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 RISE OF THE LIVING FORGE
©2024 ACTUS

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 Also by Actus
R ise of the L iving F orge
Rise of the Living Forge 1
Rise of the Living Forge 2

R eturn of the R unebound P rofessor

Return of the Runebound Professor
Return of the Runebound Professor 2
Return of the Runebound Professor 3
Return of the Runebound Professor 4

M y B est F riend is an E ldritch H orror

Blackmist
Greenblood
Duskbringer
Voidwalker
Dawnfall
Realmbreaker

Want to discuss our books with other readers and even the authors?

JOIN THE AETHON DISCORD!

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 Contents

Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Chapter 49
Chapter 50
Chapter 51
Chapter 52
Chapter 53
Chapter 54
Chapter 55
Chapter 56
Chapter 57
Chapter 58
Chapter 59
Chapter 60
Chapter 61
Chapter 62
Chapter 63
Chapter 64
Chapter 65
Chapter 66
Chapter 67
Chapter 68
Chapter 69
Chapter 70
Chapter 71
Chapter 72
Chapter 73
Chapter 74
Chapter 75
Chapter 76
Chapter 77
Chapter 78
Chapter 79
Chapter 80
Chapter 81
Chapter 82
Chapter 83
Chapter 84
Chapter 85
Chapter 86
Chapter 87
Chapter 88
Chapter 89
Chapter 90
Chapter 91
Chapter 92
Chapter 93
Chapter 94
Chapter 95
Chapter 96
Chapter 97
Thank you for reading Rise of the Living Forge
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LitRPG

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 1

E
ver since Arwin had been summoned as a child, all he had known was
war. He had killed enemies. He had killed friends. And now, to kill the
Demon Queen, he was going to kill himself.
Corpses covered the ruined battlefield around Arwin, strewn about like
the discarded toys of an unruly child. Thousands had stood strong that
morning, and across from him was the only one that still remained.
The Demon Queen. A faded scar ran down her right eye, left there from
a battle they’d had years ago. Her armor smoldered with embers that had
once been roaring flames, and the dark, leathery wings sprouting from her
back were shredded to bloody ribbons.
“Hero of Lian,” the Demon Queen said, coming to a stop ten paces
away from Arwin. Her voice lacked the thunderous presence that it
normally carried. There was no need for it. Not a single person from their
armies remained, and so she spoke in a normal, weary tone that matched
exactly how he felt. She raised her sword and pointed it at Arwin’s throat.
“Today⁠—”
“Is there a point?” Arwin asked, cutting her off. “I have energy for one
last blow, not a conversation.”
A small, wry smile tugged at the corner of the Demon Queen’s lips. “As
do I. Good riddance.”
Arwin readied his sword. His armor creaked around him, the
enchantments covering it sputtering with effort to keep themselves active.
The only thing that even kept his body standing were the considerable
number of Titles and Achievements that he had built on the graves of
friends and enemies alike. But today, as Arwin’s exhausted arms raised his
sword one last time, he knew that it would end. The fifteen-year nightmare
would finally be over.
They charged. In truth, it was more of a sad stumble. They both reached
each other at the same time, driving their blades at each other’s hearts.
Neither tried to block or dodge, lacking the energy to do any more than
what they’d already mustered.
Arwin’s blade pierced through the demon’s armor, driving straight
through her chest and grazing her heart. In the same instant, her sword
shattered the cracked surface of his breastplate and did the same to his.
Blood poured down Arwin’s chest, dripping to the ground at his feet.
Dizziness gripped his mind as the world spun around him. If he had the
energy, he would have laughed.
They'd both missed the final blow, but it hardly mattered. It wouldn't be
long before they were dead anyway.
At least the war was over. His job was done.
Darkness started to swallow his vision, taking life with it. It was peace.
It was the release that he had sought, a way to finally rest⁠—
Rude light flashed before his eyes.

The conditions for [Sunset] to activate have been met. [Sunset] has been
consumed.

Arwin’s breastplate shimmered. His weary eyes just barely managed to

pick up a small black gemstone glittering at its center, burning with magical
power. If he’d had the energy, he would have been surprised. The Demon
Queen didn’t seem to recognize it either.
Huh. This isn’t supposed to be there. What is it?
And then, with a tiny pop akin to a cork from a bottle of wine, the
gemstone cracked.
The world collapsed.
A massive wall of force slammed into Arwin, driving the breath from
his lungs and scorching his body. His armor and magical equipment
vaporized as they tried and failed to resist the massive outpouring of energy,
and then the true force of the explosion hit him with nothing left to obstruct
it. He didn’t even get a chance to scream.
 His consciousness sputtered and blinked out like a candle in a hurricane,
and then there was only blissful nothingness.

But, like all things, the peace ended.

Arwin’s eyes fluttered for a few seconds before snapping open. He drew
in a desperate, ragged breath as his heart slammed desperately in his chest,
suddenly remembering that it had to beat. His throat was impossibly dry
and his lips cracked.
He was alive. Far above, the warm sun shone down on him from a
cloudless sky.
Warm, wet dirt pressed against his back. The smell of moss and mildew
surrounded Arwin, but the fact that he could breathe anything was a
miracle. Coughing and gritting his teeth, he pushed himself into a seated
position.
The ground released its grip on Arwin’s back with a wet squelch, but
something was wrong. His body felt… strange.
Empty.
He groaned, blinking as he tried to figure out what had happened. He
looked down—and, just like that, he found a problem. He had changed. The
enormous, magic-empowered muscles that had once covered him were
nowhere to be seen. In their place were the normal, lean muscles of a
workman. He’d shrunk significantly in height, going from seven feet tall to
just over six.
It was a vaguely familiar body—one that he’d had before he’d advanced
his Paladin class to the Master tier, but without most of the muscle he'd
spent years earning. His clothes had been turned into ribbons; the magic
that had once made them nearly as powerful as the strongest armor now
completely lost.
All the power he’d once possessed was muted and distant, but he
couldn’t quite bring himself to care. He didn’t need it anymore. The Demon
Queen was vanquished. His power was a small price to sacrifice for peace.
There was a thick, ropey scar right beside his heart where he had been
run through. Arwin instinctively reached for his sword, but his hand found
nothing. The only thing he could find were the tattered scraps of his pants.
Not even his shirt remained. A dull, gnawing pain clenched his stomach, but
it was surprisingly bearable and not at all like a stab wound.
“What happened?” Arwin choked on his own words. He doubled over in
a coughing fit for several seconds before managing to regain control of
himself.
What was that black gemstone? I oversaw the forging of my armor with
my own eyes, but the gemstone was clearly embedded within. It was clearly
some sort of magical bomb. Perhaps it was a failsafe to destroy the Demon
Queen even if I died? No, that shouldn’t be it. A failsafe would have
triggered after I died. Not before. That gem didn’t feel like any form of
magic we possess, but I’ve never seen the monster army use its like either.
Is it possible I was betrayed and someone in the guild was working with
the demons? That wouldn’t make sense, though. The explosion should have
killed both me and the Demon Queen. I still don’t know how I survived. And
what is Sunset? That was not a Title I had.
There were far too many questions and far too few answers. One thing
Arwin knew for certain was that he would find no solutions while lying on
the ground. Slowly, he pushed himself to his feet. He was somewhere in a
large, marshy field. Crops surrounded him, so there was probably
civilization fairly close. There were no answers in the wilderness, but the
nearest city could tell him what happened.
Scanning the horizon, Arwin spotted a small gray plume in the far
distance. It might have been a cloud, but he was fairly certain it was smoke
from a chimney. At least, that was what he hoped it was.
Arwin almost called on the Mesh, just to see if any of his former magic
remained. But, before he could, he stopped himself. With magic came
responsibility. He would be the Hero once more if anything remained.
Sending one last glance down at his body, Arwin shook his head and
trudged in the direction of the plume.
Hours later, a city came into view. It wasn’t one he recognized, but the
stone walls stood proud, manned by several guards at the gate. They wore
plain but effective chainmail armor. Even without his magic, Arwin could
sense faint power emanating off them. A sigh of relief slipped from his lips.
If a city still stood, the Horde had fallen.
I won.
The guards watched Arwin with wary expressions as he approached.
The dry mud caked on his body and the exhaustion on his face likely didn’t
do him any favors.
“We don’t welcome beggars in Milten,” the lead guard said, placing a
hand on the hilt of his sword.
Milten? Doesn’t bring up any memories. It must be toward the edges of
the kingdom.
Arwin almost laughed. “My name is Arwin. I know I look different, but
I’m no beggar.”
“A beggar with a name is still a beggar,” the guard said, his eyes narrow.
I suppose I can’t blame them for not recognizing me. I don’t look like
what I once did, so there’s no point bothering to convince them. It may
actually be better that people don’t recognize me. Maybe I can finally rest
and take advantage of the peace.
“I just want to bathe and hear the news,” Arwin said wearily. “I can
assure you that I can pay for any services I need. I will not trouble any of
your citizens.”
The guards exchanged a glance. With a shake of his head, the lead guard
stepped to the side. “I shouldn’t do this, but fine. You seem honest enough,
but get to an inn and wash off immediately. If I catch you begging on our
streets, you’ll get a boot up your ass.”
“Understood.” Arwin strode past the guards, not wanting to try his luck.
He didn’t actually have any coin on him, but as long as someone was
willing to offer him a bath, he’d happily wash dishes in a kitchen for as long
as it took.
Despite the sun hanging straight above, the city of Milten was
surprisingly quiet. There were only a few other people on the roads, and
none of them gave Arwin so much as a second glance.
Stone buildings, with just enough variety to avoid being an eyesore,
lined the streets in neat rows. After several minutes of walking, Arwin
finally spotted the subject of his search. An inn, identified mostly by the
cauldron burnt into a wooden sign hanging above its door, sat near the
center of town.
Smoke curled from the three-story building’s chimney, and a warm
firelight flickered within its window from a fireplace. A newspaper had
been wedged into the window, and Arwin paused for a moment to read it.

The Horde grows in power. The Kingdom of Lian calls for all
capable adventurers to take to arms in its defense. Great rewards
 will be given to those who bring proof of their victories in battle
back to the Adventurers’ Guild. We must strike before the Horde can
mount an offense. It is high time the Kingdom took control of the
war.

For any adventurers over the Expert tier, the Hero of Lian is in need
of a party. Auditions are being held in the capital for the privilege of
adventuring alongside him.

To lay down one’s life for the Kingdom is the greatest service one
can do, and you will be remembered for all eternity.
Please note: The Fallen Hero had informed the Adventurers’ Guild
that he would donate all his belongings to their cause just minutes
before his wounds from the Demon Queen proved too much to bear.
Praise be to his generosity. His body was treated with the highest
honor after it was brought back to the guild, but the funeral has been
canceled due to weather conditions. Tickets will not be refunded.

At the bottom of the words was an image of a heavily muscled man

holding a glowing sword aloft, a courageous expression on his handsome
features. It was signed by the Hero of Lian—but the man on the paper
wasn’t Arwin, and the signature wasn’t his either.
He stared in disbelief.

I said no such thing. I didn’t speak to anyone after the explosion.

And how could they have recovered a body when I’m right here?
Why would they lie about that? It would have been easy to say a
failsafe destroyed both of us—if that was what it was. But if they
aren’t mentioning it… was I betrayed? Could that gem have been a
way to make sure I didn’t survive the war? But why? I don’t
understand. I need answers.

Arwin grabbed the paper and pulled it away from the window, ripping
the edges in the process. He shoved the door open and entered the inn,
making a beeline for the thin innkeeper behind the bar.
 “Gods, man. What happened to you?” the innkeeper asked with a
grimace. “You reek.”
Arwin slammed the paper down. “What is this?”
Something about his voice must have given the innkeeper pause,
because he swallowed and looked down at the paper.
“It came in the news a week ago. What about it?”
“Everything! The Demon Queen is dead! How is the Horde back?”
The innkeeper blinked, then let out a laugh. “Ah. You went on a solo
adventuring trip after the war ended, didn’t you?”
So it did end?
“I—Yes,” Arwin said, deciding it would be easier to go with the man’s
assumptions than correct them. “I left right after the Demon Queen was
struck down.”
A smile crossed the innkeeper’s face and he nodded. “I understand that.
What a party it was. I swear the entire kingdom celebrated for a week
straight.”
“So what happened? Why is there a missive about another war?”
The smile fell away and the innkeeper shook his head. “Sorry you’ve
got to find it out like this, lad. After the celebrations, a new Demon Queen
was discovered about a month later, gathering the remnants of the Horde.
It’s been about two weeks since then. Luckily for all of us, the kingdom
actually had another Hero in training. We’ll all be safe; don’t you worry.”
Arwin’s ears rang and he tasted metal in his mouth. He leaned against
the counter, staining it with mud, but he barely even noticed.
“So the war ended, but then it started again?”
“It’s more like it paused.” The innkeeper rubbed the back of his head,
then let out a heavy sigh. “Just when it looked like everything would let up.
I suppose it’s not like we aren’t used to it, though. You’ve got the build of a
warrior, so you should be happy too. There’s a lot of opportunities for
adventurers⁠—”
Arwin grabbed the paper from the counter and spun, striding out of the
inn as his mind roiled. A throbbing pain built in his stomach, eating at his
insides like a lump of molten coal.
He’d won the war—or, at least, his war. Sure, the peace had lasted all of
a month. He had no idea where a new Demon Queen or Hero had come
from, but the relief he felt was so intense that he couldn’t bring himself to
care.
 His duty was finished. There was a new Hero for a new war, and he was
no longer required. He, along with the men and women that had fought
alongside him, could rest. But still, the gemstone lingered in Arwin’s mind.
Someone tried to kill me with magic that I’ve never seen. The options
are the guild, someone within the guild working for the demons, or the
demons themselves. I don’t think someone planted anything on me, but I just
don’t have any way to tell.
Every single aspect of my armor should have been checked over by
dozens of people, which means all of them had to have been involved
somehow. Hell, the head of the guild literally handed me the armor and
confirmed it was prepared and ready on the day I set out for what should
have been my final battle. He was the last one to check it.
Sure, something could have gotten changed while I was headed to
battle, but I don’t think anyone got that close to me. I can’t believe I’m
thinking this, but I think the guild—or someone with a lot of influence in it
—must have been heavily involved.
But if it really was them, then my very existence proves their lies, and
they’ll definitely kill me again to keep me silent. Even if it’s just a few
people at the top, I can’t handle them yet. When I was at the peak of my
power, perhaps I could have. But now… I’ll need to lie low until I can
regain my strength.
There was no more delaying it. He had to see how much had changed.
Arwin finally reached out to the Mesh. The sentient magic that permeated
the entire world, rewarding those who sought to advance their strength and
sought challenge, had been one of the only constants in his life.
And, as it always had, the Mesh responded. Glowing golden letters,
visible to only him, traced through the air before him.

Name: Arwin Tyrr

Class: Living Forge (Unique) (Tier: Apprentice 1)

Skills:
[Awaken] (Passive) – All items forged by your hand have the
potential to Awaken. In addition, they have the potential to take on
a trait determined by [Unknown]. The potential for the trait to be
detrimental scales inversely with your tier and is currently 80%.
 Titles:
[Scourge] – You have faced an entire army in combat and emerged
victorious. Your physical strength can be significantly intensified
at the cost of magical energy.
[Indomitable Bulwark] – You have withstood a blow that would
have leveled a city. Damage from all attacks is reduced
significantly.
[The Hungering Maw] (Passive) – An enormous burst of energy
has permanently infused you with magic, but not without cost. You
must consume magical objects or items to survive. Consuming an
item temporarily grants you some of its properties.
Achievements:
[Broken Bearer of Last Light] – Awarded for meeting the
conditions of [Sunset]. You survived an explosion that could have
leveled a city. Effects: Class changed to Living Forge. All other
achievements and competing titles have been consumed. This
achievement will be consumed upon advancing your tier.

Arwin’s hand dropped. His class and skills were gone, replaced by what
seemed to be some form of craftsman class. His tier was back to
Apprentice. The vast majority of his Titles—gone as well. He didn’t have
any Achievements left, but at least that wasn’t a surprise, as they were
consumable and weren’t meant to stick around. But, on top of everything
else, he’d gained a new Title that forced him to consume magical items in
order to survive.
And yet… the class was almost exactly what he had once hoped for. A
chance to create rather than to destroy. Even though he hadn’t actually
chosen the path Living Forge was paving for him, it was as if the Mesh had
known what he truly desired.
Actually, that’s likely exactly what happened. The Mesh gives rewards
that let you upgrade your class or skills whenever you get Achievements or
Titles. This was my reward for completing the purpose I’ve been pursuing
ever since coming here. The actual class must have come from that
Achievement, Sunset… but why this particular one? I’ve never had an
interest in blacksmithing before, though I’ve always loved the idea of being
a creator.
 Perhaps it had to do with all the armor and weaponry that I had on me.
I did have an extensive presence in helping make my weapons and armor, so
perhaps that strongly influenced it. I certainly can’t complain.
I’m finally free. And, so long as the guild doesn’t find out I survived, I
can figure out what happened. And, if they really did betray me, I can tear
them down from the inside out… after I rebuild my own life. They’ll pay, but
I’m not dying for a cause again. Besides, I need a damn break.
As for [The Hungering Maw] passive… it’s problematic right now, but
it’s clearly tied deeply to the class itself. That means if I get stronger, I’ll be
able to upgrade the passive and get more out of it than just temporary
boons. The potential is ridiculous.
For the first time in his twenty-five years of life, he felt unburdened. For
everyone else, the war was still going on. It bore the promise of power and
riches, and the draw was too great to resist for many adventurers.
But, for him, the war was over. He’d done his part, and they’d turned on
him. As for why, he didn’t know. At the moment, he didn’t particularly care.
Arwin started to laugh. It was on that day, covered in mud and crouched in
a dark alley, cackling like a madman, that the true Hero of Lian died. The
man who rose in his place was simply Arwin. There was only the man who
would forge his new life one hammer blow at a time.
Arwin didn’t get to enjoy his newfound freedom for long, though. Even
as his laughter echoed out, the burning pain in his stomach intensified. His
face creased in pain and he doubled over, drawing in a ragged breath.
Through squinted eyes, he could just barely make out the glowing
words of the Mesh taking form before his eyes.

[The Hungering Maw within you hungers for power. If you do not
consume a magical item within 1 hour, your body will collapse.]

Arwin stared at the glowing words with dread. He shoved his hands into
his pockets, but he already knew what he would find. They were empty.
Arwin didn’t have a single thing of worth to his name.
In fact, the only thing he did have of worth was his name—and if he
used it anywhere, the guild would come for him. He gritted his teeth,
waving the words away and turning away from the inn to stumble into a
dark alleyway nearby.
I may be in trouble.
OceanofPDF.com
 2

T
he pain in Arwin’s stomach intensified with every passing second. He
wasn’t even sure what he was searching for. It wasn’t like he could
just break into a shop and steal a magical item, nor was he going to
find one lying around on the ground.
I suppose I could break in somewhere, but then I’d be a wanted man.
No. I need a smithy. This class should let me forge something. If I can just
find a smithy somewhere, I’ll be fine.
That was easier said than done. The agony was so intense that Arwin
could have sworn that his stomach was actually eating itself. He’d been
stabbed, cut, and ripped up by magic more times than he could count—none
of it came close to this.
His body begged him to lie down and curl into a ball. To give in to the
pain in hopes that it would end sooner. Arwin’s mind rebelled. He ground
his teeth and pressed on, leaning on a wall for support as he staggered
through the dark alleyways.
As Arwin turned an alleyway, muted voices reached his ears. He forced
his eyes up, squinting. Standing just feet away from him in a corner of the
alley well within the shadows was a bald man in dark clothes.
He had his dagger to the neck of a short, hooded woman with blonde
hair and a scarred face. She looked to be roughly in her late teens. She and
the man were arguing about something, but Arwin’s ears barely even
registered the words. He mustered his energy and took a step toward them.
 “You,” Arwin growled, his pained words coming out coarse. “Smithy.
The nearest one. Where is it?”
“We’re doing something here,” the bald man said. “Don’t get any ideas.
Get lost before you get run through as well.”
I don’t have time for these damn games.
“Answer the question,” Arwin spat. His stomach spasmed and his hand
bit into the wall in an attempt to support himself. “Now.”
“You trying to be a hero?” The bald man shoved the woman back,
pointing his dagger at Arwin and taking a step forward, a cocky smirk on
his face. Inwardly, Arwin twitched. The man’s stance was all wrong.
His feet weren’t spaced properly, which didn’t provide him with optimal
balance, and he gripped the dagger between two fingers like it was a fork
rather than a weapon. If he was meant to be intimidating, it wasn’t working.
“That dagger magic?” Arwin asked.
“Think you’re funny, don’t ya?” The bald man bared his teeth. “I’ll gut
you like a fish, big man. I don’t see a sword on you. Muscles won’t stop
you from bleeding out.”
Arwin stopped listening to his words after he realized that the man
wasn’t answering his question. If he wouldn’t say if the dagger was magical
or not, then Arwin would have to find out himself.
He shoved the pain down, just like he’d done in countless battles before,
and moved. The bald man’s eyes widened and he thrust the dagger for
Arwin’s stomach. It was such a pathetic attempt that Arwin almost laughed.
He drew on the Mesh. He might have lost his original class, but some of
his titles had remained. With just a small injection of magic into [Scourge],
Arwin felt power flood him.
His hand came down on the other man’s wrist, and bones shattered like
dry sticks. Arwin’s fingers wrapped around the man’s crushed wrist, and his
other fist slammed into the man’s stomach.
The man crumpled with a pained scream, dangling by one arm from
Arwin’s grip. Disgust washed through Arwin and he released [Scourge],
driving an open palm into his would-be murderer’s skull.
Just like that, the screaming stopped. The man fell limp, unconscious
but not dead. Shaking his head, Arwin grabbed the dagger from the man’s
limp fingers. All that his fingers found was plain metal. It didn’t have the
telltale tingle of magic within.
 “Worthless,” Arwin growled. He knelt beside the man and rifled through
his pockets. They were, just like his, empty. Arwin’s eye twitched.
Just my luck to get robbed by the cheapest thief to ever live.
His eyes flicked over to the girl at the back of the alley, who was staring
at him in a mixture of horror and awe.
“You,” Arwin growled, straightening back up. The gnawing in his
stomach was back and stronger than ever, but he couldn’t afford to give it
heed. He didn’t remember how long he had left, and it didn’t look like the
Mesh planned to enlighten him.
Forty-five minutes? Thirty? More than that, I think. I hope.
“Yes?” the girl squeaked.
“Smithy. Where is it?”
“I—There’s an abandoned one about ten minutes from here, but the
street is haunt⁠—”
“Show me. Now.”
“Okay,” she stammered. “Please don’t kill me.”
Arwin didn’t bother replying. He just jerked his head in
acknowledgment. The girl swallowed heavily, then edged along the walls
toward a connecting alleyway.
“It’s this way,” she said hesitantly.
“Lead. Quickly, now.”
She hurried to comply, and the two of them headed deeper into the city.
Arwin was relieved to find that the girl took his words to heart. She was
practically scampering away from him, but it was all he could do to
maintain his fast walk.
Anything more felt like it would rip him apart from the inside out. The
girl kept throwing glances over her shoulder at him, as if she expected
Arwin to suddenly decide to change his mind and rip her head off.
They walked for roughly ten minutes. At least, Arwin was pretty sure it
had been that long. Time felt like it was blurring together. What mattered
was that he was still alive when the girl came to a stop in front of a dark,
rundown street.
Gray cobblestone was stained black, and dull moss grew in its cracks.
The buildings were crooked and crumbling, with some of them having
completely given way to ruin. The faint scent of rubbish and mildew
permeated the air, but with such intensity that Arwin knew for a fact it was
never going to leave his clothes.
 “T-this building. The whole street is abandoned and cursed. Anybody
that tries to stick around here ends up dead. There’s a ghost… or
something,” the girl said, pointing at a crumbling stone storefront. What had
once been a window was now just a hole, the gray brick around it badly
cracked. Weeds had tried to take root around the building, but they’d all
withered and died.
The chimney poking out of the top of the building had largely fallen
apart and was just a pile of bricks that vaguely resembled a rectangle.
Arwin didn’t even bother saying anything. If it had a forge, he didn’t
care what it was or what was wandering around near it. He staggered across
the street and nearly tripped on the jagged, ill-kept steps leading inside.
There were the remains of a rotting wooden door barring his way, but
Arwin quite literally walked straight through it.
Fragments of dust and rancid wood flew up around him as the door
crunched. Arwin’s eyes scanned the dust-covered interior of the building,
instantly landing on the back, just beyond a counter.
An open door led into another room, where the tip of an anvil stuck out
into view. Arwin increased his speed, pushing through the remains of the
building. He stepped into the room at the back.
What greeted him was far from inspiring. Piles of scrap metal were
piled in the corners, and not a single part of it looked like it had been
touched in years. And yet, tools still hung from the forge’s walls. An anvil
sat in its center, beside a pair of rotted buckets that had fallen in on
themselves.
Beyond them was the forge, cobbled brick leading up to the crumbled
chimney that he’d seen from above. There was still dry wood in it,
blackened from being partially burnt. Mixed in with the wood was some
charcoal, as if the smith who had last used it had tried to save money by
combining the two. It wasn’t much to work with, but it was all Arwin had,
and he’d be damned if he went out without giving it his all.
Arwin had never forged something himself, but he’d closely overseen
the manufacturing of his armor. A memory of the black gemstone flitted
through his mind, and a bitter smile pulled at Arwin’s lips.
I suppose I oversaw the forging of most of my armor, not all of it.
Either way, the first step he could recall was fire. And, to get fire, Arwin
needed⁠—
There.
 Sitting near the hearth was a black brick. A piece of flint. It was mostly
used up, but all he needed was a spark. Arwin heaved himself over to it,
grabbing the piece of flint, and struck it with the dagger that he’d taken
from the thief.
It scraped against the flint, sending up a tiny cloud of dust and doing
nothing more. Undeterred, Arwin struck it again.
And again.
The fourth time, his efforts were rewarded. A tiny spark leapt as he
struck the flint, landing on one of the dry, burnt pieces of wood nestled
amongst the charcoal. Perhaps fortune smiled on Arwin, or perhaps the gods
were smiling on him. Regardless of the reason, the spark took. He struck
the flint a few more times until a tiny fire started to spread across the dry
wood.
Arwin fanned the flames as they grew, flitting across the dry wood and
quickly filling the hearth. He grabbed the handles of the bellows, squeezing
them desperately and pumping air into the flame.
In minutes, a fire started to roar. Arwin’s stomach reminded him that he
didn’t have minutes to work with. At any point, his time would run out and
he would die.
I’m not even guaranteed to make a magical item. I hardly know what
I’m doing, but I have no choice but to try.
Arwin staggered over to the pile of metal and grabbed a piece, barely
pausing for long enough to check how good it looked. They were all
garbage, and he didn’t need to make a work of art.
He practically threw it into the fire, then immediately remembered that
he had to take it back out. Cursing under his breath and pumping the
bellows to keep the flame going, Arwin scanned the room once more. There
was a poker already resting in the hearth, but it wasn’t exactly what he
needed.
His eyes landed on a pair of crusty tongs lying on the ground in a pile of
rotted wood. Beside it, leaning against the anvil, was an old hammer. The
wood making up its handle didn’t look particularly reliable, but it was better
than nothing.
Arwin turned his attention back to the piece of metal. It was only barely
starting to heat, but he didn’t have any way to make it hot faster. All he
could do was continue pumping the bellows, gritting his teeth as the pain
continued to scale.
 It was another five precious minutes later when the metal finally seemed
hot enough to work with. Arwin released the bellows, lurching forward and
grabbing the tongs with fumbling fingers.
He stuffed them into the hearth, sending out a shower of sparks as he
grabbed the slightly reddened piece of metal and slammed it onto the anvil.
Snagging the hammer with his other hand, Arwin brought it down on the
piece of metal.
It struck with a resounding clang, and the man immediately found a
problem. The hearth hadn’t been anywhere near hot enough, and the metal
had only slightly bent at his strike. The amount of time it would take to let
the hearth heat properly was too great, though.
Arwin raised his arm and called on [Scourge]. His hand fell, power
infused into his muscles, and he struck the metal again. This time, it gave
beneath the blow and bent. Arwin suppressed a pained grin and raised the
hammer once more.
If he didn’t have time, he’d just have to cut a few corners. Over and
over, Arwin’s hammer fell on the strip of metal.
He flattened it out, using the tongs to hold it in place as he pounded
away. Arwin stuck it back into the hearth as it cooled, then pulled it back
out as soon as it felt ready to work with. He had absolutely no idea how to
forge just about anything, but a bracelet seemed easy enough. It was just a
circle, after all.
He hammered at the metal again, starting to put a curve into the metal.
With every blow, he felt the molten coal inside his stomach start to burn
hotter. Time was nearly up.
But nearly wasn’t the same thing as completely, and so he kept at it. The
strip of metal started to curve, and the two pieces finally came around to
touch each other. It was, without a doubt, the ugliest bracelet that Arwin had
ever seen.
And yet, a bracelet it still was.
Even though it still glowed with faint heat, Arwin felt the Mesh rise up
within him.

[Metal Bracelet: Garbage Quality] has been forged. Forging a magical

item has granted you energy.
Achievement: [The First Step] has been earned.
[The First Step] – Awarded for forging your first item. Effects: Your first
item has been granted magic. May it serve you well. This achievement
has been consumed upon creation of your first item.

The Mesh traced words through the air as Arwin inspected his newly
made bracelet.

Metal Bracelet: Garbage Quality

Running Hot: This item was forged hastily, imbuing it with the panic of
a dying candle. While wearing it, you may use a small amount of your
magical energy to imbue your attacks with the Fire element.

Arwin could have cried in relief. He grabbed the bracelet, the heat still
singeing his skin, and brought it to his mouth. It was a monumentally stupid
idea to try to bite down on a piece of hot metal, but he had no idea how else
he was meant to eat something.
As his mouth opened and his teeth touched the bracelet, a surge of
energy raced down his body and into his stomach. The metal groaned
within his mouth. And then, with a loud crack, it shattered.
Relief flooded through Arwin as the pain started to abate. He chewed,
unaware and uncaring of how he was eating straight metal as if it were
bread, and then swallowed. The pain continued to recede, but Arwin wasn’t
taking any chances.
He took another bite from the bracelet, grinding the metal between his
teeth. As Arwin went to take another bite, he heard a footfall behind him.
He turned, still chewing on metal, as five cloaked men stepped into the
shop, their weapons drawn.
“What do you want?” Arwin asked, taking another bite from his
bracelet. The taste was starting to grow on him. It almost felt a little bit
spicy, but that might have been his tongue burning. “I’m busy.”
“This is the guy that roughed Blin up?” one of the men asked.
“It’s him,” another said, tapping his nose. “Followed him here.”
The first man glanced at the largest with an uncomfortable frown.
“Boss, I⁠—”
“Shut up,” the large man snapped. “You don’t fiddle with the Brothers
Six and just waltz off. He only got a dagger, idiots.”
 “Brothers Six? What are you, a circus troupe?” Arwin asked. He
finished off the last of his bracelet, then let out a slow sigh. The last traces
of pain had finally vanished.
Heat coiled in Arwin’s fists, and a cold smile split his lips. He could
think properly again. “Get out, you corny shits. I value my solitude.”
“I’m the one who calls the shots here,” the large man said, pointing his
sword at Arwin. Magic crackled around his hand and entered the blade,
igniting it with hissing yellow lightning. “And you’re paying in blood for
what you did.”
Of course he’s got magic. This is going to be a little more annoying than
I was hoping for.
“Idiots.” Arwin grabbed the poker from the hearth and pulled it free, its
tip glowing red-hot. “Come on, then. I can’t say I enjoy moving much after
a meal, but I’ll make an exception if it shuts you up.”

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 3

T
he first man charged. Arwin took care to avoid getting a good look at
his face. In his later years of fighting against the Horde, he’d taken to
avoiding staring into someone’s eyes as they died.
At first, he’d always seen monsters as nothing more than mindless
killers that sought blood because it was their nature.
That wasn’t true. It was said that the eyes were the windows to the soul,
and Arwin had seen everything in the eyes of those he had cut down. He
had seen desperation—he had seen fruitless hope—and, inevitably, he had
seen death.
It was much easier to kill without looking at the eyes. Arwin leaned
back, letting the thief’s dagger flash past his face, and brought his fist up.
He fed a small amount of magical power into his hand, and heat surged
around it as his knuckles connected with the man’s chin.
There was a loud crack as the thief’s head snapped back. Fire flared
around Arwin, scorching the man badly. He let out a terrified scream, but
Arwin didn’t leave him to suffer long. His fist crashed back down, taking
the man in the head and putting him to eternal sleep.
“I already gave one of you a second chance,” Arwin said as the man
crumpled at his feet. He turned to the others, who were staring in disbelief
at the speed at which their ally had been killed. “If you take one step closer,
you will meet the same fate.”
Arwin didn’t expect his words to work. Nobody had ever taken him up
on them before. But, to his surprise, one of the four remaining men turned
on his heel and fled. The largest of them called out a curse, but the man
didn’t heed it.
“He is wiser than you,” Arwin said, pointing his hot poker at them like a
sword. “Last chance.”
“Murderer!” the boss screamed, charging at Arwin. Lightning crackled
around his body and gathered at the tip of his sword.
Could you telegraph that any harder?
Arwin lunged to the side, narrowly avoiding the magic. The sword
slammed into the ground where he’d been standing with a loud crack,
shattering the stone and sending up a wisp of smoke. The other two men
sprinted toward Arwin as well, aiming to surround him.
He didn’t plan to give them a chance. Arwin lunged, driving his hot
poker for the large man’s back. To Arwin’s surprise, the thief was decent
with his blade. He knocked Arwin’s attack to the side, then swung for his
head.
Arwin ducked the blow, then twisted out of the way as one of the other
men tried to stab at him. He went to dodge an attack from the third man, but
for some reason, it never came. Arwin didn’t question his luck and lunged
again, this time drawing on [Scourge].
The large thief made to block Arwin’s attack again, but this time, his
sword rang off the hot poker like he was a child batting at a bear. His eyes
only had an instant to widen before Arwin’s makeshift weapon ran him
through between the eyes.
Arwin ripped the poker free and spun, raising it defensively just in time
to block a desperate blow. For an instant, he locked eyes with a terrified
thief. Then Arwin’s poker struck again, and another corpse fell to the floor.
Damn it. One more memory to add to the pile.
He turned in search of the final man, then blinked. The man was right in
front of him—his throat slit. Behind him stood the girl with blonde hair, a
dagger clutched in her hands.
She quickly dropped the blade and raised her hands into the air. “I—I
was just trying to help. Please don’t kill me.”
Arwin glanced back down at the dead men, then let his poker lower. “I
didn’t need help.”
“I could tell,” the girl said. She swallowed. “But even a master
swordsman can slip on a rock.”
 A small grin tugged at the corner of Arwin’s lips. “You aren’t wrong,
but I am no master swordsman. I’m only twenty-five. Why did you help?”
“Because you helped me. That’s how it works.”
Arwin nearly laughed, but he caught himself at the last second. If that
was actually how the world worked, then it would have been a far better
place. If that was how the world worked, he wouldn’t have been betrayed.
A flicker of anger passed through Arwin’s eyes, but he wrestled himself
under control. The guild’s time would come.
Well, the guild, or whoever it was in it that took me down. For now, the
entire guild will have to be suspect until I learn more.
“An old sentiment that I do not believe many mirror. What is your
name?”
“Reya.”
“I’m Arwin.” He wasn’t worried about sharing his real name—almost
nobody in this world actually knew him as anything other than the Hero.
His name was one of the few things that he hadn’t lost when he was
summoned from earth.
Reya gave him a small nod, her shoulders relaxing. Arwin wasn’t
surprised—generally, people didn’t kill people that they gave their names
to. Then again, there were some that always asked for the name of a worthy
opponent. He wasn’t going to remind her of those, though.
Kneeling beside the large thief, Arwin took the sword from his hands.
To his disappointment, the sword was as plain as plain could be. There was
nothing magical about it. He set it to the side and went through the rest of
the men’s pockets, gathering their weapons and belongings.
His efforts were not well rewarded. Aside from a small pile of daggers
and two swords, all he managed to get his hands on was a meager 9 gold.
When Arwin looked back up, he found Reya still standing in place.
“Why are you still here?” Arwin asked. “We’re even.”
Reya shifted uncomfortably as Arwin’s gaze bored into her eyes. She
looked away from him, suddenly finding a pile of rotting wood fascinating.
“You just killed the rest of my guild.”
“Those idiots were your guild? You weren’t even in the name.”
“Yes, I’m aware. There aren’t a lot of options. They seemed fine enough
when I joined, but…” Reya trailed off, then shrugged. “I was wrong. I tried
to leave, and you saw how that turned out in the alleyway. I’m not great at
frontal confrontations. The Mesh hasn’t graced me with a class yet, so I’m
not too strong either. I didn’t have a good way to fight back when they were
watching me.”
“Sounds like you should learn how to use a sword.”
That clearly wasn’t the answer Reya had been expecting. She winced,
then gave him a small shrug. “I guess. I’m not very strong, and I don’t
really love fighting. I’m much better at nicking things.”
“And you are telling me this because…?”
“Well, you’re moving in, right?” Reya glanced around the crumbling
smithy, then cleared her throat. “I was… uh, hoping you might be
recruiting.”
Arwin blinked in confusion. “Recruiting? For what?”
“I don’t know. Something. A gang?”
A snort slipped out of Arwin’s nose. He grabbed the dead men’s bodies
and dragged them over to the corner, stacking them until he could figure out
what to do with the bodies. “I’m not starting a gang.”
“Oh.” Reya twiddled her thumbs, but she still made no signs of leaving.
Arwin glanced down at his hands. They were wet with blood. Letting out a
sigh, he turned to face her. “You shouldn’t ally with people you fear.”
And I don’t want to deal with anyone right now. I just want to be left
alone.
“It’s better than getting stabbed in the back while I’m sleeping.”
“There are a bunch of empty houses on this street. Go take one of
those.”
“I might run into one of the other gangs,” Reya said, wincing at the
glare in Arwin’s eyes. “If you want me to leave, I’ll leave. I just thought it
could be mutually beneficial.”
“Mutually beneficial? How so?”
She turned, latching onto the small branch that Arwin had unwittingly
extended. “What do you need? I can do it for you. I’m not the best at
fighting, but I’m great at stealing things. People tell me things too. I can get
information, or I could find other gangs for you to take over. You really
wiped those guys out, so I bet⁠—”
“Stop,” Arwin said, raising a hand to stave off the flood of words. He
didn’t relish the idea of stealing from anyone or going around murdering all
the criminals hiding in the slums of the city, but information—that was
something he needed more than anything else. “You said you could get
information?”
 “If it’s about anything or anyone in Milten, I’ll get it. I swear. Give me a
test to let me join your gang. I’ll pass it.”
“I’m not starting a gang,” Arwin snapped.
I’m not a criminal. I do not kill needlessly—and I definitely don’t want
to play politics with a bunch of idiots.
“But I thought⁠—”
“I am willing to trade,” Arwin said, cutting Reya off. “And if you can
bring me useful information, then I will not object to your presence so long
as you remain silent when you do not need to speak. Is that acceptable?”
Reya opened her mouth, then closed it again. She very pointedly crept
over to her dagger and, after a quick glance at Arwin to make sure he didn’t
object, picked it up and returned it to a sheath at her side.
She then, moving with the speed of a crippled sloth, inched her way
over to the wall and sat down against it. The whole process took nearly a
minute, and Arwin couldn’t bring himself to do anything other than watch.
Is she screwing with me?
“You don’t have to be that quiet,” Arwin said. “I’m not going to kill you
if you sneeze. Just… don’t bother me.”
Reya let out an explosive breath. “Oh, thank the Mesh. I was going to
suffocate from trying to breathe quietly.”
Arwin shook his head and turned back to the pile of scrap on the
ground. He’d figure out what to do with Reya—and the bodies—later. Right
now, the most pressing matter was still his magical affliction.
He could still feel the energy from the bracelet burning within him, but
there was no way to tell how long it would last. At any moment, the Mesh
could warn him that his energy was going to consume him again, and he
wouldn’t have another guaranteed magical item to fall back on.
Up until now, I’ve been running off luck. I need to take things into my
own hands.
And if he wanted to do that, it meant he was going to need to get to
work. All Arwin had to work with was a rundown smithy, some shitty
weapons, a pittance of gold, and metal that was a little better than garbage.
His lips pulled back in what might have been one of the first genuine smiles
he’d had in years.
It was time to forge.

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F
ire roared in Arwin’s hearth. He’d heated it for the last twenty minutes,
burning the wood within to a crisp and bringing the piece of metal
inside it to a burnt orange. There wasn’t much charcoal left to burn in
the first place—he was pretty sure his hearth would be out of fuel within the
hour—but Arwin was determined to get everything he could out of it before
his time ran out.
The brick of metal that he’d selected from the pile was far from perfect.
Even he could see the imperfections running through it, but it wasn’t like
there was a manual he could reference.
Practice makes perfect.
Arwin grabbed the brick with his tongs, moving it over to the anvil and
grabbing the hammer. He was a little drained from the fight, but there was
still more than enough energy left in his body to power [Scourge] for a short
while.
The sound of ringing metal filled the old smithy as Arwin beat away at
the brick, doing his best to shape it to his desires. Unfortunately, his best
wasn’t quite, well, the best. It was definitely taking on some semblance of a
dagger, but that was about where it ended.
What should have been a straight blade was jagged and chipped, and the
handle was more of a blobby tube. He hadn’t even bothered trying to make
a hilt—that was beyond him at the moment.
He’d been at it for about an hour. The hearth was dying down to embers,
and his reserves of magical energy had almost completely been drained. For
the last half of the hour, he’d just been beating away at the dagger with his
normal strength.
With no more fire to reheat the weapon, Arwin was forced to lower the
hammer and study his creation. He was pretty sure he was meant to quench
it to ensure the steel cooled properly or something along those lines, but he
doubted the dagger could actually get worse.
It’s hideous.
And, worse, when Arwin studied it, the Mesh gave him nothing. The
weapon wasn’t magical. It was just a dagger. But, in spite of all that, he
couldn’t keep a grin from his face. He’d made something.
Instead of taking life, he’d created something, purely because he wanted
to. And, as far as daggers went, he was pretty sure this one wouldn’t be
killing anyone anytime soon. A satisfied chuckle slipped from his lips as he
walked in a circle around the anvil.
Reya watched him with a mildly confused expression on her face, but
she didn’t say anything. A few minutes passed before Arwin touched the
dagger with the back of his hand, making sure it was cool enough to hold
before picking it up.
“It’s… nice,” Reya said hesitantly.
“It is a good start,” Arwin agreed. “And, speaking of starts, I think you
should get one as well.”
She scrambled to her feet, straightening out her shirt and giving him a
sharp salute. “Yes, sir.”
Arwin stared at her. “What are you doing?”
“Saluting.”
“Don’t.”
Reya let her hand drop. “Okay. I thought we might be mercenaries since
we weren’t a gang.”
“That’s not how—ah, never mind. I want you to get information on
everyone that lives on this street. Do you think you could do that safely?”
Reya gave Arwin a sharp nod. “Yeah, sure. I already know some of it,
so I don’t think it should be too hard. I can figure it out by tomorrow.”
That fast?
Arwin didn’t bother questioning her. He just shrugged. “I’ll be here.
Probably.”
With one final nod, Reya turned and jogged out the door. Once she left,
Arwin turned back to the bodies that were starting to stink up his shop and
scrunched his nose in distaste.
I’m not used to having to dispose of the kills I leave behind. I wonder if
there’s a ditch somewhere I can toss them into. I definitely don’t want to go
around dragging a corpse behind me in broad daylight, though. Good way
to piss off a guard. But first… they’ve got some clothes. Waste not, want
not.

