed were both useful out of combat. However, when Arwin looked to the future, there was one skill that stood above all the others in how worthwile it would be in the long run.

[Scourge] already let him move fast, and Groundshaker wasn’t powerful enough in its niche situation to justify picking it. Quench was useful, but it also didn’t do all that much more than an oil barrel.

Dragon’s Greed was the only ability that would be useful all the way up until Emperor Rank and beyond. Detecting magical items would never not be useful — and, if he was lucky, the ability would also let him sense things that other people were wearing.

He didn’t know if it would actually identify the things he was sensing, but just knowing what pieces they had were magical would be instrumental. At the very least, it would let him know what he could take a bite out of mid-fight.

Huh. I guess that means Dragon’s Greed is technically useful in battle as well. That settles it.

Arwin selected [Dragon’s Greed]. The golden letters faded away and Lillia sent him a questioning look, tilting her head slightly to the side.

“Well?”

“Got a new skill,” Arwin said. “A pretty useful one. It’ll let me detect magical items at a range. Hold on. I’m going to test it out. I’m going to close my eyes. Could you stand somewhere else so I can see if I can figure out where you are?”

Lillia nodded. Arwin closed his eyes and waited for a few moments for her to move. He didn’t hear a thing, but Lillia did have a way of sneaking around. She’d had more than enough time to reposition.

He drew on his magical energy and activated [Dragon’s Greed], keeping his eyes shut. Energy tingled across his skin and several lines tugged at his chest with just enough force for him to be aware of it. One ran in the direction of the anvil, while the other moved off to his left side.

The anvil is going to be Anna’s armor, so the other one should be Lillia. It looks like the skill doesn’t identify my own magical items, which is probably for the best.

Arwin pointed in the direction that he suspected Lillia was.

“You found me,” Lillia said.

The line pulled to Arwin’s side and he moved his finger to keep pointing in the direction the pull was coming from. “Looks like it remains active,” Arwin observed. “At least, that’s what I assume. You’re moving, right?”

“Yeah,” Lillia said. “Can you tell how far I am from you?”

Arwin thought for a moment, then shook his head. “No. Just a direction. I can tell you’re there, but there’s just a vague pulling sensation from where you are.”

He opened his eyes. Lillia stood about five feet away from him, her back to the wall of the smithy. Faint white energy shimmered around her armor, but there was no visible line leading to it. The armor on the anvil shimmered with the same energy.

Arwin squinted at Lillia’s armor, but he couldn’t make out any information about it. He wasn’t sure if that was because its stats were always going to be hidden from him due to being a completed set or if it was because he wasn’t using enough magic for Dragon’s Greed to overwhelm the armor’s resistance.

He released his hold on the magical energy and the lines of force faded away. They were going to be heading out to a dungeon soon. There was no reason to waste all of his magical energy now when there would be more than enough opportunities to test the ability out later.

It’s worth keeping in mind that [Dragon’s Greed] requires an active flow of power. It isn’t too aggressive when I’m not really pushing it, but I definitely just can’t keep it permanently running. I’ll need to do some testing to see just how far the range can get and optimize everything to waste as little power as possible.

“Can you see anything?” Lillia asked, looking down at her armor.

“No,” Arwin said. “I can just tell it’s magical. I might be able to if I put a lot more power into the spell, but I don’t want to waste magical energy right before we head over to a dungeon.”

“Probably a good idea,” Lillia said with a nod. “Shall we rejoin the others, then? Anna was doing a pretty good job of not showing it, but she’s dying waiting to see her new armor. I think she’s trying not to hold out too much hope.”

“Well far be it from me to keep her waiting longer,” Arwin said. He wrapped Anna’s chestpiece in leather and hoisted it under his arm. “Let’s go.”

They left the smithy and stepped into the morning light. The sun had only just clawed its way past the skyline and had poked out from behind the thin layer of clouds on the horizon, casting the city in dull orange light.

Lillia led Arwin back over to the Devil’s Den and they stepped inside. Four expectant gazes met them from the counter. Anna’s eyes went from Arwin to the bundle in his hands and then back to him.

“I’ll be honest, I didn’t think you’d actually be able to finish in time,” Rodrick said with a whistle of admiration. “Did you actually manage to get it optimized for Anna?”