There was indeed a ditch. It was down the street and behind a crumbling
stone building, one firm breeze away from collapse. While it wasn’t as deep
as Arwin had hoped, it was still more than enough to toss a few naked
bodies into. Their clothes now rested in a corner of his smithy, with one set
having replaced the rags that Arwin had been wearing.
He shoved some dirt over the top of the corpses, moving just enough to
cover them before heading back to the forge. Arwin couldn’t be bothered
giving them a proper burial—it would have taken too long, and there were
other things he wanted to do.
Criminals, the guild’s adventurers, monsters; is there really any
difference? Nobody gave my friends proper burials when they died. It’s just
life—and I don’t want anything more with the guild, the monsters, or any of
that. Not yet, at least. Not until I’m ready to make them pay for what they
did.
Arwin paused by a wooden building on his way back to the smithy. He
glanced around, but the street was completely empty. He poked his head
inside, but it was just as desolate as the street.
“Well, it’s not like anyone is living here,” Arwin mused. He didn’t even
want to risk going too far inside, so he gathered as much fallen wood as he
could carry, then piled it into his arms and lugged everything back to his
smithy.
The pathetic excuse for a dagger that he had forged wasn’t enough. It
was a start, but Arwin had never been a fan of mediocrity. As soon as he got
back, he added some of the wood into the hearth and brushed the splinters
out of his shirt and arms.
I still need oil to quench the stuff I forge, but that can come later. Right
now, I just need to work on my technique.
 Arwin struck the flint with his shoddy dagger, and a spark leapt onto the
dry wood. It caught quickly, and he turned his attention to the bellows,
pumping air into the flame. He couldn’t help but notice the cracks running
along the leather that made up the back of his bellows.
It probably wouldn’t be too long before they broke, but that was another
problem for later. Right now, the only thing that mattered was practice.
Sweat beaded at Arwin’s brow as he worked the forge.
Minutes stretched on. The ringing of his hammer filled the forge,
bearing with it a strange but welcome sense of peace. All but smithing
faded, leaving Arwin in a trance as he worked.
As his hammer rose and fell, he could start to see another dagger take
shape before him. Every blow he made felt more intentional—and more
effective. He alternated between using [Scourge] and just striking the metal
purely on instinct, immersing himself completely in the process.
In and out of the flames the block of metal went, taking more and more
shape with every pass. At some point, Arwin finished. He barely even
registered it. The new dagger was better than the first, but it still wasn’t
what he wanted.
Not even stopping for a rest, Arwin grabbed another piece of scrap
metal and threw it into the hearth.
The cycle continued. Hours ground by, and daggers piled at Arwin’s
feet. He replaced the wood in the forge as it burned away, chewing through
his pile of liberated fuel without even realizing it. The bellows groaned and
creaked with every movement, but still, Arwin ground on.
His entire upper body was soaked with sweat, but there was something
primal about the whole process. A grin pulled across his face, growing
wider with every strike until he was nearly laughing with joy.
Forging felt incredible. He was exerting his will on a mere block of
metal, and that block was transforming into the item that he envisioned
within his mind. And, with every ringing strike, Arwin could tell he
understood the material he was working with just a little better.
It was brittle and of poor quality, but just as Arwin desired to form it
into something more than trash, the metal had a similar longing. He
wouldn’t claim that the metal lived, but he would have sworn on his life
that it desired.
Just like everything else, the metal sought a purpose. It was more than
trash, but it had been left to rot for who knew how long. To a random smith,
the voice of the metal likely would have been indiscernible—but Arwin was
not just an amateur smith. He was potential. And, once he started to
understand the longing of the metal, the world shifted.
Parts of the metal glowed. At first, Arwin thought it to be residual heat
from the forge, but he quickly realized that it was a different light. This one
was a faint, warm yellow as opposed to the cherry red of the hearth.
Every time Arwin’s hammer struck, the changes to the dagger became
even more noticeable. The metal was telling him what it wanted to be. It
was guiding his hand.
And, as Arwin raised his hammer to deliver another blow, he paused.
The glow had vanished. He had no idea how long he’d been working on the
blade, but the fire in the forge had dwindled to dull embers.
A dagger sat on the anvil before him, and it actually looked like a
dagger. It was plain and didn’t even have a hilt, but it was a dagger—just
one without an edge. Arwin’s eyes scanned the room in search of something
to sharpen the blade with, and they landed on a circular stone in the corner
of the room that he’d overlooked before.
Walking over to it, Arwin was mildly relieved to find that it was indeed
a whetstone. He was less relieved to find it was barely in workable
condition, but anything was better than nothing. He worked the blade of the
dagger against the stone, alternating sides and slowly bringing a sharp edge
to the blade.
His efforts were slow, and they smarted of inexperience, but the dagger
sharpened nonetheless. And, after some time, he found himself holding a
piece of metal that could actually be considered a completed product.
Before Arwin could so much as smile, he felt something stir within him
as the Mesh burst forth.

[Dagger: Poor Quality] has been forged. Forging a magical item has
granted you energy.
Your tier has raised by 1 level.
[Broken Bearer of Last Light] has been consumed.

Arwin’s laughter echoed through the forge. The Mesh had recognized
his efforts. He’d created another magical item, and this time entirely
without the Mesh just handing it to him. Arwin picked the dagger up and
inspected it.
 Dagger: Poor Quality
Awoken: This item has taken on a life of its own. With every death it
causes, it will grow slightly more powerful. Upon reaching [Unknown]
threshold, it will be able to bond with its wielder.

“Fascinating,” Arwin breathed, holding the dagger out before him and
watching the ember light reflect off its blade. He’d seen many weapons in
his years of work. He’d wielded artifacts that could topple cities and tossed
them aside when even more powerful ones came along—but not once had
he ever seen one that lived, much less had the potential to change. It wasn’t
much now, but with enough time, it could become quite an interesting
weapon.
Not bad at all. Maybe I can sell this for a bit of gold and get a few
improvements to the smithy. I’ll have to find out how fast it grows. If it’s
fast, it might be incredibly expensive. I have no need for a dagger, but this
has immense potential.
Arwin set the dagger back down, then turned his eyes back to the forge.
His eyes flicked over to the remainder of his dwindling wood pile. There
was still more scrap, there was still more wood, and the night was still
young.
But first, I have more power to work with. When was the last time I was
excited about growing stronger? I can’t remember, but I can’t wait to see
what skills I can unlock.
The Mesh bloomed before Arwin, golden letters scrawling through the
air before his eyes.

Name: Arwin Tyrr

Class: Living Forge (Unique) (Tier: Apprentice 2)
New Skill Choice Available.

Arwin reached out to see what new skills he could earn. As soon as his
finger touched the golden lettering, it dissipated into dozens of little motes
of light that formed into new words.

You may select one of the following skills.

 [Hammering Blows] (Passive) – Your efforts in the smithy have granted
you increased strength and efficiency. All hammer strikes will be stronger
and faster, scaling with your tier.
[Soul Flame] – Passion burns within you with such intensity that it can
heat metal. You may draw out your Soul Flame, empowering the fire of
your forge, but be wary—any magical damage done to the Soul Flame
will transfer onto your soul.
[Avenging Strike] – War is no stranger to you, and your hammer crushes
bones and metal alike. Spend a portion of magical energy to empower
your next hammer strike. It will strike living beings harder than non-
living ones, scaling with your tier.

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 5

A
rwin dismissed [Avenging Strike] immediately. He was already good
enough at killing things, and while he suspected [Avenging Strike]
and [Scourge] would likely stack on top of each other, he really had
no desire to take another combat skill.
Both of the other two skills were interesting, though. [Hammering
Blows] would make smithing considerably faster. It didn’t sound very
impressive, but over time, it was likely to save him thousands of hours.
[Soul Flame] was a little less clear with exactly what it did. Having an
endless source of fire was definitely useful, but the skill used the word
empowering, implying it did more than just replace the normal flame.
If that was the case, Arwin was willing to sacrifice efficiency for
potential. He could always get stronger and faster with time. And if [Soul
Flame] gave him a higher chance to imbue his weapons with magic, then it
was a shoo-in.
Arwin selected the middle skill, and the other two shimmered and faded
away. Energy trickled through his body, and he felt a faint heat form within
his chest. As soon as he turned his attention to it, the heat intensified.
Holding a hand out, Arwin drew the warmth through his arm and into
his palm. A dull yellow spark formed in the air between Arwin’s fingers,
swirling into an orb of flame. It crackled patiently, waiting for him to do
something.
Even though the fire was warm, it didn’t feel hot. Arwin reached out,
holding the back of his other hand against the flame. It wasn’t
uncomfortable. If anything, it just felt like he was holding a loaf of freshly
baked bread.
He touched the fire. To his delight, it didn’t burn him. Arwin walked
over to the pile of wood and picked up a small piece, holding it to the fire.
The wood crackled, starting to smoke. He pulled it away before it could
properly catch fire—there wasn’t enough of it to waste.
“So it can’t burn me, but it’s definitely real fire,” Arwin said. He closed
his fist around the flame and it vanished, darting back into the center of his
body. “That’s useful already. I suppose it’ll remain to be seen exactly what
it can do, but there’s only one way to find out.”
Fire coiled from Arwin’s palm, catching on to the wood in the hearth
and igniting with a whoomph. Golden-yellow light washed over him,
bringing with it a comforting warmth. The wood crackled merrily, though it
didn’t smell quite as great as he’d hoped.
“I suppose that’s what I get for working with rotten wood,” Arwin
grumbled. He held a hand out toward the fire, testing its heat. To his delight,
it wasn’t too hot. In fact, it felt identical to the normal ball of [Soul Flame].
In what was probably the nightmare of any parent with an overly
curious child, he stuck his hand right into the flame. And, to his delight, it
didn’t burn in the slightest. The flame was nothing more than a comforting
caress.
Arwin grabbed a piece of scrap metal and stuck it into the flame,
turning his attention to the bellows to heat the hearth to even greater
degrees. He continued until the flames roared furiously and the metal within
them had turned a deep golden orange.
Once he was confident the heat was high enough, Arwin held his hand
out, leaning back to make sure his clothes didn’t catch. While his body
might have been safe, he only had a few pairs of clothes, and he wasn’t
eager to accidentally set any of them on fire.
The heat was just as comfortable as it had been before. Arwin brought
his hand closer to the piece of metal, but he couldn’t feel any real
discomfort from being near it. Using a single pinky, he tapped it.
Nothing.
Arwin grinned. He wrapped his hand around the bar. It was hot, but not
unbearably so. A chuckle slipped from his lips.
“That’s a fun little trick. Now… let’s see. What would this bar like to
be?”
Arwin was still working the forge when Reya returned. He barely even
noticed her enter, and didn’t spot her until he reached for the small sword in
the furnace with his bare hands.
“Careful!” Reya yelled.
Arwin froze, spinning to look back at her. She flinched at his gaze.
“What?” Arwin asked.
“You—you were going to reach into the fire with your bare hand,” Reya
said. “I was worried you’d burn yourself.”
Arwin blinked, then chuckled. He held a hand out, pulling the burning
fire from the hearth and into his palm. The hearth went dark instantly. He’d
been working with his Soul Flame for the past few hours, but he loved his
choice already. Any flame that he made was completely safe to work with.
He looked down at the crooked sword on the anvil before him and
grimaced. Despite his best efforts, he’d been unable to recreate his
experience with the dagger. He’d certainly gotten close—at times, he could
have sworn that the metal was speaking to him.
But, at some point, he’d lost its voice. Something had gone wrong, and
he was left with a sharp piece of scrap. It was still leaps and bounds better
than some of the work he’d done earlier, though.
Oh well. Practice is practice. Can’t get good at something without
failing in the process.
Arwin blinked, realizing that he’d been ignoring Reya. He turned back
to her. Her eyes were fixed on the dagger that he’d made some time ago.
“Did you need something?”
“Oh, sorry. I got distracted,” Reya said, yanking her eyes away from the
dagger. “You… uh… have an interesting dagger. It might be a good idea not
to leave that lying around, sir.”
Shit. Even though it’s pretty useless right now, this is probably a pretty
decent weapon even in its current, untested state.
“It’s just a test,” Arwin said, picking the dagger up and holding it out so
it caught the dim light of the moon shining down through the cracks in the
smithy. “Turned out decently enough, I’d say.”
“You made that?” Reya stared at Arwin, then swallowed and shook her
head. “I—Never mind. Sir, I’ve got the information you asked me to get.”
 Arwin had completely forgotten that he’d asked Reya to get anything
for him. He lowered the dagger, then cleared his throat and gestured for her
to continue. “Ah. Right. Out with it, then. What did you find?”
“There aren’t too many people that really live in this area that make
themselves known. There are a fair number of small-time thieves,
murderers, and the lot,” Reya said, confidence starting to seep into her tone
as she spoke. “The main people that controlled this area were Brothers Six.
They mostly had the street about ten minutes away from here, since nobody
actually lives on this one. You know, I only remembered there was a smithy
here because I kept thinking about how much money I could make if I stole
the anvil. Never got around to it because of the rumors of a ghost—and the
fact that I wasn’t strong enough to lug it out. I guess they’re the Brothers
One-and-a-half now, though.”
“One and a half?”
“One fled and you crushed the other one’s wrist back in the alley before
smacking his brains in.”
“I didn’t hit him that hard.”
Reya stared at Arwin. “Right. Brothers Two, then.”
Arwin sighed. “Those jokers were the ones controlling this area?”
“Not all of it, but a good part of it,” Reya confirmed. She tilted her head
to the side, digging through her thoughts before speaking again. “Nobody
else sticks around long, though. The rumors of the street being haunted are
enough to make sure nobody dares try anything. There are a lot of people
who go missing around these parts. Even the Brothers Six kept to the streets
around this and did their best to avoid this particular one.”
Arwin shrugged. “Okay. Anyone else?”
“Not really. There were a few people passing through, but everyone
here is jumpy. I asked everyone I saw, but most people just ignored me.”
Arwin started to nod again, then paused. “Wait. You just… asked
them?”
“Yeah. I just wandered through all the houses and asked what they were
doing and how long they’d be there. Almost everyone ignored me.”
Well, nobody can say that she isn’t efficient. She’s certainly bold as well.
If she’s worried about fighting, shouldn’t she be at least a little more
apprehensive about strolling up and starting chats with known criminals?
“Were any of the passersby interesting?”
 “Hard to say. One of them was so drunk that he couldn’t understand a
single word that came out of my mouth. I’m pretty sure the one that got him
drunk was a lady that claimed she was starting a tavern, but I’m also pretty
sure she was drunk too.”
Arwin snorted. “I’d agree with your assessment there. Nobody is
starting a tavern where there’s literally no one around to sell to that isn’t
going to just try to rob you. Who else?”
“Just a few thieves and cutthroats. I let them know to stay away from
the smithy if they know what’s good for them.”
Arwin tilted his head to the side. Threats didn’t usually go well if you
didn’t have the strength to back them up, and Reya had yet to give him any
reason to believe that she did. “I see. And how did that go?”
“Not great, until I told them to go look in the ditch where you tossed the
Brothers.”
“You found that? I thought I buried them well enough.”
Reya stared at Arwin, a grin starting to cross her face but fading quickly
when she realized he wasn’t joking. She cleared her throat, then nodded.
“Uh… yeah. Really well buried. The, uh, wind kind of just… unveiled
them. It isn’t your fault, though. It happens all the time.”
“You don’t have to butter me up,” Arwin said, rolling his eyes. “They
clearly weren’t buried quite enough. No matter—seems like that worked in
my favor. Is there anything else I should know?”
“Aside from the street being haunted?”
“The street seems fine to me,” Arwin said. “The only people haunting it
are the idiots that tried to kill me.”
Reya glanced over her shoulder, then rubbed the back of her neck.
“Yeah. It’s… considerably less terrifying than I thought it would be. Maybe
all the rumors of it being cursed were fake, or maybe the ghost left after
scaring everyone off.”
“Whatever the reason, I’m glad for it. It made someone leave behind a
whole smithy, even if it’s in horrid condition,” Arwin said. “No other
problems, then?”
Reya’s stomach grumbled. Loudly. Her cheeks reddened and she
hurriedly shook her head. “No. Nothing at all. That’s it.”
Arwin let a small smile cross his features. Even though he’d only
known her for a short while, the girl was starting to grow on him. She
reminded him of Blake. An image of his former friend’s glassy dead eyes
staring up at Arwin flashed through his mind.
The smile that had been forming cracked like a dropped pane of glass.
He couldn’t remember what the man—little more than a boy when he’d
died—even looked like anymore. Blake had been one of the earliest people
he’d made friends with in this world, and he’d been one of the earliest to
die.
Arwin shook his head and took the dagger, tossing it to Reya. Her eyes
widened and she snagged it by the handle before it could hit the ground.
“What’s this?”
“If you’re going to go around threatening people, you should have
something that lets you back it up,” Arwin said. The dagger had an
interesting effect, but he wasn’t about to go around stabbing people to see
how well it worked. Besides, its make was still a little shoddy. It was a far
cry from the beautiful weaponry and armor that he envisioned himself
making in the future. “I’d suggest finding a way to conceal it, though. I’d be
embarrassed if people thought I was going around selling sub-par
equipment.”
Reya stared at the dagger in disbelief. “And… I can have it?”
“Just make sure to put it to use on people that actually deserve it,”
Arwin said with a wave of his hand. “And tell me how fast it grows, if you
would.”
Reya’s hand snapped up to her head in a salute. “Yes, sir!”
“Stop calling me sir,” Arwin grumbled. “I’m twenty-five.”
“Yes, Master.”
“Absolutely not.”
“Commander?”
“Just call me Arwin,” the man said, massaging his forehead. “And let’s
go back to Rule 1.”
“Rule 1?”
“Don’t bother me,” Arwin said, turning back to his forge. He reached
into his pocket and pulled out the small bag of coins he’d collected, tossing
it to Reya. “Go see if you can get dinner. Eat, then bring me back whatever
is left. I’ll be here.”
Reya swallowed, nearly giving him another salute before she stopped
herself and settled for a nod. She darted out of the crumbling smithy, and
Arwin turned back to his forge, his fingers twitching in excitement.
There was still much to do, and he wasn’t even slightly tired.

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 6

R
eya’s heart raced in her chest. She could feel the dagger in its sheath
at her side like a hot coal. Even though nobody could tell what it was
while it was hidden, she couldn’t help but feel like every single eye in
the darkness was watching her every move.
This is the most incredible weapon I’ve ever seen in my life, and he
just… gave it to me? For free? Who in the Nine Underlands did I find?
A shiver ran down Reya’s back. Arwin terrified her, but for all the
wrong reasons. She would have taken him to be an adventurer if she’d run
into him on the street, but his eyes burned with an intensity that Reya had
never seen before.
Whenever he locked eyes with her, it felt like she was trying to stare
down a volcano that was just waiting to erupt. The casual ease with which
he’d handled the Brothers Six made it absolutely clear that Arwin didn’t
belong in Milten.
Reya didn’t know where he’d come from or what his goals were—and
she didn’t care. She’d lived on the streets for long enough to know that
attaching herself to someone strong was the best way to stay alive.
Unfortunately, she’d had pretty poor luck with that in the past. Her lips
pressed thin and she shook her head. Arwin cared so little about her that she
suspected she didn’t even properly register in his eyes, but that was just fine
with her.
So long as he keeps his space and I keep mine, I might be able to
actually sit around and gather a little wealth for myself. I’m fed up with
getting robbed every single time I gather up enough coin to get out of this
shithole.
The thought of coin sent a tiny sliver of guilt through Reya. Distributed
across her body in a dozen small pouches was well over 100 gold—all the
savings she’d managed to keep over the years.
It was a pittance in comparison to all the gold that had been stolen from
her, but it was still everything she had. Arwin had been under the
impression that she was broke, which was exactly what she expected. The
less interesting she was to his eyes, the better.
What she hadn’t expected was for Arwin to offer to pay for her meal.
Nine gold was far too much for two portions, but he’d tossed it to her like it
was nothing. Reya squished the guilt down.
The way he treats money and magical items means he’s got to be pretty
damn rich. I’m not going to steal from him, but there’s obviously no need
for me to waste my coin when he’s offering to feed me.
That didn’t make the guilt sting any less. Reya’s stomach rumbled
again, the dull, gnawing pain in it reminding her that it had been far too
long since she’d last eaten. Her eyes flitted around the street.
There really wasn’t much in the way of food in the area. Nothing that
wasn’t dead rats, anyway. Reya grimaced. She would have loved nothing
more than to head into the city proper and get a real meal, but that was a
fantastic way to get herself killed. This street might have been haunted, but
at least that meant it was abandoned.
She’d made a few too many enemies among the guards and criminal
underground alike. The Brothers Six had been assholes, but everyone had
hated them and they’d been strong enough to maintain control over their
territory.
Oh well. No use crying over spilled milk. I’ll just head to one of the
taverns at the edge of the slums. They’re dangerous, but no more dangerous
than pissing Arwin off. If I’m in and out fast enough, I doubt anyone will
recognize me.
Reya set off, but she barely managed to make it more than ten feet
before a woman called out to her.
“Hey! You there!”
Reya turned toward the voice. A tall woman with dark—bordering on
purple—skin waved to her. A ropey scar ran down one of the woman’s eyes,
and her dark hair stuck out against the splattered apron she wore. She might
have been attractive if she wasn’t covered with dirt and grime. Her hands
dripped with a dark red substance, and the stains on her apron were a
matching color.
It was the woman who had insisted she was starting a tavern.
Wow. Her skin looks a lot more purple in the daylight. Is she wearing
makeup or something? Maybe she’s one of the people that think monsters
look cool. I’ve seen some weird nobles dressing up like that before, but
never up close.
“Yes?” Reya asked, putting a hand on the hilt of her dagger and turning
her back to a wall. She wasn’t about to get ambushed by some madwoman
trying to stuff her into a stew.
“You look hungry,” the woman said, coming to a stop on the other side
of the street.
“How does someone look hungry?” Reya asked. “I’m just wandering
around.”
“Right,” the woman said, her voice so dry that it could have grated
wood. “Sure you are. I smell the hunger on your breath.”
“Look, I don’t know what you’re selling, but I’m not interested,” Reya
said with a shake of her head. “And I’m not⁠—”
Reya’s stomach rumbled, and the woman sent her a pointed glance.
“Just 1 gold. Come on,” the woman offered. “It’ll be good.”
Who in the Nine Underlands charges an entire gold for a plate of food?
That better be something fit for nobles at that price, and I’m pretty sure
there aren’t any nobles around here.
“I’m not buying it,” Reya said. “Literally and figuratively. One gold?
Are you insane?”
If anything, the woman just looked confused. Her brow furrowed and
she pursed her lips. “Oh. Is that too much?”
“Yes, it’s too much!”
“How about a silver?”
“You aren’t supposed to be guessing about this kind of thing. Why are
you asking me?” Reya asked. She scanned the road, but it didn’t look like
anyone else was there. It was just the two of them.
If this is a robbery, it’s the strangest robbery I’ve ever seen.
“I don’t know. I’m new to this,” the woman said with a shrug. “I’m
Lillia. You are?”
 Reya heaved a sigh and, against her better judgment, answered, “Reya.
Look, you really shouldn’t be doing this. You could get hurt.”
For some reason, Lillia seemed to find that amusing. The corner of her
mouth quirked up in amusement, and she let out a small snort. “Sure.
Whatever. You want some food or not?”
“Depends,” Reya said suspiciously. “Are you going to try to convince
me to follow you into a dark alleyway and strip first? Because I’m getting
that kind of feeling from you.”
“What? No,” Lillia said, drawing the last word out and clearing her
throat. She glanced over her shoulder, nodding to a small stone building that
looked like it had once been a restaurant or storefront. It was directly in the
shadow of a larger building, and Reya couldn’t see more than a foot into the
darkness. “Just in there.”
“That is no better than a dark alleyway. If you think I’m following you
in there, you’re delusional.”
“What if I bring the food out?” Lillia asked, almost desperately. “It’s
going to go bad if nobody eats it, and everyone keeps ignoring me when I
approach them. You’re the only person here that will even say anything to
me. Please?”
Once again, against Reya’s better judgment, she let out a heavy sigh and
inclined her head. The pleading expression on Lillia’s face finally managed
to chip away at her. “Fine. One silver, and you’re bringing it out here.
Deal?”
Lillia nodded, then quickly started backing away, not taking her eyes
from Reya. She reached the edge of the door. “Stay right there! I’ll be right
back!”
Reya gave Lillia a fake smile and nodded. The other woman
disappeared into the darkness, and the urge to turn and sprint in the other
direction gripped the young thief. She wasn’t sure what was stopping her.
Perhaps it was the remnants of manners that she really had no place in
keeping, or perhaps it was sheer curiosity. Today—though it was nearly
tomorrow, if she was going by the position of the moon in the sky—had
been interesting.
A few minutes passed before Lillia came out carrying a large plate
covered with a silver bowl. Reya’s eyes widened at the sight. It wasn’t the
fanciest bowl she’d ever seen, but it definitely resembled the plates that
she’d occasionally seen served in fancy restaurants.
 Only when Lillia got closer and properly stepped into the moonlight did
Reya realize what the bowl was. Rather than a smooth, glossy sheen, it was
rough and bumpy. It looked like someone had hammered several sheets of
trashy metal together. Nails jutted out of it at odd angles, and the whole
thing was so roughly formed that she had to suspect it had been formed by
hand rather than with tools.
“Here!” Lillia exclaimed, thrusting the bowl in Reya’s direction. “All
yours.”
“Uh… thanks,” Reya said hesitantly. She eyed the handle, which was a
random stone that had been stabbed into the top of the bowl. “Should I open
it?”
“I’ll charge you extra if you try to eat the metal as well.” Lillia didn’t
sound like she was joking.
She’s definitely off her rocker. Or really, really drunk. I don’t smell any
alcohol on her breath, though.
“Right. Makes sense,” Reya said with a small laugh. She grabbed the
bowl by its makeshift handle and lifted it back.
Her eyes widened. Sitting on the plate were several drumsticks. From
what bird, Reya wasn’t sure. They were pretty large, and while they barely
looked seasoned, they had salt and pepper on them.
She licked her lips. As far as food here went, she was practically staring
down a feast. Reya pulled out the coins that Arwin had given her and
handed Lillia a gold coin, taking the tray from her. “You have change for
that?”
Lillia took the coin, eyeing it hungrily. She glanced back at her, then
reddened. “Uh… no. You’re my first customer.”
Figures.
Reya scrunched her nose and took one of the drumsticks, taking a bite
out of it. Juice dripped down her chin as she chewed and swallowed, her
eyes widening. It wasn’t the greatest meal she’d ever had in her life, but it
wasn’t bad at all.
“Whoa. This isn’t bad.”
“Thanks.” Lillia beamed. “It’s my fourth serving today. The others
didn’t go nearly as well.”
“Why not?” Reya asked through a mouthful of meat.
“Well, the feathers were really scratchy on the first one,” Lillia said,
ticking a finger off her hand. “I removed them on the second bird, but its
beak was kind of sharp. Also, I burnt that one black. Burnt the third one too.
This one turned out great, though!”
“So it did. What was the secret?”
“I killed it before putting it in the oven.”
Reya nearly choked, but she managed to keep the food in her mouth.
She’d gone hungry too many times to waste it over something like that. It
was impossible to tell if Lillia was joking, but the woman looked dead
serious.
“Oh. Well… uh, congratulations,” Reya said. She took the other
drumsticks from the plate and handed it back to Lillia. “How about this?
You give me five more meals like this, and you can keep the gold.”
Lillia’s mouth split into a wide, hungry smile. A chill ran down Reya’s
spine as an ill feeling gripped her. It felt like a shadow had fallen over her
shoulders. She spun, but there was nobody behind her.
When Reya turned back, the feeling was gone.
“It sounds like we’ve got a deal,” Lillia said with a nod. “Could you tell
anyone else you meet about my tavern as well? I’m trying to build up some
business.”
Reya did her best not to send a pointed glance around the abandoned
street. She just nodded. “Okay. I will.”
“Great,” Lillia said. “I’ll see you tomorrow, then.”
With that, she turned and strode back into the darkness of her tavern.
Reya squinted at it, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t see into
the darkness covering the windows.
Tavern, my ass. More like a dungeon.
Shaking her head, Reya turned and headed back toward Arwin’s smithy.
At least she’d managed to get them food for a fairly decent price, assuming
Lillia hadn’t scammed her. Another shiver ran down her spine, and she
glanced over her shoulder.
I just got a pretty good deal. Why does it feel like I just made a huge
mistake?

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 7

“H uh,” Arwin said, chewing and swallowing before speaking again.

“This is okay. I wasn’t expecting there to be anything of substance in
the area.”
“Me neither,” Reya admitted. “Turns out, the lady that wanted to start a
tavern was serious about it. She promised to give us five more meals, free
of charge.”
The two of them had polished off the remaining drumsticks and piled
the bones between them. There weren’t any chairs or a table in the smithy,
so they just sat cross-legged on the floor. Arwin wasn’t particularly
bothered by the chill, but Reya had progressively scooted closer and closer
to the warmth of the hearth until she sat right beside it.
“Did you get a chance to test my dagger?” Arwin asked, covering a
yawn. The day was finally starting to catch up with him.
“No, s—uh, Arwin. I don’t gut random people I walk by.”
“Ah, right. Good point.” Arwin rubbed his eyes, then pushed himself to
his feet and wiped his hands off on his shirt. Napkins were another item on
his growing list of necessities, but those could come after he patched the
rest of the place up.
He’d managed to forge a single sword while Reya had been out. It
wasn’t anything special, but it looked like a sword and had a decent weight
distribution. It would probably sell for a bit, so long as he could find a
buyer.
 “I’m going to try to start making some money,” Arwin said, stretching
his arms over his head. “Keep an eye out for anyone who might need the
services of a smith, would you?”
Reya squinted at Arwin, as if she were trying to determine if he was
joking.
“What?” Arwin asked.
“Do you mean like… horseshoes and the like? Or swords?”
“Dunno. I haven’t made a horseshoe yet, but I’ll do whatever people
want. I’m just trying to earn some gold right now. If anyone’s in the market
for something better, then great, I’ll do that. In the meantime, I’ll just keep
forging things until I’ve got enough to set up a little stand somewhere.”
“That sounds like a good idea,” Reya said, sounding like she did not
think it was a good idea in the slightest. “I’ll keep an eye out.”
Arwin just nodded. He didn’t much care if Reya approved of what he
was doing or not. The most important thing he could do right now was learn
more about his class and keep his head low.
Actually, scratch that. The most important thing I can do right now is
find a goddamn bed. I’m exhausted.
There were, unfortunately, no beds in the smithy. There wasn’t anything
soft either—or, at least, nothing soft that Arwin was eager to put his head
on. He scrunched his nose in distaste and leaned against the wall, raising a
hand to suck the flame from the hearth.
“I’m going to bed,” Arwin said. “Don’t rob me.”
Reya paled and she nodded hurriedly, raising her hands. “I wouldn’t do
something like that. I value my life.”
“Good,” Arwin said. Then he closed his eyes and, minutes later, drifted
off to sleep.

Arwin dreamed of home. Not the home that the Adventurers’ Guild had
built for him, but the small, one-story house that he’d lived in as a child—
the home that had been his before he’d been summoned to this world by the
guild.
His memories of it were fuzzy at best, but he still remembered more
than he suspected he should have. He couldn’t remember the faces of his
parents, but he remembered their love.
Arwin had a brother as well. Aiden. He couldn’t remember his face
either. Arwin wasn’t even sure if any of them were still alive. Traveling
between dimensions or universes—he still wasn’t sure where it was that this
world existed—had to take time.
Maybe they were all already dead, or perhaps they still wondered what
happened to him. Arwin had been ten on the day he’d been ripped from his
comfortable bed and found himself here. There had been a time when he’d
longed to return, but that feeling was gone.
Earth was his first home, but it was his home no longer. He was part of
this world now. And yet, he didn’t even know if this world had a name.
Amusingly enough, he knew more about Earth than he knew about the
world around him now.
Every waking moment he’d spent here, going from when he was
summoned until when he struck down the Demon Queen, had been spent in
training. Training tactics, fighting monsters to gain strength and rise in tiers,
and training against the other adventurers.
That was all he’d known. It had been for the best. Even if he hadn’t had
a childhood, he was fighting to protect the childhoods of everyone who
lived within the Kingdom of Lian.
At least, that was what he thought he’d been doing. Now, he wasn’t so
sure. The guild had betrayed him without even blinking an eye, and the
kingdom was at war once more.
Why? What was the purpose? I did everything I was meant to. We
should have been at peace.
The answers didn’t come. No matter what should have happened, the
new war had started. Mercifully, there was someone else to deal with it
now. Arwin couldn’t help but wonder if the new Hero was the same as he
had been—another child stolen from their family on Earth, forced to give
their life in exchange for peace.
Arwin wasn’t sure how he felt about that, and he didn’t get a chance to
find out. Sleep ripped itself away from him and his eyes snapped open.
Bolting upright with a start, Arwin leapt to his feet and grabbed for a sword
that wasn’t there.
The smithy was empty. His heart slammed in his chest as he spun,
searching for an enemy. His hand slowly lowered and he swallowed,
shaking his head and letting out a slow breath.
 Sunlight filtered through the cracks in the smithy roof above him. He
stretched his arms out, then popped his neck. The subjects of his dreams
had already started to drift away from him, but that was fine.
The past doesn’t matter. I’m free now, and I’m going to abuse that to its
fullest extent. This smithy is the perfect place to get started. It’s got a lot
that I need to get around to fixing, but I can already picture it in its full
glory.
A smile drifted across Arwin’s face at the thought. He rubbed his hands
together, warming them back up, and turned to the hearth. A new morning
meant more time for work, and he had some swords to work on.
He grabbed the last of his wood pile and tossed it into the hearth. Then,
summoning his [Soul Flame], Arwin sent a small orb of fire into the dry
wood. It quickly started to crackle as the flame took, and he got to work
with the bellows to bring the heat up faster.
Once the flame was properly roaring, Arwin picked out another few
pieces of metal and tossed them into the forge. He vaguely remembered one
of the artificers making his weapons by hammering layers of metal together,
claiming they were stronger that way.
No clue if he was right, but I’ve got nothing but time. Experimenting
will be fun.
Arwin waited until the metal was properly heated before setting the first
one out on the anvil and laying into it with his hammer. As he had
previously, Arwin quickly fell into a rhythm. His hammer rose and fell,
striking the glowing portions of the metal.
This piece seemed particularly determined to guide him in the right
direction, and he made good time. Once it was flattened out, Arwin claimed
another one of the pieces and hammered it out as well.
He started to layer them, folding them in on themselves as he worked. It
was getting harder to read the metal’s intent, but there was just enough to
follow. It helped that every [Scourge]-empowered blow struck the metal
like a hundred individual strikes, drastically increasing the speed he worked
at.
Before long, the shape of a sword greeted Arwin’s eyes. A grin stretched
across his lips as he worked, feeling his desires mixing with those of the
metal and starting to take form on the anvil before him.
Arwin accelerated. This was going to be a magical weapon. He could
feel it in his very bones. Every minute he made the world wait felt like a
disservice.
He worked for a little under an hour before the glow finally faded and
Arwin let his hammer lower, breathing heavily as he took in his creation.
There was no real hilt, and the handle was more of a spike than a
comfortable grip.
Arwin brought the blade over to his old whetstone and got to work,
sharpening the blade. He was starting to get better at it, though his efforts
still weren’t exactly those of a master. But, even after he raised the blade
from the stone, nothing changed.
Magic simmered within the metal—and yet, it wasn’t finished. Arwin’s
brow furrowed as he looked down on the sword.
“Do I need to get you a proper handle?” Arwin murmured. “I suppose
that would make sense. Can’t call it a proper sword if you’re holding it by
that little nub.”
He scanned his shop, but he didn’t exactly know any woodworking.
Still, he wasn’t about to be dissuaded. Arwin set the sword down on his
anvil and departed the smithy, returning to the wooden house he’d looted
the day prior.
After a quick search, he spotted a piece of wood that looked to be in
pretty good condition. He snagged it and headed back to his smithy without
a second glance. As soon as he returned, Arwin used one of the swords he’d
taken from the Brothers to shave away strips of wood until he had
something that vaguely resembled a hilt.
Arwin then took the sword and held it to the anvil, pounding the
wooden hilt in at its bottom with his hammer. Each strike impaled the wood
a little farther on the tang, until it was all the way up to the blade.
He took a step back, studying his creation. It didn’t have a proper hilt,
and he knew for a fact that he’d made it completely wrong. But, despite
that, he felt the Mesh tingle against his skin.

[Short Sword: Garbage Quality] has been forged. Forging a magical

item has granted you energy.

Arwin wasn’t exactly surprised. The sword looked like it had been
dropped down a flight of stairs while it was being forged, and the impurities
in the metal had done a serious number on its potential.
 That said, he’d still made a magical weapon. Arwin inspected the
weapon closer to see what properties he’d imbued it with.

Short Sword: Garbage 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.

A burst of laughter slipped out of Arwin’s mouth. He carefully carried

the sword over to the corner of his forge and set it down, taking care not to
move it too aggressively. It wasn’t a sword he was inclined to use himself,
nor did he want to find out what would happen if he ate its power, but it
wasn’t bad as a throwing weapon.
“I suppose this is one of the detrimental qualities my skill talked about.”
I wonder if the gemstone that was meant to kill me worked in a similar
manner. Maybe forging a few more weapons with Brittle would actually be
a good way to research what happened—but I’d rather make something
actually useful.
Arwin studied the blade, pondering what he’d done wrong. The first and
easiest problem was, obviously, his materials. He needed better metal to
work with, but that would be fixed when he started earning more money.
The bigger issue was with his actual technique. He was pretty certain
that he’d made the handle entirely wrong, and now that he thought about it,
when he’d seen his smith making a sword for him, the man had twisted two
metal rods together rather than just hammering some scraps.
Maybe I need to get some metal rods first. They would certainly lend
themselves to the shape of a sword better. I think that should be my next
step.
Arwin was still nodding to himself when he heard gravel shift near the
entrance of the smithy. He glanced over as Reya walked inside, chewing on
a chunk of meat on a bone. She froze as she saw Arwin.
“You’re awake!”
“Of course I’m awake,” Arwin said dryly. “What else would I be? It’s
the middle of the day.”
“Uh, right. Yeah.” Reya cleared her throat. “It’s just that you slept for
like… two days straight. I was wondering if you would wake up.”
 “Two days?” Arwin’s eyes widened, but Reya’s word did make a certain
amount of sense. “I suppose I was rather tired.”
“Are you hungry? I didn’t get food for you, but…”
Arwin shook his head, surprised to find he meant it. His stomach didn’t
exactly feel full, but he didn’t feel like he’d slept for two days at all. As a
matter of fact, he actually felt rather good.
Interesting. Do magical items sustain me for longer than normal food
does? Does that mean I don’t need to eat food at all? Eh. Even if I didn’t, I
still would. There aren’t enough joys in life to skip out on one.
“Forget food for a moment. Did anything interesting happen?” Arwin
asked.
Reya crossed her arms behind her back and suddenly found one of the
broken-down walls fascinating. “Uh… nothing too interesting, no.”
Arwin’s eyes narrowed. “Out with it.”
“I, uh, may have killed someone.”

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 8

“I s that all?” Arwin asked. “Did they deserve it?”

“Uh… yeah.”
“Then that doesn’t seem particularly interesting. Who were they?”
“A member of the Thieves’ Guild.”
That got Arwin’s attention. His eyes narrowed and he turned his full
attention to Reya. “A large one?”
“No, nothing like that,” Reya said hurriedly. She held her hands up
defensively. “A tiny one, and they aren’t even from this area. They control
the territory a few streets down, and they were poking around to see what
had happened after the Brothers Six got gutted.”
Arwin pursed his lips. “I’m not seeing the part where this ended with
you stabbing someone.”
“Well, one of them tried to sneak into the smithy. I knew you were
sleeping in it, and I didn’t think you’d want to be bothered. I told him to
turn around, but he ignored me, so I stabbed him.”
“Huh. Pragmatic.” He shrugged. “Sounds like he had it coming. I
appreciate it. Where’d you put the corpse?”
“In the pile with the others.”
“We should probably avoid making that a habit,” Arwin mused. He
stretched his arms over his head and yawned. “Did he have anything on
him?”
“About 10 gold.” Reya pulled a pouch out and tossed it to Arwin. He
caught it with a surprised blink.
 “Why are you giving it to me? You’re the one that killed him.”
Reya gave Arwin a sheepish grin and shuffled her feet. “Ten gold is
what was left after I took my cut. You’re the boss, so you get a split.”
Arwin tilted his head to the side, studying Reya for a few seconds. Then
he gave her a slow nod, sliding the pouch into a pocket. He needed gold if
he was going to get better materials to work with.
“In that case, I’ll take it. I suppose it’s about time I went shopping for
some supplies,” Arwin said. He headed out of the smithy and Reya
followed him. Arwin glanced at her over his shoulder. “Say, how did that
dagger work out? Did it change from the kill?”
“No,” Reya said. “I think I have to use it more.”
Arwin grunted.
That’s a disappointment. Oh well. I gave it to her for free, so it’s not a
big deal. No matter what happens, I’m making a sword that I can use myself
today. A good one. It doesn’t have to be great, but it’s going to be good.
Reya came to a stop as they reached the edge of the street. Arwin took
several steps before he realized she wasn’t following behind him. “Are you
not coming?”
“I’ve got some more to take care of back home,” Reya said with a shake
of her head. “I’m still trying to establish relationships with the other people
on the street.”
Arwin shrugged. “Suit yourself. Try to make sure nobody gets their
hands on the sword I left in the smithy. It’s liable to blow up the moment
someone starts swinging it, and I have no idea how big the explosion will
be. It would be unfortunate if my smithy got damaged any further.”
Reya’s face paled. She looked back at the crumbling building, then gave
Arwin a hurried nod. “I’ll make sure nobody touches it.”
“Good,” Arwin said. He set back off, leaving Reya behind him.

Arwin walked in as straight of a line as he could so that it would be easy to

retrace his steps. The alleyways weren’t the easiest to traverse, but by the
time he returned to the city proper, he was pretty sure he’d memorized the
way back.
 It took a little under half an hour of aimlessly wandering around Milten
until Arwin’s nose led him to a market. The scent of freshly baked bread,
greasy meat, and about a dozen other flavors he couldn’t place hung low in
the air.
A small crowd bustled around the street. There weren’t too many
people, especially compared to the capitol, but there were still more than
enough to make the city feel alive. Arwin couldn’t remember the last time
he’d been in a city without an escort from the Adventurers’ Guild.
For that matter, he couldn’t remember the last time he’d been anywhere
in the Kingdom of Lian without a guard of some sort.
The smells were tempting, but Arwin only had a single thing on his
mind at the moment. His eyes scanned the roofline of the shops near the
market, and it wasn’t long before he found what he was looking for.
Smoke rose up from a small stone chimney near the end of the market.
Arwin made his way over to it, and the crowd gave him a wide berth on his
way over. He sniffed at his arms, but he didn’t smell that bad.
Weird.
Arwin arrived at the smithy and stepped inside. A large man with a
bushy black beard and muscles large from years of work sat at the counter,
staring off at the wall in complete boredom.
The smith nearly leapt out of his chair when he spotted Arwin. The
man’s eyes narrowed and he rose to his feet, brushing himself off.
“What do you want?” the smith asked in a brusque tone. “I don’t give
handouts.”
“Handouts?” Arwin squinted at the man. “Why would I need handouts?
I’m here to buy some materials.”
The blacksmith blinked. “You are? You should have said so. My name is
Taylor. Please feel free to take a look around. You just didn’t look much like
the buyin’ sort.”
“What’s that meant to mean?” Arwin looked down at his clothes. They
were dirty, sure, but it didn’t look like they were that out of place. He
looked back to the blacksmith. “Do I have dirt on my face?”
“Well, it looks like you slept in a pile of soot.”
Arwin reached up and touched his cheek. His fingers came away gritty
and he grimaced. “Ah. Yes, that would do it. No matter. Do you have metal
rods?”
“Rods? You don’t want a weapon?”
 “Just rods,” Arwin said firmly. “Or any sort of metal scrap that isn’t
complete trash, now that we’re at it. I’m trying to learn forging.”
The smith’s eyes narrowed, and Arwin realized he might have made a
mistake. Telling someone that you were going to start up a business in
competition with them wasn’t really the greatest idea.
“You want me to sell to competition?” Taylor asked.
Arwin scratched the back of his neck. “Yeah. Your work should speak
for itself, right? No shame in competition if they’re worse than you.”
“You’re a shameless one, aren’t you?”
“Yes, I am. I’ve also got 10 gold here, and I’m willing to spend as much
of it as I need to for some rods. Save us both the trouble of dancing around
and tell me if you’re willing to sell or not. If you aren’t, I’ll just find
someone else to give them to me.”
Taylor’s frown split into a mildly amused grin and he turned around,
heading into the back of his store. A few minutes later, he came back out
with four metal rods and a small tarp bag bulging at the seams. He thumped
everything down on the counter.
“If you’re going to get your hands on it regardless, I might as well make
some profit in the meantime,” Taylor said with a shake of his head. “I’m not
giving you the best price, though. You want a better one, go find someone
else.”
“I respect the honesty.” Arwin tossed Taylor the bag of coins, and the
smith counted everything before giving Arwin a curt nod.
“And I respect the balls. Next time, find someone else to buy from. I’m
not outfitting my competition.”
“Noted,” Arwin said, gathering up everything he’d bought. “Thanks.”
Taylor just shook his head. As Arwin headed out the door, the other
smith called out to him.
“Say, where are you opening up shop? It better not be too close to me.”
“I’m not exactly sure,” Arwin replied. “It’s somewhere in an alley. I’ll
let you know once I rebuild it.”
He headed back out onto the street, leaving Taylor gawking at his back.
He had what he needed, and now all he had to do was head back and get
back to work. A grin crossed Arwin’s lips, and he increased his pace,
striding back into the dark alleys and toward his smithy.
Fortunately for his dwindling patience, Arwin didn’t have to walk long.
He’d memorized the way back pretty accurately, and he soon found himself
back in the alleyway that wasn’t quite home yet.
But, as he approached his smithy, a frown crossed over Arwin’s face.
There were noises coming from inside it that definitely weren’t meant to be
there—in particular, voices that he didn’t recognize.
I suppose I should have expected this.
Arwin ducked through the crumbling doorway and stepped into his
building. Reya stood with her back to the wall and her dagger in her hands,
facing off against two men wearing loose green clothes.
As soon as Arwin entered, one of them spun toward him.
“We’re not open for business yet,” Arwin said, setting the materials he’d
purchased from Taylor down on the ground. “Get out.”
“Who are you?” one of the men asked.
“When asking a name, it is polite to introduce yourself first.”
“Jin,” the man said, putting a hand on the hilt of a short sword at his
waist. “Your turn.”
“Arwin. Pleasure to meet you, Jin. Now get the hell out of my smithy.”
“This is your smithy?” Jin’s head tilted to the side. Arwin was more
focused on Reya, who looked like she was about half a step away from
stabbing Jin or his compatriot. Normally, he wouldn’t have particularly
minded, but that would mean he’d get even more blood on his floors.
“Yes,” Arwin said. “Is there a problem with that?”
“Not at all. We’d be pleased to leave,” Jin said, inclining his head and
giving Arwin a slight bow. “Rex and I don’t have any interest in bothering
you. We’re just after the little rat.”
Arwin’s eyes flicked to Reya, who swallowed. Her grip tightened on the
dagger.
“There seems to be a misunderstanding here,” Arwin said.
“Oh? What is it?” Jin tilted his head to the side, shifting his stance. It
was a subtle move, but Arwin had been in enough fights to recognize it. Jin
knew how to fight—at least he knew more than the Brothers Six had.
“Anything that happens to be inside my smithy is part of my smithy,”
Arwin said. He jerked his chin in Reya’s direction. “And she is inside my
smithy.”
Just leave so I don’t have to get blood on my floor, would you?
“Are you sure about that?” Jin asked, his eyes narrowing. He drummed
his fingers on his sword. “You’re a big guy, and you clearly know how to
carry yourself. But you’re sticking your nose where it doesn’t belong. This
is guild business.”
“Not my guild,” Arwin said. “And not my problem. You want to start
shit, then do it outside. I’m going to be pissed if I get more blood on my
floors.”
Jin’s gaze flicked down to the dry splotches near the forge. His lips
pressed thin and he snapped his fingers. Rex took a step back, sheathing his
blade. Arwin was actually somewhat impressed—he’d fully expected the
men to attack.
“Very well,” Jin said. He didn’t say another word as he swept past
Arwin. Rex trailed after him, giving Arwin a glare before stepping out the
front door. Arwin waited until he heard their footsteps fade down the street
before he turned to Reya.
“Huh. I’m surprised they had the brains not to attack,” Arwin said.
“Lucky me. The floors are spared.”
“That wasn’t brains,” Reya said, biting her lower lip and staring out the
door. “Jin’s one of the Thieves’ Guild enforcers. He has a bit of a grudge
against me, but he’s not stupid. He knows you killed the Brothers Six, so he
doesn’t want to get into a fight with you.”
Arwin grunted. “Clever thieves. Lovely. At least he left.”
“He didn’t leave,” Reya said, swallowing heavily. “But we probably
should. Jin is going to show up again, this time with more people. He hates
losing. The only reason he backed off is because he felt like he was
outnumbered.”
“More people? I thought you said this was a small guild.”
“I may have overexaggerated their smallness,” Reya said, clearing her
throat. “They have thirty members.”
“Thirty members?” Arwin exclaimed. “What the hell did you get me
wrapped up in? And what is it with you and getting into trouble? Every time
I leave, you manage to get into something new.”
“It’s not new!” Reya protested. “I just have a bunch of old things that
kind of keep stacking up on each other. I haven’t done anything that bad
recently!”
“You stabbed someone.”
“They had it coming.”
“Okay, fair. You aren’t avoiding this, though. Answer the question. Why
is a Thieves’ Guild pissed at you?” Arwin asked. “And don’t tell me it’s
because of the smithy. I’m getting the feeling it isn’t the shitty old building
they care about. They followed you here.”
Reya’s shoulders slumped and her eyes fell to her feet. “I’m sorry. They
did.”
“I gathered as much. I want to know why.”
“Well, long story short, I may have stolen something from them.”
“What did you steal, Reya?” Arwin demanded. “Stop hedging around it
and tell me!”
Reya bit her lower lip, then walked up to Arwin and leaned in close to
whisper into his ear. “The only key to a Journeyman dungeon.”

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 9

I
t had been a long time since Arwin had last thought about dungeons, but
he was surprised to find that the word brought up warm memories. He’d
spent the majority of his earlier years in this world within the dungeons,
together with the men and women that had once been his friends.
As far as Arwin had learned, dungeons were areas where the Mesh got
caught up and layered over itself, growing unstable. Monsters were lured to
the location and the Mesh fed them, letting them grow in strength and
turning their flesh and bodies valuable.
Most times, dungeons vanished forever once someone went through and
killed everything within them. The Mesh would unravel, returning to its
proper form, and whoever had cleared the dungeon would be the only one
to benefit from it.
But, in some situations, the bundled Mesh was so tight that it could
become permanent. Anything that spent extended periods of time within
these areas grew warped with power, and there was enough magic present
that the dungeons would reform themselves and the monsters within them
over periods of time.
Dungeons such as those were incredibly valuable and highly
monopolized by both the Mesh and people alike. Many of them had limited
entrances to keep the dungeons from being over-cleared and risking the
dungeon unraveling. Some of those entrances were man-made, and some of
them seemed to be placed there by the Mesh itself.
 Arwin had never properly understood the Mesh’s purpose. At times, it
seemed to be to force people to grow and pursue their goals. At other times,
it seemed as if it rejoiced in causing chaos and preventing peace from ever
cementing itself. Nobody had ever given him a straight answer for what the
Mesh truly was, but he knew one thing for certain—it granted power.
A Journeyman dungeon wouldn’t have been of any interest to me when I
was still the Hero. It’s only one tier up from Apprentice. Things are different
now, though. This is an incredible find. And if there’s actually only a single
entrance, it’s an incredible training ground and way to generate both money
and materials. Granted, I’ll actually have to be able to survive it. As things
stand, I can wipe the floor with some nameless goons, but I’d get
slaughtered if I tried to solo a dungeon twice my tier.
Arwin realized that he’d drifted off in thought, and Reya was staring at
him, growing progressively more and more worried by his lack of reaction.
“I know I should have told you earlier, but I was worried—” Reya
started.
“This is a huge opportunity,” Arwin said, cutting her off. “I don’t blame
you for not sharing your secrets. I’ve hardly shared mine, but if you’re
willing to share that dungeon, there could be a lot we could get from it.
Have you checked the dungeon out yourself?”
Reya blinked at Arwin’s excitement, but it wasn’t long until her frown
returned. “I—No, I haven’t. The Thieves’ Guild is watching the entrance, so
I haven’t had a chance. But… do you mind if I ask a question?”
“You can ask, but I may not answer.”
“I know you’re pretty strong, but are you able to do a dungeon at the
Journeyman tier? I don’t doubt you or anything, but aren’t you some sort of
smith?”
“I am a smith, yes. What of it?”
“Well… a smith doesn’t have any battle skills. No matter how strong
you are, a Journeyman dungeon might be too much. I don’t even have a
class, so there’s no way I’d be able to do anything. I suppose we could try
to earn enough money to hire someone, but then they might just take all the
good stuff themselves.”
I don’t have any mere crafting class, though. I’ve got a Unique one. I
guess that may or may not be a good thing. The Unique modifier doesn’t
necessarily imply something is better or worse—just that it’s different from
the standard. Only time will tell, but I’m pretty sure Living Forge has more
benefits than drawbacks.
Either way, I still have some of my titles. With a little preparation, I
think we could handle the dungeon. When I was still the Hero, training
would have handled that. But now… no. Training wouldn’t hurt, but it’s not
what I need. If I want to become strong again, I need to build myself a set of
equipment so strong that it can let me keep up with the combat classes.
“We’ll burn that bridge when we get to it,” Arwin said. “I’m confident
we’ll be able to handle the dungeon at some point, but you were right to
keep this secret. I trust you’ve got the key stashed somewhere safe, where
nobody can find it?”
Reya cleared her throat loudly. Arwin’s eyes narrowed. “I’m not asking
you to tell me where it is. I’m not going to rob you. Just make sure someone
doesn’t nick it while we’re getting ready.”
Reaching up to her chest, Reya pulled the top of her shirt back and
pulled out a key dangling on a thin necklace. “I, uh, kind of just have it
here. I didn’t think about stashing it anywhere.”
“Put that away,” Arwin said hurriedly. He glanced at the entrance of the
smithy to make sure nobody was there, not relaxing until the key was
hidden once more. “Holding on to it is fine. Just don’t lose it. We can get a
lot out of it.”
“So it’s definitely a we thing now?” Reya asked, giving him a cheeky
smile.
“Don’t get too big for your britches. You’re the one that dragged me
into this,” Arwin pointed out, but he couldn’t keep a small smile from
passing over his own features. “And I’ve dealt with worse than you. I’m not
opposed to a partnership so long as you don’t go stabbing me in the back or
doing anything overly stupid.”
“You aren’t going to make me share more about myself?”
Arwin let out a burst of laughter. “No, Reya. Why would I do that? If I
asked you to spill your secrets, then I would have to do the same. I don’t
care about your secrets, so long as they don’t affect us.”
Shifting uncomfortably, Reya glanced to the side. Arwin’s eyes
narrowed. “What else have you done?”
“You might have to be more specific.”
“How many enemies do you have that are actively looking for you?”
 Reya raised a hand, ticking fingers off on it. She quickly ran out of
fingers and swapped to the other hand. Finding that one also lacking, she
started pulling a shoe off. The other shoe soon followed after it, and Reya
finally raised her gaze back to Arwin’s, biting her lip.
“Arwin?”
“Yes?”
“Don’t get mad, but I lost count.”
Arwin heaved a sigh. “Figures. Maybe we’re more alike than I
thought.”
“What do you mean?”
“Never mind,” Arwin said. He waved at her shoes. “Put those back on
before you step on something sharp by accident, would you? Do any of
your enemies other than the Thieves’ Guild know where you are?”
“No, they shouldn’t. I’m sorry. I should have told⁠—”
“Good. Keep it that way. I’ve already spent enough time on this. I’m
going back to work. Could you get dinner?”
Reya froze midway through pulling her socks back on, looking up at
Arwin in shock. “You’re not kicking me out?”
“Of everyone I’ve run into in the past few days, you’ve been the most
reliable. So long as things stay that way, I don’t care who your enemies are.
Just… try to give me a little forewarning the next time, would you?”
“Yes, sir!” Reya saluted him, then scrambled to her feet and gave him
another salute.
“Arwin.”
“Right. Sorry.”
Reya slipped out the door, and Arwin shook his head, a small smile on
his face. Blake would have loved her. He’d been excited about just about
everything, and he could barely remember a time when Blake hadn’t been
smiling. Even his last breath had passed with a grin sprawling across his
lips.
“Could have used your help right about now,” Arwin muttered into the
air. “But maybe this is your way of sending it, eh?”
There was no response, but Arwin wasn’t so sure he hadn’t already
gotten one. Still wearing a small smile, he turned back to his forge and
cracked his neck. There was a lot of work he had to get done, and the
Thieves’ Guild wasn’t going to sit around forever.
Days flitted by, and the Thieves’ Guild had yet to return. That was perfectly
fine with Arwin. He barely left his forge, and Reya proved to be capable in
more ways than one. She didn’t just bring him food—she also woke him up
in the mornings and made sure he went to sleep early enough to avoid
passing out for another few days at once.
Beyond that, she also continued to procure a steady supply of metal
scrap. It wasn’t the highest quality material, but it was a lot better than the
other trash that Arwin had to work with—and it was free.
Arwin didn’t ask where Reya had gotten the materials, and she didn’t
offer an answer. He was going through supplies far too quickly to be picky,
but his efforts were to great effect. Two piles of swords, daggers, nails, and
other assorted objects started to form beside Arwin.
The first—and largest—of them was full of garbage that was completely
worthless and had no magical properties. The second was considerably
smaller, but it had several swords mixed in with the daggers that Arwin
wasn’t completely disgusted with. None of them had been magic, but they
looked like real weapons. The rate he was improving at was, at least to his
eyes, incredible.
He’d been successful in making only a single magical item in his three
days’ work, and that had been a Garbage Quality magic dagger that he’d
promptly eaten upon feeling the pangs in his stomach.
It looks like I need to eat an item about once every four or five days.
That should be sustainable, but I need to build up a bigger backlog of
things to eat in case something goes wrong.
Arwin’s hammer rang against steel as he thought, putting the final
touches on the blade he’d been working on that morning. This particular
piece had been singing him a song that was reaching its final notes, and
Arwin was particularly optimistic about its chances.
But, if he was going to make a sword that he could actually be proud of,
he needed to do the full process, not just the first half. Arwin held the
glowing, hot blade before him and glanced around in search of liquid.
There wasn’t anything in the smithy that he could use—which was
probably a problem he should have rectified before starting his work. Arwin
headed outside, walking around the back of the smithy and down the road.
 Luck must have been smiling upon him. After just a minute or two of
walking, he spotted a deep puddle near the ditch at the side of the road. It
was only a little longer than his body and barely as wide as his arm, but
there was a quarter-foot of water in it.
Better than nothing.
Arwin plunged the blade into it. Steam erupted forth and the water
bubbled furiously as it cooled the blade. He held it beneath the water,
enjoying the faint massage of the roiling water against his hand. Only once
the bubbles receded did Arwin lift the blade free. It was covered with black
flakes of metal that he brushed away with his thumb, using a tiny amount of
power from [Scourge] to push them off the metal.
It looked like a blade. He wasn’t sure what else to say. If he’d known
more about smithing, he probably would have shuddered at the weapon
before him, but in this particular instance, ignorance would be a blessing.
Arwin headed back to the smithy, the partially finished sword in hand.
After a few minutes of scraping at the rough surface to get it as polished
as possible, Arwin was mostly satisfied with the weapon’s blade. He took a
slightly curved metal tube that he’d formed the previous night and slid it
over the tang of the blade before taking the whole thing over to the hearth
and sticking it into the flames.
After letting them heat up, Arwin brought the sword back to his anvil.
He grabbed some nails and drew on [Scourge] to hammer them straight
through the metal, holding the hilt in place beneath the crossguard. He then
lumbered over to a small roll of leather that Reya had procured and
wrapped the hilt with the leather.
Arwin brought the blade to his whetstone and got to work sharpening it.
The scrape of metal on stone rang in his ears over and over again. But,
finally, he finished. The tingle of the Mesh raced across his skin. A grin split
his lips as magic swirled before his eyes.

[Short Sword: Average Quality] has been forged. Forging a magical

item has granted you energy.
Achievement: [More than Average] has been earned.
[More than Average] – Awarded for forging your first Average Quality
item. Effects: One skill in your next Skill Selection has been upgraded.
This achievement will be consumed upon choosing your next skill.
 A faint feeling of strength seeped into Arwin’s body and his grin grew
wider. There were a very high number of adventurers who believed that the
most important way to get stronger was purely reaching higher tiers and
upgrading their class.
While that was certainly one way to get stronger, Arwin’s years of
combat had shown him that it was far from the most important one. The
actual key to power was getting as many Achievements and Titles as
possible, which would give the highest chance to get the best skills. There
was no limit to how many of them someone could get per tier, but there
were only ten levels per tier. Unfortunately, Arwin had only learned that late
into his career as the Hero.
I always did wonder why the Adventurers’ Guild never told me about
how important getting good skills in each tier was. Now that I suspect they
tried to kill me, it makes me wonder what purpose they really summoned me
for. It clearly wasn’t to be the strongest warrior humanity had, or they
wouldn’t have withheld information.
One day, I’ll find out. For now, I’ve got another chance. I’m all the way
back at the Apprentice tier, which means I have all the opportunities in the
world to improve my skills. I can be stronger than I ever could have been as
the Hero.
But that would come later. He picked the sword up and held it out
before him, letting the Mesh tingle against his skin. For now, it was time to
see what magic his first well-made sword possessed.

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 10

Short Sword: Average Quality

Ringing Blows: This item remembers the ringing of the man who
forged it. While wielding it, you may use a small amount of your
magical energy to imbue your attacks, causing them to leave a faint
resonance upon impact. Repeated strikes against the same area will
cause increased damage.
Hungry: This item hungers for power and will consume more magical
energy than necessary in order to function.

“W ould you look at that,” Arwin mused, holding the sword up to the
light. “That’s actually rather useful. Not bad. Not bad at all. It still
managed to pick up a detrimental property, but considering the
chance of that is 80 percent right now, I don’t think I can complain. It’s
good to know I can get two different properties on a single weapon.”
“Whoa.” Reya’s voice came from behind him.
Arwin turned, finding Reya standing in the doorway of the smithy, her
eyes wide. He lowered the sword, then picked up the sheath from one of the
swords he’d taken from the Brothers Six, swapping the blade out for his
own.
“Staring is impolite,” Arwin said.
 “Sorry.” Reya shook her head, blushing. “I just saw the swords you
were making before. No offense, but they sucked. You’re getting better at a
crazy rate. Were you just screwing around before?”
Arwin looked over to the pile of garbage, then chuckled. “No. I’m just a
fast learner.”
“Right,” Reya said, clearly not believing him. Arwin’s stomach rumbled
before either of them could say anything else, and it was the girl’s turn to
laugh. “Time for lunch?”
“I’d say so,” Arwin agreed. “I hoped you’d gone out to get it.”
“I did, but Lillia actually said I wasn’t allowed to take food out
anymore. She’s trying a new strategy of getting people to stay in her tavern
longer.”
Arwin squinted at Reya. “You say people, as in plural. Does she actually
have other customers?”
“Er… she’s got one. I’ve seen a drunk guy passed out in her shop every
once in a while. That’s it, though. She’s just really adamant that she can’t
have the right atmosphere if people are always coming in and leaving right
after.”
“I’d say the first problem is that she’s trying to build an inn on the least
populated street in the city,” Arwin said dryly. He brushed his hands off on
his shirt, then shrugged. “Her cooking seems to be improving, though.
Perhaps it’s worth a trip out of the old building.”
Arwin glanced around his smithy, but there wasn’t much he really had
to put away or move. He took a moment to take his potentially explosive
magical sword and bury it beneath the pile of garbage before following
Reya out of the open doorway, stepping carefully to avoid slipping on the
rubble.
I really need to start looking into improving this building. It’s
depressing.
“Do you think we can make this place look a bit better soon?” Reya
asked as they walked down the street, reading Arwin’s thoughts perfectly.
“Or at least add some beds? I’m not a stranger to sleeping on the floor, but I
don’t normally stay in one spot this long. I mean, I’m not really bringing in
any money, so I can’t tell you what to do, but⁠—”
“I’d say you’ve brought in more than enough supplies to give you some
say over what we do,” Arwin said, raising a hand to stall her. “And I agree.
Some comfort would be nice, and improving the smithy will be important if
I want more people to come. I think the first step will be finding a way to
sell some of my work, though. I need a wooden cart or something of its like
that I can bring to a more populated area of the city.”
“I’ll keep my eyes out.”
Arwin suppressed a laugh. “I need to get one the proper way, Reya. I
don’t want to have someone chase me down the streets because they
recognize the cart I’m selling out of.”
“Oh,” Reya said, her face falling. “Right.”
They came to a stop at the end of the street, before a building that was
somehow in worse shape than Arwin’s smithy. He squinted through the
empty window frames, but it was so dark inside that he couldn’t make a
single thing out.
“This is the tavern?” Arwin asked doubtfully. “It looks like a morgue.”
“It’s a bit weird-looking,” Reya admitted. “I try not to stay inside too
long. If I’m being honest, it kind of gives me the creeps. It’s still a tavern,
though! Or… well, Lillia is good at cooking. That makes it a tavern.
Right?”
Reya sounded like she was hoping that Arwin would convince her. He
let out a long-suffering sigh and shook his head.
“Well, the food certainly wasn’t bad. Might as well take a look.” Arwin
stepped through the doorway, ducking slightly to avoid hitting his head. He
squinted into the darkness, just barely able to make out the room beyond.
Broken tables and chairs littered the floor. A counter sat at the back,
mostly rotted through and collapsed. There was a single stool in front of the
counter, and it didn’t look like it could hold much weight. Piles of glass
shards and other debris had been swept into the corners, just barely visible
in the faint light that came from a doorway at the back. Faint scuffles came
from through the doorway, as well as the muted noise of what Arwin
suspected to be humming.
Reya cleared her throat. “Lillia? Are you here? I came back to get
lunch!”
Her words echoed through the darkness, making Arwin wince. He
superstitiously glanced over his shoulder, putting a hand on the hilt of his
sword. The back of his spine prickled, and his hair stood on end. Something
about the tavern set him on edge. The shadows were too long, and it was far
too silent—and dark. Much, much too dark.
 It wasn’t the same as his smithy. That building had been equally as
rundown, but it didn’t feel nearly as ominous. Reya didn’t seem particularly
concerned, so she was either completely oblivious to the sensation or had
just gotten used to it.
“Who’s asking?” a female voice called. It was followed by several
choked coughs and a curse. Smoke curled out of the doorway and trickled
out through the cracks in the precarious ceiling.
“That’s Lillia,” Reya whispered before raising her voice to call back.
“It’s me, Reya! I came back for lunch. You told me to, remember?”
“Oh, right.” There was a short pause. The smoke pouring out of the
kitchen intensified, and Reya exchanged a glance with Arwin. There were
some hurried thuds, followed by a loud crunch. The smoke stopped. “Do
you mind waiting a bit? I may have set lunch on fire.”
“That’s fine,” Reya said before Arwin could say anything. She walked
up to the counter, ignoring the small pieces of debris that crunched beneath
her feet with every step, and carefully sat down on the stool. It creaked
precariously.
“Sorry,” Reya said. “Only one chair right now.”
“So I see,” Arwin said dryly. “And I suspect there are no chairs that
hold my weight.”
“Hold on,” Lillia called from within the kitchen, her tone gaining a
panicked note to it. The shuffling from behind the wall grew more
aggressive. “Did you bring someone else with you? Is that a new
customer?”
“It’s just Arwin. You’ve been cooking for him a while already,” Reya
explained. “You don’t have to worry about it.”
“Oh no. This is a horrible precedent,” Lillia said. There was another
crash, followed by a series of curses. “I’ll have food out as soon as possible,
I promise! Just wait a little longer?”
“I thought she wanted more customers?” Arwin asked, whispering to
avoid stressing the poor woman any further.
“She does,” Reya whispered back, “but I think she’s also worried about
disappointing them, you know? I don’t really know her that well, but she
clearly cares a lot about what people think of her cooking. She plied me
with questions about how we liked the food every time I got something
from her.”
 Arwin grunted. He walked up to the counter beside Reya, glancing
around for somewhere to sit before promptly giving the idea up. There
really was only a single stool, and it definitely wasn’t holding his weight.
He put a hand on the bar, leaning gently against it to make sure it
wouldn’t collapse beneath him. When the wood didn’t make too many
creaks of protest, he allowed himself to put the rest of his weight against it.
The uneasy feeling still gripped him, but at this point, his desire to eat
something was greater than his concern. He highly doubted that there would
be anything truly dangerous in this backwater city, and even though he
didn’t seem to need real food anymore, he still relished the taste.
Minutes ticked by. Arwin listened to Lillia’s hurried cooking through
the wall. He could hear her muttering to herself, but the exact words were
lost. Reya didn’t seem to mind the wait and was busying herself by
organizing tiny pieces of broken wood on the counter before her.
“Have you ever been in here before?” Arwin asked.
“Only to wait while the food was getting made,” Reya replied, glancing
up from her artwork. “Why?”
“Just wondering. It feels a bit… concerning,” Arwin said.
Reya scrunched her nose. “Oh, yeah. I felt like that at first too. I haven’t
gotten stabbed yet, though. That makes it better than most of the places I’ve
been in.”
“Your standards are far too low,” Arwin informed Reya, shaking his
head. She did have a point, though. Nobody had tried to stab them. Yet.
Arwin was about a second from drumming his fingers on the countertop
in impatience when Lillia finally called out to them again.
“Okay! I’m so sorry about the wait, but I’ve got your food ready!”
Lillia hurried out of the kitchen, her dark purple skin nearly invisible in
the dim light. It looked vaguely familiar, but Arwin didn’t have much time
to process it. He was much more interested in the food she was carrying.
She moved so quickly that Arwin’s eyes could barely track her, but she
came to a stop on the other side of the bar when she went to put two
steaming plates of fried rice down before them.
“Enjoy!” she said cheerfully.
Arwin’s gaze lifted to Lillia’s—and he froze. He recognized the scar
that ran along her right eye. He recognized her features, even as covered in
grime as they were. And, as her expression shifted from excitement to
shock, Arwin knew without a doubt that she recognized him.
 Standing before him, two plates of fried rice in her hands and an award-
winning smile on her face, was the Demon Queen.

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 11

A
rwin’s ears rang, his mind refusing to believe the information that his
eyes were conveying to it. The Demon Queen was dead. He’d killed
her—run her heart through with his sword.
And yet, as if mocking his thoughts, the scar on Arwin’s own heart
tingled. The Demon Queen had run him through in the very same spot, and
yet here he stood. Arwin swallowed, tasting metal.
Every part of him wished that he was somehow hallucinating. He
blinked furiously, trying to snap himself out of it, but nothing worked.
There was absolutely no denying that the woman before him was the
Demon Queen. He’d put the scar on her eye there with his own sword, and
she’d returned the one along his cheek.
It wasn’t that much of a reach for her to have survived the explosion—
she and Arwin had been evenly matched for as long as he could remember,
so if he’d somehow made it out alive, he should have expected that she
would have done the same. Truly, he should have recognized the ominous
aura covering the tavern the instant he’d stepped into it.
But, somehow, the thought had never registered. Admitting that she was
still alive would have been the same as admitting that he’d failed, and his
duties as the Hero still remained. Duty would have compelled him to return
to his former role, no matter how little he wanted to. The concept made him
feel physically ill.
The surprise in the Demon Queen’s eyes told Arwin that she was just as
surprised to see him as he was to see her. Everything around Arwin felt like
it had slowed to a crawl, but his heart raced in his chest as if to make up for
lost time.
If the Demon Queen was still alive, she would have been plotting and
preparing to destroy the Kingdom of Lian once more. Two Demon Queens
would have been impossible for a single Hero to handle, and the life Arwin
had just started to get used to would come crashing down.
But… she wasn’t plotting. Arwin wasn’t anywhere near stupid enough
to believe that starting a tavern in the back of the least populated street in
the kingdom and serving fried rice to strangers was in any way, shape, or
form even remotely close to a plot.
His mouth opened, but he wasn’t sure what he wanted to ask. He wasn’t
sure what he could ask. His hand shifted, moving toward the hilt of his
sword. But, before he could touch it, he paused. The moment his hand
touched the hilt of his blade, everything would return to how it had been.
If the blade came free of its sheath, their battle would begin anew.
For a second, he didn’t dare let himself move again. Then he made a
decision.
Arwin let his hand fall from the sheath, scarcely able to believe the
actions of his own body. Instead of doing what any sane man would have
done and striking the first blow before the Demon Queen could react, he
chose another option.
“Thank you,” Arwin said, taking the plate from Lillia’s stunned hands.
“It looks delicious.”
She stared at him in disbelief. The shadows had gathered behind her,
and Arwin could tell that they were just inches from forming into wings at
her back. For several seconds, neither of them spoke again.
He’d made his move. The sword hung at his side like a brick of lead,
but Arwin made no moves to draw it. For years, he’d fought. For years,
he’d tried to kill the woman before him. And now, the proverbial blade was
in her hands. If she wanted to keep their fight going, then she’d have to
make the next blow.
A terse second ground by. Arwin could hear the blood slamming in his
ears like a roaring ocean, but he refused to let it show on his face. He just
held Lillia’s gaze, not letting his hands budge from the table.
The shadows gathering behind Lillia slipped away. She opened her
mouth as if to say something, then let it close again. For several seconds
longer, none of them spoke.
 The silence was then promptly broken by Reya grabbing handfuls of
rice with her hands and shoveling it into her mouth, chewing loudly. She
was completely oblivious to the nonverbal exchange that Arwin and Lillia
were locked within, her eyes completely focused on the plate in front of her.
“This is great, Lillia! Thanks!”
Like a hammer through glass, the moment was shattered. Lilia gestured
to Arwin’s plate. “Are you going to eat? Or are you just going to look?”
Could it be poisoned? Is this a—no. It can’t be a trick. She didn’t know I
was coming, and I’ve been eating her cooking this whole time.
There weren’t any utensils, so Arwin copied Reya and scooped some
rice into his mouth. He didn’t break eye contact once with her as he
chewed, then swallowed. A small grin passed over his lips.
“This is fantastic,” Arwin said, genuinely meaning it. “It must have
taken a lot of work to make. Thank you.”
Even more confusion passed over Lillia’s face, but she gave him a small
nod. “It did. I’m glad to hear you enjoy it. I’m sorry I don’t have another
chair. I haven’t had a chance to start properly renovating yet.”
“You just moved in, then?” Arwin asked, keeping his tone
conversational. He wasn’t sure where his life had taken a turn to the point
where he’d be enjoying a meal served to him by his mortal enemy, but he
wasn’t about to stop eating now.
The proper thing to do here is dig for information. This is just research
to determine what her goals are.
“Yeah, I did. Reya told me it’s the same for you?” Lillia asked, her tone
matching Arwin’s.
She’s aiming for the same goal I am. I shouldn’t reveal too much… but
do I even have anything to hide?
“It is.” Arwin ate another mouthful of the fried rice. “The building was
conveniently unoccupied. It needs just a dash of repairs, though.”
Lillia let out a small snort. “Yeah, I’d say. I saw that ratty old thing
when I first got here. I’m surprised you chose it.”
“I could say the same about the tavern,” Arwin countered. “You’re not
going to get many customers if it’s impossible to see inside it.”
Lillia’s face fell. “I know, but it was the only building that even
resembled a tavern, and it’s in a great location. Once I get it fixed up, I’m
sure more people will come around.”
 Arwin was suddenly struck with a small pang of regret. She genuinely
looked unhappy about his words—but when had the Demon Queen even
cared about his opinions in the slightest? They’d exchanged so many insults
that he could barely remember the list.
“I’m sure you’ll manage it,” Arwin said. “With food like this, you could
be selling it out of a pigsty.”
The corner of Lillia’s lips quirked up, though it quickly returned to
normal when she seemed to remember who she was speaking with. “I’m
always pleased to hear a client enjoys my work. Is there anything else I
could get the two of you?”
“Do you have anything else?” Reya asked through a mouthful of rice.
Lillia cleared her throat. “No. I’m just trying to get into the habit.
Hospitality is a bit new to me, but I’ve always wanted to run a tavern. I’m
not being too oppressive, am I? Should I wait in the kitchen?”
“It’s fine,” Arwin said, his words ringing in his ears as if someone else
were speaking them. “I’m sure there are some people that would prefer to
eat on their own, but if you’re going to have a unique atmosphere, you
might as well lean into it.”
Lillia’s brow furrowed as she tried to find a hidden meaning in Arwin’s
words. When it became apparent that there wasn’t one, her confusion only
grew more apparent. “I suppose I’ll keep that in mind.”
Arwin and Reya finished off the rest of their meals quickly, not
speaking again until they’d both polished their plates clean. Arwin was
pretty sure he was in minor shock—his brain still couldn’t fully
comprehend what was going on.
This is it? She really isn’t going to do anything? I thought the Demon
Queen hated humans. Why would she want to start a tavern for them?
There’s no way this is just some long plot to poison the city or something, is
there?
He couldn’t exactly ask her. That would be the same as admitting he
knew who she was, and then the farce would be over. As long as he didn’t
reveal he knew who Lillia was and she did the same, things could remain as
they were.
And, just like that, the meal was over. Arwin quietly stacked his plate on
Reya’s. “Thank you for the meal. What do we owe you?”
“Reya already paid,” Lillia said. “You’re good, but if you run into
anyone that looks hungry, I’ll appreciate it if you send them my way.”
 “Can do, so long as you send anyone looking for some smithing in my
direction. I’ve got some swords I’ll be about to put up for sale, but I’m sure
I could figure out more specific requests,” Arwin said.
Lillia nodded, and the two of them stood in uncomfortable silence for a
second. Then, slowly, Arwin lifted his hand. Not to his sword, but palm out
in offering. Lillia stared at it, then looked back to him.
She took it, and the Hero of Lian shook hands with the Demon Queen.
It was a strange feeling to hold hands with the woman that he had spent the
entirety of his life trying to kill, but when he looked into her eyes, he saw
himself within them.
Arwin had fought her for long enough to understand her body language
perfectly. When she was going to summon her magic—the kind of strike
she was about to make. He could tell all of it just from a single look, and he
suspected she could do the same for him.
But, for the first time that he could remember, Arwin couldn’t tell what
she was thinking. He abruptly realized that they’d been holding hands for
several moments longer than he’d planned and let go, taking a step back.
“See you tomorrow!” Reya said with a cheerful grin, waving farewell as
she and Arwin headed out of the dark tavern. Arwin resisted the temptation
to pause at the doorway and glance back at Lillia.
His mind still spun, confusion ruling his emotions with an iron fist. For
the first time, he spent more than a few moments wondering what in the
world had happened at the end of their fight. He brushed a hand over the
wound covering his heart.
I don’t understand this at all. When I first arrived at this world, I
thought everything was simple. All I had to do was kill the Demon Queen
and everyone could be happy. What would I have thought if I’d learned I’d
be eating her cooking?
A chilling realization set in on Arwin’s shoulders as they drew back up
to his smithy. If he wanted to figure out any answers to what had happened
and how he’d survived the explosion, the best person to speak with was
probably the only other one that had been present for it.
That seems like a problem for later. I need to take my mind off all this,
but I don’t want to just mindlessly smith swords with no purpose in mind.
“Is everything okay?” Reya asked. “You’ve seemed off ever since we
met Lillia.”
 “Everything is fine,” Arwin said with a hurried shake of his head. “Just
some old memories. You said you didn’t have a class yet, right?”
Reya winced and nodded. “Yeah. You’d have thought I’d have gotten
Thief by now, but somehow the only thing I’ve been handed is a fat zero.
Why?”
“Just wondering,” Arwin replied. “The Mesh gives you what you desire
when you work toward it, you know.”
“I’ve heard that before.” Reya rolled her eyes. “But if that were true, I’d
have gotten a class by now.”
That’s true, unless the thing you were working toward wasn’t at all what
you actually wanted.
Arwin kept his musings to himself. Not for his sake, but for Reya’s. The
last thing she needed to do was start doubting her desires, and Arwin didn’t
know her nearly enough to start telling her how to live her life.
They stepped into the smithy—and Arwin’s eyes narrowed instantly.
There was a slip of paper pinned to the wall with a dagger that had been
wedged through it and into a crack in the wall.
He strode up to it, pulling the paper down and scanning over it.
We have given you enough time. Deliver Reya and the item she stole, or
We shall be forced to act. Though We do not enjoy senseless slaughter, those
who flaunt Our kindness will be met with Our blade.
You have two days. If she is not returned, then your life and building
will be taken in recompense.
The letter was unsigned, but it didn’t need to be. Reya’s face paled as
she read over it, and she looked up to Arwin, her hands clenching at her
sides. “I’m sorry. This is my fault.”
Arwin didn’t respond immediately. With every passing day, it became
more apparent that this was his new life—and he was starting to like it. It
was also becoming clear that if Arwin wanted to keep his new life the way
it was, he was going to need to get stronger.
A lot stronger.
“I was just thinking that it might be time to make some money
tomorrow,” Arwin said. “You can toss on a cloak. We’ll bring the stuff I’ve
made that isn’t horrible to the city center. We can try to sell it for half price
and make a bit of coin.”
Reya blinked in confusion. “What? Did you see the letter? You’ve been
too kind to me. I’ll hand myself⁠—”
 “I’m not handing you over. We just need to get stronger,” Arwin
corrected. He hadn’t been kind to Reya at all. He’d tolerated her, but that
was a far cry from kindness. The fact that she considered his actions kind
spoke volumes about the kind of life she’d lived.
Deep within his heart, a feeling that he’d nearly forgotten rekindled
itself. The sensation that had driven him in his early days of adventuring.
The feeling he’d had before he’d seen all his friends die, when he’d still
believed in the cause he’d fought for.
It’s been so long that I almost forgot why I fought. It wasn’t just to end
the war. It wasn’t for the Adventurers’ Guild. I fought to protect the people
who needed me. I fought to keep someone else from being forced to become
who I became.
“Stronger than the Thieves’ Guild?” Reya asked in disbelief. “They
have thirty men! All of them have classes!”
“Which is why we’ll go out hunting.”
Reya’s eyes widened. “The dungeon? But⁠—”
“Not the dungeon,” Arwin said with a chuckle. “Not yet. Just normal
hunting. We need materials and experience, and this will provide both. I just
need a little more money to outfit us a little better first.”
“But… how? You’re a smith and I don’t have a class. If we run into
anything powerful, we’ll be dead.”
A wry smile crossed over Arwin’s lips. He’d just made a new weapon,
after all. Perhaps it was time to test it out. “You’d be surprised to find how
misleading appearances can be. I’m going to show you just how much this
mere smith is capable of.”

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E
arly the following morning, Arwin and Reya made their way into
Milten proper. Reya carried the weapons that Arwin had forged in a
bundle of leather, a hood pulled low over her head to keep anyone
from noticing her.
Arwin wasn’t sure exactly how many enemies Reya had in the city, but
he didn’t want to find out right now. It normally would have been safer to
leave her back at the smithy, but he didn’t put it past the Thieves’ Guild to
try something while he was out.
With Reya at the lead, they arrived at the edge of the city markets as the
other merchants had just started to set up. They made their way over to a
corner that was a little less populated than the other areas—and on the
opposite side of the market as Taylor’s storefront.
I do feel a bit bad stealing his business, but we’re far out enough that
hopefully it doesn’t hurt him too much. Besides, anyone buying stuff from
two dirty people on the side of the street probably isn’t looking to spend
their entire life savings.
Reya set the bundle of weapons down and rolled it out, adjusting
everything so it looked a little neater. It still looked pretty suspicious, but at
least they actually resembled dirty merchants rather than thieves.
“Now what?” Reya asked. “We put it out.”
“Well, presumably, we wait until someone wants to buy something.”
Reya scrunched her nose. She glanced around at the few passersby that
were already wandering through the market. Nobody was showing them
very much interest. Arwin couldn’t say he was surprised. They probably
needed to get at least one person’s attention before more would follow.
“It’s not working,” Reya said.
“We’ve been out here for less than a minute. It takes time.”
“You know what takes less time?” Reya’s gaze drifted to the coin purse
of a passing man. Arwin pointedly cleared his throat, and she tore her eyes
away.
“We’re not doing that right now.”
“Why not? It’s faster.”
“We’ve got a perfectly legitimate business right here. We don’t need to
get kicked out.”
“Need I remind you where the materials for that business came from?”
“Let’s not.” Arwin scratched at the side of his neck. “It might take a bit
before we get any attention. If I had more magical weapons for sale, I’m
sure that would be different. Unfortunately, the only one I’ve got is the one
that explodes.”
“Maybe you could try to sell it as a throwing weapon?”
“It’s a sword,” Arwin said. “You don’t fling swords.”
“I’m sure someone does.”
He chuckled. “Probably. But, even if they did, the damn thing isn’t even
guaranteed to blow up. It just might blow up. That makes it pretty useless
for both hand-to-hand fighting as well as throwing. Completely worthless.”
And I can’t even eat the damn thing because it might blow me up too. At
best, it’s a prank gift for a powerful adventurer. No matter. It’s only a matter
of time until I get someone’s attention. It couldn’t be that hard to sell a few
weapons, right?

Three hours later, Arwin was starting to wish that he’d just gone with
Reya’s plan. He sat beside the roll of weapons, watching everyone walk
straight past them without a second glance. Reya was beside him, very
pointedly not pointing out how absolutely nobody was buying anything.
Arwin resisted the urge to heave a sigh. Half the problem was actually
getting people’s attention. It wasn’t like his weapons were bad, but he’d
never been that much of a salesman. Every time he tried to get someone’s
attention, it looked more like he was threatening to stab them than sell them
the sword.
Reya wasn’t much better, as she couldn’t so much as show her face.
And so, the two of them just sat there, completely unable to sell a single
thing.
“At least it’s nice out,” Reya said. “Although it’s kind of hot.”
“It’s only hot because you’re wearing a cloak.” Arwin rubbed his
forehead. “But I must admit that this doesn’t seem to be working nearly as
well as I had hoped.”
“Maybe you should try to show off your magic sword? Even if it’s just a
liability waiting to happen, at least it’s cooler than normal weapons.”
“Not a terrible idea, but I’m not sure anyone would really be that
interested in a magic weapon that’s just objectively worse than a normal
one, especially if I don’t have any others for sale.”
And I’m not selling the last sword I just made. It’s actually useful. You
know, the more I think about it, what’s the point of selling this trash? I have
no desire to just be another smith—and do I even want to outfit adventurers
that are part of the Adventurers’ Guild?
“Arwin?” Reya asked.
He blinked, then turned to her. “What?”
“You were glaring. We’re not going to get customers if you scare them
all off.”
Arwin grunted. He pushed himself to his feet and rolled the bundle of
weapons back up, hoisting it over a shoulder and shaking his head. “Forget
this. We’re leaving.”
“What?” Reya hurried to catch up with Arwin as he strode out of the
market. “Why?”
“Because I realized this isn’t what I want to do,” Arwin said. “I’m glad
nobody showed up. I have no desire to outfit more adventurers that I don’t
know—and selling subpar work rubs me the wrong way the more I think
about it. When you make someone a weapon, aren’t they basically putting
their life in your hands?”
“That seems a bit extreme. It’s just a weapon, and everything is about
how the weapon is used, not what the weapon is.”
“To a degree, yes. But when you buy weapons or armor from someone,
it means you’re trusting that they’ll hold. Your smith holds your life in their
hands. Imagine if your dagger shatters midway through a fight against a
powerful monster.”
Or if your smith plants a magical bomb in your armor.
“I guess I can see what you’re saying,” Reya allowed. She glanced over
her shoulder at the receding market, then back to Arwin. “But what do we
do about money? I thought⁠—”
“We’ll earn it the proper way,” Arwin replied. “Forget selling trash or
unstable magical weapons. We’re going hunting. Now.”
“But we don’t have any equipment or healing potions!” Reya
exclaimed. She quickly realized she’d raised her voice too loud and lowered
it back to a whisper. “Without classes and gear, there’s no way we’ll
survive.”
“You have a dagger,” Arwin pointed out. He tapped the hilt of his
sword. “And I have a sword. All we have to do is hit the monsters harder
than they hit us.”
“You’ll have to forgive me when I say that I think the chances of that
aren’t very high. What about the monsters that are faster than we are? It
doesn’t matter how hard we can hit them if we can’t land a blow first.”
“That’s simple,” Arwin replied with a shrug. “Just hit them first.”
Reya let out a series of displeased mutters, but she didn’t say anything
else. The two of them continued out of the market, following the side streets
until they drew up to the exit of the city.
It was still manned by a guard, but the man didn’t give them so much as
a second glance as they passed him by. Once they’d put some distance
between themselves and the city entrance, Arwin nodded to Reya.
“You know a little bit about the surrounding area, right?”
“Some,” Reya allowed.
“Great. Take us to the nearest area where monsters congregate. I trust
you know of one?”
“I know of the dungeon. There are a lot of monsters around there, but
the Thieves’ Guild is definitely watching it. I think there’s a valley that’s
just a few hours away that we could try—but I’m telling you, we’re both
going to get killed.”
“And yet, here you are,” Arwin said. “If you actually thought we were
going to die, would you be here with me?”
Reya heaved a sigh and stepped off the beaten path, starting along the
ankle-high grass and down the sloping hill. Arwin followed after her, the
large bundle of weapons still slung over his shoulder.
The trip across the rolling hills took a little under two hours. Little was
spoken throughout it, but Arwin didn’t mind. He enjoyed the sanctum of his
own mind, and it was a nice day. There was no need to muddle it with fear.
He barely even noticed that they’d arrived until Reya slowed to a stop.
They stood at the edge of a very gently sloping valley. There was a small
forest within, and Arwin could hear the chirp of birds and insects from
where they stood.
“Here,” Reya said wearily. “I think the monsters in this area shouldn’t
be that much stronger than Apprentice. Maybe we could throw things at
them in hopes of killing something before it gets close? You’ve got a whole
bunch of weapons.”
It wasn’t a terrible idea, but Arwin couldn’t see any monsters yet, and
tossing swords into the forest at random felt like a generally poor idea. He
started down the valley, making for the forest. “Do you know how
aggressive the monsters in this area are?”
“Not really. I’ve never done much more than look, and it was always
when I was in a larger group,” Reya replied. She stayed behind Arwin,
keeping the dagger out before her defensively. “I remember that there were
some pretty big lizard things, though.”
“Lizards? Sounds like those could be useful.”
“Did you miss the big part?”
“Big means there are more spots to stab,” Arwin said. They drew up to
the treeline a short while later and Arwin squinted into it. The forest wasn’t
too dense at the edges, so he could see a good bit into it.
“Maybe we should be quiet,” Reya whispered. “What if they hunt in
packs?”
“You know more about them than I do. Do they?”
“I don’t know. Maybe? I usually just see one or two.”
Arwin shifted the roll of swords off his shoulders and set it on the
ground. He unrolled it and took one of the plain swords he’d made in his
left hand, drawing his magical one with his right. Reya’s eyes widened at
the sight.
“You know how to use two swords at once? What kind of smith knows
how to dual-wield?”
Arwin didn’t respond to her question. His attention was transfixed by
two motes of yellow light glimmering in the darkness of the forest. They
were eyes, each roughly the size of his fist. Arwin bared his teeth in
challenge. “I think I found one of your lizards.”
Perhaps it’s a bit late to think about this, but it’s been some time since
I’ve actually properly fought a monster. It would be morbidly funny if I
found out I was nowhere near a match for them anymore, but confidence is
half the battle. I will win because I must win.
Even if he couldn’t speak the same language as the monster, he’d spent
enough time fighting them to know how to communicate—and direct eye
contact was a clear challenge that few would ignore.
Reya stiffened behind him as fallen leaves and sticks cracked. The
draconic head of a six-foot-tall lizard poked out from the darkness, its red
tongue flicking out to taste the air. The rest of the monster’s body followed
after it.
It had long, curved claws that dug furrows into the ground and was
covered with glistening green scales. A row of spikes ran along the back of
its head and several crooked fangs jutted out from random spots in its
mouth.
Arwin reached out to the Mesh, and golden lettering shimmered above
the lizard’s head, visible only to him.

[Forest Lizard – Apprentice 5]

The lizard’s mouth opened in a hiss and its tail whipped out, slamming
into one of the trees. Wood shattered with a loud crash, and the tree pitched
to the side, slamming to the ground. The lizard’s head tilted back and it let
out a hissing roar.
Only three levels above me in Apprentice and it can already do this
much damage. Monsters really do have it lucky, but this thing isn’t the only
one here that can hit hard.
“I think we might have made a mistake,” Reya said, clutching her
dagger and swallowing heavily. “Can we run?”
“I don’t think that’s an option anymore. Remember our conversation
about speed? Well, this thing is faster than me. I’ll do my best to keep its
attention, but don’t get caught off guard. Fight or die, Reya.”