“It’s fine if you didn’t,” Anna said hurriedly, glaring at Rodrick. “I can’t imagine making such a specific enchantment would be easy. I’ve made it this far without armor, so I can survive another few dungeons perfectly fine.”

“Take a look for yourself,” Arwin said. He couldn’t have hidden his smug grin if he’d wanted to as he unwrapped the chestpiece and held it out so the rest of the Menagerie could feast their eyes upon it.

A wave of silence passed over all of them. Olive’s mouth formed into an o and Rodrick let out a whistle, shaking his head in disbelief.

“Godspit,” Reya muttered. “Did you make that out of Jessen’s old armor? Talk about an upgrade. That’s beautiful.”

“Look at the abilities.” Olive rubbed her eyes and squinted at the armor as if it might disappear right before her. “The set bonus is ridiculous… but for an Epic piece, I suppose it makes sense. Even the non-set abilities are incredible. Just how light is the armor?”

“I don’t know,” Arwin said. “I haven’t put it on. It won’t work for anyone other than Anna. She’s also the only one it’s been sized for. I doubt I’d fit even if I wanted to.”

Anna swallowed heavily. “Are you really sure I can have that? I don’t know if I’ve done anything nearly worth enough to earn such a powerful piece of armor. It feels like it would be better suited on someone else.”

“Who else is going to use it?” Lillia asked. “You can see its traits yourself. Nobody in the world other than you can use this. If it’s not you, it’s nobody.”

“Lillia is right. Humility isn’t going to help any of us.” Arwin held the armor out to Anna and nodded for her to take it. “I made this for you because we need our healer safe. You can pay it back by staying alive and doing your job while we’re in the dungeon.”

Anna’s features set and she inclined her head, taking the armor from his hands. “When you put it that way, then I can’t say no. Thank you. I’ll put this to good use.”

She pulled it over her head and Rodrick helped her tie it on. As soon as he finished, all the information from the Mesh vanished and the chestpiece hid its stats from view. Anna’s eyes sparkled with disbelief as she walked around the room.

“It’s so light. I can barely feel it,” Anna said. She hopped from one foot to the other, then let out a laugh. “Can you see this? I can move! In armor!”

“Maybe you’re stronger than you think, honey,” Rodrick offered.

“Thanks for the vote of confidence, but I nearly dropped a pan on my foot the last time I tried cooking because I was surprised at how much it weighed.” Anna laughed and shook her head. “I’m not ashamed to admit I’m good at a whole lot of things, but lifting heavy crap isn’t one of them.”

“Unless you’re dragging me to safety,” Rodrick said proudly.

Anna let out an amused huff. “Unless I’m doing that. That really isn’t something you should be happy about, though. How does the armor look?”

“Anything looks good on you,” Rodrick said. “I shudder to think what the full set will be when it’s done, though. You might be the most intimidating looking one out of the lot of us.”

“How much is it for a commission, again?” Olive asked with a sidelong look at Arwin. “Rodrick is right, though. When people see your brand on that armor, you’re going to start getting a whole lot more people knocking on your door for commissions.”

“They’ll have to get in line.” Reya said with a snicker. “But that’s a good point. This is a perfect advertisement for the Infernal Armory.”

“Only if people have any reason to see it,” Arwin pointed out. “Nobody will know about its magical properties.”

“That’s true,” Lillia said. “But it’s still a very beautiful piece of armor. It’s going to draw some eyes when we head out to the dungeon. Even if it doesn’t get the entire town raving, it only takes a few people talking to keep pushing the rumors further.”

“True enough,” Arwin allowed. “In that case, we might as well start moving. I believe I may have gotten the key to the section of the dungeon that everyone is currently trying to unlock, so I think we might have something interesting lying in wait.”

“I was wondering if they’d ever find that,” Rodrick said, rubbing his chin and laughing. “I should have guessed that it would have just been on his body. You better keep the key hidden until we get there so nobody tries to take it from us.”

“That’s the plan,” Arwin said with a nod. Is everyone ready to head out to the dungeon?” He received a round of nods in response. Everyone rose to their feet and Arwin turned to the door. “Then let’s get to it. If the dungeon had something interesting enough to keep even Jessen’s attention, then I think we might have quite the prize lying in wait for us.”