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A
rwin cracked his neck, then took a step forward and reared back,
flinging one of his swords at the lizard’s head mid-roar. It struck it
with a thunk and the monster hissed in fury.
“What are you doing?” Reya exclaimed. “You just threw away one of
your weapons!”
“I can’t dual-wield,” Arwin said with a chuckle. He pointed his
enchanted sword at the lizard. “Come on, then. Those scales of yours look
like they’d be good to practice making armor with.”
That proved to be the final straw. Arwin still wasn’t sure if the average
monster was intelligent enough to understand his insults, but it definitely
picked up on the tone of his voice. Letting out a furious hiss, the lizard’s
limbs blurred into motion and it charged.
Arwin moved to meet it, old instincts kicking back in immediately. It
felt like it had been a long time since he’d been in a proper fight, and he
didn’t have the abilities he’d had as the Hero, but he still had more than
enough to work with.
The lizard’s head snapped down to bite at Arwin’s neck. He jumped to
the side, narrowly avoiding the attack, and brought his sword down on the
monster’s neck while sending some magical energy through the blade.
A dull hum rang out as the blade rang against the lizard’s scales, failing
to penetrate through them. Small ripples of dull, nearly invisible magic
remained in the spot where he’d struck the monster.
 Arwin jumped into the air as the lizard’s tail whipped out and smashed
into the ground where he’d been standing. His jump didn’t take him nearly
as far as he’d planned, though. Arwin dropped back to the ground far sooner
than he’d expected and the monster lunged for him again.
Cursing, he threw himself into a roll. A loud crunch rang out as the
monster’s teeth slammed shut just above him, and Arwin slammed his
sword into the same spot he’d struck before. More magical power left his
body as the magic resonating on the lizard’s scales intensified, but they
were still whole and undamaged.
Reya stood on the other side of the lizard, frozen in fear. Arwin didn’t
blame her—the lizard was admittedly a bit stronger than he’d been
expecting. If it was giving him this much trouble, it probably would have
been fatal if she’d fought it.
Well, this was a good exercise to see where I stand in my new body.
Time to dial up the heat.
Arwin activated [Scourge] at its max power. Magic pumped through his
body, but the lizard was oblivious to it. Having judged Reya a non-threat, it
charged at Arwin again. Its massive mouth opened once more and it bit out
at him.
Reya called out a warning as Arwin remained solidly in place, but it was
too late. The lizard was upon him—and Arwin’s left fist was upon the
lizard. His fist slammed into the monster’s open jaw from below, and a loud
crunch echoed out.
Its head snapped back, mouth slamming shut. Arwin’s strike redirected
the monster and it stumbled past him, tripping over its own feet. At the
same time, a flash of pain flooded through Arwin’s fist and he swore.
If it wasn’t for [Indomitable Bulwark] basically halving the injures I get,
I’m pretty sure I would have just broken every bone in my hand. Damn. This
thing must weigh a ton.
And, even with the Title, Arwin’s fist stung furiously. He shook his hand
off, gritting his teeth as the lizard’s tail hurtled for his head. Arwin ducked
out of the way and ran at the lizard while it was still midway through
turning back to face him.
The monster was pretty fast while moving forward, but it wasn’t
anywhere near as swift in its rotations. It let out a screech of fury as Arwin
lunged, using another [Scourge]-empowered blow to drive his sword
forward.
 It punched through the scales of its side with a loud crunch, driving
deep into the monster’s flesh. Blue blood splattered across the grass as
Arwin ripped the blade free and hopped back, just barely managing to avoid
the lizard’s tail as it spun again.
If there had been much intelligence in the monster’s head, it probably
would have registered that Arwin was more of a threat than he’d initially
appeared to be. Unfortunately, there wasn’t.
With another screech, the lizard charged him once more. Arwin could
feel his energy starting to wane from the amount of power he’d pumped
into [Scourge], but he didn’t have any other choice. Using the ability at its
max power was the only way he could properly damage it, but it also
chewed through his energy at disturbing speeds. He was pretty sure he only
had the strength for one or two more blows.
Ducking to the side to avoid a claw swipe, Arwin brought his sword
down on the already-ringing section of the lizard’s neck with all his might
and let out a roar of his own. Scales shattered as the enchanted blade bit
deep into the monster’s neck.
Almost instantly, the resonating energy finally triggered. A shudder
shook the lizard’s body as Arwin ripped his blade free and blood sprayed
out of the new wound. The lizard wasn’t done yet, though.
It jumped at Arwin one last time, trying to crush him beneath his bulk.
Even with [Scourge], Arwin didn't want to take the weight of a massive
hurtling monster straight to the face. Just because he could lift something
didn't mean he wanted to get hit by it.
Instead of trying to counterattack, Arwin directed [Scourge]’s power
into his legs. He lunged to the side in a burst of speed, hitting the ground
with a grunt and rolling across it in a rather undignified manner.
Behind him, he heard the lizard slam into the ground. He managed to
stop his rolling and shot to his feet, acutely aware of just how little energy
he still had left to work with. The lizard was already turning toward him,
preparing to charge, but its eyes were unfocused. It was losing a lot of blood
from the nasty wound in its neck and the one on its side—but it wasn’t dead
yet.
Arwin tightened his grip on his sword and sprinted at the monster,
trying to take advantage of its weakness. It hissed a challenge, preparing to
meet his charge. It was ready for him, but it wasn’t ready for Reya.
 She sprinted at the monster’s back, thrusting her dagger into the open
wound in its side. Despite all the momentum her charge had given her, she
hit it like a toddler sprinting into a brick wall and fell back with a pained
grunt, but the damage was done.
Her dagger had driven deep into the monster’s already injured side, and
it let out a pained scream. It spun toward Reya, making its final mistake.
The momentary distraction was just enough for Arwin to close the rest of
the distance between them. He brought his sword down, using the last dregs
of his magic to drive his sword into the resonating wound on its neck.
The lizard thrashed and screamed as the power thrummed through it,
and a mixture of the magic and the deepening wound finally won over. It
crashed to the ground, Arwin’s sword nearly all the way through its neck,
and spasmed in death throes.
One of its thrashing claws caught Arwin on the chest as he tried to step
out of the way. His flesh burned as he was thrown to the ground with a
pained grunt. He rolled to safety and pressed a hand to his chest, feeling
warm blood start to trickle down his chest.
“Arwin!” Reya yelled, running over to him. “Are you⁠—”
The words died in Reya’s mouth as she skidded to a stop, staring at the
wound. It was little more than a nasty cut. It was bleeding pretty badly, but
it was nowhere near the fatal wound it should have been. She blinked in
disbelief.
“What? How? I saw its claw go right into your chest!”
“I told you,” Arwin said with a dry chuckle. He pushed himself to his
feet, brushing the dirt off his back and sides. “I’m more than a mere smith.”
And still, that was closer than I would have liked. I overestimated my
strength—but that was a good baseline for determining where I stand. I can
probably handle monsters up to Apprentice 6 if I’m doing everything
perfectly, but it’ll depend on how they fight. I’m at a huge disadvantage
against anything faster than me, and I’m going to need some proper armor.
Reya looked from Arwin to the dead monster, disbelief and awe warring
in her eyes. The awe eventually prevailed, and she ran her hands through
her hair, then down her face. “I can’t believe it. You killed a monster. A
crafter killed a monster stronger than him.”
“And you helped.”
“And I helped! How is that possible? How are we alive?”
 “Pretty simple. We hit it harder.” A grin cracked Arwin’s expression at
the glare Reya sent him. He trudged over to the body of the dead lizard.
Reya’s dagger still stuck out of its side, and he nodded to it. “Take your
weapon back. Did you get anything for helping me kill it?”
“No. I don’t have a class yet.” Reya finally snapped out of it and walked
over to join him.
And I didn’t get anything either. Makes sense. I’m a crafter. The Mesh
isn’t going to reward me for killing things—but that hardly matters. All the
reward I need is right here in front of me.
Reya pulled her dagger out of the dead lizard with a grunt. She
examined it for a moment, then wiped the blood off on the grass and
returned the blade to its sheath.
“What now?” Reya asked wearily. “Please don’t tell me we’re going
after another one. We barely made it through one.”
“Depends on how fast we work,” Arwin replied as he knelt, wedging his
sword beneath one of the scales near the wound and leaning on it. With a
crack, the scale popped off and fell to the grass. “I’m not leaving until we
scrape this thing dry of any useful materials. You keep watch and let me
know if anything else is coming. I’ll cut this thing up, and then we can grab
everything we can carry and head back to the city.”
Reya swallowed and nodded, squinting into the forest while Arwin got
to work.
Perhaps it was because the corpse of the last monster that tried them
was sitting in open view, or perhaps it was just sheer luck, but no other
monsters emerged to attack over the next hour.
Arwin worked in silence, ripping off scales and claws as efficiently as
he could. He’d never skinned a monster before, but to his luck, the lizard’s
scales were so firm that they were hard to damage unless he actively started
whaling on them.
“Is this really going to be enough?” Reya asked. “To beat the Thieves’
Guild, I mean. There are thirty of them, and some of them are at the peak of
Apprentice. Their leader is a Journeyman.”
“It’ll be enough,” Arwin replied. “It has to be, and so it will.”
“What kind of logic is that?”
“The logic of a man who is determined to win. It’s logic that you should
adopt if you want to survive,” Arwin suggested. He straightened up, looking
around at all the materials lying on the ground, waiting for him. “For now,
help me carry this. We’re heading back.”
Reya nodded and walked over, piling as much of the material as she
could into the bundle of swords they’d brought along. Once that was full,
they both stuffed their pockets and filled their arms before heading back up
the valley and back toward the town.
“We have one day left, though. What are we going to be able to do in
one day?”
“That’s a simple answer as well,” Arwin said, sending Reya a glance out
of the corners of his eyes. “I’m going to make us equipment.”

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A
rwin was unsurprised to find that Forest Lizard scales did not heat
particularly well in the forge. In fact, they were slightly heat-resistant.
And, even though they were made of harder material than the sub-
standard metal he was growing used to working with, they didn’t tolerate
shape changes nearly as much.
He lost count of how many scales he had mistakenly shattered that day.
Even though they’d returned from their trip with a good portion of daylight
left, it was now already dipping well into the night and he’d only made
minor progress along his plans.
Normally, Arwin was pretty sure that making armor from scales was
best done by stringing the scales together like chainmail, but he didn’t have
the leather to attach them to, nor did he have the talent to work with leather
yet.
The only thing he’d really figured out how to do was hit things with a
hammer—and that was exactly what he continued to do. He was confident
there was a way to work with them, but if he didn’t find it before the next
day ended, it wouldn’t matter.
Arwin chewed his lower lip as he stared at the scale on his hearth. It
rested in a bed of [Soul Flame], glowing faintly with heat. He picked the
scale up, bringing it over to the anvil to try again.
Almost as soon as it left the embrace of the fire, the scale’s bright luster
faded away. His lips pressed together in annoyance. It had only taken
seconds for it to lose the majority of the heat that it had been building up,
and attempting to change it would lead to the same result that he’d been
continuously earning that day—another broken scale.
A thought struck Arwin and he turned back to his forge, putting the
scale back in. He picked up one of the other scales within the flames, then
pressed it between his fingers without taking it out of the fire.
He felt the faintest amount of give. It was so little that there was a good
chance he’d hallucinated it entirely, but Arwin latched onto that feeling. He
activated [Scourge] and sent energy into his fingertips, squeezing the scale
again.
This time, it warped around his thumb. It was far from a perfect bend,
but it had moved. Arwin pulled it from the flame, delight spreading across
his features as the scale started to cool. He waited for it to lose the rest of its
heat, then tapped the scale with his hammer.
It remained firm. Arwin gave it several stronger strikes, but it took a
blow with his full, normal force to finally crack the scale. A laugh slipped
from his lips, and he turned back to the hearth.
Looks like this project will be one without a hammer. I’m going to have
to put everything together by hand without taking it out of the hearth. The
next problem is figuring out how to connect the scales.
Arwin tried just pressing them together and repeatedly striking the
scales in an attempt to get them to meld together, but it amounted to
nothing. They weren’t metal, and they held their shape far too well to merge
together.
His next idea proved considerably more fruitful. Arwin made nails from
normal metal, then slowly but steadily worked them into the scales. It was a
fine line to work on. He did his best to move quickly and keep the nails
from getting overheated, but that meant he had a very limited amount of
time to work on each piece before the nail lost too much of its strength and
became soft.
If he struck it too hard, the nail would bend or break before the scales
would. If he struck too light, the nail wouldn’t even get any deeper into the
scales. The key turned out to be a steady, constant stream of firm taps.
Nothing too hard, but nothing too soft. And, in that manner, one scale
became linked to two, and two became three. It was slow, tedious work, but
Arwin loved it. Every single scale he nailed together felt like another step
along his journey, and it filled him with delight.
 He didn’t even bother keeping count of the number of rows he’d need to
make to outfit himself. Arwin just kept tapping away, sweat dripping down
his forehead and rolling down his back.
There was only a little more than a day left before the time would come
to use the armor. He didn’t have time to fail. He didn’t have time to take a
break—and he didn’t want to. There was only one possibility in his mind,
and he was determined to achieve it.

“I told you that I’m not serving meals outside of the tavern,” Lillia said,
pressing her lips thin as she glared at Reya. The young woman shifted
uncomfortably beneath her gaze, averting her eyes.
The Hero is avoiding me? Perhaps it’s for the best. I just about had a
heart attack when I saw that oaf standing at my counter like he belonged
there. I can’t believe he was actually the first one to call a truce.
“Could you do it just this once?” Reya pleaded. “Arwin is really busy.
He’s… making stuff.”
Lillia raised an eyebrow. “Then he can take a break from making stuff
and come here. If I want to build a group of regular customers, I need to
make sure they come to my tavern, not summon me like some harlot.”
“He can’t take a break! And if he doesn’t eat, I’m worried he won’t have
enough strength to fi—uh, to help.”
To fight? Who in the Nine Underlands is he fighting? There’s no way he
actually managed to keep his Hero class, is there? I didn’t feel the strength
that he used to have, and if my own class was destroyed, I can’t see why his
would have survived.
Does that mean he’s planning to fight someone without his powers? I
suppose that lines up pretty well with him, actually.
“Perhaps he should do a little less fighting and focus a little more on the
finer things in life,” Lillia said with a snort. The mere idea of running back
off to fight after she’d finally broken out of that endless cycle made her
want to retch.
The Hero clearly enjoyed the slaughter far more than she had, but that
was little surprise. Humans had always reveled in death.
 “It’s not his fault,” Reya protested. She wrung her hands together and
threw a glance over her shoulder. Lillia nearly let out a derisive snort. It
wasn’t like anyone else was going to be there. Despite her words, aside
from Reya and one drunkard that Lillia had yet to learn the name of, she’d
had absolutely no customers.
“How is it not his fault if he’s running off to kill people? Sounds like it’s
entirely his fault.”
“He’s doing it because I need help,” Reya muttered. She stared down at
her feet, clenching her hands. “He’s trying to make armor because I’m in
trouble with the Thieves’ Guild.”
“The what now?” Lillia blinked in surprise. “I think I’m completely
lost. What do they have to do with any of this?”
“I’m in trouble with a lot of people,” Reya said, flopping down in
Lillia’s chair and burying her face in her palms. Her hands dug into her hair,
and she pulled at it with a groan, sinking down and letting her head thunk
against the wood.
Lillia held a hand out, then pulled it back. She’d dealt with a lot of
things in life, but not one of them had ever been comforting someone. It had
been so long since she’d cared enough about someone to even think about
their feelings that she could barely remember the feeling.
Everyone I’ve loved is dead at the hands of the Hero.
And yet, sitting in front of her was quite literally Lillia’s only customer.
The tiny spark that gave her hope that her tavern might one day become a
true business. A place full of joy and laughter, where she could live
peacefully.
If I don’t do something now, how will I help my future customers? I need
to help her.
“Maybe you could start from the beginning?” Lillia tried to make her
tone as gentle as possible, but she wasn’t so certain it was working. “I think
I’m missing a lot of information.”
“I ran into Arwin a few days ago,” Reya said, her muffled words spoken
into the countertop. “I was with a group of thieves that got mad that I
wasn’t giving them my life earnings. Arwin killed one of them.”
Sounds about right.
“They were part of a guild?” Lillia asked.
“No. They were just some assholes. The rest of ’em showed up, and
Arwin dealt with them too. I realized he was pretty strong, so I decided to
hang around. Thought it would be safe. It was stupid; I should have kept
moving. I didn’t, and the Thieves’ Guild found me, and then Arwin got
involved defending me, and now he’s trying to forge armor that will let him
fight them!”
Reya’s words quickened until they were spoken so fast that Lillia could
barely make them out. The fact that she was face down on the countertop
certainly wasn’t helping her audibility.
“I see,” Lillia said slowly. “So he’s getting ready to fight the Thieves’
Guild because they’re after you?”
“Yeah,” Reya mumbled. “I feel like such a piece of shit. I know he just
wants to be left alone. He shouldn’t be the one solving my problems, and I
know I should just leave so he doesn’t have to deal with them. I guess I’m
just selfish. I don’t want to keep running, but I’m not strong enough to
change anything myself.”
Lillia’s back tickled in alarm. Reya couldn’t leave—that would get rid
of one of her three customers, and there was a good chance it scrapped
Arwin as well. That would knock her all the way down to just the one
homeless man, and she was pretty sure he’d only stumbled into her tavern
on mistake.
“There’s nothing wrong with being a little selfish,” Lillia said hurriedly.
She reached out, cringing slightly as she set her hand on Reya’s shoulder.
She half expected the woman to knock her arm away, but to her surprise,
Reya didn’t budge.
“Easy to say when you aren’t the one being selfish,” Reya said. “There
are thirty of them. How is Arwin supposed to kill thirty people?”
Nine Underlands. Thirty? At the peak of my power, that would have
been a heartbeat of effort. But now… that’s not possible. Maybe in a few
months, but now? What is Arwin thinking? Is it possible that he retained
more of his powers than I did?
“Perhaps he’s stronger than you think?” Lillia asked. She went to take
her hand back, but the moment it lifted off Reya’s shoulder, the girl
stiffened. Lillia quickly put her hand back.
“He’s really strong for a smith, but he’s not going to be able to take out
thirty fighters. We just went hunting and he just barely beat an Apprentice 5
Lizard,” Reya said miserably. “What should I do? Even if I wanted to, I
couldn’t help him fight, aside from maybe distracting a few people and
gutting them from the dark. That’s not going to do an ounce of anything
against thirty whole people.”
He took out an Apprentice 5 monster? I’d guess that’s pretty close to
what I should be able to handle as well. Shit. He’s just a moron, then.
There’s no way he’s going to be able to handle fighting thirty warriors.
That left Lillia with a pretty large problem. Arwin had never been one to
back down from a fight, and Reya didn’t have a choice. That meant two of
her customers were headed straight to their deaths.
Damn it all. I can’t believe what I’m about to say, but I don’t think I’ve
got a choice.
“I might be able to help,” Lillia said.

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 15

R
eya sat up so fast that she nearly slipped out of the chair. Lillia caught
her by the shoulders. “Careful!”
“You can help?” Reya asked eagerly. “Really?”
“Calm down,” Lillia grumbled, releasing Reya and letting out a heavy
sigh. “Let’s just consider it an advance payment, yes? You aren’t allowed to
go to any taverns other than mine. And, in exchange, I help out my most
valuable customer.”
“Deal!” Reya said. She paused for a moment and her features crumpled
again. “Wait. How are you going to be able to help? Your food is good, but
they aren’t going to stop fighting us if you feed them.”
Didn’t you specifically come here just to get food?
“I’m more than just some mere innkeeper,” Lillia said. “I’ve dealt with
a few rowdy idiots before, and three bodies against thirty is much better
than two. If you think about it, that means we each just have to take out ten
of them.”
“You know, that’s almost exactly what Arwin told me about himself.
And you’re right!” Reya’s eyes lit with just a little hope. “That’s not too
bad. As long as they’re all looking in the other direction and completely
oblivious to my presence for the entire fight, I could probably do that.”
Do you want them to strip naked and point to their vital spots as well?
“Right,” Lillia said. She could still barely believe a single word coming
out of her mouth, but it was too late to back out now. Despite what the
humans had claimed about her kind, a demon did not go back on their word.
 There was a moment of silence as the two regarded each other. Then
Reya’s stomach rumbled.
“Do you think you could still make that food, though?” Reya asked, her
cheeks reddening.
Lillia sighed. “Just wait here. I’ll be out in a moment.”

Bearing a plate laden with food, Lillia followed Reya out into the street and
over to the smithy. Rhythmic thuds echoed from within, just loud enough to
ring in Lillia’s ears.
Reya stepped right through the crumbling entryway, but Lillia paused
just before she entered. Her skin prickled, her body screamed warnings at
her not to press further. She was standing at the domain of her greatest foe
—the spot where he was most comfortable.
No. I’m not backing out. He walked right into my tavern like he owned
the place, and I’m going to do the same thing.
Lillia ground her teeth and stepped inside. Arwin stood, his bare back to
them and his arms buried up to his elbows in the roaring flames. He didn’t
even look slightly bothered by the heat, and Reya held a finger to her lips as
Lillia opened her mouth.
“Don’t distract him too much while he’s working,” Reya whispered.
“You know, I could have just brought him the food myself. You didn’t have
to come.”
“You’d have gotten used to taking food out of my tavern if I did that,”
Lillia grumbled, but she kept her voice low. “I’m not letting that happen.
This is a one-time thing.”
“Well, you might be waiting a while,” Reya said. She squinted at the
forge. “I don’t think he’s anywhere near done yet, and if finishing that
armor will give us a chance against the Thieves’ Guild, I don’t think we
should bother him.”
Lillia pursed her lips. Food was always best when it was fresh. At least,
she was pretty sure that was the case. It certainly wasn’t going to get any
better if they left it out—but any advantages for the upcoming fight would
probably be invaluable.
 “Fine,” Lillia said. She glanced around the smithy, then sat down and
leaned against the wall, beckoning for Reya to do the same. “In that case,
tell me about what we’re up against. Maybe I can try to put some form of
plan together while we wait for him to finish.”
Reya nodded and sat down.
It was in that position that hours passed. The night squirreled away and
the sun rose, but Arwin didn’t budge from his spot at the forge. Lillia was
pretty certain he had absolutely no idea that they were even there.
Her discussion with Reya only proved one thing, and that was that they
were likely screwed. Going up against twenty-nine Apprentice tiers and a
Journeyman was a ludicrous fight. Sure, it was unlikely that all of the guild
would be there at the same time, but there would still be far more enemies
than they had any right to take on.
To make matters worse, Reya didn’t even have a class. Lillia had been
fairly certain that she was a Thief or an equivalent, but Reya didn’t even
have that. She had no Titles, no Achievements, and no skills. All she had
was the dagger at her side.
This might well and truly be screwed.
Lillia pushed herself upright and brushed the gravel off her backside.
He’s been working at that armor all night and a good part of the
morning. I wonder if he’s actually making any progress or if he’s just
banging away at nothing.
Ignoring the look Reya sent her, Lillia crept closer to the forge. She kept
her distance, making sure not to get close enough to startle Arwin, and
squinted into the flames. Her eyes widened as she got her first look at the
armor.
Layers of interconnected scales had been tightly woven together into a
scale mail shirt. They all glowed with merry orange heat that Lillia could
feel even from where she stood. It looked like there were only a few scales
left to be placed.
The Mesh tickled at the back of her mind as she studied the armor. It
wasn’t magical—not yet—but it certainly seemed as if it would be. Despite
the person forging the armor, a flicker of awe passed through Lillia.
He can make magical items this soon? It looks like I’m not the only one
that got a Unique crafting class, then. I guess I shouldn’t even be surprised.
We’ve always been perfectly matched, so I don’t know why this would have
been any different.
 Lillia made her way back to Reya and sat down.
“Well?” Reya whispered. “Is it working?”
“You could look yourself, you know,” Lillia said dryly. She looked back
to Arwin, a thoughtful expression passing over her face. “But yes. I think it
is.”

Arwin worked the final nail into the armor. His fingers were sore and
exhausted, and even though his [Soul Flame] didn’t burn him, his entire
body felt like it had been baked in an oven.
He barely even noticed. Arwin lifted the scale mail, delight dancing in
his eyes as he felt the Mesh come to life inside it.

[Forest Lizard Scale Mail: Unique Quality] has been forged. Forging a
magical item has granted you energy.
Achievement: [I’m Special] has been earned.
[I’m Special] – Awarded for forging your first Unique Quality item.
Effects: Upgrade one of your existing skills. This achievement will be
consumed immediately.
[I’m Special] has been consumed.

Before Arwin could even think about what the Mesh had said, a list of
his existing skills flickered to life before him, blinking impatiently.

[Awaken] (Passive)
[Soul Flame]

Getting his current skills upgraded was just as important as acquiring

new ones, but Arwin’s nose scrunched in distaste. As usual, the Mesh had
given him absolutely no information about what the skill upgrades would
actually be.
There were certain Titles and Achievements that gave more information
on upgrades that he’d always found invaluable, but he didn’t have the
benefit of any of those this time. Fortunately, he only had two skills to
choose between.
 It’s not hard to tell what upgrading Awaken would do. I’d get magical
items more often, and they’d be less likely to have detrimental effects. Soul
Flame, on the other hand, I’m unsure. I’d assume it would become more
effective.
Normally, I’d go straight with Awaken. At some point, I’d want to
upgrade Awaken regardless. But… if Soul Flame gives me the chance to
make stronger weapons, even if they happen less often, wouldn’t that be the
better choice?
Arwin’s jaw clenched. It was just as possible that upgrading Awaken
would result in the same improvement. It was difficult to tell because the
description of the skill said that the component that affected his chances of
making a trait was unknown.
After a few more seconds of deliberation, Arwin selected [Soul Flame].
Both skills were tempting. Going with either one was a bet, and if he
was going to bet, he wanted to bet on the one that he had the most
information on.

[Soul Flame] – Passion burns within you with such intensity that it
becomes manifest. You may draw out your Soul Flame, empowering the
fire of your forge, but be wary—any magical damage done to the Soul
Flame will transfer onto your soul. Your Soul Flame can pull all the traits
from a magical item and allow you to transfer them onto other items
without pre-existing magic.

A delighted grin stretched across Arwin’s face. It wasn’t a direct

upgrade to his actual items, but considering the random nature of the traits
he was able to make right now, this change would be invaluable.
The catch is that I have to take all the traits, so I can’t just separate off
the detrimental ones, but this will still be useful if I get a strong defensive
trait on a dagger or something like that.
Arwin let the skill fade away. He was mildly surprised—and pleased—
to find that he hadn’t reached the next level in his tier. It got exponentially
harder to advance with every level, and Unique classes often took even
more energy than normal to grow stronger.
To Arwin, that was a blessing. It meant more time to claim Titles and
Achievements, which was exactly what he needed. Arwin summoned the
Mesh once more, this time studying the newly made scale mail to see what
rewards his efforts had reaped him.

Forest Lizard Scale Mail: Unique Quality

Molten Fury: This item was not just forged in flame—it is one with it.
The wearer of this item gains heat resistance. Upon being struck, this
item may forcibly draw magical energy and release a whip of molten
flame at the attacker.
Unique: Once donned, this item will bond with its owner. It will change
sizes so long as the material permits it to fit them perfectly, and anyone
else who attempts to wear it may suffer retaliation. Information about
this item may be hidden from others after it has bonded.
It possesses [1] concealed property.

The armor was beautiful. Its scales rippled in the firelight, shimmering
like green gemstones. The description of the armor was short and to the
point, but Arwin could see exactly why it had been marked as Unique. The
word was rather self-explanatory. Being Unique wasn’t necessarily a good
thing, but it did mean that the item would be different—and the addition of
a concealed property was interesting. He had no way of knowing when it
would show up or what it would do, but that just added to his interest.
Of course, Arwin could see the potential risks of the armor immediately.
It didn’t say how much magical energy it would draw, nor did he have any
way to control it. Hypothetically, it could completely drain him the moment
he took a single blow. On top of that, there was always the chance that the
additional property was actually detrimental and would make the armor
worse.
But, despite that, the armor was exactly what he needed. A wild card
that would give them even the slightest edge up against the assassins.
He turned to the door so he could show Reya—and froze. Reya was
there, but she wasn’t alone.
Sitting beside her was the Demon Queen, and her eyes were fixed on
the armor, her mouth slightly askew in disbelief. She’d watched him forge a
Unique magical item, and it looked like she’d been there for quite some
time.
Shit. How much did she see?
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“N ine Underlands, that’s the most beautiful piece of armor I’ve ever
seen,” Reya breathed. “What god do you pray to, Arwin? I’m
swapping.”
“It’s just scale mail,” Arwin said, his eyes locked with the Demon
Queen’s. “Nothing special.”
“Nothing special, my ass,” Lillia said. “How’d you make that? That’s
impossible. You⁠—”
She cut herself off before she could continue, but Arwin knew what
she’d been about to say.
I’ve only been at this for a short while. I don’t have any formal training
as a smith, and even though this item probably wouldn’t be anything special
to someone far above our tier, it shouldn’t have been possible for an
amateur. But here I am. Maybe all the time I spent watching my equipment
getting made was transferred over.
It was a weak excuse and Arwin was all too aware of it, but he
genuinely had no proper explanation for it other than that the materials
seemed to beckon to him, begging him to form them into their proper
forms. Even in the final stages of the scale mail, he’d felt the call of the
scales directing his movements.
Making Average magical items was absolutely nothing to scoff at. The
Mesh didn’t even recognize non-magical items in most circumstances. The
only exception was when they managed to earn Titles and Achievements of
their own, but that was rare.
 The actual ranking of magical items scaled with the smith that made
them and the materials that went into them. An Average item from Arwin, at
the Apprentice tier, would be nothing compared to a Garbage item made by
someone two tiers higher at the Adept tier.
But, even despite that, being able to make Average magical items with
the amount of practice Arwin had… it was unfair, to say the least.
“Why are you here?” Arwin finally asked, snapping himself out of his
reverie.
“To help!” Reya answered for Lillia. She picked a plate up off the floor
and pulled the covering off, holding it out to Arwin so he could see the meat
pie on it. “Also, we brought you food!”
It was cold, but Arwin grabbed it without hesitation. He still had some
time before he’d need to eat another magical item, so his body didn’t
necessarily need food, but the pie looked delicious.
“Thank you,” Arwin said, swallowing before he spoke. “But… Reya,
you were meant to keep people out of the smithy, not invite them in.
Besides, doesn’t the D—ah, doesn’t Lillia have a tavern she needs to run?”
“Unfortunately, I found out that two of my only customers were about
to get themselves killed,” Lillia said, the irritation clear in her expression. “I
had no choice but to come.”
“To hand-deliver the food?”
“No, you oaf. Well, yes. But also to help you with your Thieves’ Guild
problem.”
Arwin nearly choked on his own saliva. He waited for Lillia to burst
into laughter at his expression, but her features were dead serious. She
wasn’t joking.
The Demon Queen is offering to help us? She’s suggesting that not only
do we call a truce, but actually fight side by side?
“Isn’t it great?” Reya asked. “We actually have a chance of surviving!”
If anyone heard of this, they’d faint in terror. When I was still the Hero,
I can remember people theorizing about ending the war by finding an
enemy so great that neither the Kingdom of Lian nor the Horde could
handle it on their own so that they’d have to work together.
I suppose now we know what that threat is. A second-rate Thieves’
Guild that’s after the key to a Journeyman dungeon that I never would have
given a second glance at.
 A laugh slipped out of Arwin’s lips. It was so ludicrous that he couldn’t
even try to hold it in.
“What?” Lillia demanded.
“Nothing,” Arwin said, wiping the mirth from his eyes. “I just never
thought that you and I would be working together to fight off a bunch of
worthless thugs.”
The exact meaning of his words passed over Reya’s head, but Lillia
understood them immediately. She scrunched her nose and let out a laugh of
her own.
“Yeah. I had a similar thought. I guess life finds it funny to play jokes
on us.”
“You can say that again,” Arwin muttered. He glanced around the floor
in search of his shirt, then located it near the anvil and pulled it on. Then,
after a moment of hesitation, Arwin pulled the scale mail over his head.
As soon as it settled on his shoulders, he felt the material shift. It
tightened against him until it sat perfectly on top of his shirt, not too snug
but not so loose that it would flop around while he walked. The faint tingle
of the Mesh prickled against his skin as he felt himself connect with the
armor.
“Looks good,” Reya said, giving him a thumbs-up.
Lillia reluctantly nodded in agreement, but she still added, “—for an
amateur.”
“I’ve got more material.” Arwin looked back toward the still-lit forge.
“How long was I working? Do I have time to make another piece?”
“The note said two days, and today is day two,” Reya said. “If they’re
going to be really strict on their timing, then I’d assume they’ll show up
tonight.”
“It might be better to bring the fight to them. They won’t suspect it,”
Lillia said.
“They probably also won’t send their entire guild just for Reya,” Arwin
said with a thoughtful frown. “We might be better off waiting for them to
show up here, killing the ones that do, and then taking out the rest of them
afterward.”
“Which would work if they didn’t have any sort of information network,
but they clearly respect that you’re a threat.” Lillia shook her head. “And
that means that they’ll be watching to see how things go. If people start
dying, the rest of the guild will either show up prepared or be lying in wait.
It’s much more efficient if we cut the problem out with one fell swoop.”
She had a fair point, but taking them out in one fell swoop was
considerably easier to say than actually do. Sure, getting the jump on the
thieves would probably give them a few free kills, but there were still thirty
of them. If ten were off watching the dungeon, that still left twenty people
to handle between the three of them—two, if Arwin didn’t count Reya due
to her lack of experience.
The idea of trusting Lillia… I don’t know. A truce is one thing, but
fighting side by side is entirely different. I can barely even remember a time
when I wasn’t trying to kill her and she wasn’t aiming to do the same to me.
Arwin had no way to know for certain, but he got the strong suspicion
that the exact same thoughts were passing through Lillia’s head. There was
little choice, though. Unless they abandoned Reya to her fate, they had to
work together.
There wasn’t any way to prove anything or ensure Lillia wouldn’t turn
against him; she had no way to know if Arwin would hold to his word
either. It was like a snake eating its own tail. No matter how hard it tried to
consume itself, it would never be able to finish.
The only option was to just stop biting.
“Just this once, then,” Arwin said, holding Lillia’s gaze. “Until the
Thieves’ Guild has been dealt with.”
“Just once.” Lillia nodded. “I don’t plan to make a habit out of killing
people. I’m trying to run an upstanding business, so this is going to have to
be a cheat day.”
“So what are we going to do?” Reya asked, wringing her hands
together. “Are we just charging in and killing people?”
“That’s going to depend on where their base is,” Arwin said. He drew in
a deep breath and let it out slowly, holding a hand toward the forge. The
[Soul Flame] he still had sitting in it sputtered and flew into his hand,
returning to his body as his fist closed around it. “I trust you know?”
“Yeah. I can show you, but they’ve definitely got lookouts.”
“We’ve already established that it’s likely they’ll be watching us,”
Arwin said. “There’s even a chance they know what I’ve been up to. And,
speaking of which, hold on.”
Arwin directed his attention to his armor, willing it to hide itself from
anyone else’s eyes. The metal rippled in response, but that was it. Glancing
at the others, he tapped his chest. “Well? Can you still tell what it is?”
“Not anymore,” Lillia said with a shake of her head. “If I didn’t know
better, I’d just think it was normal scale mail. You still might stand out a bit,
though. I don’t see a lot of people walking around wearing Forest Lizard
armor.”
“Not yet,” Arwin said with a low chuckle. He nodded over his shoulder
at the pile of pieces left over from the Forest Lizard. “I’ve still got a good
bit of material left, not to mention the claws and fangs. I’m going to need
some better tools if I’m going to get around to using them anytime soon,
though.”
“We should probably focus on surviving this fight first,” Lillia
suggested. She went to continue, then paused as she took a closer look at
the pile that Arwin had indicated. “Do… you think you might be able to
make me some utensils? I don’t have a knife. Or a fork. Or anything, really.
I’ve just got a bent piece of metal that I’ve been using as a makeshift pan.”
“What have you been using to cook if you didn’t have utensils?” Reya
asked. Lillia looked down at her hands, then back up to her. Reya grimaced
and held a hand up. “Never mind. Ignorance is bliss. Can we go back to the
part where we try to figure out how to kill thirty people?”
“That’s simple,” Arwin said.
Lillia looked to him in confusion, and Reya’s eyes narrowed as she
figured out what he was about to say before he could say it.
“Simple? How?” Lillia asked.
“All we have to do is hit them harder than they hit us.”
Lillia and Reya rolled their eyes in unison. Arwin chuckled at their
expressions, then looked around the forge. There wasn’t much he needed
other than a sword and his armor. It would have been nice to have more
equipment, but time just didn’t permit it. On a whim, Arwin grabbed his
explosive sword and slid it into one of the Brothers Six’ sheaths before
hanging it on his waist.
“Right,” Arwin said, giving Reya a sharp nod. “Lead on, then. It doesn’t
matter if they see us coming. It’s high time we checked out this Thieves’
Guild. If we’re lucky, we’ll be able to come up with a plan once I see what
we’re dealing with.”
“And if we don’t have time?” Reya asked.
Arwin’s features darkened and his hand tightened around the hilt of his
sword. “Then we’ll just kill them the old-fashioned way.”
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 17

T
he Thieves’ Guild was about a thirty-minute walk away through the
alleys. It struck Arwin that Milten was considerably bigger than he’d
thought it was, and it had a lot more back streets and dark alleyways
than it had initially appeared to.
Something tells me the guard saying they didn’t want beggars in the city
was projecting a bit. I get the feeling that Milten has more than enough
beggars and their ilk to share with the rest of the kingdom and not be left
wanting.
But, as he took in the other parts of the slums, he did have to admit that
he’d somehow chosen the ugliest, most rundown street in the entire city.
Reya came to a stop at the edge of a cobbled road, then nodded across the
street to a long, two-story building. It was clearly old and rundown, but it—
and everything else on the street—was still in one piece.
A few people milled about the street both around the building and near
the others beside it. The building didn’t stand out much aside from its size,
but it only took a little attention to realize that it was different from the
others.
The people at its front were more attentive than random beggars, and
Arwin could see the telltale bulge of weaponry poking against their clothes.
His lips pressed thin, and he took care to keep to the shadows, not directing
too much of his attention to the building to avoid standing out.
“They’re organized,” Lillia murmured from beside Arwin. Her hands
twitched at her sides, and it struck Arwin that she didn’t have a sword.
 “Should we have gotten you a weapon?” Arwin asked.
Lillia shook her head. “It’s fine. I’m not very eager to pick up a sword
again anytime soon. There are other ways of dealing with people that work
just as well. The problem isn’t going to be us. It’s going to be how we can
handle this many opponents at the same time. Besides, I don’t have the
ability to serve a blade like I once did.”
Arwin’s brow furrowed. “Serve a blade? What do you mean?”
She joined him in his confusion. “You know. Wielding a sword. It’s not
like you can just carry one around.”
“I’m pretty sure you can.”
“That’s not what I mean. You physically could, sure, but…” Lillia
waved her hands in irritation, trying and failing to find the right words.
“You know. It’s just wrong. If you carry a sword, you need to be able to use
it.”
“I don’t know if I follow,” Arwin said. “Anyone can carry a sword.
Sure, you might not be as good as you once were, but I’m sure you can do a
good bit. There are no rules as to who can carry a sword.”
“Seriously?” Lillia blinked. “None at all?”
“None,” Arwin confirmed with a nod. “Is it different for demons?”
“Yes. The only people who can bear a sword are those who have earned
one. It’s a great service and commitment. Carrying one without being able
to do it justice is taboo.”
Huh. Who would have thought.
“I see,” Arwin said slowly. “Well, we’re not swimming in resources, so
I suppose there’s no reason to push you to break that. We can just go back to
focus on dealing with these thieves.”
Lillia nodded, and both of them fell silent in thought. Arwin chewed his
lower lip. Charging straight into the guild was guaranteed to result in their
death—there was no doubt in his mind about it anymore.
If they’d been chaotic or unorganized, there would have been a decent
chance he and Lillia could have just carved a path through their men and
made it out before they could retaliate.
But, with a watch and clear preparation for an attack, mounting an
assault against a force ten times their strength wasn’t going to work. He
needed a different strategy, and it wasn’t like he had an army to attack with.
If I were at all stealthy, I’d consider breaking in on my own and just
killing the leader. That would throw them into enough chaos to make ’em
forget we exist. I don’t think that’s possible, though. Unless…
“How stealthy would you say you are?” Arwin asked Lillia.
“Not very. I can be hard to spot, but that’s a far cry from stealthy.”
Arwin thought back to the oppressive aura that covered the entirety of
Lillia’s tavern and grimaced. That definitely wasn’t what they needed. Reya
was probably the sneakiest of the lot, and she wasn’t going to be able to
break into a den of thieves on her own.
I’m so used to taking things on with a group of adventurers that I can
barely even think about how I’d do this with just three people. Ideally, I’d
just walk straight in and crush everything that fought back, but that’s no
more realistic than me clanking up the walls in my new armor and hoping
nobody notices me.
“I don’t suppose you know of some sort of secret passage?” Arwin
asked.
Reya shook her head. “Not really. I mean, we could try entering through
the sewage, but I don’t know where that is.”
“I think I’ll pass,” Lillia said, scrunching her nose in distaste and
grimacing. “I think one thing of note is that their surveillance isn’t that
good. They still haven’t noticed we’re here. Or, if they have, they don’t
care.”
“Probably means we’re a relatively minor problem for them,” Arwin
said. “I wouldn’t be surprised if they’re a branch of a larger guild. A lot of
the small Thieves’ Guilds work together, and while thirty members is a lot
to us, it’s hardly many in the long run.”
“Doesn’t that mean we’ll get into more shit if we kill the guild leader?”
Lillia asked.
Arwin nodded. “Yes. Which is why I’m thinking about adjusting my
plan. Not that I’ve managed to develop one in the first place, but I think
trying to destroy the entire guild by ourselves isn’t the best idea. A more
surgical strategy might be better.”
“What are we supposed to do, then?” Reya asked. “They’re not going to
stop coming after me, are they?”
“No,” Arwin agreed. “Probably not. But we can make them think twice
about it. If we show them that coming after us is more effort than it’s worth,
then we get what we want.”
“How are we going to do that without pissing them off even further?”
Lillia asked. “If I had an enemy that fought back, I’d strike back even
harder to make sure they knew their place.”
“By hitting them hard enough that they think twice about coming after
us again, but getting out before we cause a permanent vendetta.”
“How?” Reya asked.
The inklings of a plan started to tickle at Arwin’s mind. It wasn’t exactly
the smartest or most effective strategy he’d ever thought of, but it was the
best thing he could think of.
We’ll still probably have to kill a few people, but it’ll be better than
having to take out an entire guild on our own.
“It might be simpler than we’ve all been thinking, but a lot of it will
depend on you, Lillia,” Arwin said. “Reya, can you check to make sure
nobody is eavesdropping near us? Come running back if you get spotted,
though.”
Reya blinked, then nodded. “Sure.”
She set off, and Arwin turned to Lillia. “Tell me, what is it that you’re
still capable of?”

Arwin strode straight up to the front of the Thieves’ Guild, his hands resting
on the hilts of the swords at his sides. As if it hadn’t already been obvious
that the beggars at the entrance were more than they appeared, both of them
stared at him with bored expressions. If they’d been paying closer attention,
they would have noticed that his shadow was considerably larger than it
should have been.
“Good day, gentlemen,” Arwin said. He nodded to the door. “I have
business to discuss with your boss.”
The men exchanged a glance, then chuckled.
“That’s not how this works,” the man to Arwin’s left said. “If you want
an audience, then you have to beg for one unless the boss expressly invited
you. Did he?”
“No,” Arwin replied. “I don’t believe he did.”
“Then get lost, idiot.” The other man let out a raspy laugh. “Or feel free
to stick around and donate whatever you’ve got in your pockets to us. Your
choice.”
 Arwin let out a sigh. He rubbed his chin between two fingers, then let
his hand drop and shook his head. “No, I don’t think that was the answer I
was looking for. See, your lot came to my smithy and asked for something
of mine. I’ve come to discuss it.”
“We don’t discuss,” the first man said. “Did you bring whatever it was
we asked for?”
“No,” Arwin replied. “Do I look like an idiot? If I brought it, I doubt
you’d have much reason to bargain, would you?”
“There’s no reason to bargain at all. Bring the shit or get out.”
“I think we’ve possibly misunderstood something,” Arwin said. He
drew the first magical sword he’d made, holding it loosely at his side and
letting the two men get a good look at its information.

Short Sword: Garbage Quality

Brittle: This weapon 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.

As their eyes fixed on the sword, Arwin let [Scourge] slam into his body
with full force, driving his open palm into the wall of the building beside
him. With a loud crash, the stone shattered. Debris fell down all around
Arwin as a cloud of dust rose up into the air surrounding him.
“See,” Arwin said, pointing his sword at the first of the men. “I’m in a
rather poor mood. Your folks thought it would be fun to stride right into my
smithy and pin a little note to the wall. I didn’t like that much, so here’s
how this is going to work: Your guild leader and I are going to have a chat.
If he hides like a coward in this building, I’m going to tear the whole thing
down. Come at me, and I’ll shatter this sword myself and send us both
straight to the Ninth Underland. Sound good?”
The thieves stared at Arwin in horror, and he suppressed the grin that
threatened to split his face. People on the street hurriedly left, leaving it
desolate aside from the guards and the growing shouts of surprise from
inside the building. Even though he didn’t have the power of a full Hero
anymore, [Scourge] gave him far more power than anyone his tier had any
right to possess.
On top of that, the sword was a perfect threat. Nobody in a second-rate
Thieves’ Guild like this was going to care about it more than they cared
about their own lives, and it wasn’t exactly easy to counter an explosion.
“You’re mad,” the first thief said, taking a step back.
“No, I’m angry,” Arwin corrected, “and you’re my guide. Step to it now,
lad. If you don’t, I’m going to start killing people.”
For a moment, none of them moved. The thief’s gaze flicked from
Arwin to the sword. Then he swallowed and gave him a nod. “Fine. It’s
your death warrant. Let’s go.”
Arwin just gave the man a cold smile, and the two of them headed into
the building. The main room was surprisingly nice, with couches ringing its
edges and a table piled high with food in the center. Thieves were already
racing down to see what the commotion was, pouring into the common
room and staring at the hole in the wall in shock. About a dozen of them
had arrived, and they all stared at Arwin as he followed the man inside.
Flicking his sword, Arwin impaled a large apple sitting on one of the
tables and brought it over to his mouth, taking a bite out of it. The more
confident he looked, the less likely anyone would try something stupid.
“Carry on,” Arwin said, waving the sword with the bitten apple on its
tip. Everyone’s eyes followed the blade, reading the information the Mesh
gave them on its properties. Almost immediately, they paled and backed up.
It didn’t surprise Arwin. Minor magical explosion wasn’t exactly
reassuring, as there was no way to know exactly how small minor truly was.
Nobody stopped them as Arwin and the thief walked across the room and
up to a large wooden door at the far end of it.
“The boss is through here,” the thief said, watching Arwin warily, ready
to bolt at a moment’s notice. “I hope he kills you.”
“Your sentiment has been noted.” Arwin drove his foot into the door,
using [Scourge] to add just enough force to his kick to slam it open to
reveal a long, well-decorated room. It had a high ceiling and a second floor
that was mostly cast in shadows, aside from a few lanterns running along its
edges.
A man with a salt and pepper goatee and a small moustache sat at a
desk, his arms crossed in front of his chest, and his green eyes focused
directly on Arwin. Rows of tables covered with shimmering items and gold
lined the sides of the room, making it resemble the banquet hall of King
Midas.
“Did you miss the explosion outside?” Arwin asked, stepping into the
room and closing the door behind himself.
 “I had trusted that my men would be competent enough to handle it
themselves. I have better things to do,” the man said, rising to his feet. He
moved with the grace of a killer—this man was no stranger to fighting.
“Not the best men if they leave you alone to fight an unknown threat,”
Arwin said.
The man chuckled and snapped his fingers. Several clicks rang out, and
Arwin recognized them as the telltale sound of crossbows being cocked.
“I’m not alone,” the man said. “But you are. I’ve never had someone so
bold as to break straight into my dwellings on their lonesome. Who are
you?”
He doesn’t have an Identify skill that’ll let him see information about me
or my class, then. Good. I was betting on that, but you never know.
“I’m hurt,” Arwin said. A large portion of his shadow broke away and
slipped into the darkness, but he didn’t let his eyes follow it. “You sent Jin
to my smithy to leave a threat on my wall and you don’t even know who I
am?”
“You’re the smith?” The guild leader blinked, then started to chuckle.
“A lone smith has come to challenge my guild?”
“Who said I was alone?” Arwin asked. “I’m just the one speaking with
you.”
“You’re claiming to represent an organization?” The guild leader
watched Arwin carefully, clearly trying to read if he was lying or not.
“There was no information about a guild on that street. It sounds to me like
you’re bluffing to keep that key your girl stole.”
“We were a bit delayed in announcing it,” Arwin said with a shrug.
“Consider this our official announcement. That shitty little street is ours.
Keep your paws off it.”
“I think we’ll just take what we want instead,” the guild leader said
softly, raising a hand. Arwin’s skin prickled. He couldn’t see the other
thieves in the room, but he could tell their weapons were pointed straight at
him.
“You know what that sounds like?” Arwin asked, keeping his tone even
and tilting his head to the side. “A declaration of a guild war.”
“You don’t have a guild! There’s no war if you’re alone, and the girl
certainly doesn’t count. She doesn’t even have a class.”
Arwin smiled. There was a soft thud from the upper decks. Arwin and
the guild leader both turned as a man’s head rolled over the edge of the
balcony and fell to the ground, striking it with a splattering squelch.
For an instant, nobody spoke. Then the guild leader’s eyes went wide.
He jerked his hand down. “Kill him! We’re under attack!”

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F
ive bolts screamed through the air toward Arwin, but he spun, holding
his hands over the back of his neck and his eyes. A bolt slammed into
his forearm with a thud, but Arwin ignored it and sprinted over to one
of the tables, activating [Scourge] and lifting it into the air with a roar. Gold
spilled to the ground, and an idle part of Arwin’s mind noted that the clinks
it made as it hit the stone weren’t the right pitch. The gold was fake.
Arwin hurled the table—not at the guild leader, but at the double doors.
Even as they started to open and the guild members tried to pour in, the
table slammed into them and drove them shut.
Not deterred, Arwin strode over to another table and lifted it while the
crossbowmen reloaded, tossing the table next to the first. People pounded
against the doors, but the tables were heavy—they weren’t going to get
through them too soon.
Another arrow struck Arwin’s armor. He gritted his teeth as he felt a
rush of magical energy siphon from his body. The air around him heated as
a molten strand of magic whipped from his armor and hurtled into the
darkness. A man let out a pained scream, but it was abruptly silenced.
Arwin turned back to the guild leader, ripping the arrows out of his arms
and dropping them to the floor. They’d barely penetrated an inch into his
skin, and the wounds were nothing more than painful.
Coils of flame danced across Arwin’s armor, rising up into the air
around him as if waiting for another person foolish enough to test its
powers.
 “That’s two,” Arwin said, stalking toward the man. This was the most
important part. Killing a few Apprentice tiers was well within his and
Lillia’s powers, but taking on a Journeyman was not. It was unlikely that
he’d be able to so much as injure the guild leader before his people
managed to knock the doors down, and then he’d really be in trouble.
Luckily, this was never a fair fight. Like any guild leader running a
group of rabble, he’ll try to show his strength off by making them do the
hard work. No point wasting energy when you’re in charge.
That just means I have to scare the shit out of this guy. He doesn’t know
my exact level, so as long as he thinks the fight isn’t worth taking, we win.
“Who are you?” the guild leader demanded. “You aren’t a smith. Was
this a setup?”
“Does that matter?” Arwin asked. “I’m not asking for much… What
was your name again?”
“Briggs.” The guild leader watched Arwin through narrow eyes, ready
to call on his own powers and jump into the fight at a moment’s notice. His
eyes traced the explosive sword in Arwin’s hands—likely more worried
about his belongings than his life. Arwin doubted a Journeyman would get
taken out by something like this, but all that mattered was that he had
Briggs’ attention.
“Briggs. Good name,” Arwin said. He tapped the sword on the ground
as he walked, hoping that taps didn’t count as strikes. It would have been
morbidly funny if he mistakenly blew himself up while trying to be
threatening. “Well, Briggs, I don’t have any problem with you. What I do
have a problem with is people shuffling around on the territory of my guild,
leaving threats around like they own the place.”
None of the thieves on the upper level were shooting their crossbows
anymore. Briggs looked from Arwin to the barricaded door behind him.
People were banging on it, but it was clearly going to hold for at least
another minute.
“You’re stealing from us,” Briggs growled. “You really think I’m going
to give a key to a dungeon up just like that?”
“You’ve already spent two lives on it,” Arwin said. “How many more is
it worth? I can’t say I have a taste for killing, but my friends are different.”
He lifted his gaze to the balcony. Briggs followed it, and the man’s face
went as pale as a sheet. Standing beside the railing, the head of a thief
gripped in its clawed hands, was a Lesser Imp.
 The monster’s dull red skin glistened with blood, and its yellowed claws
nearly wrapped all the way around the head in its hands. Jagged teeth filled
its mouth, so long that it couldn’t even close it properly.
“Nine Underlands. You’re allied with demons?” Briggs asked, terror
seeping into his voice.
The monster dropped the head and stepped back into the darkness,
vanishing from sight as if it had never been there.
“I’m not sure I know what you’re talking about,” Arwin said. “You
might be seeing things, Briggs. I’ve heard that happens to people who are
about to die.”
Briggs swallowed heavily. “You’re mad. What fool is stupid enough to
make a deal with a demon? Haven’t you heard what they do to men?”
“I’ve seen it firsthand, actually,” Arwin said. “It’s not pretty, Briggs. It’s
unfortunate. Something tells me the Hero is too busy to come all the way
out to this backwater city and handle a threat of demons from the lips of a
tiny little Thieves’ Guild. But, who knows. I could be wrong. What do you
think?”
The two men locked eyes, and Arwin could see the exact moment that
Briggs’ self-preservation won over his greed. The man’s lips pressed thin
and he jerked his chin. “Fine. Keep the damned key. The dungeon is likely
worthless.”
“And the girl?”
“By all means, we don’t want her back.” Briggs spat on the floor. “She’s
a curse, and I hope you both get devoured by the monsters you cavort
with.”
“It was a pleasure doing business with you,” Arwin said. A shadow
flitted through the room and attached itself to his, and this time, Briggs
didn’t miss it. The man’s face paled even further. “Stay off my street.”
“Only if you stay off mine,” Briggs said, finding a tiny spark of
righteous fury to draw on. “Back me into a corner and you’ll find out just
how dangerous my men are.”
Arwin chuckled. “Don’t worry, Briggs. I don’t have any desire for your
street. You can keep it. Just don’t let me catch your men in my smithy again
unless they’re there to buy something.”
The banging on the door grew louder, and the tables started to scrape
along the ground as the thieves on the other side slowly forced it open.
Arwin nodded toward the exit.
 “You might want to stop them.”
Briggs ground his teeth. For a moment, Arwin wondered if he’d pushed
too far and if the man was about to snap and order everyone to attack. The
moment passed and Briggs snarled in anger.
“Stop!” Briggs roared. “Go back to your damn stations. Everything is
fine.”
The grinding stopped. Confused murmurs rang out on the other side of
the door.
“I told you to leave!” Briggs yelled again. “Get back to work!”
Footfalls echoed out as the thieves broke rank and left. Arwin didn’t
bother saying anything else to Briggs. There was no point in pushing his
luck any further. He grabbed the first table with one hand, using [Scourge]
to toss it to the side.
The second table followed after it, and Arwin pulled the doors open. He
strode out, ignoring the wide-eyed stares of all the thieves as he left the
building. Their gazes bored into his back as he continued out into the street,
following him all the way until he turned a corner in the alley and was
entirely out of view.
Even still, Arwin didn’t allow himself to relax for another ten minutes.
He followed the alleyways to the best of his memory, then finally came to a
stop as he saw two familiar forms. Lillia and Reya sat on a pair of barrels at
the end of the alley.
The shadow at Arwin’s feet broke away the moment he saw Lillia
flitting across the ground and entering her own shadow. The alley was so
dark that Arwin only noticed because he’d grown used to watching the
shadows while he fought, and Reya missed it entirely.
“Arwin! You’re back! Did it work?” Reya asked nervously, glancing
around the alley. “Are the thieves after you?”
“I doubt I would have made it out of there if it hadn’t worked,” Arwin
said with a dry laugh. He followed Reya’s concerned gaze to his bleeding
arms and waved her away. “Relax. I’m fine.”
“It looks like you got shot. A lot.”
“I did,” Arwin said. “I’m not exactly walking around in full plate here.”
Though I really should be.
“I can’t believe that worked,” Lillia said, shaking her head in disbelief.
“You really just strolled in there and they listened to you?”
 “Having certain threats in the shadows can go a long way,” Arwin said.
Now that it was all done, he wasn’t so sure how he felt about feeding a
Lesser Imp a meal of fellow humans. It was probably the only reason he’d
managed to pull this off, though. “People are terrified of—well, you know.
Really, really scared.”
He’d been one of them, at one point. Demons had been something
reviled—and something feared. They were among the most despicable
monsters, taking delight in their slaughter. At least, that was what Arwin
had learned, and it was likely what just about everyone believed. Now, he
wasn’t sure what he believed.
Fortunately, it didn’t matter. The only thing that mattered was that
everyone else was just as scared of demons as he’d used to be. That had
been what their entire plan had hinged on.
When Arwin had asked Lillia what abilities she’d retained, he’d
expected it to be something to do with the darkness based on how her
tavern felt, but he’d been initially thrilled to hear she could still summon a
Lesser Imp. The monsters were nasty little buggers that only obeyed their
masters, and they had the ability to hide in shadows. Most people didn’t
know the capabilities of the average demon, though.
A wry smile crossed Arwin’s face, but he wasn’t sure if it was born of
bitter amusement or relief. He’d killed more Imps than he could count, and
now he’d worked together with one to kill.
“How many of those things do you have to work with?” Arwin asked.
“Why do you ask?” Lillia asked, sending Arwin a suspicious frown.
“Just curious,” Arwin said, shaking his head. They all set off down the
alley, heading back toward their rundown street. He’d have more than
enough time to come to terms with what he’d done later.
Like it or not, I’m not the man I used to be. I can’t be.
Realizing that he’d started to lag behind the others, Arwin increased his
pace to catch back up with them. The Thieves’ Guild was dealt with—for
the time being—and that meant he had time to get back to doing what was
important.
I need to get stronger.

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F
lame licked at Arwin’s hands as he worked the lizard scales together,
winding the final scale onto his third attempt at making a piece of
armor for Reya. The first and second tries sat in a pile off to his side.
The first had turned into a decent set of armor, but he’d failed to capture
any magic within it.
The second attempt hadn’t turned out much better, but he’d worked out
a few issues in his methodology. It was a lot easier to make himself a piece
of armor than it was for him to make one for someone else.
That felt like a no-brainer after Arwin realized it, of course. When he
was working for himself, he knew exactly what he wanted. And, while he
didn’t have any complete proof for it yet, Arwin was confident that when
his will aligned with that of his materials—that was when he could make a
magical weapon.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t the easiest to put himself in the shoes of
someone else when he was specifically trying to make something for them
rather than just a random piece of armor that happened to be magical.
And yet, as Arwin finished working the last scale into the chest piece
and held it up before the forge to get a good look at the finished product, he
felt the telltale tingle of the Mesh race against his skin.

[Forest Lizard Scale Mail: Average Quality] has been forged. Forging a
magical item has granted you energy.
Achievement: [Shoe Thief] has been earned.
 [Shoe Thief] – Awarded for forging an item made specifically for
someone other than you. Effects: One skill in your next Skill Selection
has been upgraded. This achievement will be consumed upon choosing
your next skill.

Arwin’s lips creased with a smile. If he’d been earning this many
Achievements back when he’d been this tier as the Hero, he probably
wouldn’t have even flinched when the black gem had blown up.
Also, it doesn’t look like scales have to be quenched. I wonder if that’s
due to their magical properties or if it’s because I’m just doing it wrong.
That would be a problem to deal with later. He already couldn’t wait to
see what his next skill options would be, but that would come when it came
—and, if he was really lucky, after he got another Achievement or two.
Arwin turned his attention back to the scale mail shirt in his hands,
examining it with the Mesh.

Forest Lizard Scale Mail: Average Quality

Shimmerscale: This item was made to protect a woman who stumbles
into trouble a little too often. Upon being struck, this item may forcibly
draw a small amount of magical energy and release a flash of light,
blinding anyone looking too closely.

Arwin smiled and nodded. This was exactly what he needed. Even
though he hadn’t had a specific enchantment in mind when he’d been
making the armor for Reya, it was definitely custom-made for her.
Well, I was just thinking I didn’t have confirmation that my thoughts
truly influenced the kind of magic that goes into the equipment. This is that
confirmation. I wonder if I can control the exact enchantment somehow.
Arwin dismissed the Mesh, then laid the armor out over the anvil as the
last of the heat dissipated from its scales. Even though it wasn’t hot to him,
it would be unfortunate if Reya tried to put it on and ended up burning
herself.
To Arwin’s mild disappointment, Reya wasn’t there when he scanned
the shop for her. It had been a little over a day since they’d gotten back, and
he couldn’t tell if she was just enjoying her newfound sense of freedom or
felt so bad about having to rely on him and Lillia that she’d been working
overtime.
Either way, she’d been out ever since, only coming back to sleep. Arwin
considered going to look for her, but a familiar pang in his stomach stopped
him before he could start.
It was still small, but he doubted he’d ever forget the sensation. [The
Hungering Maw] was active again, and he needed to feed it a magical item
if he wanted to avoid dying. Arwin took Reya’s new armor and draped it
over a fallen piece of rock to free up the anvil.
I’m not wasting any of the armor, and I’d rather not lose either of the
swords. Guess I’ll make something new and hope I can get it done before I
run out of time. Worst comes to worst, I’ll eat the exploding sword. As long
as I don’t hit anything too hard, I should be fine.
Arwin grabbed a piece of metal and set it in the hearth, using the
bellows and the enhanced heat of his [Soul Flame] to bring it up to heat.
Once the metal was burnt orange, Arwin took it out and set it on the anvil.
His hammer sang as he struck the metal, not even entirely sure what he
was trying to make yet. If the metal had something it wanted to become,
then he was more than willing to let it guide him.
Minutes stretched on and Arwin returned the metal to the forge, pulling
it back out and setting back to work once it was hot enough. The impurities
slowly left the metal—or at least, as many of them as one could possibly
remove from a piece this low quality.
The faint glow of magic guided Arwin’s strikes as he formed the metal
into an ingot, then narrowed it out into the shape of a dagger, hardly even
aware of his own actions. The gnawing in Arwin’s stomach grew, but he
hadn’t gotten a warning from the Mesh yet, so he was more focused on
making sure that he got it right the first time.
It took Arwin record time to finish the metal parts of the weapon. It was
nothing more than a blade with a tang jutting out of the end for him to
fasten the handle around, but he was still more than proud of his results.
Even though the Mesh had yet to properly recognize the dagger, he
could still feel the magic lying in wait beneath its surface. Arwin grabbed
some wood and cut away two small chunks, whittling them down with the
base of a sword until they were hemi-cylinders.
Arwin then used the unfinished blade to carve out a spot for the tang to
sit before putting the halves of the handle around the tang. He grabbed
some of the nails he’d forged, hammering them into place with just a few
blows to secure the handle in place.
Time for water. I hope my trusty hole is still there.
He reheated the blade and headed out of the smithy and over to the
makeshift quenching station near the ditch. To his delight—and relief—the
pool was still there. It must have been connected to a small wellspring.
Either that, or someone really liked pissing here.
That less than tasteful thought in mind, Arwin plunged the blade into the
water. It bubbled and hissed, frothing around his hand and forcing him to
squint through the steam until it subsided.
He got to scraping off all the crud that had built up on the top of the
blade, using [Scourge] to make his fingers strong enough to remove them.
After a few more minutes yielded a relatively clean blade, he held the
weapon aloft.
The faintest traces of magic shimmered around the finished dagger, as if
the Mesh could sense that Arwin was done working on it. Realistically, he
was pretty sure that it could.

[Dagger: Average Quality] has been forged. Forging a magical item has
granted you energy.
Sharp: This item is abnormally sharp. It will cut through many things
—including the hands of whoever is holding it.

Almost on cue, Arwin cursed as he felt something nip at his fingertip.

He dropped the dagger in surprise, shaking off the small cut on his hand.
“Wow,” Arwin said dryly, the pang in his stomach growing slightly
stronger. “Lovely. Almost forgot about the detrimental bit, but color me
reminded. I wonder what happens when I take on the properties of being
sharp. I really hope I don’t grow spikes.”
He lifted the dagger up to his mouth, pausing for a moment. The idea of
chowing down on a piece of metal still wasn’t appealing, but biting into
something that wasn’t just sharp but abnormally sharp felt like it was
definitely a good way to cut his insides open.
Then again, not eating this is a good way to blow up. Or implode. I’m
not actually sure what would happen if I didn’t eat magic in time, but I’m
not going to sit around and wait to find out.
 His hesitation was rewarded with another cut on his hand—he had no
clue how, but the literal handle of the dagger was somehow managing to
slightly injure him, even through the defenses of [Indomitable Bulwark].
Not wanting to wait any longer, Arwin started at the back of the blade,
taking a careful nibble out of it. The metal melted beneath his teeth, ripping
away easily. It still wasn’t the most pleasant activity, but the pain in his
stomach relented.
Arwin worked his way around the dagger, eating the rest of it without
too much difficulty. Every bite he took just turned into what felt like hot,
metallic soup in his mouth. A warmth grew, spreading out through his entire
body as he finished eating until the pain had completely vanished.
Well, at least I’ve got a cool party trick. Does that always work,
though? Or is it only when I’m hungry? Actually, for that matter, does it
even have to be magic at all? If I can eat a magical object, would I be able
to eat a normal one as well?
Arwin glanced around the smithy, then grabbed a bar of steel. He raised
it before his mouth, studying it doubtfully. It didn’t look any more edible
than the dagger had, but if he could just chew through anything in his path,
that was something he could incorporate into his fighting.
Not that I fancy the idea of trying to chew through my enemies, but if my
life is on the line, it can’t hurt to find out.
He brought the bar to his mouth and nipped at it. The metal seemed…
well, metal. It certainly didn’t feel particularly edible, but Arwin wanted to
be absolutely certain just in case he was psyching himself out.
Opening his mouth a little wider, Arwin carefully bit at it, applying
pressure but not enough to mistakenly break his teeth. And it was fortunate
that he did—the bar didn’t give in the slightest. It was about as edible as a
bar of metal should have been, and that was to say that it wasn’t edible in
the slightest.
“Damn,” Arwin said, lowering the bar. He turned, only to find Reya
standing in the entrance of the smithy, staring at him with wide eyes. She
hurriedly cleared her throat.
“I didn’t realize you were busy.”
Arwin opened his mouth, then looked back to the piece of metal and
tossed it onto the ground, heaving a sigh. “I’m not even going to try to
explain. Is that real food?”
 “Yeah,” Reya said. She tried to suppress a smirk and failed miserably.
“If you were so hungry, you should have gone to get something. I can’t
bring you food right now because Lillia is insisting that we eat at her tavern,
but I didn’t realize things got this bad.”
Arwin rolled his eyes. “Laugh it up all you want. It was an experiment.”
“Right,” Reya said, attempting to straighten her face and failing
miserably.
Arwin shook his head and grabbed Reya’s armor from the stone he’d
laid it on, holding it out so she could get a look at it. “Well, when you’re
done laughing, you can come take a look at what I made for you.”

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 20

T
he smile vanished from Reya’s face instantly, replaced by wide-eyed
disbelief. Her mouth dropped open and her gaze fixed on the armor in
Arwin’s hands. She started to reach out, then caught herself and pulled
her hand back.
“You made that for me?”
“I told you I was going to outfit us, didn’t I?”
“Well, yes, but you’ve only made yourself one thing so far,” Reya
stammered. “And I didn’t think you meant you’d make me more magical
equipment. I thought it was just going to be a leather cuirass or something!”
“I haven’t figured out how to work with leather yet,” Arwin said. “And I
did consider making myself some more scale equipment, but I already
know how to make a chest piece and I haven’t figured anything else out yet.
Do you want it or not?”
“I can’t afford anything like this,” Reya said. “It has to be worth at least
a few hundred gold. If you sold this⁠—”
“I’m not selling it. I decided when we went out to the market a little
while ago,” Arwin said. “I won’t be selling magical equipment to anyone I
don’t know.”
Reya blinked in surprise. “What? But you could be rich! If you can
make stuff like this, the Adventurers’ Guild would pay thousands of gold
just to keep you on staff! Or if you wanted to remain independent, you
could probably earn even more.”
 Arwin’s features darkened and he shook his head firmly. “I won’t be
working for the guild, and I’m not outfitting anyone that isn’t with me.”
I won’t make weaponry for someone that I may have to eventually fight.
I don’t have any interest in crafting for normal adventurers either—not
magical items, at least. The best things I make will be reserved for people
that actually deserve them.
Reya bit her lower lip. Her eagerness finally won out over her humility
and she edged forward, carefully taking the armor from Arwin’s grip. She
ran her hands over its surface in mute awe, then quickly pulled it on over
her shirt.
She twisted her body, then stretched her arms over her head and swung
them around in a few circles. The scale mail clinked slightly with her
movements, but it didn’t impede them.
“Whoa. This is incredible. I’d have thought it was a Unique item if it
didn’t clearly say it was Average,” Reya said. “This is the nicest thing I’ve
ever owned. Other than that dagger you gave me, that is. I don’t know if
I’m ever going to be able to pay you back.”
“Your continued work will be more than enough. I need my allies to be
competent,” Arwin said with a wave of his hand. The delight in Reya’s eyes
was a little too much to handle. It felt eerily similar to the gaze people had
given him when he was still the Hero.
But, at the same time, it was different. Arwin had fought for those
people, but he’d never truly known any of them. They’d just been a teeming
mass in the back of his mind—an ideal rather than individuals.
“It fits, then?” Arwin asked, breaking himself from his thoughts to make
sure the silence didn’t stretch on so long that it grew uncomfortable.
“Like a glove,” Reya said. She glanced at her hands, then cleared her
throat. “Actually, it fits like scale mail. But it does it really well, you know?
Kind of like a glove, but for my chest.”
“I get the picture, I think,” Arwin said dryly. “I’d recommend putting
another shirt over it, or you might get people getting a little too interested.
Once you’ve got a class, you’ll probably get something that lets you
conceal the equipment you’re carrying. Then you can wear it normally.”
“I’ll make sure to do that,” Reya said seriously.
“Good. In that case, we’ve spent enough time on this. Did you hear
anything interesting this past day? Is the Thieves’ Guild actually holding up
to their word and avoiding us?” Arwin headed over to the pile of metal
scrap and started to shuffle through it in search of something usable.
“Yeah.” Reya gave him a nod. “At least as far as I can tell, none of them
have shown up in the area. I don’t exactly have much of an information
network, but I’ve been prowling around the street and it’s been mostly
empty.”
“Mostly?” Arwin found a large piece of iron riddled with impurities and
picked it up, turning it over in his hands to try and feel it out. “What’s that
mean?”
“Well, Lillia’s been doing her best to get more people in the area, and I
think her efforts are kind of working. She’s been going out to some of the
other streets and even the edges of the city, trying to bribe beggars over to
her tavern with free food.”
A small grin flitted across Arwin’s lips. He brought the piece of iron
back to the forge and set it in the hearth, letting fire roar up around it and
starting to work the bellows.
“Is that so? And that’s working for her?”
“Well, I did say kind of working, not working. I think most of them took
the food and left, but I do think I’ve seen one guy come back twice. Her
tavern is pretty creepy.”
“It is,” Arwin agreed through a grunt. “She should really play into it
more if she wants to draw more attention.”
With the enhanced heat of his [Soul Flame], the iron was soon glowing
hot. Arwin took it from the forge and grabbed his hammer, starting to beat
the impurities out of the metal.
“Play into it?” Reya tilted her head and waited for gaps within Arwin’s
strikes to speak. “What do you mean?”
Arwin didn’t respond until the iron started to cool down, and he was
forced to return it to the forge. He brushed the flakes of metal away while
the piece he was working on heated once again.
“If she’s not going to be able to get rid of the creepy aura, she should
pretend like it’s intentional,” Arwin said. “Think about it. Instead of a shitty
old building in the corner of the road, it could be a haunted tavern.”
“Nobody would want to go to that,” Reya said with a shudder. “Ghosts
are terrifying!”
“It’s fake,” Arwin said.
“What do you mean? I thought you said she should make it haunted.”
 “No. She should act like it’s haunted,” Arwin corrected. “Think about it.
People can pretend like the tavern is haunted, and her servers can wear
sheets or something and pretend to be ghosts. Maybe that’s too much, but
you can see where I’m going with this, can’t you? She could have a spooky
theme. The Monster Tavern, or the like. People love stuff like that.”
“Huh. I never thought about that, but it would be kind of fun to get
waited on by a giant hulking monster,” Reya mused. Her eyes lit up and she
burst into laughter. “Wait. I’ve got it. Lillia could pretend to be the Demon
Queen! Could you imagine that? Go to a tavern and have the Demon Queen
herself waiting on you. I bet she could find some people to dress up as
monsters from the Horde. Adventurers would love it!”
Arwin turned away from the forge to stare at Reya, but she was so busy
laughing to herself that she didn’t even notice. His eye twitched.
I can’t tell if Reya is an idiot or a genius. She somehow stumbled onto
the actual truth of the situation and doesn’t even realize it.
“Perhaps that would be funny,” Arwin said with a small grin. “I’m
certain Lillia would find that idea fascinating. You should suggest it to her.”
“I will,” Reya said with an excited nod. “Probably tomorrow, though.
It’s kind of late.”
Arwin pulled the metal from the forge and went back to work on it,
pounding out the impurities. He once again worked until it cooled, then
returned it to the flames. He glanced out the cracks in the wall at the dark
purple night sky. Reya was right—it had gotten pretty late.
“I’ll be wrapped up here soon,” Arwin promised. “I just want to get this
finished up before tomorrow.”
“What are you making?”
“I haven’t quite figured it out yet,” Arwin replied. “I’ll let you know
once I get there.”
That wasn’t entirely true. He did have an idea of what he wanted to
make, but he didn’t want to say it out loud yet. Saying it felt like a curse.
Logically, he knew it wouldn’t change anything, but that didn’t change a
thing.
Reya just shrugged and watched Arwin silently as he pulled the metal
from the fire once more. He set it down on the anvil once more, but this
time, he wasn’t just trying to remove the impurities. He was shaping it.
Faint shimmers of magic guided Arwin’s hands as he hammered the iron
into form. He’d chosen this piece for a specific reason, and it wasn’t
because it was the highest-quality piece of metal he had.
In fact, it was one of the worst ones. But, despite that, it had a desire. He
could feel the faint draw the metal had—the longing to become something.
But, unlike many of the other pieces in the pile, this one didn’t want to be a
sword or a dagger.
It didn’t want to be any sort of weapon. No, this piece wanted to be a
pan. That was it. A simple goal, and while Arwin would swear up and down
that it wasn’t the one he’d set out to make, it did happen to coincide with
the request that Lillia had given him.
Strike by strike, the piece of metal slowly flattened out and started to
take on a flat, roundish shape. It wasn’t perfectly smooth, nor was it even
close to it. But, as the bed of the pan started to take form in Arwin’s hands,
he still found himself satisfied with it.
He returned it to the forge once more to finish shaping it, then set it
down and grabbed another piece of metal. He heated and shaped it into a
handle, then used two nails to connect the handle with the bed, putting it
back into the flame and twisting the tips of the nails down into rounded nibs
with [Scourge].
His work completed, Arwin took the pan from the fire and set it on the
anvil to cool. It wasn’t magic—the Mesh didn’t recognize his work as
anything particularly special, but he didn’t care. It was a good pan. At least,
it felt like it would be. He was far from a pan expert.
“Can you give this to Lillia when you get food from her tomorrow?”
Arwin asked. “She asked for some utensils. I’ll look into making some
utensils for her later.”
“Okay!” Reya said. “Why don’t you give it to her yourself?”
“I’ll be busy tomorrow. I’m going to be going hunting again.”
“You are?” Reya blinked. “Am I not coming?”
“Not until I get a better idea of what we’re fighting in that forest. You
can come next time,” Arwin said. “I imagine that you’ll be given a class
fairly soon, but we can’t have you getting killed before that.”
“Okay,” Reya said, a note of reluctance in her voice. “By the way…
what is it that you actually want?”
Arwin tilted his head to the side, holding his hand out to draw the fire
out from the forge. “What do you mean?”
“Well… Lillia wants to have a tavern. What do you want?”
 Arwin’s brow furrowed. He almost said that his only goal now was to
live a peaceful life, but that wasn’t so true. The Adventurers’ Guild had to
be dealt with, and the more he forged, the more he realized that he wanted
to do more. Just living wasn’t anywhere near enough.
I was mostly improvising when I spoke with Briggs, but maybe I spoke
more of the truth than I realized.
“You know what? I think I’d like to start a guild.”

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 21

A
rwin woke to silence the next morning. He sat up, rubbing the sleep
from his eyes as sunlight filtered in through the cracks in the ceiling
and walls. His back was stiff from the uncomfortable floor, but he’d
yet to get around to buying a proper bed.
Reya slept on the other side of the smithy, curled into a ball beside one
of the walls. She’d taken the Forest Lizard armor off and had wrapped
herself around it, clutching it like a blanket.
A small smile flitted across Arwin’s lips, and a distant memory prickled
at his mind. His mother had gotten him a themed blanket of a movie he’d
really liked for Christmas—Arwin couldn’t remember the movie, nor could
he remember what was actually on the blanket, but he remembered holding
on to it like the most important object in the world.
Arwin ran his hands through his hair, straightening it out a little to avoid
looking like he’d just woken up, even if that was exactly what he’d done.
He grabbed his two swords and strapped their sheaths onto his sides before
heading out of the smithy.
He had a lot of ground to cover today, and the sooner he headed out, the
sooner he’d hopefully be able to land eyes on something interesting and
bring it back to turn into more equipment.
The street was as quiet as it always was, and Arwin set off in the
direction of the gate, musing to himself as he walked.
I’d like to make some greaves and gauntlets next. A helmet and boots
are also on the list if I want to really outfit myself to the point where I can
hold my own without having to rely on [Scourge].
He could always hunt more of the lizards, but he needed to find a better
way to fuse their scales together. Making a chest piece was one thing, but
he didn’t want to be running around jingling like a jester.
I want plate armor. Heavy, scary-ass plate armor. I’m sure I’ll be able
to get some better techniques to work with some of the more unique
materials—like lizard scales—soon, though, so getting more scales is still a
good idea. I can start with that and see where things take me. I doubt I’m
far from reaching the next tier at this point. Probably going to reach it with
the next magical item I craft.
Arwin’s thoughts occupied him all the way out of town and down the
road. He only paid enough attention to his surroundings to make sure he
was heading in the same direction that Reya had taken him the last time
they’d gone to hunt.
Sometime later, Arwin found himself rudely pulled from his reverie by a
loud crash. He blinked, his mind snapping back into his body as he searched
for the source. He’d already arrived at the edge of the valley and wasn’t too
far from the forest below.
The sound had definitely come from within the forest. Arwin’s eyes
narrowed as he squinted, trying to make out what had caused it. It wasn’t
like sounds happened for no reason. Either two monsters were fighting,
or⁠—
A man in full plate armor sprinted out of the forest, clutching on to his
helmet with one hand as his legs pumped as fast as he could move them. He
had a woman slung over his shoulder with the other hand. Judging by her
flowing white robes and the staff she held in her arms, she was some form
of mage. With every step the man took, the large satchel on his back
bounced frantically. And, even from the distance Arwin was at, he could see
the panic on their faces.
No more than a second later, a massive lizard burst free of the treeline.
The monster was several feet larger than the previous one that Arwin had
fought. Its limbs scrabbled for purchase on the ground as it pursued the
fleeing people, in what would have likely been fairly amusing if they hadn’t
been one bad step away from a grisly death.
There were several cuts along the lizard’s body, and some of its scales
had been scorched black. Clearly, the two adventurers had bitten off a fight
that was more than they could chew, but at least they hadn’t completely
failed—the beast was injured.
Adventurers or not, I’m not going to sit around while someone gets
ripped to death in front of me.
Arwin reached out to the Mesh even as he burst into motion, checking
how big of a threat the monster posed.

[Forest Lizard – Apprentice 8]

I think I should be able to handle that with the aid of the items I’ve
made. It would be better if I had full plate mail, but it’s already wounded,
which gives me an advantage I can use to tip the scales.
Arwin’s feet pumped as they hit the ground. The lizard was gaining on
the adventurers, but both groups were running straight at Arwin. He
activated [Scourge], funneling power into his legs and bounding forward
with a roar.
Shifting the focus of the magic into his arm, Arwin reared back and
drove his fist into the monster’s nose. A wave of magic rolled through him,
and the lizard’s head snapped back, its momentum redirected. It tumbled
across the ground and slammed into a rock with a loud crack.
Tremors raced down Arwin’s hand, and he shook it off with a muted
curse, feeling pain pulse in his knuckles. [Indomitable Bulwark] made it so
that his body could handle some of the nastier attacks he could make, but it
didn’t remove their impact entirely.
I’m pretty sure I just fractured a knuckle.
Even so, the strike had worked to a devastating effect. The lizard’s
scales had cracked around the impact zone, and when it rose again, it
staggered woozily. Blood dripped from its eardrums, and its eyes were
unfocused as it turned toward Arwin, baring its teeth in a warning hiss.
Arwin flexed his other hand and drew his sword, pointing it at the lizard
and baring his teeth in challenge. He’d already eaten a good ways into his
magical reserves, but he had enough for one or two more max-power
strikes.
That would be enough time for the adventurers to run for freedom, and
with any luck, it would finish the lizard off as well and he’d be able to strip
the entire thing of everything it had without having to share.
 But, to Arwin’s surprise, two pairs of footsteps ran up beside him. The
man and woman skidded to a stop beside him.
“You’ve got good timing!” the man yelled, slamming his face visor
down and drawing his own sword. “We’ve got your back!”
A wave of energy passed over Arwin, its warmth wrapping around his
arm. He felt the cracked bones in his hand shift and reconnect. An
immediate rush of relief washed over him, and the woman on his other side
gave him a firm nod.
“I don’t have much energy left, but I can heal one more wound,” the
woman said, her voice terse from exhaustion.
I honestly would have preferred if you both ran, but I suppose I can’t
complain about them being respectable.
The lizard let out a screech and shook itself off. Its tongue flicked out
and its claws dug into the dirt, launching it forward as it charged at them
once again. Arwin and the armored man both stepped forward.
A glow enveloped the other man’s sword and he let out a battle cry,
bringing it down for the charging lizard. The monster’s tail flicked out and
he was forced to duck out of the way, his blow scraping across its scales but
failing to land a meaningful strike.
Arwin took the opportunity to strike at the lizard with his own sword,
thrusting it for one of the monster’s eyes. It hissed and pulled back,
narrowly avoiding the strike. It retaliated with a swipe of its claw.
He twisted to the side, avoiding the majority of the attack but failing to
dodge it completely. With a loud clang, the lizard’s claws cut through his
shirt and hit the scale mail armor beneath it.
A rush of heat ran through Arwin’s body as the armor activated, yanking
away a portion of the power he’d been saving up for another [Scourge]-
empowered attack. Before he could even curse, a whip of molten fire
snapped out and struck the lizard straight across the face.
It let out a pained scream and staggered back, flailing blindly. The other
adventurer lunged, taking advantage of the monster’s distraction to drive his
sword for a large wound just below its shoulder.
His sword lit with a golden glow even as it drove deep into the lizard’s
flesh. It screamed in pain, and the man was forced to abandon his sword
within and jump back to keep himself from getting crushed.
He wasn’t quite fast enough to completely dodge out of the way, so
when the monster’s tail snapped out, it caught him in the leg and shattered
armor and bone alike. The man cried out in pain and crumpled to the
ground, falling onto his back and scrabbling to move himself away from the
monster.
The lizard thrashed as it tried to free the blade from itself. Arwin ducked
under a claw and jumped over its tail, driving his open palm toward the
other man’s sword. He drew on most of his remaining reserves to activate
[Scourge] and drove his palm into the hilt of the blade.
It sank all the way into the lizard, wreaking havoc on its internal organs
and punching straight through its heart. The monster let out one final pained
hiss and crashed to the ground before Arwin, lifeless.
Arwin turned as the woman ran up to the fallen man’s side, a faint white
glow emanating from her hands. She tugged on the armor on his legs, but
the injury had warped it so badly that it was impossible to remove normally.
Arwin strode up to join them and knelt beside the woman.
“Move,” Arwin said gruffly. “If you heal him now, the armor will just
rip his leg up.”
He grabbed the top of the man’s greaves and, using up the last dregs of
power he had left, activated what he could of [Scourge]. Gritting his teeth
with effort, Arwin pried the greaves open like a lobster shell.
It creaked in protest but pulled back, revealing a mangled leg. Arwin
pulled until it finally snapped and fell away. The woman immediately sent
her magic into the wounded adventurer and his leg straightened, the injuries
slowly fading away.
He’d been hurt considerably worse than Arwin had, so the healing took
nearly thirty seconds. None of them spoke until the man finally let out a
breath and flexed his toes. “Thanks, Anna. Good as new.”
“Forget me, you idiot,” Anna said, looking to Arwin with an
appreciative smile. “What’s your name? You saved our asses.”
“Arwin.”
“I’m Anna, and this is Rodrick,” Anna said, helping the man sit up. “I
don’t know if I’d recommend going into the forest right now. The monsters
in there are all way more aggressive than they normally are. We had a small
group of them collapse on us and we barely made it out.”
“There are more coming?” Arwin asked in alarm.
“No, this was the last of them,” Rodrick said with a laugh. “You really
did save our asses, though. I was basically all out of energy, and Anna
wasn’t far behind. Anyone ever tell you that you’ve got great timing?”
 “I try,” Arwin said, letting out a huff. He pushed himself back to his
feet.
“Are you an adventurer?” Anna asked. “I haven’t seen you around
Milten.”
Arwin hesitated for a second, then shook his head. “No. Nothing like
that. I’m just a…”
Just a what? I can’t say I’m a smith. Shit.
“…a wanderer,” Arwin finished lamely.
Rodrick pulled his helmet off his head, letting a mop of brown hair fall
around a handsome face. “Just a wanderer, huh? Well, for not being an
adventurer, you’re one strong bugger. Any way we can pay you back?”
“I’ll take the lizard’s body,” Arwin said, jerking a thumb toward it. “It
can be useful.”
Rodrick tugged at his ear, then shrugged. “If that’s all you want, sure.
Normally, people don’t help out for that little. You aren’t going to ask for
gold or something?”
I could have done that? Well, too late to do it now. The body is more
useful anyway.
“This is more than enough. No need for me to be greedy.”
“World could use a few more people like that.” Anna sent a pointed
glance at Rodrick, whose cheeks went red.
“We would have been fine if we had a full party. We almost handled all
those lizards on our own. Imagine how much better it would have gone if
we had someone else to keep them off you,” Rodrick said, clearing his
throat sheepishly. “Anyway, thanks for the help, Arwin. If we ever see you
in a tavern, I’ll get you a drink.”
I can think of at least one tavern you might see me in, but I’m not sure
it’s ready for new customers quite yet.
“Thanks,” Arwin said, starting to turn toward the lizard. “I’ll be going,
then.”
“Actually, do you have a moment?”
Arwin and Rodrick both turned to Anna in surprise.
“What is it?” Arwin asked.
“Well, you handled yourself pretty well and traveling alone is
dangerous,” Anna said. “Do you think it’d be possible for you to
temporarily join our party?”
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A
rwin nearly choked on his own saliva. “I’m sorry?”
“You don’t just ask people to join your party, Anna,” Rodrick
scolded. He adjusted the remains of his leg armor, looking down at
the shredded remnants of his pants and coughing into his fist. “We could
use another member, though. No commitments or anything, but I’d really
like to get a bit deeper into the forest.”
Arwin nearly refused on the spot, but he hesitated before the words
could leave his mouth. In his current form, he really couldn’t fight more
than one monster every hour or two before running out of energy.
Having some help from people that knew what they were doing would
be pretty useful. Anna and Rodrick seemed fairly genuine as well. Of
course, they were still adventurers—but having two extra bodies to stand by
him so he could push deeper into the forest was hard to deny.
Reya isn’t going to be ready for anything like this for a bit. She doesn’t
know how to fight and doesn’t have a class yet. These two are trained. I
think it might actually be beneficial to take them up on their offer.
“Just for today,” Arwin said after a few more seconds of deliberation.
“But it isn’t going to be a regular thing, and you’ll have to help me carry
some of the loot. You can keep anything we get that isn’t from the monsters,
but I want the bodies.”
Anna and Rodrick exchanged a glance, then both nodded.
“That works!” Anna said. “We need around an hour to recover.”
 “That should be enough for me as well, and I need to take this thing
apart anyway.” Arwin jerked his chin toward the body of the Forest Lizard.
If they were going deeper into the forest, he doubted he’d be able to strip
every single piece of every single monster he fought, so the claws and teeth
would have to be abandoned. The scales were considerably more useful to
him at the moment, and they were also much easier to carry.
By the time Arwin finished with his work, his hands were covered with
blood, and he had a small pile of scales at his feet. He’d discarded all the
damaged ones—it wasn’t like they were going to have any shortage of
material, so he had no reason to bring along anything that wasn’t high
quality.
Arwin wiped his hands off on the grass and rose to his feet. Rodrick and
Anna sat a few paces away from him, where they’d been watching him
descale the monster. Both had offered to help, but neither had a sword or a
dagger small enough to safely remove anything without damaging it—and
Arwin wasn’t about to lend his potentially explosive weapon out.
“All finished?” Rodrick asked, mirroring Arwin and standing up. He
brushed the dirt off his backside, then helped Anna up. “I’m just about
ready to go, so you’ve got some good timing.”
“I just need to find a way to carry this,” Arwin said, chewing his lower
lip and scratching his back sheepishly. “I didn’t bring a bag.”
“I’ve got you.” Rodrick pulled the bag off his back and unbuckled the
belts holding the top down, revealing it to be largely empty aside from a
change of clothes and an empty potion vial or two.
He and Arwin scooped the scales into the bag, filling it a good half of
the way up. Compared to the number of broken and damaged scales
littering the ground, it felt like a rather small amount.
I definitely would have gotten more if the thing wasn’t so beat to hell.
But if I kill a few more of them, it’ll hardly matter. I’m more interested in
seeing what this forest has to offer.
“Thanks,” Arwin said with a nod as the two of them straightened back
up and Rodrick slung the bag back over his shoulder.
“No problem. It’s easy enough, but you might want to get a bag at some
point in the future if you’re going adventuring alone.”
“I’ll add it to the list.”
“How deep into the forest are you comfortable going?” Anna asked.
“We’re just trying to get some kills to get stronger, but I’ve heard there are
some pretty choice monsters deeper in there. There’s also the Unique
roaming around somewhere.”
Arwin tilted his head to the side, his interest piqued. “A Unique
monster? Do we know anything about it?”
“You don’t?” Anna sent Arwin a shocked look. “Isn’t that the main
reason to come here?”
“I just like scales.”
Anna’s eyes flicked down to his exposed scale mail, and she covered
her mouth, letting out a small laugh. “Okay, fair enough. There’s a wyrm
somewhere in the forest. Nothing too crazy, rumored to be at low
Journeyman. But still, it’s a wyrm. Could you imagine if it had a hoard?”
Could you imagine what I could do with that thing’s body?
Wait, that sounds off. I didn’t mean⁠—
“No need to be scared,” Rodrick said, completely misreading the
expression on Arwin’s face. “Wyrms stick to their dens. They’re related to
dragons, but in the same way that a normal lizard is related to the bugger
we just killed. It might have a hoard and some interesting shinies, but
nothing that it’ll abandon to kill us.”
Unless you’ve got fresh meat of anything they consider prey on you.
That’s a great way to lure them out of their nests, though. Wyrms are
dangerous because they fight in enclosed spaces. Get them outside and
they’re easy pickings.
“Arwin?” Anna asked, a note of concern in her voice. “If you’re not
comfortable with the wyrm, we could always stick to the edges of the
forest. There are more than enough monsters to fight in the area.”
“No, no. I just got distracted,” Arwin said with a wave of his hand.
Either Rodrick and Anna didn’t know how to fight wyrms or they just
didn’t mention it because they had no plans of fighting the monster. Either
way, he wasn’t anywhere near prepared to handle a Journeyman. Not yet, at
least.
“I’m good with going deeper, but let’s take things slow,” Arwin
suggested. “You said the monsters were being unusually aggressive, right?
It’s pretty warm out, so it could be mating season.”
Anna stared at him. “What?”
“What?” Arwin mirrored. “Is something wrong?”
“What does mating season have to do with how the monsters are
acting?” Rodrick asked. “And why do you know that?”
 “Why wouldn’t you?” Arwin countered. “If you want to master fighting
an enemy, you need to understand them. It’s not enough to just know how
to swing a stick around. Knowing the circumstances that change monsters’
actions is just as important as being able to fight individual monsters.”
“You… study that?” Anna asked slowly. “Is that what you are? Some
form of monster researcher?”
Oh, shit. Is this really not common knowledge? I thought everyone knew
about it, but I did spend years studying monster behavior while fighting the
Demon Queen. It was hard not to pick up on a few things. I figured the guild
would have taught something as basic as this, though…
“It’s just a hobby,” Arwin said with a dismissive wave. “Either way, if
it’s mating season, we just have to avoid the groups of monsters and go
after the loners that couldn’t get the interest of another monster. We should
be able to avoid getting swarmed that way.”
“That’s… kind of sad,” Rodrick said. A grin spread across his face, and
he gave Arwin a sharp nod. “But if it works, that would be huge. I was
starting to wonder if we needed to get a bigger party or if the monsters were
forming into a horde.”
“Well, we don’t know for sure. I’m just taking a guess at it,” Arwin said
with a one-shouldered shrug. “The only way to find out is to head in and
see what we find.”
“True enough.” Rodrick hoisted his sword and gestured to the forest.
“Shall we?”
Arwin nodded, and the three of them set off into the woods.
Sticks crunched beneath their feet as they walked, Arwin and Rodrick
taking up Anna’s sides to make sure the more vulnerable mage couldn’t get
ambushed. As they continued, Arwin found that he was spending
considerably more attention on his new companions than he was on his
surroundings.
This was far from the first forest he’d been in, and it wasn’t anything to
write home about. It had trees, dirt, and a general scent of distant rain. He’d
probably been in about twenty others just like this one, and the only thing
missing from those scenes was the thick stench of blood.
Anna and Rodrick, on the other hand, were new. Arwin had traveled
with a lot of adventurers. He’d been pretty confident that he’d met just
about every kind of person that entered the trade.
 All the men and women that joined to pursue riches, and the ones that
just reveled in slaughter. The rare ones that did it to protect others, and the
ones that liked being the center of attention.
These two didn’t seem to fall into any of the categories. As they walked,
instead of keeping to a tight formation, they spoke in hushed words, tiny
smiles and laughs dancing between them.
It was like they were out on a picnic, not in enemy territory. Arwin
couldn’t tell if it was driving him up a wall or intriguing him. He’d bantered
with his former colleagues, but only before and after the jobs were done, or
if they were doing something so easy that it didn’t require any attention.
Rodrick and Anna weren’t nearly that strong. They should have been as
careful as possible, checking every shadow to make sure nothing lurked in
it. But, instead, they were having fun.
They’re being fairly quiet, so it’s not like they’re stupid. They’re just…
carefree. Odd. It’s certainly more relaxed than I’m used to, but it does make
me wonder what’ll happen when we get closer to a monster.
He didn’t have to wait long to find out. Rodrick held a hand up and
Anna abruptly snapped her mouth shut, freezing in place. Arwin mirrored
the motion, having seen similar gestures more times than he could count.
Rodrick nodded into the forest, then leaned in closer to them to whisper.
“I’m picking up some movement in that direction. Sounds like a few
different things.” Rodrick tapped the side of his helm and sent a look at
Arwin. “I’m a warrior, by the way. Have a few sense enhancements. I’m a
bit new to this whole thing, but I’m getting the hang of it.”
Yeah, the mad sprint out of the forest was definitely the sign of someone
who has the hang of things.
“How many of them are there? Are they headed toward us?” Anna
asked in a hushed tone.
“Can’t tell. Probably four. And they don’t seem to be heading in any
direction in particular. They’re just moving around next to each other.”
“Maybe Arwin was right,” Anna said. “Let’s just avoid them. Can you
pick anything else up?”
Rodrick started to shake his head, but he stopped a second into the
motion. A small grin passed across his lips, and he turned to the side,
squinting through the trees. “It’s kind of distant, but there’s something
shuffling around over there. Not too big, I don’t think. It’s not cracking a lot
of leaves.”
 “Sounds like it could be a good target,” Arwin said.
Fast swap from being relaxed to working. They aren’t new to this.
“Lead the way, then,” Anna said.
“With pleasure,” Rodrick said. “Say, how do you think the lizards
taste?”
A bit like really dry chicken.
“Probably horrible,” Anna said.
“Probably,” Rodrick agreed. He set off into the forest, and the others
moved alongside him, their conversation dropping off as they did their best
to avoid making any more noise while closing in on their prey.

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I
t wasn’t a lizard they found but a large, silver-furred wolf curled up
against a tree. Rodrick was the first to spot it, but by the time he’d
pointed the resting monster out, Arwin had already located it himself.
There were probably a number of things he could do with a wolf pelt or
its claws, but none of them were anything he knew much about yet. Still, it
would have been rude to refuse to fight something purely because he didn’t
need to.
Besides, maybe I could make a rug out of it or something. Or a bed.
Now that I think about it, I could definitely use it.
Rodrick gestured to the wolf, then raised his sword and nodded to
Arwin, indicating that he’d attack first and that Arwin could follow up
behind him. Arwin inclined his head in agreement, and Rodrick crept
forward.
He moved with surprising grace, avoiding most of the dry foliage on the
ground as he advanced. Whether by accident or on purpose, they were
downwind of the monster, so it wasn’t going to pick up on their smell.
Rodrick’s sword shimmered with light as he lifted it into the air and
brought it down with a sharp chop. The monster’s eyes snapped open at the
motion, but it was too late. It barely even got a second to react before the
blade struck home, carving through its neck and killing it in a single blow.
That was well executed.
“Clean,” Arwin said with an approving nod. “Have you been an
adventurer for a long time?”
 “Nah,” Rodrick replied with a shake of his head. “My dad was a
woodsman. Taught me a bunch of stuff before he retired. I only became an
adventurer after I met Anna. It’s just that a lot of the skills overlap.”
That would explain his more carefree attitude. If he’s spent his whole
life in the forests, then it would only be natural for him to be more
comfortable in them.
“How does a woodsman not know about monster mating seasons?”
Arwin asked.
Rodrick’s cheeks reddened and he cleared his throat as he wiped his
sword off on the grass. “I wasn’t a woodsman. My dad was. I was, ah, how
do you put it? More⁠—”
“More interested in being a flirt,” Anna finished with a smirk. “He only
went into the woods to hunt things to show off to me. Can’t say it didn’t
work, though.”
“And, more importantly, it looks like Arwin was right,” Rodrick said.
He glanced around, then lowered his sword. “No monsters. They’re all off
screwing each other.”
“Mating season it is,” Arwin said. “There’s a phenomenon where all
monsters start mating at the same time in an area, even though they’re
entirely unrelated species that have no compatibility. One group starts, and
then the others all follow.”
“Sounds like they’re hor⁠—”
Anna shot Rodrick a sharp look, and he cut himself off with a cough.
“Well, shall we continue?” Rodrick asked.
“Sure,” Arwin said. “But first, let me try to get the fur from this wolf. It
could make a nice rug. By the way, how was it that you and Anna got
surprised if you can hear this well?”
“That would be because I was being lazy,” Rodrick admitted as he
rubbed the back of his head and his shoulders slumped. “Having my hearing
like this takes a toll on me. Gives me a headache like no tomorrow with all
the noise I have to filter through, and we’ve gotten pretty used to this area
since we moved to Milten a few months ago. Didn’t think I’d need to be
using all my strength out here.”
“Complacency is usually the way people get killed,” Arwin said as he
dug his sword into the wolf and started to separate the flesh from the pelt as
best he could.
 I wish I had a dagger, but I’m not taking back the one that I gave Reya.
It’s not all that useful to me, and using it to gut animals would be a huge
waste. I’ll take one of the ones I got off the Brothers Six when I get back.
“It sounds like you’re speaking from experience,” Anna said softly.
“I am.”
“I’m sorry to hear that. I hope we haven’t offended you.”
Arwin shook his head. “The dead aren’t going to sleep any better if I
tiptoe around them. It’s in the past. Just be careful if you don’t want to join
them.”

After Arwin liberated a rather ragged pelt from the wolf, he and his
newfound party trawled the forest for three more hours. Using Rodrick’s
advanced senses, they avoided several other large groups of monsters and
picked off the lone ones they came across. Between avoiding the groups
and the time it took Arwin to remove the pieces from the monsters, they
only ended up killing three more—one wolf and two lizards.
Arwin draped the wolves’ pelts over his shoulders and stuffed Rodrick’s
bag completely full of scales until it bulged at the seams. Even though
they’d only taken out a few more monsters, none of the fights had been
anywhere near as dangerous as the first.
When they made their way back out of the forest, Arwin couldn’t deny
that he was pleased. It was a far better haul than he could have gotten on his
own, and now he had enough materials to really practice with the scales and
hopefully find some new ways to put them together.
The trio made their way back to Milten, only coming to a stop when
they passed through the gates and entered the city.
“Whereabouts do you live?” Rodrick asked. “I don’t mind dropping
your stuff off for you.”
Arwin paused. He hadn’t thought through what he’d do with all the loot
after they got back. Nobody other than Reya and Lillia knew where he
lived, and he rather liked it that way. Of course, he’d have to reveal it at
some point when he started selling his normal weaponry, but the only thing
he had to show was a broken-down smithy that definitely didn’t look
livable.
 “Not everyone wants to share where they live,” Anna scolded. “Just
give him your bag. He can give it back next time.”
There was an unspoken invitation in her words, and it was one that
Arwin was surprised to find he wasn’t opposed to.
“What do you think?” Rodrick asked.
“I wouldn’t mind it,” Arwin allowed. “I’m not sure when I’ll next be
hunting, though.”
“That’s fine. Just ask for Rodrick or Anna at the Glowing Swordfish,”
Rodrick said. “It’s an inn we’ve been hanging out in. Fair warning, though.
Place is run by a greedy asshole that’ll try to charge you for breathing. Just
ask one of the patrons for us, not the bartender. He completely runs our
pockets. I’d kill for a tavern that actually lets people stay without trying to
rinse them clean.”
“Stop complaining,” Anna said. “We’re lucky there was an inn that
accepted adventurers that weren’t part of the guild.”
Arwin blinked. “Wait, you aren’t in the guild?”
“No,” Rodrick said. He pulled the pack off his shoulder and held it out
to Arwin. “Didn’t make the cut when I tested for them a year ago. I reckon I
could make it now, but I haven’t bothered. Anna was part of them, but she
left when I couldn’t get in.”
“You aren’t missing out,” Arwin said. He took the pack from Rodrick
with a nod. “Thanks for this. Did you want to take anything out before you
gave it to me? I’ll give it all back, of course. It just might be a day or two.”
“We’ll be fine,” Anna said with a smile. “Looking forward to working
with you again.”
“Likewise,” Rodrick said. He raised a hand in farewell and set off with
Anna at his side. Arwin turned and left in the other direction, making for the
dark alleyway at the back of the city that he called home.
I can’t wait to see what I can make with all this extra material.

“You look more energetic than normal today,” Lillia said as she stepped out
of her kitchen with a plate of what she was fairly sure were pancakes. She’d
learned the recipe by spying through the window of another tavern the
previous night and had memorized the majority of the ingredients that went
into them.
Getting her hands on the ingredients had been considerably harder, but
she’d managed to scrounge up enough coin from what Reya had been
paying her to splurge. She set the pancakes on the table and Reya’s eyes
widened.
“New dish?”
“Yeah. What do you think?” Lillia asked, taking a step back.
“Well, it’s kind of hard to see in the darkness,” Reya hedged. “I do see a
stack of stuff, though. That’s probably a good thing.”
Damn it. I really need to do something about the environment if I ever
want to get more customers.
“It’s fine!” Reya said hurriedly. “I’m sure it tastes great! I can’t wait to
eat!”
Lillia stepped to the side and Reya shifted. A small frown flitted across
Lillia’s face. “What are you doing?”
“Doing? What do you mean?”
“You’re hiding something.”
“What? How’d you know?” Reya demanded, glaring in Lillia’s
direction. She missed by a few inches, but she was just a human, so Lillia
didn’t blame her.
Damn darkness.
“I know a lot of things. What do you have? Ingredients?”
“Something better,” Reya said. She lifted her hands, setting a package
on the table. It had been wrapped in discarded brown paper and had an odd,
oblong shape. “It’s for you.”
Lillia pulled the papers apart, her nose picking up the faint scent of
blood. She was pretty sure Reya had found the paper discarded at the
butchery, but the package didn’t smell nearly enough of meat to be⁠—
Her eyes widened. Before her eyes, which were adapted perfectly to see
in the dark, was a beautifully made pan. She ran her hands over its surface,
feeling the individual hammer strokes that had molded the metal.
“Where’d you find this?” Lillia asked in awe. “It’s incredible. Did you
steal it?”
“Nope! Arwin made it for you! I did steal the paper, though. You should
probably wash the pan before you use it. The paper was lying crumpled out
back of a butchery when I found it, and I think a few people might have
stepped on it. Still, some wrapping is better than none.”
“Arwin made this?” Lillia asked, tearing her gaze away from the pan
and looking at Reya.
“Yeah. Last night. He said he’d try to get some utensils as well at some
point.”
I didn’t think he’d actually make me anything. Is he expecting pay? I
barely have enough money to keep cooking right now. Or is this a trick? It’s
not magical, is it?
Lillia squinted at the pan, but it appeared to just be a normal pan. There
was always the chance it was Unique and could hide its properties, but that
felt like a little too much to do. Besides, they had called a truce.
“I—Oh. That was… kind of him,” Lillia said, the words feeling strange
in her mouth. “Was there something he wanted in return?”
“It’s a gift, as far as I know,” Reya said. “He just said to give it to you.”
Why didn’t he bring it himself, then?
“Oh!” Reya exclaimed, cutting off Lillia’s thoughts. “We also talked
about your tavern.”
“You did?”
“Yeah! Arwin thinks you should make it scarier.”
Lillia stared at Reya. “He thinks I should make my already inhospitable
tavern… worse? Is he trying to make sure I never get a customer?”
Reya shook her head hurriedly, holding up a hand as her brow creased
in thought. “Wait, I got too excited and ended up misspeaking. Not just
scarier. He thinks you should lean into the stuff about you more, and I think
he’s right. It’s really hard to change yourself into something you think will
attract people, so you should focus on the things that you already do and
make those better instead.”
“I’m not sure I follow,” Lillia said. “You’re saying I should make it
even darker in here?”
“Not darker. Scarier. Make it more like the lair of a monster, and then
sell it as a monster inn or something. The rest of the alley already fits that
motif anyway. I was thinking you could dress up as the Demon Queen! It
would be hilarious. People would love the atmosphere because of how
ridiculous it was.”
Lillia choked, coughing as her saliva went down the wrong pipe. She
pounded a fist against her chest and cleared her throat, staring at Reya
through squinted eyes. The girl looked completely sincere.
What in the Nine Underlands, Arwin? I thought we had a bloody
unspoken agreement!
“That was Arwin’s suggestion?” Lillia asked in disbelief.
“No, I came up with that myself. He just said you should dress yourself
and the other waiters—when you get them—like monsters. Don’t you think
that would be pretty unique?”
Lillia tilted her head to the side. It was tempting to laugh in Reya’s face,
but she was so genuine that she had to take a moment to actually consider
the idea. And, to her surprise, it wasn’t as horrible as she thought.
Things were often easiest to hide when in plain sight. Going so far as to
pretend to be the thing that she quite literally was—that was so ludicrous
that it was unlikely anyone would ever see through it.
“Hmm,” Lillia said, mulling over the sound as she rolled it around in
her mouth. “I can’t believe I’m admitting this, but that actually sounds like
it might have some potential.”
“We could start bringing some bodies to hang from the walls,” Reya
offered.
Lillia grimaced, but it slipped off her face as excitement started to take
root. “Let’s hold off on that and stick to small things for a bit longer, shall
we? I’m going to need to get some money if I want to do anything, but I
think you might have given me some ideas as to how.”

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rwin’s hammer broke.
If anything, it was a surprise that it had lasted this long. He’d been
working on trying to hammer the scales while they were still in the
hearth, which probably hadn’t been his smartest idea, but he wanted a way
to connect them that was better than scale mail.
Even though Arwin had taken care to avoid letting the wood get too
close to the fire, there was only so much he could do. It wasn’t like the
hammer had been in great shape to start with, and the extra stress on it
finally proved to do it in.
Arwin didn’t even bother trying to pull the handle from the fire. He
watched it burn beside the red-hot scales, his nose screwed up in
annoyance. It had been two days since he’d gotten back from the hunting
trip, and he’d spent both of them completely focused on working with the
scales.
If he’d focused on making what he already knew how to make, it
wouldn’t have been a problem to make a few more magical items. But,
instead, Arwin put everything he had into figuring out how to make himself
greaves.
He’d made several pairs of scale mail greaves without too much
difficulty, but that had taken hours, and the majority of them had all been
either completely non-magical or detrimental. Their actual shape had been
decent, which was at least something to be proud of. His practice had
started to spill over, but they still weren’t perfect.
 He made a few more attempts, managing to make a grand total of two
normal, non-detrimental sets of scale mail greaves before he decided to
push things a bit further.
He attempted to hammer the scales together into a single plate rather
than individual links, and Arwin had been pretty sure that he’d been making
progress—but all of that had ended with the breaking of his hammer.
“Well, that’s annoying,” Arwin said. He tossed the head of the hammer
in his hand, chewing his lower lip as he tried to figure out what to do next.
There wasn’t a good answer beyond the most obvious one—he had to go
buy a tool to work with.
At some point, I need to make myself a hammer, but I need a hammer to
make a hammer. Now isn’t that a paradox? Armor first, though—or greaves,
at the very least. I feel like a moron walking around with just my chest
piece.
That meant he needed to go shopping, and shopping meant he needed
money. He’d been unwilling to sell anything subpar the last time he’d gone
to the market, but things had changed slightly since then.
Arwin had absolutely no plans of putting anything magical up for sale,
but even though the two non-magical-scale mail greaves weren’t the
greatest things he’d made, they were definitely still nothing to be ashamed
of.
I reckon I could probably sell these for enough money to buy myself a
hammer and maybe some more metal to work with. The problem will be
actually selling them in the first place. Nobody wanted to buy anything the
last time we went to the market.
Either way, I might as well return the bag to Rodrick and Anna while
I’m at it. I don’t want to hold on to this thing forever when they’re waiting
for it back.
Arwin gathered the two pairs of greaves he’d made and slung them over
his shoulder. He snagged the bag that Rodrick had given him and headed
out of the smithy. Reya was still out doing whatever it was she did during
the day, but Arwin wasn’t all that concerned about someone breaking in. He
had all his magical items on him, and it wasn’t like there were many people
on the street in the first place.
He made his way through the city, keeping to the side of the road to
avoid drawing too much attention. Arwin was more than aware that his
clothes were still the ratty, filthy ones that the Brothers Six had worn, and
he probably didn’t look particularly friendly in them.
Just another thing I need to eventually invest in. Gah. I really need a
good way to start making money, but I refuse to make magical weapons for
random people. Selling these greaves will be a good start.
Once I build a name for myself, maybe I could interview people that
want magic items. I could even sell it as me personalizing it for them, and
then just refuse to make things for people I don’t like.
I rather like the idea of that, actually.
A small grin slipped across Arwin’s features, and his pace increased as
he continued through the city. He didn’t actually know where the Glowing
Swordfish was, but after wandering around pointlessly for a while, he
accosted a few passersby until one of them directed him in the direction of
the inn.
The Glowing Swordfish was a three-story stone building that looked
like it had been made in the previous century. Shingles hung crooked on its
tall roofs, and many of the windows had been boarded over.
A wooden sign bearing the faded carving of a blob with a point at its
end that was probably meant to be a swordfish hung askew above a wooden
door whose knob had fallen off. Arwin approached it and hooked a finger
into the hole to pull the door open.
The smell of dust and stale bread greeted him as he stepped into the
common room, which was surprisingly busy despite the depressing exterior
—and, for that matter, interior. There were half a dozen tables with
mismatched chairs scattered around the room across from a bar that seated
four people.
Around three-quarters of the tables were populated with adventurers,
and fairly decently equipped ones at that. Many of them had armor that
made Arwin’s Mesh tingle in recognition, but he couldn’t see the
information on most of their equipment, which meant they’d gotten strong
enough to hide it from weaker outsiders.
That wasn’t saying much, given Arwin’s return to the Apprentice tier,
but it felt off to see so many relatively strong-looking adventurers sitting
around in such a dump. He would have wondered if the food here had
something special about it if he couldn’t smell it in its complete and utter
mediocrity.
 A chubby man in a dirty smock that Arwin presumed to be the bartender
stood at the other end of the bar, his nose buried in a book. Arwin took a
moment to study the bar, checking to see if it was doing anything to draw
customers that Lillia could do.
The thought caught in his head a moment after he thought it, and a small
frown flitted across his lips.
Why do I care what the Demon Queen is doing with her time? She’s not
hurting anybody, and that’s all that matters. It was my job to kill her, not
help her.
Arwin shook his head and glanced around the tavern in hopes that
Rodrick or Anna would already be down eating somewhere. Unfortunately,
he had no such luck. They’d specified that he wasn’t to ask the bartender
about them to avoid getting scammed, but the idea of just belting their
names out at the top of his lungs didn’t feel particularly inviting.
Oh well. I don’t feel like dancing around this for too long.
Clearing his throat, Arwin drew in a deep breath and called out
Rodrick’s name. Several people glanced up at him, but not a single one so
much as reacted. An annoyed frown played across the bartender’s face, but
he didn’t speak a word.
Looks like they’re used to it. How cheap do you have to be to refuse to
let people know when others show up looking for them? Wouldn’t you make
way more money by having an inn that people want to stay at?
Arwin didn’t have to sit around wondering for long. After about a
minute, footsteps rang out against the stairs as Rodrick headed into the
bottom floor of the inn. Arwin barely recognized him in his normal cloth
clothes rather than his armor.
“Good to see you again,” Rodrick said when he reached the bottom of
the stairs and made his way over to Arwin.
“Came to deliver your bag.” Arwin held it out to Rodrick. “I appreciate
it.”
“Any time,” the man replied. “Really, we’re the ones that got away with
the biggest wins. You barely dealt the finishing blow on anything.”
Arwin shrugged. He wasn’t about to tell Rodrick that dealing the
finishing blow was completely worthless for him. Whoever finished the
monster off drew more of its life energy into themselves and advanced to
the next tier faster—but when Arwin didn’t get energy from killing things at
all, it didn’t even matter if he participated in the fight at all.
 Now that I think about it, aren’t crafting classes almost guaranteed to
get more skills than combat ones are? You grow at a much faster rate when
killing monsters than it feels like you do by crafting. I wonder if that’s
intentional—like a way to balance things out.
“Don’t worry about finishing blows. I was interested in the materials far
more than anything else,” Arwin said with a shake of his head.
Rodrick looked at the greaves on Arwin’s shoulder and raised an
eyebrow. “It looks like you put them to pretty quick use. You brought them
to a smith to see if they could make anything good?”
“Something like that,” Arwin said. “I didn’t love how they turned out,
though.”
“Why?” Rodrick asked. “They look decent enough. Do you prefer
heavy armor or something?”
“I do,” Arwin said. “But they’re also non-magical, which is less than
ideal. I’d prefer my gear to be of higher quality.”
A bark of laughter slipped out of Rodrick’s lips, and he slapped Arwin
on the shoulder, nodding as if the “wanderer” had just said a hilarious joke.
“Wouldn’t we all? I tell you—I wouldn’t settle for anything less than
Legendary gear, and it’s all got to be part of a synchronized set. Nothing
else is worthy.”
A full set of legendary gear would be rather nice, actually. I’m not sure
what the funny part is meant to be. Does Rodrick not have any magical gear
at all?
“How much are you looking to sell that stuff for? I usually use heavy
gear as well, but my greaves got mauled—though I suppose you were there
for said mauling. I need a replacement and haven’t found anything in
budget yet,” Rodrick said.
“I haven’t put too much thought into it yet,” Arwin admitted. “I was
planning on taking them to a smith and seeing if they’d buy them at a cut
cost to sell themselves.”
“Buy from one smith, sell to another? What are you trying to do; start a
crafter turf war?” Rodrick snorted. “How about 25 gold? You’ll probably be
able to get better if you go to a real merchant, though.”
Twenty-five isn’t bad. I paid about ten for a bunch of materials from
Taylor, the other blacksmith. He blatantly overcharged me, so I think I’d be
making decent money from this. Enough to save myself some trouble, at the
least.
 “I wouldn’t argue that at all. Twenty-five sounds good to me. You might
want to make sure they fit, though,” Arwin said, holding the greaves out to
Rodrick, who dug around in a pouch at his side to count out the gold.
“We’re not that different in size, so it should be fine,” Rodrick said,
exchanging the gold for the pair of greaves with a nod. “And you cut me a
pretty good deal, so I don’t mind if it’s a bit loose. Damn, though. Look at
these things glitter in the light. They’re pretty.”
Rodrick held the greaves up to the dirty windows, and Arwin was
pleased to agree that they shimmered pleasantly. Even though they weren’t
magical, he was pretty pleased with how they’d turned out.
“I hope they serve you well,” Arwin said.
“I’m sure they will. I’m pretty sure you cut me a great deal. What are
you going to do with the other pair?”
“Probably still try to sell it. A little more gold would go a long way.”
“How much?” a woman asked. Arwin and Rodrick both turned toward
its source—a middle-aged woman sitting at a table alone, clad in normal
clothes but with a well-worn sword hanging at her side. There was a twinkle
of interest in her blue eyes, hidden behind strands of black hair. “I haven’t
seen anyone try to make anything out of Forest Lizard scales before. You
found a pretty interesting blacksmith there, lad. If you’re still looking to
sell, then I’d be willing to bargain.”

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 25

“Y ou want to buy these?” Arwin asked, trying not to sound surprised.

Sure, he’d fully planned to find someone to sell his work to, but
Rodrick almost felt like he didn’t count. He’d met the other man
already, and they’d worked together, so it was different.
The woman at the table—at least as far as Arwin was aware—was
someone he’d never seen before. A small part of him was mildly surprised
that someone he didn’t know would want to buy some of his work.
“That’s what you’re aiming for, isn’t it?” she asked, holding a hand out.
“I’m Tix.”
“Arwin.” He shook her hand.
“Pleasure, Arwin. Mind letting me take a closer look at those fancy little
things?”
Arwin shrugged and handed over the greaves. Tix ran her hands over
the scales, checking out the inside of the armor. Her expression was
unreadable, but Arwin could tell she was interested by how much time she
spent staring at the way he’d woven the metal through the scales.
He derived no small amount of pride from that. It had been a huge pain
to weave metal and scale together, and even though it wasn’t a style he had
any interest in making a lot more gear in once he found a better way or
material to work with, it had still been a lot of work.
“This is quite the piece,” Tix mused. “What was the name of the smith
that made these? They’re not from around Milten.”
 “He’s a little reclusive,” Arwin said. There was no need to throw caution
to the wind quite yet. “How’d you know he’s not from the area, though?”
“Nobody in this backwoods little town bothers experimenting,” Tix
replied with a smirk. “The person that made this was clearly trying to
improve, not just churn out the same piece of shit over and over again.”
“Well, I’ll pass your compliment along if I ever see him again,” Arwin
said.
“That’s not to say this is perfect. There are some pretty obvious
imperfections,” Tix said, tapping some points on the greaves where the
metal hadn’t been perfectly bent or twisted and where some of the scales
had been slightly tarnished. “Still, this is a nice piece. You sold one to the
other bloke for 25 gold, yeah?”
“I did,” Arwin confirmed.
“I’ll do the same, if the offer still stands.”
“That was a friend rate,” Rodrick pointed out. “Shouldn’t you offer him
a bit better?”
Tix shrugged. “I’m buying it as a novelty, not to use. You never know
where people will go in the future, and it could be worth a lot in the future
—or perhaps it’ll be worthless. Twenty-five is a fair price for the time
Arwin would save trying to sell it to some hawker that would take two
hours before settling on thirty.”
“Fair enough,” Arwin said with a shrug. “Twenty-five works for me.
I’m not planning to make a living off selling scale mail greaves, so that’s
more than enough coin for my purposes.”
Tix pulled a small bag out of her pocket and counted coin into it, tossing
it up to Arwin. He grabbed it, then tucked the bag into a pocket.
“Pleasure,” Tix said. “Did you say where the smith lived?”
“No,” Arwin said. “I did not.”
“Real reclusive, eh? Well, do you know if he’s got any plans of showing
himself in the near future?” Tix asked, tucking the greaves under an arm
and rocking back in her chair. “I’d love to have a chat with him.”
“I don’t know, but if he does decide to do something, I’ll let him know
to try and get the word out,” Arwin said smoothly. Getting extra gold was
great, but he wasn’t about to give away his living situation to someone he
didn’t know.
“Any idea where word might get out?” Tix asked, tilting her head to the
side. “Maybe an inn that he frequents? Here, perhaps?”
 Something gripped Arwin. He wasn’t sure quite what it was, but he
spoke before the thoughts fully processed in his mind. “I heard that
someone was thinking about starting a monster-themed tavern somewhere
in the city. Maybe an inn too—I’m not sure. It was just rumor, but the smith
said he’d likely be around that area. He liked how secluded it was. Keep an
ear to the ground for that.”
“A themed tavern?” Tix inclined an eyebrow, then smiled. “That sounds
rather fun, actually. Thanks for the information and the greaves, Arwin.
Today was just a little bit more interesting than I was expecting.”
With that, Tix pushed her chair back, downed the rest of her tankard,
and headed up the stairs at the far side of the dining room. Arwin and
Rodrick watched her leave, then exchanged a glance.
“You know her?” Arwin asked.
“No. Never seen her before,” Rodrick replied. “She carries herself like a
warrior, though. Seems like a pretty strong one at that.”
“I was thinking the same.”
“Speaking of warriors,” Rodrick hedged, adjusting the bag on his
shoulder. “Were you planning on heading out to hunt monsters again
anytime soon? Anna and I are running a bit low on gold and we need to
start taking on jobs again.”
Arwin scratched the side of his chin. Right now, he was a little more
concerned with upgrading his smithy and getting back to work than he was
with killing more monsters, and he still had a good amount of scales to
work with.
“I’m not sure I had anything planned yet, but I suppose it depends what
you were doing. My… friend is working on setting out to earn herself a
class, and I was planning on helping her get that fairly soon. I have some
preparation I need to do before I set out hunting again. When were you
planning on leaving?”
“No rush, I’d say.” Rodrick cleared his throat, then amended himself.
“Okay, a little rush. The end of the week?”
It took Arwin a few seconds to remember what day it was. Time had lost
a lot of its meaning when he was locked up in the smithy, working.
Six more days, then. I can handle most of what I need to do by then, and
I’ll be needing to make a magical item to eat as well soon. I’ll probably
have used up most of my supplies by then as well.
 “That should work,” Arwin said. “I might even free up a little earlier,
but if you end up finding a different person to head out with you, feel free
to work with them. If not, I’ll swing by the inn again in a few days.”
“Perfect,” Rodrick said with a grin. “Thanks again, Arwin. I’ve never
been happier to have gotten my ass saved from a horny lizard by a random
homeless man, but I’m looking forward to working with you again.”
Arwin glanced down at his clothes. “Is it really that bad?”
“In more ways than one.” Rodrick tapped his nose pointedly, then
smirked. “We can’t all be perfect, though. I’ve dealt with some nasty
bastards in my time, and I know Anna has seen worse. Some adventurers
wouldn’t know what a brick of soap was unless it had a Title associated
with it.”
Arwin coughed into his fist as Rodrick chuckled and waved farewell,
heading back up the stairs to his room. He left the inn, his pockets 50 gold
heavier. It had been a long time since Arwin had done any proper shopping,
so he wasn’t exactly certain how far 50 gold would actually take him, but
based on what the smith had sold him for 10, he was pretty sure it would be
enough.
His first task wasn’t getting more materials, though. As tempting as that
was, he had a basic level of hygiene that he still had to maintain, and Arwin
didn’t want to think about how long it had been since he’d last properly
cleaned himself.
He stopped by a tailor, buying three sets of clothing that he was pretty
sure would fit him. He went with one of the cheapest options they had,
opting to pay just 2 gold for the lot. None of it was worth writing home
about, but it was better than what he was currently wearing.
Arwin then set a course for the nearest bathhouse and lightened his
purse by a gold coin, getting 9 silver back in return. That in its entirety took
about two hours—Arwin barely wanted to leave the bath once he got in, but
he eventually dragged himself out and changed into his new clothes before
setting off to handle the real task for the day.
Priority number 1 is a hammer, one made entirely from metal rather
than one with a wood handle. After that, I can split the gold between
materials and things I can use to repair the smithy a bit. It really does need
some patching up. A proper bed would be good too—I don’t want to sleep
on a wolf pelt. It’ll be a great rug, though.
 Arwin meandered his way across town and to the market square. He
wasn’t sure where to get most things in Milten, but he did know the location
of a blacksmith. This time, though, he’d just be a normal customer.
Taylor’s smithy had a few people milling about in it when Arwin
arrived, which was just fine with him. He didn’t need the extra attention
right now. His eyes scanned the room and quickly landed on a plain metal
hammer made from rough black metal at the back of the store.
Picking the hammer up, Arwin tested its weight in his hands. It felt
good. Not too heavy, but definitely heavier than the previous one. It had a
sturdiness to it that sat right in Arwin’s grip.
Solid. This should suit my needs perfectly for the time being. Wonder
why the previous smith didn’t have one of these.
Arwin spent a little time looking around the rest of the store, taking in
the weapons and armor hanging from the walls. The majority of Taylor’s
goods looked to go for between 10 and 100 gold, depending on their detail
and size.
A few of them, such as an ornate breastplate, were a much 400–500
gold, but none of it caught Arwin’s eye. All the items were mundane.
The more I think about it, the more I wonder how rare magical items
actually are. When I was the Hero, everyone had them. But I suppose those
were the best of the best—is it difficult to get magic weapons as a random
adventurer? I’ll have to be really careful with how much I share if that’s the
case. I don’t want some crazed guild to try to kidnap me or someone to beat
down the doors of my smithy begging for an item.
Arwin brought the hammer up to the front desk and laid it down before
Taylor.
“Ten gold,” Taylor said, glancing at the hammer while mid-conversation
with another customer. Arwin didn’t say anything—he just quietly dug the
gold out, set it on the counter, and departed the shop with his new hammer
in tow.
Perfect. Now, some things to make that damn place a little more livable.
First off, it needs a door. A door and two beds. The other stuff can come
later. Who sells beds, though?
Arwin looked around the market for a few minutes, not particularly
optimistic about his chances. A carpenter would definitely be somewhere in
the general area, but there was no way Milten had enough demand for beds
that there would be an entire store for⁠—
 There was an entire store for it.
Arwin squinted at the wooden building in a mixture of shock and
disbelief. Faded paint across the arch above its door identified the building
as Sleepy John’s. And, through the dirt-covered windows, Arwin could just
barely make out rows upon rows of beds within the store.
Barely able to believe it, Arwin stepped through the door and was
instantly greeted by the strong smell of dust and cobwebs. A small bell rang,
announcing his arrival, and a tired-looking man at the back of the store
raised his head from where it rested at a desk.
“Oh. Welcome in,” the man said through a yawn. “Can I do something
for you?”
“I—uh, how much is a bed?” Arwin asked, looking around the
surprisingly large store. It was hard to believe that it made anywhere near
enough money to be this large. He was the only customer in sight.
“Depends on the bed. You looking for something fancy?”
“Something relatively easy to move and not too expensive. I need two
of them, so being on the smaller side would actually be nice as well. Have
anything for 10 gold or less?”
“I’ve got an 8-gold option. Comes with a frame and a feather mattress.
Just don’t ask me what the feathers come from. I don’t know, and you don’t
want to know. It’s 8 gold.”
Arwin snorted. He looked around the store again, but there wasn’t a
single part of him that wanted to spend more time in here than he had to.
“Two of those, then. Do you have a cart I can use to carry them?”
“We’ll deliver it.”
Bullshit. You can’t sell more than one bed a week. How do you possibly
afford to not only have a store like this but also deliver stuff to your
customers?
He glanced around to see if there were bandits hiding in the rows of
beds to ambush him, but that would have required someone else to have
been in the store. Finally, Arwin shrugged. As suspicious as it was, he
doubted Milten would allow a business to blatantly rob people in broad
daylight. That was the job of Milten’s government, not the stores.
“Sixteen gold, then?”
“Plus four for delivery.”
Ah. That makes a little more sense. Four gold for delivery seems really
damn steep, but I don’t want to lug two beds across town.
 “Fine,” Arwin said, pulling 20 gold out and walking across the store to
hand it to the employee. In turn, the man handed him a small wooden
badge. Arwin felt the Mesh tingling within as it rested in his hand.
“Just keep that on you and the movers will find you by tonight,” the
man said, yawning. “Anything else I can do for you?”
“No, I’d say this is it,” Arwin said. He tucked the badge into his pocket.
“Thanks for your time.”
The merchant didn’t even respond. He just sank back into his desk and
laid his head in his arms, falling asleep. Arwin made a beeline out of the
store, then glanced back at it as he headed down the street just to make sure
it was still there and hadn’t been some form of illusion.
Ah, well. That’s that. I have what I needed. Time to get back to work,
then. I know I’m close to making some proper scale mail greaves, and I’m
going to make them before it’s time to train Reya with Rodrick and Anna at
the end of the week.
I’m looking forward to this.

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S
cales glowed in the flames of the hearth, heated as far as the [Soul
Flame] could take them. Arwin hefted his new hammer, adjusting his
grip on the haft. The rough metal wasn’t the most comfortable, and it
was a good bit heavier than his previous hammer.
Sitting around and staring at the scales isn’t going to do anything,
though. Only way to learn is to try.
Arwin arranged two of the scales so that they overlapped slightly,
leaving them within the hearth. He then hefted his hammer, holding it near
the head to avoid getting a little too much momentum in the swing and risk
damaging the hearth.
Maybe I need to find a way to super-heat the surface of my anvil instead
of working inside the hearth? That could work as well, but it’s a problem for
a different time.
The hammer fell, striking the scales with a loud thud. Sparks flew up
and a powerful vibration raced down Arwin’s arms with such force that he
nearly dropped the hammer, even though he hadn’t even hit the scales that
hard.
“Shit,” Arwin muttered. “Forgot that metal carries the vibrations far
better than wood. That’s going to be a pain in the ass.”
Arwin activated [Scourge] and steadied his grip on the hammer before
striking the scales once more. The vibrations still slammed into him like a
runaway horse, but he weathered them and swung the hammer once more as
they faded.
 With every strike, Arwin could see the material of the scales start to
meld together. It was far from perfect, but it was working. His idea had
been correct—so long as he tried to forge them within the fire, they could
connect.
It didn’t take long for Arwin to completely connect the two scales, but
he was far from done. As soon as he’d confirmed that their material could
be connected, he set about building a set of greaves.
Even though he was distributing his usage of [Scourge] to withstand the
hammer, Arwin’s magical reserves couldn’t last forever. He continued
working on the project until his energy expired, then rested—leaving all the
scales within the flame—until he’d built up enough to get to work again.
In that cycle, Arwin continued to work on the greaves. The ring of his
hammer echoed through the old smithy, each strike another step toward his
lofty goals. Sweat rolled down Arwin’s face and dripped from his lips as the
heat caressed his body.
Even with his magically enforced strength, soreness and exhaustion
gnawed at Arwin’s body. His arms ached and his back groaned with every
swing. While he was far from weak, he didn’t have the muscles he’d once
had as the Hero—and that was just how he liked it.
Every blow was another step toward power. His own step. Not granted
to him by the guild. Not given to him by someone that had already
supposedly thought through every inch of his progression to ensure it would
be ideal for the future of the Kingdom of Lian.
There was none of it.
All that remained was Arwin’s body, the roaring hearth, and the scales
within. Blow by blow, hour by hour, Arwin forged.
He wasn’t sure how much time passed as he worked. At some point, he
was aware of Reya passing through behind him, but Arwin was so focused
on the greaves that he barely registered it beyond a passing thought. He
used the horn of the anvil to put the curves into the heated scales, each shift
in their shape painstakingly slow.
His ears rang violently, and the smell of steel and cinder filled his
nostrils. He’d stopped sweating at some point, his body no longer
possessing the water to lose. The temptation to stop was there—but it
wasn’t nearly as strong as the siren call of success.
Arwin’s fingertips tingled with power from the Mesh as it swirled
around him and the pair of glowing greaves that were steadily coming
together before him. They guided his movements, just as eager to become
whole as he was to make them.
And then, tremors running through his entire form from the repeated
shocks the hammer had delivered unto him and with just the dregs of his
magical power left, Arwin found that there was nothing left to do.
All the pieces of the greaves he needed were finished. He wasn’t done
yet, though. They had to be connected and slotted together before the pieces
were fixed in their proper places while inserting hinges to avoid limiting
movement.
Arwin was exhausted, but he would be damned if he waited to do that
later. He grabbed a handful of the nails he’d forged, dropping his hammer
and setting to work with his hands. After the nails were heated, he got to
work working them into the scales in the same manner that he’d woven
them with, pressing the nails into the tough material and then warping them
into clasps so the greaves could close around his legs.
He worked over every single piece of the armor with painstaking effort,
connecting joints and testing them to ensure they functioned properly. And
then, once he’d finished one leg, he moved on to the other.
Arwin wasn’t sure where the energy to continue came from. Part of him
suspected that he just hadn’t realized how tired he was, but it was a moot
point. His mind had made the decision that he would continue until the
work was done, and his body would obey.
But finally, his work came to an end. Arwin finished the last touches on
the second leg, and, even as he let his hands come to rest in the curling
flames, he felt the Mesh come to life within the armor.

[Forest Lizard Scale Plate Greaves: Unique Quality] have been forged.
Forging a magical item has granted you energy.
Your tier has raised by 1 level.

Arwin waved the Mesh’s words away. He’d deal with the advancement
in a moment—right now, the most important thing to him was seeing if his
work had yielded results. There was always the potential of a detrimental
trait that could completely ruin all his efforts. Information shimmered to life
in golden letters before Arwin as he watched with bated breath.
 Forest Lizard Scale Plate Greaves: Unique Quality
Heat Resistance: The wearer of this item gains heat resistance.
Shock: The tremors of a thousand mighty blows run through this item,
attuning it to kinetic energy. This will passively store a portion of any
impact it receives, lessening the damage to its owner.
Awe: The tremors within this item long to be released. Upon reaching
its limit, this item will free the kinetic energy within at once,
empowering its owner’s next movements for a short amount of time.
The timing and duration of this effect cannot be controlled.
Unique: Once donned, this item will bond with its owner. It will change
sizes so long as the material permits it to fit them perfectly, and anyone
else who attempts to wear it may suffer retaliation. Information about
this item may be hidden from others after it has bonded.

Arwin let himself have a relieved smile. He hadn’t just gotten greaves.
He’d gotten exactly what he needed. He’d have to test just how much
energy the armor would absorb, but even a small amount would go a long
way in making him considerably tougher to injure.
The extra effect of speeding him up was also interesting. It was clearly
partially detrimental without the ability to control its activation or duration,
but power was still power. It just meant they would be harder to use.
Beyond that, the skill was incredible. It was an alternative to using
[Scourge] to empower his legs, which would save him a huge amount of
magical energy.
On top of that, getting movement skills for a non-combat class was
probably borderline impossible. Arwin hadn’t spoken to any smiths
extensively before, but not once had he ever seen one of them sprinting at
the speed of a warrior, even for a short amount of time.
“Absolutely fantastic,” Arwin breathed. The armor had kept the heat-
resistant properties of the scales and was already cooled off, so he started to
pull it on. He couldn’t bring himself to leave them off any longer and risk
somehow letting someone else don them first.
Arwin didn’t imagine there was someone sitting around and waiting to
put his pants on, but there was no need for paranoia when the problem was
already solved. As soon as he fastened the final clasp, he felt the armor shift
and tighten around his legs.
 He moved his weight from one foot to the other, then raised a leg. The
armor shifted seamlessly, perfectly melded to his form. He could still feel
its weight, but they weren’t nearly as hefty as metal would have been.
“Light. Effective,” Arwin said, well aware he was complimenting
himself. His smile stretched even wider and he ran his hands through his
sweat-soaked hair.
I feel better than I’ve felt in years. This is amazing.
Arwin walked in a circle around the smithy, then hopped from one foot
to the other. Everything about the greaves felt completely natural. He
picked his hammer up, giving it a few test swings to see how it felt.
An eruption of soreness in his muscles quickly made Arwin reconsider
that decision. He stumbled, nearly dropping the hammer in his haste to
lower it. There was only so far that his adrenaline and elation would take
him.
Exhaustion had been knocking at the door for longer than Arwin was
aware, and he was suddenly reminded of just how thirsty and drained he
felt. He blinked heavily, bracing himself against the wall and weathering the
wave of weakness that passed over him.
Once it passed, Arwin sent a thought to his greaves, causing them to
hide their properties from any prying eyes. If anyone figured out he was
strolling around in two Unique items, he suspected that he’d be in trouble.
There had been a time when he hadn’t thought much of it—Unique
items varied greatly. They were barely even a proper rarity, as they could
both be better than Legendary items or worse than Garbage ones. But the
more Arwin realized that not many people actually possessed magical
items, the more he realized that it wouldn’t matter what his items did. What
would matter would be the fact that he had them.
Arwin licked his parched lips. Even though he didn’t have to eat
anything other than magic, a nice drink sounded fantastic. He sent a glance
around the smithy, but it was empty. Based on the sunlight filtering through
the cracks in the wall, it wasn’t quite nighttime yet either.
It was time to see what rewards all the Achievements he’d earned over
the past few days had earned him. He called out to the Mesh.

Name: Arwin Tyrr

Class: Living Forge (Unique) (Tier: Apprentice 3)
New Skill Choice Available.

[More than Average] has been consumed.

[Shoe Thief] has been consumed.

Two of your skill options have been upgraded.

You may select one of the following skills.

[Bleeding Heart] (Passive) – Repeated attempts to protect your

allies grants all the armor you wear faint magical properties. All
those you consider an ally within a set radius of yourself will
receive a portion of the defenses your armor grants you, scaling
with your tier.

[UPGRADED] [Arsenal] – You live and die on your equipment, so

you might as well make it part of yourself. Bind yourself to [3]
pieces of equipment, summoning and dismissing it at will. The
number of equipment you can bind to scales with your tier, up to a
total of 10. Unbinding a piece of Equipment will make this skill
inactive for 1 day.

[UPGRADED] [Firewrought Blow] – You have spent so much

time within the flame that it has become a part of you. Spend a
portion of magical energy to empower your next hammer strike,
releasing a burst of Soul Flame upon impact.

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 27

A
rwin studied his new skill options for several minutes, rereading them
to make sure he perfectly understood every single one. All the
Achievements had definitely been worth the effort—the results he’d
received were incredible.
[Firewrought Blow] was a good combat skill on its own—but there was
more to it than just a mere attack. Sure, releasing a blast of fire when hitting
something was useful, but it wasn’t just any fire. It was [Soul Flame]—
which meant any upgrades he got to his [Soul Flame] would affect it as
well.
On top of that, he could use the ability while forging. That would
probably go a long way in improving his abilities and letting him forge new
weapons. It was an incredible ability—but the others were just as
interesting.
[Bleeding Heart] caught Arwin’s attention even though it hadn’t been
upgraded by the Achievements. It wasn’t immediately useful, but the better
equipment he got, the more powerful it would become. If the other two
abilities had been just about anything else, Arwin would have chosen it on
the spot.
It would make training Reya so much easier, and if I want to start a
guild, then abilities like this will be invaluable. But [Arsenal]…
At first glance, [Arsenal] didn’t appear incredibly strong. It was
basically a glorified storage method, but it only took a little thought for
Arwin to realize just how dangerous the ability was.
 It let him summon and dismiss equipment at will. There was no delay.
He could carry a set of the heaviest plate armor in the world around with
him, swapping into it the moment he needed to fight.
And, beyond that, he could swap weapons mid-fight as well. A sword
swing could turn into a hammer blow, and that effect would be compounded
even further the more equipment he got. The potential for the ability was
basically limitless, so long as he had the right gear on hand.
Every single one of the abilities was tempting, but it didn’t take Arwin
much longer to come to his final decision. He selected [Arsenal] without an
ounce of regret and the glowing words of the Mesh shimmered and faded
away, his choice complete.
Arwin wasted absolutely no time in testing it out. He pressed his hand
to his chest, feeling the tingle of the Mesh as he drew it to his will. The
pressure in his ear changed with a subtle pop as he bound the Forest Lizard
Scale Mail to himself.
No sooner than he imagined the armor disappearing did it vanish with a
pop. He could still feel a faint pressure on his chest, even though the armor
wasn’t there anymore. With another thought, Arwin summoned it back.
The armor reformed instantly, as if he’d never taken it off. Arwin
grinned, then bound his greaves and sword as well. He dismissed and
resummoned each piece a few times before dismissing all of them.
[Arsenal] felt completely natural to use, as if it had always been a part
of him. A small thrill of excitement ran down his back. Arwin had never
been one who had particularly looked forward to fighting, but he really
wanted to see what the new ability would do for him in a real fight.
It’ll take some training and better equipment before I can truly master
[Arsenal], but I can already picture just how effective this will be.
Arwin wiped the sweat from his forehead and let out a satisfied sigh. He
was more than pleased with the results of the past few days, and now he’d
bought himself some time to relax and do a little more preparation before he
took Reya out with Rodrick and Anna.
Maybe I’ll just take a day off and enjoy not having to do anything at all.
After that, I want to start looking into getting some more armor made for
Reya and the others. Maybe I’ll figure out what I’ll need to make my
hammer as well.
So much to do, so little time. I don’t even know where to⁠—
 [The Hungering Maw within you hungers for power. If you do not
consume a magical item within 1 day, your body will collapse.]

“Oh, goddamn it,” Arwin muttered, a familiar clench wrapping its icy
grip around his stomach. It didn’t feel like it had been that long since the
last time he’d eaten a magic item, but evidently, the time had flitted by far
faster than he’d realized. “At least I got a whole day of warning this time.
Can’t complain about that. Guess I’m smithing more before I do anything
else.”
Arwin’s gaze passed over the forge. He didn’t really want to spend a
huge amount of effort making an item he was just going to consume to
survive, but it would be a good idea to get around to making some magic
items he could eat in a combat situation that would give him a boost in
power with the beneficial component of [The Hungering Maw] that let him
temporarily absorb a trait from an item.
More shit to deal with later. For now, I just need to focus on not dying.

It only took Arwin another half an hour to forge a crude magical bracelet. It
had a detrimental effect that made it so that attacks against him had a
chance of summoning a small gust of wind, but Arwin didn’t particularly
care—he just stuffed the whole thing into his mouth so he could get on with
his day.
The pain in his stomach didn’t recede. Arwin’s brow creased. He waited
for a few seconds, trying to see if he’d somehow tricked himself into
thinking the ache was there when it wasn’t, but there was no mistaking it.
The pit in his stomach was just as intense as it had been before, if not
worse. It was as if he hadn’t eaten anything. Arwin stood frozen in place,
trying to figure out what had gone wrong. He’d done what the ability
required him to.
“Why isn’t it working?” Arwin muttered to himself, starting to pace
around his anvil as he racked his mind in an attempt to figure out where the
mistake was. But, try as he might, only a single thought came to mind.
A chill ran down Arwin’s back, and he grabbed several pieces of metal,
returning to the forge and throwing his [Soul Flame] into it. If he was
wrong, he’d be even more screwed than he was now.
I’ve got to be fast, but not too fast. I can’t afford to make another crappy
item. This one is going to need to be decent.
Arwin waited until the metal was hot enough, then got to work forging
once more. With the metal as his guide, he set about making a plain dagger.
It wasn’t anything special, but it still took considerably more time than the
bracelet had.
After about two more hours of work, Arwin was done. An Average
Quality magical dagger sat in his hands, still warm from the forge. Its only
Trait was being more resilient than normal, which was perfectly fine with
him. Arwin stuffed the weapon into his gullet, devouring it in two bites.
The pain relented almost instantly, and Arwin felt a surge of energy
course through his body as he absorbed its Trait. A relieved sigh slipped
from Arwin’s lips, but it carried with it the disturbing knowledge that his
guess had been right.
[The Hungering Maw] doesn’t just need me to eat magical items. It
needs me to eat stronger magical items. I can’t just sit around and keep
making the same crappy bracelets or I’ll starve to death. If that holds
true… God, will I be eating Legendary weapons at some point?
A laugh of disbelief forced its way out of Arwin’s lips, and he sat down
on his anvil, running his hands through his hair. The costs of what he’d have
to do if he wanted to survive were going to be astronomical.
That didn’t stop a small voice in his head from pointing out that, if he
pulled it off, his power would eclipse what he’d wielded as the Hero by an
enormous margin.
The Mesh was nothing if not fair. If he were walking around eating
powerful Unique and Legendary weapons just to survive, the Mesh would
have to be giving him equivalent benefits. He couldn’t imagine how big the
boons would be to someone who was forced to consume a Legendary
weapon every week, but he knew they’d be immense.
“All I have to do is survive,” Arwin muttered to himself. “In the end,
this doesn’t change my plans in the slightest. I knew I had to get stronger.
This is just a bit of encouragement.”
Very strong encouragement. Nothing more motivating than not
spontaneously combusting—or whatever it is that would happen to me if I
didn’t feed [The Hungering Maw].
 Stone shifted near the door. Arwin glanced over as Reya walked inside,
stepping over the wolf pelt at the door and raising a hand in greeting when
she realized that he wasn’t working the forge.
“Arwin! I was wondering if you were ever going to stop. It’s been like
four days,” Reya said, shaking her head in disbelief. “Don’t take this the
wrong way, but are you okay? I’m starting to think there might be
something seriously wrong with you. Did you even stop to eat?”
“Yes. It was just a very brief stop.”
That is technically not a lie.
“Right,” Reya said, not looking like she believed him in the slightest.
“Where’d your armor go? The last time I was in here, it looked like you’d
nearly finished it. What happened?”
Arwin’s response was to summon the greaves using [Arsenal]. Reya’s
eyes widened as the scale plate armor materialized around his legs.
“I can’t see any information on it, but they just appeared out of thin air.
Does that mean⁠—”
“They’re magical,” Arwin confirmed with a slightly smug nod. “I did
it.”
“Another Unique item. You’re ridiculous. How is it that you can keep
making these? Do you have some magic dust somewhere that you’re just
sprinkling on everything you make?”
“I’m just incredibly talented,” Arwin said, keeping his face completely
straight.
Reya squinted at him. “Was that a joke? Did you just make a joke?”
“No. I would never do something like that.”
“Yeah, that’s what I was thinking as well,” Reya grumbled. Her frown
fell away. “Thanks for getting the beds, though. They’re amazing. I
honestly can’t remember the last time I slept on something soft.”
“Beds?” Arwin blinked. He vaguely remembered ordering them at a
sketchy store, but he didn’t recall anything ever actually showing up. He’d
been so caught up in his smithing that he’d entirely forgotten about the
purchase.
“Yeah. Right there.” Reya pointed to the corner of the smithy, and
Arwin turned to follow her gesture. Sitting at the side of the smithy, nestled
into a corner that was a little less cracked and broken up than the rest of the
building, were two beds.
What the hell? When did those show up? I didn’t notice anybody.
 “I—uh, yeah. I did buy those,” Arwin said.
“Why does it sound like you’re trying to convince yourself? Did you
not buy them?”
“No, I did. I just didn’t notice that they’d shown up,” Arwin said,
rubbing the bridge of his nose with a frown. “I suppose it doesn’t matter.
I’ve been caught up working. Has anything important happened?”
“Nothing vital.” Reya shook her head. “I’ve mostly been hanging
around Lillia’s tavern and trying to help her out with a few things while
keeping an eye out and making sure nobody too weird shows up at our
door.”
“Too weird? We’re the only ones on the damn street aside from Lillia
and the one drunkard that passed through.”
Reya glanced at Arwin out of the corners of her eyes. “That’s not
entirely true anymore. Someone else was here! Someone new!”
“Today?”
She cleared her throat. “No. He showed up yesterday and ate at Lillia’s
tavern while I was there, then left pretty soon afterward. But still, a new
customer! She was really excited.”
“That is good news,” Arwin said, pulling the [Soul Flame] from the
hearth and back into himself. “And I’ve got more of it.”
“You do?” Reya blinked. “What is it?”
“You said four days have passed? Then… in three days, we’re going
hunting.”
“We are? What for? More materials?”
“That’s part of it, but it isn’t the main goal,” Arwin said with a small
smile. “We’re going to get you your class.”

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 28

“S eriously?” Reya asked, her eyes going wide. “You aren’t messing with
me?”
“Why would I joke about something like this?” Arwin asked. He
stretched his arms over his head and yawned. Now that his work on the
greaves was done and he’d gotten his tier advancement, he was exhausted.
“I’m dead serious.”
Reya swallowed. “I—Thank you. I don’t know if it’ll work out, but I
really appreciate it. I’m not so sure I’ll be able to get a class. If I could,
wouldn’t I have gotten one by now?”
“We aren’t always dealt the hand we want, and the Mesh can be strange.
From my experience with it, the thing you desire will come to you so long
as you work toward it. If you don’t have a class yet, it’s not because you
can’t get it. It’s because you haven’t been in the situation where you’ve
been doing what you truly want to.”
Reya didn’t look completely convinced, but she gave Arwin a nod.
“Okay. I’ll trust you, so just tell me what to do. Shouldn’t I… I don’t know,
train or something?”
“Do what you want. I’m not an expert on this,” Arwin said with a dry
laugh. “For today, I’m done doing anything other than sleeping. I’m about
an inch from passing out on my feet. Just make sure you’re around three
days from now.”
“I will!” Reya promised hurriedly, her eyes flashing with a mixture of
excitement and determination. She caught herself and cleared her throat
sheepishly. “Thank you.”
“Stop thanking me for something that hasn’t happened yet,” Arwin
grumbled. He trudged over to his bed and tested it with a hand. It sank
beneath his palm—not as much as he might have liked, but it was still far
softer than the floor.
One more step toward making this place a real home.
Reya edged toward the door. “I’m going to go practice, if that’s okay. I
don’t think I’m going to be able to sleep anymore.”
“Suit yourself, but don’t be out too late and end up exhausted when the
time comes for us to do the real work,” Arwin warned as he sat down on the
bed. “Just relax. You’ll be fine. I’m confident you’ll do just fine. And, even
if you don’t, I won’t let you fail.”
A soft breeze passed through the open doorway, reminding Arwin that
he still needed to get a door for it—and to find a way to patch the walls
while he was at it. It was past time to make the smithy into a proper
building rather than just a crumbling pile of stone.
“Why?” Reya asked softly.
Arwin’s head tilted to the side. “Why what?”
“Why are you doing so much for me? You’ve never asked for anything
in return other than the most basic information on the area. I just don’t
understand what you get out of this.”
“Do you need a reason to help someone else?” Arwin asked after a few
moments. He wasn’t so sure he had an actual answer to Reya’s question. He
didn’t have a reason to help her—not a logical one, at least. “I’m helping
you because we’re a guild.”
“Not in name,” Reya said, clenching her hands and averting her gaze.
“We aren’t registered, and there’s only two of us! How can two people be a
guild?”
“A guild is not about its size.”
“The Adventurers’ Guild would beg to differ.”
“I don’t give a shit about them,” Arwin said brusquely, waving his hand
with a snort. “A guild isn’t about the number of people in it. It’s about the
people that are in it. It’s not like getting officially recognized as a guild
changes anything anyway.”
“I guess not. But… why me?” Reya asked. “I’m not special.”
“That’s hardly true,” Arwin said with an amused snort. “To be frank,
you’ve got more problems than anyone of your standing has any right to.
It’s beyond me how you’ve gotten yourself into this much shit, but that’s a
talent. It doesn’t matter in the end. You’re the one that decided to throw her
lot in with me, and I’m not going to leave a member of my guild unable to
properly defend themselves. Everyone has problems, but the guild can’t
always help every single individual member. It’s the responsibility of the
guild leader to make sure everyone can handle their own problems
whenever possible. And when a problem that’s too big for one person to
handle on their own shows up—that’s what the guild is for. That’s all.”
“I’m not sure I understand.”
“That’s fine,” Arwin said, pulling his dirty shirt off and tossing it to the
ground as he got into the bed. “You will.”
Reya stood in the doorway silently for a few seconds. Then she gave
him a small nod before turning and slipping into the night. Arwin watched
her leave, then laid his head back against the mattress and let out a satisfied
sigh.
It had been so long since he’d properly rested on something comfortable
that the instant he let himself relax for an instant, sleep rushed up to pull
him into its embrace.

When Arwin woke up the next morning, Reya was still out. He didn’t
particularly mind—there was more he had to handle before it was time to
go out on their trip, and he’d need as much time as possible to get it all
done.
There was also a small part of him that felt it better for Reya to not be
present for his current work. If she was around, she’d see what he was
working on, and then the surprise would be ruined.
Arwin ambled over to the forge, sending a spark of [Soul Flame] into
the hearth and pumping it with the bellows. Once the fire was roaring, he
tossed some scales into it and waited for them to heat. If Reya was going to
go out and fight monsters without a class, she needed a way to avoid getting
killed by the first blow she took.
Anna seems like a good healer, but no healing magic is perfectly
reliable. Fatal wounds can happen faster than anyone expects. Prevention
is far superior to reaction.
 And, with that thought in mind, Arwin got back to work. He worked the
scales, piecing them together one by one within the crackle of the flames.
He worked quickly, moving faster than he had when making the greaves.
A part of that was because he knew how to work the scales better, and a
part of it was because he didn’t need to make perfect armor this time
around. He could feel the pull of the scales as he worked, but it wasn’t as
strong as it had been for the greaves. They were muted, and it wasn’t hard
to guess why.
Right now, Arwin needed to complete a set of armor for Reya that
would last her until she had her class. She already had a chest piece, so
what she needed now was something for her lower body. There was no
point making it too specifically tuned, though—it would likely become
irrelevant if her class ended up being something that couldn’t use it. Making
magical plate armor for someone trying to move stealthily would be quite
the waste.
What I need is a set of armor perfect for someone who hasn’t gotten
their class yet. Something that protects them but doesn’t constrain them to a
specific fighting style. Something fast, effective, and easy to move in.
Arwin didn’t know what Reya’s measurements were—a problem that
the scales fortunately seemed to understand. He still wasn’t sure how much
of it was their own desire and how much was his own magic, but as time
slipped by, a set of greaves started to take shape in the forge. They were
mostly made from scale mail, but he added curved plates to protect her
knees and solid lines down the outside of the legs that would hopefully
serve to deflect a glancing attack better.
Arwin didn’t work through the nights this time around, not wanting to
be exhausted when it came time to set out with Reya. He stopped whenever
it grew dark, retiring to his new bed and leaving the armor in a pile under it
so Reya didn’t see what he was working on.
His work came to a close on the third day, just before the morning of
when they’d set out with Rodrick and Anna to get Reya her class. Reya—at
least as far as Arwin was aware—had no idea of what he’d been working
on.
She’d spent the last few days out and had always come back late and
weary, dropping into bed without much more than a muttered greeting. He
could see the stress weighing on her shoulders, but there wasn’t much he
could say to alleviate it.
 Reya was already asleep by the time Arwin finished, which made it
considerably easier for him to put everything away without her seeing it. He
slipped all the pieces of the armor under his bed, then lay down on top of it
and let himself drift off to sleep.
When the night came to a close and Arwin’s eyes drifted awake the
following morning, he found Reya already awake and pacing in front of the
door. Her eyes snapped over to him as soon as she noticed he was awake.
“Is it time?” Reya asked, wringing her hands together and shifting from
foot to foot.
“You don’t have to be worried about it. If things don’t work out, we’ll
just try again a different day,” Arwin said through a yawn. He rose to his
feet and stretched his arms out, rolling his neck and wiping the sleep from
his eyes.
“Not if I die,” Reya said.
“You’re not going to die. We’ve got two other adventurers with us, and
they’re both pretty good at what they do. One is a healer.”
“But what if I slip while I’m fighting? I’ve only properly fought other
people. We’re going to go fight some really powerful monster or something,
aren’t we?”
“What makes you think that?” Arwin tilted his head to the side with an
amused grin. “We could just be going after some weak ones.”
“If I haven’t gotten a class yet, then killing a bunch of pushover
monsters isn’t going to change anything.”
“That’s likely true,” Arwin allowed. “Technically, I think it would
depend on exactly how you killed the monsters, but fighting something
stronger is more likely to get you a good class. If we can get you an
Achievement or Title in the process, even better.”
“Before I even get a class?” Reya shuddered. “Are you trying to get me
killed? All the Achievements for that kind of thing always come from
defeating something way stronger than you. I’ll get ripped in half!”
“No, you won’t,” Arwin said. He knelt beside his bed and pulled out the
greaves that he’d hidden beneath it the night before. Reya made her way
over to him, looking curiously over his shoulder.
“What’s this?” Reya asked. “That looks a bit… small for you.”
“You would be correct.” Arwin’s voice was as dry as the desert. “It isn’t
for me. It’s for you.”
 Reya snickered and rolled her eyes. “Right, sure. Did you get
commissioned by the other adventurers or something? I bet these would go
for a good amount. They look great.”
Arwin just raised an eyebrow. Reya’s smile flickered and fell away. She
looked from the armor to Arwin, then swallowed. “You weren’t joking?”
“Dead serious. It’s to keep the dead in the serious and not in you if you
get hit by something nasty,” Arwin said. The joke had sounded considerably
better in his head, but Reya was so engrossed with the armor that she didn’t
even notice.
She hurriedly donned the greaves and fastened everything before rolling
her shoulders and hopping from one foot to the other. The set he’d started
some time ago was complete—at least for the time being. The greaves
weren’t magical, but they were still more than enough to keep her safe.
I hope they are, at least.
As far as Arwin could tell, the armor fit her perfectly. A small smile
flickered across Arwin’s face. He’d been more than a little worried that it
would have been the wrong size, but his powers hadn’t failed him.
“I think this might be the nicest thing anyone has ever gotten for me,
much less made,” Reya murmured, running her hands along the scales in
delight. “This is incredible. It’s such a huge step up from what you were
making just recently as well. Were you holding back on purpose? Wait. I
can’t afford this, and you already gave me a magical chest piece. I⁠—”
“You aren’t buying it,” Arwin said through a laugh. “It’s a gift. Just
keep yourself from getting killed and I’ll consider it a worthwhile
investment.”
Reya blinked heavily. She bit her lower lip, then turned away from him
and wiped her face with the back of her hand. When she looked back, all
that remained on her features was a determined expression.
“I’ll make sure I live up to this,” Reya promised. “I don’t know what
we’re doing, but I’ll do it.”
“Let’s just start by surviving,” Arwin suggested. He tried not to show
how pleased he was that Reya liked the gift, but he was pretty sure his
efforts failed. He clapped her on the shoulder, then nodded to the door.
“Come on. Let’s put that new armor to use. You’ve got a class to claim.”
And I have some new abilities to test out.

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A
rwin led Reya to the front of the Glowing Swordfish, where Rodrick
and Anna were already standing outside and waiting for them.
Rodrick, who was wearing the old set of scale mail greaves that
Arwin had sold him, did a double take as he saw the armor Reya was
wearing.
“Arwin,” Rodrick said, raising a hand in greeting. “This little lady must
be your friend, then? It looks like she’s certainly outfitted for a fight. More
than I am, actually.”
“That’s because you keep breaking your armor,” Anna admonished. She
sent a small smile in Reya’s direction. “It’s nice to meet you. Arwin bailed
us out of some trouble a little while ago. I’m Anna, and the oaf beside me is
Rodrick.”
“I’m Reya. It’s nice to meet you.” Reya shifted, clearly uncomfortable
with all the attention being directed toward her.
“Did you bankrupt yourselves on getting all that armor? Or is that smith
friend of yours doing loans?” Rodrick asked. “That’s some real nice-
looking gear you’ve got. It’s probably too late for me to order anything
right now, but you’ve got to tell me who’s making this stuff.”
Reya sent a surprised glance at Arwin, and he realized he’d forgotten to
tell her that he’d hidden his identity from the two adventurers. He just
shrugged, speaking before Reya could say anything.
“I’m sure he’ll come around eventually, but we’ve got things to do
today. Shall we get on with it?”
 Thankfully, Reya picked up on what was going on and said nothing that
would jeopardize his identity. Even though it probably wouldn’t have been
a big deal one way or another, it was still a bit of an inconvenience that
Arwin preferred not to deal with on this particular day.
“Gladly. Lead the way,” Rodrick said. “Back to the forest, I assume?
Pretty good distribution of monsters in there that shouldn’t be impossible
for someone new to the job to handle, especially with armor like that.”
“It’s a good spot to start,” Arwin agreed. “Hopefully, the monsters there
have calmed down a little bit. It’ll be a little annoying if we have to
constantly avoid large groups.”
They all set off down the road, making for the town gate. Arwin
couldn’t help but notice that Reya was getting a few lingering glances from
passersby. Nothing too concerning, but her armor was definitely drawing
attention, and possibly a little more than he’d originally planned.
This is good. At this rate, I might get enough attention that people come
looking for the smith that made her armor. Then I’ll be able to sell non-
magical equipment and start making some money without worrying about
arming someone with a terrifying weapon that they don’t deserve.
“So, what kind of class are you looking to get?” Rodrick asked as they
left the city and started through the hills. “Some kind of warrior?”
“I’m not sure,” Reya admitted sheepishly. She scratched at the back of
her head and craned her head back to look at the receding city behind them.
“Probably not someone that’s on the front of the battle.”
“A mage of some sort?” Anna guessed. “Magic can be incredibly
rewarding. It’s a lot of work and can be pretty risky, though.”
“I’ve always wanted magic,” Reya allowed slowly. Rodrick was
shaking his head before she finished her sentence.
“Don’t go muddling her goals, Anna. Anyone can get magic. Mages just
focus entirely on it, and you get blown over by a light fart because of it.”
“You’re not wrong,” Anna admitted with a laugh. “I don’t have any
good ways to defend myself. If I were a combat mage, then I’m sure I’d be
able to blow things up before they got to me. I went with healing instead,
though. It wasn’t easy, but there’s few people that help a group more than a
healer. I just can’t fight very well.”
“Not being able to fight seems like a pretty significant drawback,” Reya
hedged.
 “It would be if I didn’t have this idiot to stand in front of monsters for
me,” Anna said with a laugh, shoulder-checking Rodrick. He shifted to the
side and rolled his eyes—Arwin was pretty sure Anna couldn’t have moved
him if she’d wanted to, so he was just going along with it.
I almost forgot how close they were. It reminds me of things I’d rather
not remember.
Arwin shook his head to clear his thoughts while Reya worked to gather
her own.
“I think I’d rather be a bit farther away from the thick of things
whenever possible, but being able to hold my own when the time calls for it
would definitely be nice,” Reya said. She idly ran her hands over the hilt of
the sheathed dagger at her side.
“Maybe some form of archer?” Rodrick guessed.
More like an assassin, I’d say.
“I hope not,” Anna said, giving Reya a quick look. “She’s not carrying a
bow. You’re not going to get an archery class if you don’t have a bow on
you.”
“I’m a horrible shot, so archery isn’t really my thing. Daggers aren’t
bad, though.”
“A rogue, then,” Rodrick concluded. “That makes sense. You’ve got the
right build for it, and you look pretty fast. Suppose the only way to find out
is to actually see, but that’ll happen soon enough. I haven’t seen many
rogues decked out in fancy armor, though.”
“It’s more about the way she fights than what she’s wearing,” Arwin
said with a shake of his head. “As long as she doesn’t rely on the armor to
block every single blow, Reya should be able to get the class she’s looking
for. It’s just a precaution.”
The other two adventurers nodded, and they all fell silent for the rest of
the trip away from the city. Some hours later, the four arrived at the valley
leading down into the forest. It was mostly silent, the only sounds being the
faint chirp of the birds and the rustle of wind through the leaves.
“Stay behind us,” Arwin advised as they started down toward the
treeline. “We need to make sure your opponents are at the appropriate level
of strength. Challenge is good, but putting you up against something you
have no way to defeat is just suicide.”
“Trust me, I won’t take a step that you don’t tell me to,” Reya promised.
“I’m not so sure I’ll be able to handle anything here myself, but I’ll do my
best.”
“That’s all anyone can ask,” Anna said with a comforting smile. The
group continued on, and Rodrick moved up to the front to use his enhanced
senses and guide them toward a possible target.
This time, no lizards were waiting in ambush. They walked for several
minutes, taking a few turns. Rodrick occasionally paused and held up a
hand to listen closer but would then resume moving in another direction
shortly afterward.
After a few minutes of walking, Rodrick drew his sword. Anna moved
to stand behind him and Arwin readied himself, using [Arsenal] to summon
his sword to his hands. He didn’t call his armor out yet, not wanting to
encumber himself until he actually needed the defense.
“Lizard up ahead,” Rodrick said. “At least, I think it’s a lizard. About
the right size for one, a little bit on the small side. This could be you, Reya.”
Reya licked her lips and tightened her grip on the hilt of her dagger. Her
eyes darted around the forest, and Arwin could practically see her breathing
get faster. She bit her lower lip and gave them a sharp nod.
“Okay. I—I’m ready. I think.”
“We still have to make sure it’s the right strength,” Arwin reminded
Reya. He followed Rodrick’s gaze and squinted into the darkness of the
forest before them to see if he could make anything out, but the monster
was still too far out.
They all crept forward, taking even more care to remain silent. If the
lizard hadn’t noticed them yet, then they had a chance to get the jump on it.
And, if Reya was looking to be a stealthy class of any sort, that was
probably a step in the right direction.
It didn’t take long for their efforts to be rewarded. After passing just a
few more trees, they arrived at the edge of a small clearing with sunlight
filtering in through a gap in the canopy. A lizard lay on its back, its feet
curled up before it as it basked in the light. The monster was indeed one of
the smallest that Arwin had seen thus far—Rodrick had done a good job of
avoiding all the stronger enemies.

[Forest Lizard – Apprentice 2]

“That’s the one,” Arwin whispered, nudging Reya’s shoulder. “Go. If

you slit its throat before it notices you, you should be able to kill it before it
can even fight back. It’ll be easier if you go from a bit to the left so you’re
downwind of it.”
Reya swallowed. Her fingers twitched and she gave Arwin a curt nod
before creeping away from the party and toward the lizard. The others all
watched her leave quietly, not wanting to distract her.
“I’ll keep an eye out for anything else in the area,” Rodrick said in a
soft tone. “This should be a pretty fast kill, though. That lizard is
completely oblivious to everything. It’s got absolutely no idea we’re here.”
“Almost makes you feel bad for it,” Anna said, her hands clenched
around her staff as her eyes traced Reya’s steps.
Interesting. She’s actually concerned for Reya even though they only
met a short while ago. I made the right move by throwing my lot in—at least
temporarily—with these two. They’re decent folks.
“It’s a monster,” Rodrick said. “It wouldn’t feel bad for us if we got
caught with our pants down.”
“Maybe not, but isn’t that the very reason we’ve got to be better? We
have the capacity to be more, so we should be.”
“We’re not getting into this argument again,” Rodrick grumbled. “You
can be kind to other people and intelligent beings, but no feeling bad for the
bloodthirsty creatures that want nothing more than to rip us to little shreds
and snack on our bones.”
“Not every monster is unintelligent,” Arwin said quietly.
Rodrick sent him a surprised glance. “You’re the one that brought us out
here to hunt, man. Are you having second thoughts?”
“No,” Arwin said, and he meant it. “A lot of innocent people get hurt in
war, and I don’t think that all monsters are intelligent. Creatures like the
lizard in front of us aren’t mentally developed enough to have much
intelligence beyond their desire to kill and survive. But others are different.
There are… occasions where killing them may not be the right choice.”
“How so?” Anna asked curiously. “I haven’t met many warriors that
hold that viewpoint. You’re certainly an odd one, but don’t take that in the
wrong way.”
“I won’t,” Arwin said. He paused, watching Reya as she snuck closer to
the lizard. They were close enough to intervene if something went wrong,
but not so close that he could completely block a blow if she completely
screwed up. “And it’s just something that comes with experience. Some
things don’t need killing.”
 Reya arrived beside the lizard. It had yet to notice her presence—it
really was the most oblivious creature that Arwin had seen in a long time.
All that remained was for Reya to deliver the killing blow.
Her knuckles whitened around the hilt of her dagger. She started to draw
it but froze midway through the motion. Seconds ticked by. Arwin’s brow
furrowed as Reya let the dagger slide back before it could clear the sheath.
Does she not want to let Rodrick and Anna see that it’s magical? She
should just be able to put her back to us so they don’t see the blade, and I’m
sure she’s got another dagger from those idiot brothers I had to kill.
Reya backed away from the lizard, letting her hand drop from the blade
as she drew back alongside them, her jaw clenched.
“Is it okay if I don’t kill this one?”
“Why not?” Rodrick asked. “It’s a free kill.”
“I know,” Reya said, her cheeks flushing with shame. “But that’s the
problem. I’ve killed before. You have to if you want to survive. But I’ve
never had a choice, you know? It’s been death or life. That’s it. There hasn’t
been another option.”
“You don’t want to kill at all anymore?” Arwin asked. He couldn’t fault
Reya for that, but she wasn’t going to be able to become any sort of
adventurer if she didn’t want to fight.
“I don’t think it’s that. I’m fine with killing. Just… I’d prefer to kill
something that’s going to fight back or something that deserves death. For
once, I want to make my own choice instead of being forced into one.”
“It’s a lizard,” Rodrick said. “It’s probably too stupid to even realize
what death is.”
Reya bit her lip and nodded. “I know.”
“So?”
“I still really don’t want to do it. I’m sorry.”
Arwin studied Reya for a second, then glanced back at the lizard. It
really did look quite content. He shook his head, his lips curling in slight
amusement. “It really does look too peaceful. The next fight isn’t going to
be this easy, though. Are you sure it’s wise to pass up a free kill?”
“I’m sorry,” Reya repeated. “But it just feels wrong. I’d rather take a
harder fight.”
“Well, she knows what she wants,” Rodrick said with a shrug. “That’s
half the trouble with the Mesh in the first place. Your call, lass. I can find us
another monster in the area, but Arwin was right. I doubt we’ll get a chance
as good as this one again.”
“Better a difficult fight than a cheap one.”
Not exactly the words of an assassin.
“Onward, then,” Arwin said with a nod. “Rodrick is correct. Standing
by your ideals is something that many forget to do in the pursuit of power.
Let’s go find you something that’ll fight back.”

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 30

A
rwin’s thoughts drifted as Rodrick led them in search of their next
potential monster for Reya. Her refusal to kill the monster echoed
dimly through the halls of his mind. It wasn’t like the lizard was
really worth thinking about, but he couldn’t get it out of his head.
He’d killed thousands—probably more if he was honest with himself—
of comparable monsters. And, despite everything, Arwin didn’t regret any
of the kills he’d made. They’d been done to save himself and to protect
others.
It wasn’t the fact that he cared about the lizard’s life either. He hadn’t
been exaggerating about its intelligence. The monster wasn’t anywhere near
smart enough to understand what had happened.
Really, calling it a monster is a rather odd choice. Lillia is a monster as
well—a demon. And yet, there’s no more relation between her and that
lizard than there would be with me and a dog.
I’d have put the lizard down if it had been me that was fighting it, and I
likely still would now if it tried to attack me or stood in my way. But…
perhaps it is worth adjusting my thinking a little more.
Not all the monsters I encounter are going to be as soulless as this one.
Some may have some degree of intelligence, and if the Adventurers’ Guild is
not my ally, then am I truly their enemy?
“What’s wrong?” Anna whispered, moving closer so her voice wouldn’t
carry too far into the forest. “Is something happening?”
 “Nothing like that,” Arwin said with a small smile. “I was just lost in
thought. Reya’s an interesting one, isn’t she?”
“The way you say that makes it seem like you’re older than she is. Are
you her brother or something?”
Arwin chuckled. “We don’t look that alike, do we?”
“Siblings are made in spirit, not flesh.”
“Fair enough.” Arwin inclined his head in surrender. “No. She’s not my
sibling. She’s just someone that I’ve picked up on my journeys that needed
a little bit of a helping hand. Her perspective is surprisingly fresh. Makes
me think about some stuff that I didn’t think I’d be thinking about.”
“That’s one of the things I like most about adventuring,” Anna said with
a soft smile. It fell away as her features darkened, and she glanced to the
side. “Meeting new people and finding out just how different they are to
you. It is—was—incredible.”
“Ever regret leaving the guild?” Arwin asked.
“Not for a second.” Anna sent a look at Rodrick’s back and the smile
returned to her lips. “I’d trade it and more away every single day just to
keep things the way they are. Sure, I’d love to try to strive for more, and the
Adventurers’ Guild was a great way to do that, but the cost of remaining
there was more than what I was willing to pay.”
“I know what you mean.”
They came to a stop as Rodrick lifted his hand. Reya, who stood a few
paces ahead of Arwin, just beside Rodrick, stiffened. Something shifted in
the shadows of the trees before them, and the tingle of the Mesh brushed
across Arwin’s skin.
There was a loud crunch as leaves and sticks were crushed beneath the
weight of something large, and the flash of yellow eyes within the forest
told Arwin that a monster had spotted them coming.

[Forest Lizard – Apprentice 3]

“Shit. Didn’t notice the bugger because he was up in a tree. You think
you can handle this one?” Rodrick asked in a low tone, placing his hand on
the sword at his side. “Apprentice 3 might be a bit rough for someone
without a class.”
“You’re the one that said that I’d not get another easy shot,” Reya said,
setting her jaw. “It’s not going to get any easier if I keep waiting.”
 “We’ll have your back,” Anna promised. The lizard let out a warning
hiss, and Reya drew her dagger. For a moment, Arwin was worried that
she’d just revealed the magic weapon to the other two, but the Mesh didn’t
register the blade.
It was just a normal weapon, not the one he’d made.
That’s probably for the best. I like these two, but power can make people
do some pretty bad things. Better to take it one step at a time and avoid any
unwanted incidents.
“Remember that it’s more important to survive the fight than to kill your
enemy,” Rodrick said. “Live and you can fight again. Victory means
nothing if you don’t live to tell the tale.”
“Says the man who goes down in almost every fight,” Anna quipped.
“Get out there, Reya. You have this in the bag.”
The lizard’s tongue flicked through the air. It hissed, crawling toward
them with measured movements that did nothing to betray the explosive
power that Arwin knew to be within its body.
Reya held her blade before her and edged closer to the monster, staying
on the tips of her toes. For a few moments, the forest was silent, save the
sound of her feet scuffling across the dirt and the lizard’s dull hisses.
Then they burst into motion in unison. The monster’s thick tail whipped
out, hurtling to slam into Reya’s side. Reya skipped back, dodging the
attack with far more room than she needed to have moved, and then
sprinted forward with a cry.
The lizard snapped out at her and Reya stumbled, throwing herself into
a roll. She landed gracefully and sprang back to her feet, staggering and
narrowly avoiding the monster’s fangs as it snapped for her head.
Arwin’s body tensed and the urge to rush into the fight gripped him, but
he restrained himself. The Mesh wouldn’t recognize Reya’s work if he ran
in to save her. She needed to handle this on her own, and he needed to trust
that she could do it.
And that’s not to mention the way she must be feeling. Ever since she
threw her lot in with me, I’ve been bailing her out of trouble. She doesn’t
feel like she’s in control of herself, and if I step in again here, that feeling
may cement itself even further.
“Aim for weak points!” Arwin called out. “You can’t break its scales
with the dagger, so bide your time until you have an opportunity to strike!
Don’t overextend too early.”
 If Reya heard him, she gave no acknowledgment. She bounced from
foot to foot, watching the lizard warily, and prepared to jump out of the way
of its next attack. Even though she had no experience fighting monsters,
only a fool would have said that she wasn’t used to combat.
She moved with the grace of a street urchin that had grown up dodging
pursuing guards their entire life, and while that wasn’t enough to put her toe
to toe with some of the rogues Arwin had known in his years, it was more
than enough to give her a fighting chance against a lizard—even if she
didn’t have a class.
The monster lunged, snapping at Reya and trying to strike her with its
long claws. She dipped to the side, then lunged as it tried to regain its
balance. With a cry, Reya brought the dagger’s point down toward one of
the monster’s bulging eyes.
It twisted its head at the last second, and the loud scrape of her dagger
against the scales ground through the air. The blade shattered from the force
of the impact. Arwin took a step forward, but Reya wasn’t done yet.
She threw herself out of the way, discarding the broken remains of her
dagger, and dove behind a tree a moment before the lizard’s tail smashed
through the trunk, sending splinters and dust flying everywhere.
The tree pitched forward and crashed to the ground with a resounding
thud. Reya dashed out from behind it, leaping into the air and throwing
herself straight at the lizard’s head in display of either stupidity or bravery,
and possibly a mixture of both.
Arwin felt the Mesh tingle in his mind as Reya ripped a dagger free of
her belt. He only had an instant to look at it before Reya plunged the
weapon into the lizard’s eye with all her might and momentum, functionally
sheathing it within the monster and snuffing the tingle in his mind before it
could reveal any information.
The monster let out a screech of pain, and Reya launched herself off its
body, narrowly avoiding a tree branch as she hit the ground, holding her
arms close to her chest to avoid breaking anything.
She rolled several feet and thunked to a stop against a tree, scrambling
to her feet the moment she stopped moving. The lizard let out a hissing
scream, thrashing and spitting as blood dripped down the side of its head
and splattered against the forest floor.
“Don’t rush to finish it!” Rodrick warned, his expression just as
scrunched in worry as Arwin felt. “Take it slow! You’re on the right track!”
 Reya’s breath came out in short, adrenaline-filled pants. Her hands and
limbs twitched as her brain sent furious signals to them, but she forced
herself to stay still and watch the monster.
The lizard was far less patient. It let out a scream and charged toward
Reya. Its steps were lopsided and heavy, but that didn’t stop it from closing
the small gap between them in just seconds and lurching in an attempt to
take her down with it.
Reya dropped to the ground, and the lizard hurtled over her head like a
scaly missile. It slammed into a tree, shattering it, and rolled across the
ground in a flailing mess of limbs—and then it vanished.
Arwin blinked, then looked to the others. They looked equally as
confused. There was no sign of the lizard. If it wasn’t for all the destruction
in the area around them, it would have been as if it had never been there.
“What the hell?” Arwin asked. “Where’d it go?”
“Are you okay, Reya?” Anna asked.
“I’m fine,” Reya said, pushing herself up to her feet and frowning as she
fought to catch her breath. She squinted into the forest. “What happened?”
Arwin walked in the direction the lizard had gone, his sword held at his
side and ready to spring into action. He couldn’t pinpoint exactly what was
causing it, but the hair on the back of his neck stood on end.
He inched closer to where the lizard had vanished, peering into the
darkness, and froze as the breath caught in his throat. There was a huge
hole, roughly the size of a house, in the middle of the ground.
Looking straight out of it were two large green eyes, each the size of a
shield. Glistening gray scales made up the draconic body surrounding them,
and the tip of a forest lizard’s tail stuck out of a mouth chock full of pointed
yellowed teeth.
Arwin’s skin tingled as the Mesh identified the creature before him, but
he barely even needed it.

[Forest Wyrm – Journeyman 8]

A series of cracks split the air as the wyrm chewed once, its powerful
jaws grinding straight through the lizard’s scales and bones alike. It chewed
once more before swallowing the lizard in a single gulp. A dull rumble built
in its chest as it reached up with a clawed hand nearly as large as Arwin and
pulled itself out of the hole.
 Arwin took a step back, staring up at the massive monster as its maw
split open. Hot breath bearing the scent of carrion washed over Arwin as he
locked eyes with the massive monster.
It was a whole tier stronger than he was, and even with the help of the
others, they were nowhere near strong enough to even think about trying to
defeat it.
The only thing that the eyes of the wyrm held was death—and, judging
by the way its tongue flicked out and tasted the air, it was still hungry.

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T
here was only one thing that Arwin could think of doing that wouldn’t
result in their immediate death.
“Run,” Arwin breathed, spinning and dashing in the opposite
direction.
He grabbed Reya by the arm, yanking her along and out of her stunned
reverie. Rodrick and Anna both fell in beside them, their legs pumping as
they ran as hard as they could. Behind them, a roar split the forest, and the
wyrm burst into pursuit.
“What in the Nine Underlands is the wyrm doing here?” Rodrick
screamed, throwing a glance over his shoulder and nearly running straight
into a tree in the process. “It’s meant to stay underground!”
“I don’t know!” Arwin yelled back. Trees shattered behind them as the
wyrm plowed straight through their trunks, too large to even bother trying
to avoid the obstacles. “Focus on running, not thinking!”
He dodged away from a tree, nearly tripping over himself as another
roar ripped through the forest. Hot air wafted over his back, and Arwin
didn’t want to think about how close the huge creature was to them.
“I don’t have to kill that, do I?” Reya screamed. “I don’t think I’m
going to be able to get close to its eyes!”
“Forget killing it! Just run!”
Arwin’s feet slammed into the ground as he empowered his steps with
[Scourge], using just enough to keep up with the others. It was only a
temporary solution, though. There was only so far they’d be able to run
before the wyrm caught up with them, and if it was still chasing after them
after they escaped the forest, they were all dead.
We’re only still ahead at all because the big bugger has to run through
trees while we can avoid them. In the open air… there won’t even be a fight.
I need to do something to get this thing off of us.
“Keep going!” Arwin yelled. “I’m going to try to stall it!”
“Do you have a death wish?” Anna yelled back. “You’ll get eaten in one
bite!”
“So will the rest of us if I don’t do something. Just keep going and don’t
turn back.” Arwin spun, activating [Arsenal] and summoning his greaves
and scale mail chest piece into place on his body. He wasn’t sure how much
good they’d do against a monster this powerful, but he couldn’t afford to
keep anything in reserve if he wanted even the slightest chance of surviving
the next minute.
I might be able to survive one or two direct hits, but after that, it’s over.
That’s probably not enough for my greaves to properly absorb enough
kinetic energy to fight back, but if I can take a few glancing blows, I might
have a chance at hurting the wyrm enough that it gets scared off.
The wyrm skidded to a stop before him, confusion flashing in its large
eyes. This monster, unlike the lizards, was definitely intelligent. It might not
have been as smart as a human, but there was thought behind the green
disks.
Arwin could see it trying to figure out why he’d stopped running. Prey
didn’t stand in place. Prey screamed and fled, and his deviation from the
norm made him, at least for a flicker of an instant, a threat.
“Come on, then!” Arwin roared, raising his sword overhead. And then,
in what was possibly one of the greatest displays of stupidity in his life, he
charged at the monster that was twice his tier and triple his height.
From the wyrm’s perspective, he was probably something around the
equivalent of an armored Pomeranian with an attitude, but this Pomeranian
had a sharp stick in its hands. The wyrm pulled back, letting out a confused
hiss.
Arwin took advantage of its confusion to close the distance between
them. He drew power from within himself and shoved it into [Scourge],
empowering his arms with all the magic they could handle before bringing
the sword down on the wyrm’s arm with all his might.
 A resounding clang rang out through the air, and more magical energy
left Arwin’s body as the sword drew on him, trying to imbue the spot he’d
struck the wyrm with resonance. As he lowered his sword, a chill swept
over Arwin’s spine.
The scales were completely undamaged, aside from a small crack
running along one of them. He’d hit the wyrm with the strongest blow he
could muster in his current state, and he’d probably barely even tickled it.
For an instant, Arwin and the wyrm stood in silence. The wyrm stared at
him, as if baffled that something would be so stupid as to even try striking
it. Then it roared. Hot, rancid breath washed over Arwin, buffeting his hair
back.
The wyrm raised a foot and brought it down on him, trying to squash
Arwin like a bug. He dove to the side, hitting the ground in a roll and
coming up just inches away from where the monster’s foot landed.
It was fast for its size, but he already knew that. Arwin rolled to his feet
and let out a cry of his own to keep the wyrm’s attention on him. He had to
buy more time for the others to escape—but that didn’t look like it was
going to be hard.
The wyrm’s eyes were locked straight on Arwin, and it wasn’t
impressed by his displays anymore. It reared back, casting a shadow over
the forest as it rose onto its haunches, and then leapt forward.
Arwin drew on [Scourge] and thrust power into his legs, bounding out
of the way. The wyrm’s tail whipped around as it landed, hurtling for
Arwin’s chest. He only had an instant to react, and he chose to use it to
jump, bringing his chest out of the way and leaving his legs in the path of
the tail.
An immense force slammed into Arwin’s lower body, spinning him like
a top. He flew back and slammed into a tree with a loud crash. The air was
knocked from his lungs, and he dropped to the ground amid a rain of leaves,
landing on his feet with a pained grunt.
Energy hummed within his greaves and Arwin’s body throbbed—if it
hadn’t been for the combination of their absorbent properties and
[Indomitable Bulwark], he was pretty sure the wyrm’s strike would have
snapped him clean in half.
The wyrm looked just as surprised as he felt, but Arwin didn’t give it
time to gather its thoughts. He charged forward again, dismissing his sword
as he ran, so his hands were free. He desperately wished he had a blunt
force weapon that he could use to shatter the monster’s scales, but all he
had was his sword.
A huge, clawed hand swiped through the air, and Arwin threw himself
to the ground, rolling beneath it and jumping back to his feet, his sword
reforming as he brought it down on the same spot he’d struck the wyrm in
before.
Once again, a resounding clang echoed through the forest. The wyrm
snarled and snapped at Arwin. He jumped back, just barely clearing its
jaws. The monster’s head slammed into him like a wrecking ball and sent
him rolling across the ground. His sword flew from his grip, spinning
across the ground and embedding itself in the base of a tree.
His greaves erupted with energy as Awe finally activated. Arwin’s entire
body buzzed as he shot back to his feet. He extended his hand and the
sword vanished from where it had fallen, reforming in his palm.
That’s convenient. I wasn’t sure what would happen if I lost a weapon.
Now I know. The extra speed is going to take some getting used to, but I
don’t even know how long it’ll last.
The wyrm roared, watching Arwin warily. It wasn’t about to charge him
mindlessly again—he had yet to actually hurt it, but he’d survived two
attacks now, and the monster wasn’t dumb enough to dismiss that idly.
Well, the others should have had time to escape by now. All I have to do
is find a way to get out of here myself… but I’m not so sure that’s possible.
Even with [Scourge] and the boost from Awe, this thing is going to outrun
me and I’ve got no way to know if it’ll stop at the edge of the forest.
Shit. I might be in trouble.
Advancing far more carefully this time, the wyrm loomed over Arwin
and reared back, preparing to lunge at him. It wasn’t going to be
particularly easy to dodge an attack when it was taking this much effort to
line it up, but Arwin wasn’t so certain that he’d be able to survive if the
beast literally dropped itself on top of him. It must have weighed several
tons.
Defense isn’t an option. My only hope is to hit the bastard hard enough
that he gets scared off. That might be a bit of a stretch, but it’s the only way
I can make it out of this.
Arwin tensed, preparing to move at just the right moment. If he hit the
resonating area once more, there was a chance he’d actually hurt the wyrm.
 The problem was that he doubted the huge monster would be willing to
let him get another blow off. It was paying far too much attention to him
now. In his past life as the Hero, Arwin would have called for someone to
draw the beast’s attention with ranged attacks so that he could get closer,
but there was nobody but him.
Even as his mind raced, he knew that there were no more options. He
wasn’t going to be able to outrun or dodge the wyrm again, but he’d be
damned if he went down running like a coward.
“What are you scared of?” Arwin roared, beating a fist against his chest.
“Try me!”
The wyrm obliged. It pounced, stretching its arms out to catch Arwin.
He dashed to meet the strike instead of avoiding it, hoping to take a
glancing blow and trade one in exchange. His feet slammed against the
ground, and he nearly tripped over himself at the pace he was moving at
due to Awe.
Arwin likely would have fallen flat on his face had he not been used to
empowering his legs with [Scourge]. Just barely managing to stay upright,
he flashed past the monster’s arm and brought his sword down on the
wyrm’s leg with all his might.
Magic poured out of Arwin’s sword and slammed into the wyrm an
instant before its massive body crashed to the ground. Arwin managed to
twist out of the way, saving his upper body from getting crushed, but his
right leg was considerably less fortunate.
Even with [Indomitable Bulwark], he felt the bones in his leg shatter.
Pain ripped up Arwin’s waist, winding into his spine and gripping him in
icy claws. He snarled in pain even as the wyrm let out a pained cry and
leapt to its feet like it had been stung.
The scales on its leg were cracked, and blood trickled past its claws,
dripping to the ground. Arwin drove his sword into the tree behind him and
dragged himself upright, baring his teeth.
“I’ve got more where that came from,” Arwin promised, ripping his
sword free and pointing it at the wyrm. He didn’t even try putting weight on
his leg—he was pretty sure the bones in it weren’t just broken but
completely pulverized.
At least my greaves are still active. They must be absorbing all the
damage I’m taking, even while Awe is active. I can get one more nasty blow
off before I go down.
 The wyrm’s lips pulled back in a snarl, but it didn’t attack immediately.
Arwin nearly laughed. As massive and powerful as the beast was—it was
afraid. A Journeyman monster feared a mere smith.
“Come on!” Arwin screamed, pounding a fist into the tree. The wood
shattered beneath his [Scourge]-empowered blow and it pitched back,
crashing to the ground behind him.
The wyrm took a step forward. A rock whistled through the air. It was
no larger than a palm, but it flew with surprising accuracy and struck the
wyrm straight in the center of its eye. The monster let out an annoyed roar
and snapped its head around to look over Arwin’s shoulder.
Rodrick stepped out of the forest, tossing another rock up and down in
his hand. “Over here, you big oaf!” Rodrick yelled. “I’ve been thinking I
wanted some fancy new armor, and I think you’re wearing my scales!”
You bleeding idiot. Why are you here?
The wyrm roared, turning away from Arwin and taking a step toward
Rodrick. Its foot hit the forest floor with such weight that it trembled,
making Arwin stumble as pain arced up his injured leg. The wyrm might
not have understood Rodrick’s words, but it definitely didn’t like having
things flung at its eyes.
And, as soon as the monster’s attention was averted, Arwin felt a hand
fall on his shoulder. A wave of warmth rushed over his body. The
demolished bones in his leg knitted themselves back together, and his torn
flesh healed until the pain had completely vanished.
Anna stepped out beside him, a weary expression on her face. “I won’t
be able to do a powerful spell like that again. Help Rodrick.”
He didn’t have any time to ask Anna and Rodrick what they were doing
here. For better or for worse, they’d remained. Arwin rolled his shoulders
and took a step forward, pounding a fist against his chest to draw the
wyrm’s attention back to him.
“I’m still here,” Arwin snarled, pointing his sword up at the monster’s
head and locking eyes with it. “Didn’t anyone ever tell you to finish what
you started?”

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A
nother rock flew through the air and—with unsettling accuracy—
struck the wyrm straight in the eye for the second time that day. It let
out an annoyed screech. As it turned back toward Rodrick, Arwin
lunged, swinging his sword for the small crack on its leg.
The wyrm noticed his attack and flicked its claws at him, trying to carve
Arwin apart before his blow could connect. Using a blast of energy from
[Scourge], Arwin leapt over the monster’s leg and slammed his sword home
once more.
More magical power raced out of him and into the wound, sending a
dull thrum up into the air. The wyrm roared and lunged at Arwin, forcing
him to use even more of his power to throw himself to safety.
Arwin could feel his magical reserves starting to run out. He’d been
using [Scourge] at maximum output the entire fight, and his sword drained
power at a tremendous rate. He probably only had one or two more moves
left in him before he was completely dry.
The wyrm, on the other hand, had been barely injured. The damage to
its leg wasn’t much more than a bad scratch, but the fact he’d managed to
do anything at all to the enormous beast was a feat in itself.
“Get out of here!” Arwin yelled. “We can’t win this!”
“We aren’t leaving you behind,” Rodrick yelled back. “You can’t win
this either!”
Arwin didn’t have a response to that. He gritted his teeth and held the
wyrm’s gaze as it contemplated its next move.
 At least Reya got out. Now only three of us will get killed.
“Hey, asshole!” A woman’s voice rang out from the trees, and Arwin
nearly slapped himself in the forehead. “Give me back my dagger!”
A rock whistled out from the darkness, striking the wyrm in the
forehead and bouncing off harmlessly. Reya stepped out of the shadows and
flung another rock, this time missing the monster entirely.
“What the hell are you doing here?” Arwin demanded. “Did nobody
listen to a single thing I said?”
“It has the dagger you made for me,” Reya spat. “I’m not leaving
without it.”
“I can make you another damn dagger!”
“Not if you die,” Reya countered. She threw another rock at the wyrm,
which now looked more baffled than anything else. Arwin nearly laughed in
spite of their situation. In comparison with everything else in this forest, the
wyrm was the absolute peak. Nothing should have so much as dared to look
in its direction, but now a group of fleshy monkeys were flinging rocks at
its head.
“How exactly do you think you’re going to get the dagger back?” Arwin
asked. “Were you planning on crawling into its mouth and asking politely?”
“Do you think that would work?”
“Of course it wouldn’t,” Arwin snapped. The wyrm bared its lips in a
warning growl, but Arwin hardly even cared. It wasn’t like the monster
could do anything else to them, and every second that passed gave him a
little more magical energy back. If it was going to sit around in
befuddlement, then it only helped him. “You’re meant to listen to my
orders.”
“Well, don’t give stupid orders then.”
“Surviving isn’t stupid. You know what’s stupid? Coming back to fight
a high-level Journeyman monster when you don’t even have a damn class
yet.”
“You’re the one that told me I was going to get a class today!” Reya
snapped. “I’m doing that!”
“Getting yourself killed is not getting yourself a class!”
The wyrm looked from Reya to Arwin, the disbelief in its eyes turning
to hunger as it reared back and let out a roar. They both looked back to the
huge monster.
“What do we do?” Reya asked.
 “We can’t beat this thing. Our best bet is to hurt it enough that it decides
we aren’t worth eating. Don’t get close, your armor isn’t going to save you
from any of its attacks. Just… fling rocks and don’t get close.”
Arwin beat his hand against his chest again to draw the wyrm’s
attention back to him. The maneuver worked a bit better than he’d been
hoping for and the monster finally lurched back into motion, flinging itself
at him like a crazed flying squirrel.
He swore and activated [Scourge], the Awe property of his greaves
empowering his legs even further, and threw himself out of the way. Arwin
hit the ground in a run and skidded to a stop, spinning back to face the
monster even as it rose back to its feet.
A rock dinked off the back of its head, but the wyrm didn’t so much as
glance back. It was fed up with the game and determined to finish off Arwin
once and for all. Ripples of resonance still washed out from where Arwin
had struck it several times before.
If I can reactivate the magic one more time, I might be able to actually
do some decent damage to this thing. But there’s no way it’ll let me at it
again. I need⁠—
Reya, devoid of a proper weapon and possibly her sanity, charged the
wyrm with a cry. It took Arwin by such surprise that it took him a moment
to realize what she was doing.
The wyrm was equally as surprised, but it recovered quickly and spun
toward her, its maw snapping open. The scales covering its body rippled as
the muscles beneath them tensed, preparing to pounce.
Arwin burst into motion. He didn’t have any other choice. His armor
would keep the claws of a normal lizard from ripping Reya to shreds—it
wasn’t a magical wall that would stop the weight of the wyrm.
The wyrm saw Arwin’s approach out of the corner of its eye. Its tail shot
out and Arwin jumped—but the wyrm wasn’t trying to knock him out of the
way. The massive appendage wrapped around his chest. He barely managed
to lift his arms into the air before the tail tightened, starting to squeeze.
Arwin’s armor cracked and groaned, desperately trying to hold the
monster off and failing spectacularly. He wasn’t far from its leg, but his
sword arm was pointed entirely in the wrong direction.
The wyrm lunged, aiming to swallow Reya whole. She tried to throw
herself out of the way in the same way that Arwin had, but she didn’t have
[Scourge] to help her. Rodrick ran toward Reya, but he wasn’t going to
make it in time.
Arwin drew on every last ounce of magic he had, letting [Scourge] erupt
through his entire body. He let out a snarl, shoving the wyrm’s tail back just
enough to slip free of its grip even as it started to clear the ground. Arwin
launched himself forward, moving with the wyrm’s momentum to launch
himself up the side of the body.
He was too close to the monster to rear back and swing his sword
without accidentally hitting something else. With only instants to act, Arwin
brought the blade up—but not toward the monster.
His teeth slammed down on the blade, shattering the metal. Energy
poured into Arwin’s mouth and spread throughout his body. He ripped
power from the sword, draining the rest of the weapon until it was ash in
the wind within just milliseconds.
Then, with a defiant roar, he drove his fist into the cracked scales. The
power that the sword had once held was temporarily infused within him,
and Arwin spent every last drop of power he had pushing it out through his
fist, activating his greaves at the same time.
The ripples of resonating energy detonated with a brilliant crack. The
wyrm screamed in pain, twisting at the last moment. There was a loud
screech and Reya went flying, but Arwin hit the ground before he could see
the extent of the damage.
A brilliant flash of light lit up the air, and the wyrm roared in surprise,
buying them precious seconds.
Arwin rolled across the ground, crashing into a tree with enough force
to knock it back. His enhanced defenses were the only thing that kept him
from passing out. Bright stars flashed before Arwin’s eyes, and he drew in a
hissing gasp.
Pain rocked through his back as he forced himself upright, squinting
through darkness dancing at the edges of his vision. The wyrm had landed
several dozen feet from him, its momentum having carried it deeper into the
forest and through a dozen trees.
The scales on its right foreleg were badly damaged, and blood poured
down it like a small river. Letting out a wail, the enormous monster tried to
put weight on its leg before yanking the foot back into the air.
Its eyes swiveled to stare at Arwin. Hunger and hatred mixed with fear
within them as he staggered upright, baring his teeth and breathing heavily.
He had absolutely nothing left—but the wyrm didn’t know that.
“Come on,” Arwin rasped.
The wyrm didn’t move.
“Come on!” Arwin screamed, pounding a hand against his cracked chest
piece. The world swam around him, and trees danced when they should
have been still.
The wyrm turned. It slunk back into the forest, limping to avoid putting
weight on its injured leg. Deep, echoing thuds echoed through the darkness
and faded into the distance. All that remained of it was a drying puddle of
blood on the ground and a single cracked scale.
Arwin turned toward the others, leaning heavily against the tree. Reya
lay on the ground several feet away from him, sprawled out beside Anna.
Arwin staggered toward them, barely able to keep himself upright.
“Reya! Are you⁠—”
Reya pushed herself over. The front of her chest piece, running from her
shoulders down to just above her waist, had been ripped to shreds. Several
furrows ran through her skin, but they were no deeper than half an inch. The
armor had prevented the damage from being fatal.
“Look at that,” Reya said with a weak smile. “It held up after all.”
A laugh slipped out of Arwin’s mouth, rocking his body with such
intensity that he had to grab on to a tree to keep from falling over. And, in
his laughter, he just barely noticed a flicker of golden light dancing through
the air.

Achievement: [Shieldbreaker] has been earned.

[Shieldbreaker] – Awarded for shattering the armor of an enemy more
than 1 tier stronger than you. Effects: You may choose to add the
[Shieldbreaker] trait to 1 item you forge. This achievement will be
consumed upon use.

Arwin had absolutely no idea what Shieldbreaker did, but he could

venture a guess—and it sounded like it would be perfect for his hammer
when he got around to making it.
“Arwin?” Reya whispered, pulling him from his thoughts. She spoke so
silently that he barely overheard her over the rush of blood in his ears.
Arwin turned toward her. “Yes?”
“I got a class.”
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T
he group hightailed it out of the forest as quickly as they could, only
pausing so Arwin could grab the scale he’d broken off the wyrm. Anna
had used just about all the healing magic she had to repair Arwin’s leg
as quickly as she had, so she had to sling Reya’s arm over her shoulder and
help her stumble through the trees.
Rodrick offered similar help to Arwin, but he refused it. He was dazed
and completely drained of energy, but not to the point where he couldn’t
walk on his own. And, even if he’d needed help, he was too curious about
what class Reya had been offered to consider it.
They continued until they’d left the forest and put about ten minutes of
travel between it and themselves. Reya and Anna finally flopped on the
grass, lying flat on their backs. Rodrick and Arwin sat down beside them.
“I can’t believe we’re alive,” Rodrick said, laughing into the palms of
his hands. “The gods-damned wyrm. Can you believe that?”
“What in the Nine Underlands was it doing outside?” Anna demanded,
sounding considerably less happy. “Wyrms don’t go above ground!
Everyone knows that!”
Arwin would have loved to correct her, but Anna was right. Everything
he knew about wyrms agreed with her claim. They were wingless, basically
large dragon-lizards that relied on idiots stumbling into their nests rather
than proper hunting.
“You’re right,” Arwin said. “I don’t know why it was so aggressive, but
there’s nothing wrong with celebrating life.”
 “You know what I want to know?” Rodrick looked over to Arwin. “How
in the world did you take a bite out of a bloody sword?”
“With my teeth.”
“That’s not what I meant and you know it,” Rodrick said. “I didn’t see
that wrong, did I, Anna?”
“No, he definitely ate his sword,” Anna said with a disbelieving laugh.
“I figured we were kind of just going to ignore it. I’ve seen stranger things
in life.”
“Have you?” Rodrick asked.
“No,” Anna admitted. “I was trying to be polite. Maybe it’s just a
hobby.”
“Who eats swords as a hobby in the middle of a fight with a wyrm?”
Rodrick asked, aghast.
“I’m right here, you know,” Arwin said dryly.
“Don’t eat my sword, please. I like it,” Rodrick said.
“No promises.” The corners of Arwin’s lips quirked up in a smile and
Rodrick hurriedly put his hand over the hilt of his sword, much to Anna’s
amusement.
“Odd hobbies or not, we won’t tell anyone,” Anna promised. “It just
took us by surprise.”
“It’s appreciated,” Arwin said, meaning it. It probably wouldn’t be a big
deal if people figured out he could eat metal—a lot of classes could do
some pretty strange things—but it would give away that he had either a
Unique class or ability.
“Reya, how are you doing?”
Reya poked at her damaged armor. “Alive. It stings really bad, though.”
“Good,” Arwin said. “You damn near got yourself killed. You’re
incredibly lucky to be alive, Reya. Don’t get me wrong—I deeply
appreciate your help, and you gave me the opening I needed, but you need
to be careful. Your life is worth more than using it as a sacrifice to draw a
monster’s attention for a brief second.”
Reya swallowed and nodded. “Yeah. I just didn’t know what else to do.
It looked like you were about to lose, and the only idea I had was… well,
that.”
“As long as the lesson was learned, then that’s all that matters. Just
don’t do it again. What’s done is done, so there’s no need to dwell on it any
further. There are much more interesting things to speak on.”
 “My class,” Reya finished. She touched her bleeding stomach again and
winced slightly. “What do I choose?”
“You haven’t told us what you got yet,” Rodrick said.
Reya sent a glance toward Arwin, and he shrugged in response. Anna
and Rodrick had returned to save his life when they hadn’t had to. If Reya
wanted to trust them, it was her decision, not his.
“I’m sorry I don’t have any more healing left right now,” Anna said
apologetically. “We could cover our ears if you’d prefer?”
“It’s fine,” Reya said after a few moments. “You won’t tell anyone,
right?”
“Not a soul,” Rodrick promised, pressing a hand to his chest. “But I will
be telling the story of how a girl without a class charged a fucking wyrm
like she was the Hero himself. I don’t think I’m ever going to forget that
sight.”
Reya’s cheeks reddened. “Arwin needed a distraction to hit the wyrm
again, and it wasn’t going to do anything if we kept throwing rocks at it. I
figured drastic measures were in order.”
“What, did you plan on getting stuck in its teeth while it chewed you?”
Anna asked with a mixture of humor and admonishment. “You need to live
through the fights you win, you know. Arwin was right.”
“I lived!”
“Barely,” Anna muttered. She rubbed her arm, then shook her head.
“Whatever. I’m not your mom. But if you’re going to say what classes you
can choose from, do it quickly. I’m going to die from anticipation.”
“I got three options,” Reya said. “The first one is Warrior.”
“Good class,” Rodrick said.
“You’re biased,” Anna replied without missing a beat. “Warrior can be a
good choice if you’re interested in being at the front of a fight, but that
doesn’t sound like what you were hoping for. What about the other
options?”
“The second one was the Berserker,” Reya continued. “It’s Unique.”
“Holy shit,” Rodrick said. “I’ve heard of that one. The normal version
of it, at least. Real strong warriors, very difficult to stop once they get
going. That’s a really good class. I can see why you got it, considering you
charged a wyrm with no way to fight it.”
“What about the last one?” Arwin asked. Berserker still wasn’t what
Reya had been looking for, and he’d known his fair share of berserkers. The
class was definitely powerful, and a Unique variant of it would be even
stronger, but it didn’t fit Reya’s personality at all.
“Warden,” Reya said, her voice dropping to a whisper. “Unique as
well.”
Rodrick let out a whistle. “I’ve never heard of that. Anna?”
“Same, but let me remind you that Unique doesn’t always mean good.
It’s just been differentiated by the standard for some reason or another. A lot
of Unique things can be pretty damn bad, so don’t go choosing anything
just because it’s different,” Anna warned with a shake of her head. “Do you
know what it is, Arwin?”
To Arwin’s surprise, he hadn’t heard of it either. It wasn’t like he knew
of every class in existence, of course, but he’d expected to at least recognize
the name if not understand it perfectly.
“I’ve got no idea. Never heard of it,” Arwin said. “What does the
information about it say?”
“It’s a class meant to control and restrain opponents rather than outright
kill them by pitting our willpower against each other. It isn’t very
descriptive.” Reya bit her lower lip in thought. “None of them are what I
thought I’d get.”
It sounds like she might have actually gotten Warden because she chose
to spare the other lizard. I wonder if the wyrm fight had anything to do with
it. Interesting. I don’t want to influence her choice, but a class that I’ve
never heard of is pretty interesting. Then again, if the berserker has some
form of draconic or wyrm influence on it, that could be pretty nasty.
“What are you thinking, then?” Rodrick asked. “You’ve got some really
good selections there. I could see all of those being very powerful in the
future.”
“I didn’t think I’d get the chance to choose at all,” Reya admitted. She
touched one of the wounds on her stomach and winced slightly, pulling her
hand back and rubbing her fingers together, smearing the blood across
them. “There’s only one of these that I think I could see myself doing,
though.”
She reached out, touching something invisible in the air. Faint golden
sparkles swirled around her, sinking into Reya’s skin and flaring behind her
eyes. She stiffened, then drew in a slow breath as her eyes unfocused, likely
reading information about her new class.
“What did you go with?” Rodrick asked.
 “Warden,” Reya replied, tearing her gaze away from the invisible
presence of the Mesh before her. “I don’t want to be a warrior, and running
around with my top off didn’t seem very appealing.”
Anna let out a snort. “Can’t say I blame you. Berserkers all have a death
wish anyway. It’s a good class, but I think you probably made the right
choice. You might have a little difficulty finding anyone to train you, but I
suspect it’ll be worth it in the long run.”
“I hope so,” Reya said. She touched the wound on her chest again, and
Anna smacked her hand away.
“Stop doing that. You’re going to get dirt in it, and it’ll be harder to
heal. Infections are much more difficult to repair than normal injuries.”
“There’s a difference in healing wounds?” Reya asked.
“Yeah. The worse the damage is, the harder it is to heal. Pretty
straightforward. It gets more complex when viruses and diseases get
involved, though. You can get little living things running around in your
body, wreaking havoc, and healing magic can’t kill stuff. It’s not pretty.”
Reya swallowed and pointedly stuck her hands beneath her backside to
keep herself from touching the wound again. “Okay. Can you heal it soon?”
“In a few minutes. I don’t have enough energy yet, and I want to get it
all at once rather than sealing the wound over and leaving something behind
that’ll scar too badly.” Anna glanced over her shoulder at the forest, then
shook her head. “My legs are still shaking. I don’t understand why that
wyrm was there.”
“Monsters don’t change their routines unless something makes them
change,” Arwin said with a thoughtful frown. “And for the wyrm to change
how it typically acts means that it’s likely we aren’t seeing the cause but
rather the effect. Something happened in the forest.”
“The wyrm is the strongest monster in there,” Rodrick pointed out.
“What’s going to be enough of a threat to it that it would have to start being
more aggressive?”
“I don’t know,” Arwin admitted. “I’ll be honest—I’m just happy to be
alive and that Reya got her class. I’m sorry we didn’t actually get to do any
proper hunting, though.”
“Are you kidding? I think I just witnessed a legend in the making,”
Rodrick said with a burst of laughter. “I wouldn’t trade that for anything.
Also, I’m begging you at this point. Introduce me to the smith that made
Reya’s armor. That thing held up against a bleeding wyrm.”
 “Technically, it broke.”
“Are you kidding? That armor was made out of Forest Lizard scales,
wasn’t it? Those things have no right standing up to a wyrm in the slightest,
but it managed to stop a blow and didn’t even have any magic infused into
it.”
“I’m not sure I’d say it stopped the blow,” Arwin said, sending a critical
glance at Reya’s armor. “She got injured.”
“She should be dead,” Anna said. “Rodrick is right. Forest Lizard scales
couldn’t have done that on their own. The smith made them harder while
forging the armor. That’s a really impressive piece of gear. We’d understand
if the smith isn’t interested in new clients right now, though.”
Anna sent Rodrick a pointed glance when she said the last sentence,
making sure he wouldn’t push any more. Arwin kept a laugh from passing
through his lips as Rodrick sheepishly nodded his agreement.
For a few seconds, he considered the two adventurers. He didn’t truly
know them that well, but if he wanted to start a guild, he needed people.
These two had more than proven themselves, and they weren’t aligned with
the Adventurers’ Guild.
They came back to help me when they had no reward from it. If I can’t
trust them, then I don’t know if I can trust anyone ever again.
“Are you in a guild right now?” Arwin asked.
Rodrick and Anna exchanged a surprised look before shaking their
heads.
“No,” Rodrick said. “We’ve stayed away from them after our
experience in the guild. I know there are smaller ones, but they’ve all got
recruitment requirements that I haven’t met. They’d take Anna in a
heartbeat, though.”
“Except I’m not joining them without you. They’d just use me as a
mobile health station anyway. I don’t want to lose my autonomy.” Anna
crossed her arms and shook her head. “Why do you ask? Are you part of
one?”
“Technically, yes.”
“Technically, no,” Reya said, glancing at Arwin out of the corners of her
eyes.
Arwin cleared his throat. “Okay, technically no. But in spirit, yes.”
“What’s that meant to mean?” Rodrick asked.
 “I started a guild myself. It’s just a few people in it right now,” Arwin
said carefully. “We aren’t official or anything, but there aren’t any of the
restrictions that other guilds have. It’s pretty much just us right now.”
“The blacksmith is part of your guild?” Rodrick tilted his head to the
side. “Damn. How’d you pay him to join? Are you secretly rich?”
Arwin burst into laughter. “Money is the one thing I don’t have.”
Not yet, at least.
“I take it this is an invitation to join, then?” Anna asked.
Arwin nodded. “Yes. I don’t plan to grow fast, but you’ve both more
than proven yourselves. I honestly don’t know how much we can offer you,
but I can promise that we won’t screw you over.”
“We’ll be able to hire the smith if we join?” Anna asked.
“I’d say so.”
“What about term limits?” Rodrick asked. “Is there a set amount of time
we’d have to stay?”
Arwin hadn’t put much thought into that. He hadn’t actually been
planning on recruiting new members quite yet, but the words had left his
mouth before he’d properly thought through them. “No limits. Leave if you
want, but I’d ask that you keep anything you find to yourselves. It’s not like
I can enforce that, but I’d ask it nonetheless.”
Rodrick leaned in closer to Anna and whispered something into her ear.
She thought for a second, then looked back at Arwin and gave him a small
nod.
“If there aren’t restrictions on it, then I think we can tentatively accept.
You’re the first one that hasn’t tried to cheat or otherwise get an upper hand
out of partnering with a healer.”
“Is that common?” Arwin blinked in surprise.
“You’ve got no idea,” Rodrick said. “Half the people we join up with try
to convince Anna to leave me and join their party. Bunch of assholes.”
“It’s a pain,” Anna agreed. “But you know what you’re doing. So, for
the time being, we’ll join. It’s not an official guild yet from the sounds of
things, so it’s really not that much of a commitment. I promise we won’t
share anything you don’t want us to, though.”
Anna held her hand out and Arwin took it, shaking once. He’d never
had trouble getting healers as the Hero, but every day he spent in his new
life reminded him of just how different things really were.
 “So, about that smith…” Rodrick hedged. “When can we meet him? I
probably can’t afford anything he makes yet, but I’d love to have a look and
start daydreaming.”
Arwin grinned. “The only people in my guild are Reya and me.”
“Wait, what?” Rodrick’s face creased with a frown. “But you said…”
“That you could meet the smith,” Arwin finished with a nod. Rodrick’s
eyes went as wide as saucers as Arwin held his hand out. “Pleasure to meet
you. I’m the smith.”

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“W ait,” Rodrick stammered, taking a step back. “That’s not possible.

You can’t be the smith. You were fighting!”
“So I was.”
“You’re better at fighting than I am!”
“Probably.”
“Stronger too!”
“Most definitely.”
“How?” Rodrick demanded. “A crafter shouldn’t be able to do that!”
Arwin shrugged in response. “Not every class is built the same, and not
every person is content with their lot in life.”
“I’ll be damned,” Anna said, shaking her head and letting a smile slip
across her lips. “You’ve got a Unique class?”
“I do,” Arwin confirmed. “One that lets me ride the line between crafter
and warrior. I made the armor that we’re wearing.”
Rodrick looked down at his scale mail greaves, then back up to Arwin,
shaking his head in disbelief. “You know what? I’m jealous. Screw you.”
They all burst into laughter. Anna made her way over to Reya and
pressed her hands to the wounds on her chest, sending soft light into the
bloodied furrows and sealing them back over. Once she was finished, she
helped Reya to her feet.
“So… do we get a discount or something?” Rodrick asked with a sly
grin. “We’re friends, right?”
 “Friends get the right to buy gear from me in the first place,” Arwin
replied without missing a beat. “No discounts.”
“Damn it,” Rodrick said. Anna glared at him and he rubbed the back of
his head, giving them a sheepish grin. “It was worth a shot. How much
would it run me to get a full set of armor like the stuff you’ve got on your
legs?”
Arwin considered his greaves. They’d definitely saved his life more
than once during the fight with the wyrm, and they were still in good shape.
His scale mail shirt was in worse condition, and he was pretty sure his
entire body was bruised, but he’d avoided any further injury.
“The greaves were quite effective. I haven’t figured out how to make
them into a chest piece, helmet, gauntlets, or boots yet,” Arwin admitted.
“I’ll give you a more accurate quote for how much it’ll cost you once I
have. For the greaves alone, I’d probably ask for around 100 gold.”
Rodrick let out a whistle. “Makes sense. It gives me something to save
up for, then. Does that include the cost of materials?”
“Yes. If you bring me all the scales I need, I can probably knock it down
to eighty.”
Though, if you stick around the guild and prove to be trustworthy, I’ll
probably make something free of cost. Definitely not saying that out loud.
I’m not trying to bribe people to stay. That gets the wrong kind of attention.
“Perfect,” Rodrick said with a grin. He rubbed his hands together, then
froze when he spotted Anna glaring at him.
“Stop doing business. We’re supposed to be celebrating,” Anna
admonished. “Reya just got her class!”
“It doesn’t feel real,” Reya muttered, looking down at her hands before
lifting her gaze back up to them. “I’m not dreaming, right?”
“If you were dreaming, I’d hope you could think up better company.”
Rodrick let out a cackle and slapped Reya on the back. “Welcome to the life
of an adventurer, lass. May it lead us to riches and—well, more riches,
hopefully.”
“Perhaps we should head back to town,” Anna suggested. “I think I’ve
had more excitement than I’d planned on today. Do you have a guild hall?”
Arwin cleared his throat. “Er… no. Not really.”
“We have a crumbling smithy,” Reya supplied.
“That’s not all,” Arwin protested. “We also have two beds.”
Anna and Rodrick stared at them.
 “It’s a work in progress,” Arwin dismissed his armor with [Arsenal] and
scratched at his back. “We’ll get there.”
“You know what?” Anna asked. “I believe you. That doesn’t change the
fact that I’d be willing to stab someone for a good meal and bed right about
now. I’m exhausted. Watching people nearly get killed will do that to you.”
“You’ll get used to it,” Arwin said absently, not thinking much of his
words until he noticed the looks on Rodrick and Anna’s faces.
“You’ve been through some shit, haven’t you?” Rodrick asked, the
usual cheer gone from his voice.
Arwin grunted and shook his head. The last thing he needed was their
pity. “No matter. Anna was right. We should be celebrating Reya’s new
class, and I’ve got some work to do. Let’s head back.”

The group returned to town without any further incidents. Rodrick and
Anna broke off when they passed by the Gleaming Swordfish—they still
had a few days paid for in the tavern, and there was no point wasting them.
Arwin and Reya slipped into Milten’s alleyways, traveling through the
darkness until they found themselves back on their street. Before Arwin
could make for the smithy, Reya caught his wrist. He turned to her in
surprise.
“What is it?”
Reya’s cheeks reddened and she shifted her feet. “Could we go to the
tavern? I… kind of want to tell Lillia that I got my class. I’m gonna wait for
the right time, though. We can wait until she starts bringing out the food,
and then I’ll tell her. The look on her face will be great!”
Arwin paused. He didn’t have a good excuse to avoid the Demon
Queen. It didn’t look like either of them was going to blow the other’s
cover, but it was still stressful. Still, she hadn’t done anything to justify his
reluctance.
Beyond that, there were some things he needed to ask someone who
understood monsters—and Lillia probably understood them better than
anyone else. Arwin sighed and nodded. “I suppose so.”
“Yes!” Reya cheered, pumping a hand in the air. “Let’s go!”
 She darted down the street and over to the tavern. Arwin shook his head
and followed after her at a much more leisurely pace, arriving several
seconds after Reya had already entered the building.
The heavy darkness that followed the Demon Queen remained exactly
as it had been before, cloaking the tavern before Arwin had even gotten a
chance to step through the door. He squinted as he ducked through the
doorway, but to his surprise, there was actually some light within.
Several faint spots of orange flickered on the walls, cast by candles
within old lanterns. Their glow barely made it a few feet out, but it was just
enough to see by—at least, if one was close enough to the light.
Lillia had also managed to procure several new mismatched chairs by
her counter. One was far too short for its purpose, but chairs were still
chairs. Reya had already taken one for herself.
Walking up beside her, Arwin tested one of the other chairs before
lowering his weight into it. The piles of dust and rubble that had covered
the floor of the tavern had been removed as well—Lillia had been hard at
work. It still didn’t look anything like a proper tavern, but it was several
steps in the right direction.
A shadow stretched out in the dim light as Lillia stepped out of the
kitchen, a pan in her hands. She smiled as she saw Reya, then paused as she
spotted Arwin behind her. Her eyes flicked down to the pan and her cheeks
reddened.
“One moment,” Lillia said, darting back into the kitchen.
“Oooh,” Reya whispered, leaning closer to Arwin. “She likes it. She
took your advice about the monster theme as well! She’s trying to make the
tavern look like a dungeon.”
“I—Yeah. I suppose so,” Arwin said, looking around again. Lillia really
did look like she’d liked the pan. She must have, if she was using it.
Arwin still had a small frown on his lips when Lillia came back out
from the kitchen, wiping her hands off on her apron. “What can I get for
you two?”
“I got my class!” Reya exclaimed, unable to control herself any longer.
“I thought you were going to wait until the food came,” Arwin said.
“I got impatient.”
“You got your class?” Lillia repeated, her eyes lighting up. “That’s
incredible! Congratulations! What class did you get?”
Ah, wait. Maybe we shouldn’t be telling the Demon Queen⁠—
 “A Unique one called Warden,” Reya said without a second of
hesitation. Arwin repressed a grimace, watching Lillia’s expression closely
to study how she reacted.
To his surprise, the only thing he found in it was shared joy. Lillia was
genuinely happy for Reya. It didn’t look like she had any ulterior motives in
the slightest.
Perhaps I’m more caught up in the past than she is. We already called a
truce, but some part of me never thought that the Demon Queen would be
able to just… start a normal life. Care about people like she cares about
monsters.
Could I do that if I were in her shoes? I’m not sure.
“I’ve never heard of Warden,” Lillia said. “That’s incredible. Great job,
Reya. You have to be really proud of yourself.”
“I had a lot of help,” Reya said with a grin, looking back to Arwin.
“Also, my armor got completely destroyed.”
“So I see,” Lillia said with a wince. “You look like you got healed,
though. What hit you?”
“A wyrm.”
Lillia’s eyes bulged out of her head. “A wyrm? You survived a wyrm at
your tier?”
“Yeah. If it weren’t for Arwin, I wouldn’t have. It was terrifying,” Reya
admitted. “But we lived. That’s what matters, right?”
“I—Yeah. It is,” Lillia said. “Well, what can I get for you? It’s on the
house in celebration of your new class.”
“Oh, really? Could I have cake?”
Lillia cleared her throat. “I should amend my offer. I only have
ingredients to make a steak right now.”
“I’ll take a steak, then.”
“Coming right up,” Lillia said, flashing Reya a grin before darting back
into the kitchen. It didn’t take long before the sizzle of cooking meat filled
the air. Arwin glanced around the tavern while they waited.
Lillia really had put a lot of effort into improving it. It was clear just
how much she wanted everything to work out, and Arwin felt a pang of
sympathy at the lack of people in the tavern.
I’m sure they’ll start coming soon enough once word gets out.
Minutes slipped by, and Lillia finally emerged from the back with a
steak on a plate of metal. It didn’t have anything accompanying it, but as far
as steaks went, it actually looked pretty good.
She set it down before Reya, then turned to Arwin. “What about you?
Want something?”
“I already ate today,” Arwin said, a small smile flickering across his
face before falling away. “But if you don’t mind, I’d like to talk. Privately.”

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L
illia didn’t respond for several seconds. Arwin held her gaze while
Reya looked from one of them to the other, then pulled her steak closer
and very pointedly avoided looking up from it.
“Fine,” Lillia said curtly. She turned on her heel and strode into the
kitchen. Arwin followed after her, assuming that she was giving him an
unspoken invitation to follow. A part of him wanted to summon his armor
and sword, but he’d already eaten the sword, and summoning his armor
would only make it look like he was planning on fighting.
Arwin stepped past the dim light of the lantern and entered the kitchen.
It was more of a long hallway with some cooking utensils and an old
cooktop on one side. Lillia stood at the far end of the hall, leaning against
the wall in a patch of shadow with her arms crossed.
He could tell that her guard was up. Her eyes traced his movements,
and, despite her casual pose, the muscles in her body were tensed. She was
ready to spring into motion the instant he did anything aggressive.
For a moment, it felt like it had so many times before. Arwin had lost
count of the number of times they’d stood before each other just like this
before launching into a fight. A fight that inevitably always ended the same
way.
The back of Arwin’s neck tingled as his mind screamed at him to be
wary of the shadows. He was within the Demon Queen’s domain—unarmed
and unable to properly fight back if she tried to attack.
 “Well?” Lillia asked, her lips thin. Her words were curt, but there was
fear in them. Not fear of him; Arwin was certain of that much. They’d never
been scared of each other. He was pretty sure he knew exactly what the fear
was.
It was fear of losing what she’d been building. Her tavern—and his
smithy—sat suspended on a thin cord. The moment either he or Lillia
pulled just a little too hard, it would snap.
And yet, ignoring the problem could only solve things for so long.
There were too many questions. He had enemies, and he didn’t even know
who they were. At one point, the Demon Queen had been one of them.
Now… Arwin wasn’t so sure.
“What do you want?” Lillia asked. “Stop staring at me. If you’re going
to try to run me through, I dare you to give it a try. See what happens.”
“Who are you?” Arwin finally asked, finding the words he was looking
for.
The Demon Queen stared at Arwin. “What? Did you hit your head on
something? You know damn well who I am, and I know who you are.”
“No, you don’t.” Arwin shook his head. “You knew who I was. I’m not
that man any longer. He’s dead. I didn’t ask who you used to be. I’m asking
who you are. Right now. Who are you?”
A second passed. Then two. The Demon Queen ran her tongue along her
lips, considering Arwin quietly. Finally, a smirk flickered across her lips.
“What does it look like? I’m living in a rundown tavern with nothing
but a cobbled-together kitchen. I’m an innkeeper. That’s it. That’s all I want
to be.”
“Then I am just the smith that lives down the road. That’s all I want to
be.”
“That’s not what it sounded like to me. Reya’s been talking about how
you want to start up a guild. That’s not something a blacksmith does.”
“A blacksmith makes armor. I’m just taking my armor a bit further,”
Arwin said, a wry smile flickering across his lips. “Doesn’t an innkeeper
want more than just an inn? You want a community.”
Lillia let her head incline, the confusion and tension slowly leaving her
form. She stepped to the side, then flicked a hand. Some of the darkness
swirling around her abated, revealing a doorway that Arwin had previously
missed.
 Within it was a matted pile of straw in the shape of a bed. It looked
horribly uncomfortable, though Arwin suspected it was probably far better
than the floor. After sending one last glance at Arwin, Lillia stepped into the
room and sat down on the far end of the bed.
It was a silent invitation, an acceptance of the continued truce Arwin
had offered. Every single thing Arwin knew about the Demon Queen
screamed at him not to accept it. She was a devious opponent with immense
power that grew stronger still the closer he got to her sanctum—and if
anywhere in her tavern was a sanctum, then it would be her room.
I’m not speaking with the Demon Queen, though. The person before me
is nothing more than Lillia the Innkeeper.
Arwin stepped inside. He sat down on the far side of the straw mattress,
leaving his side completely exposed. If Lillia had wanted to, she probably
could have run him through before he even realized she was moving.
Granted, he suspected he could have summoned his armor before she
did any lasting damage, but Lillia made no moves. Neither of them spoke
for a few more seconds. Finally, Arwin broke the silence.
“I didn’t realize you could reduce the darkness around you.”
“It’s not easy. Normally, I have to completely drain myself of my
energy.” Lillia spoke softly, and Arwin could tell by how her voice was
muted that she wasn’t looking at him either. “I’ve been working on trying to
control it more, though. Nobody wants to eat at an inn where you can’t see
the food.”
“There’s an appeal to it if you sell it the right way,” Arwin said with a
small smile. “Especially if the food doesn’t look good.”
“Say that again and Lillia the Innkeeper is going to stab you with her
tail.”
Arwin snorted. “I never said it didn’t look good. I just said the darkness
would help if it didn’t.”
“My point still stands.”
“Should an innkeeper even have a tail? I’d think you’d be trying to hide
it.”
Something moved in the corner of Arwin’s vision, and he glanced over
as Lillia brought her barbed tail to flick in the air before her, a pensive
expression on her face. “I was going to, until someone suggested that a
monster-themed inn might actually work.”
“You’re really going with it, then?”
 “It wasn’t a half bad idea.”
Arwin grunted. “I’d say so. I just didn’t think you’d agree. Isn’t it…
concerning? What if someone catches on?”
“Who would?” Lillia snorted. “Let’s be real. What would either of us
ever be doing here? It’s so ludicrous that it’s impossible to comprehend.
The worst that could happen would be some idiot thinking I’m a low-rank
demon, but I don’t think I’m anywhere near popular enough to draw
attention that could make that a problem.”
“That’s true enough,” Arwin allowed.
“Did you really come here just to have small talk?” Her voice was
guarded—she was waiting for him to try something. Arwin didn’t blame
her, since he half-expected Lillia to do the same.
“Do you really get to talk to that many people?” Arwin raised an
eyebrow. “Perhaps I thought you just needed some company.”
To his surprise, Lillia winced. “You aren’t wrong. It’s… a nice change
of pace. I’ve started to get a little too used to the voice in my own head.”
“Hopefully, only one.”
Lillia glared at him. “I’m not insane. There’s only one. Usually. An inn
isn’t meant to be quiet, you know.”
Arwin started to nod, then paused. “Wait. I thought you mostly wanted
to cook for people. Did you want to actually run an inn?”
“Inn, tavern. Both. One day, at least.” Lillia sighed, then looked up at
the ceiling, letting a small smile flit across her features. “I can picture it.
Maybe I’m delusional, but I can’t shake the thought of a full room. It would
be so noisy. I’d have to yell over people so they’d be able to hear what I’m
saying.”
Arwin was surprised to find that he did understand what she meant. He
wasn’t so sure he wanted his smithy to be so popular he couldn’t hear
himself think, but the idea of lines stretching out the door just to buy his
work did strike a hungry spark deep within him.
Even though he was well aware that selling magical items to the general
populace was a bad idea at the moment, it was nothing more than an idle
daydream where logic had no place.
“I don’t think it’s delusional,” Arwin said. “It’s better than what we
were doing.”
The smile fell away from Lillia’s lips. “Yeah. It is.”
 “Why were you doing it in the first place?” Arwin asked, turning to look
at her front-on for the first time since they’d sat down. “I don’t understand.
You aren’t the person I thought you were.”
“The fact that you’re referring to me as a person rather than a demon
seems a bit off as well,” Lillia said with a snort, shifting and crossing her
legs beneath her so she could match Arwin’s gaze. “I was about to ask you
the same thing.”
“Ask me what? Why I was defending my people?”
“Defending?” Lillia scoffed. “More like hunting.”
Arwin’s brow furrowed in confusion. “Hunting? All I ever did was keep
your army from advancing. The only time I struck first was when your
forces were pushed so deeply into human territory that I had to attack
before you could torch villages. I just don’t see how the person that’s so
eager to have a joyous tavern was slaughtering entire families without
leaving a single survivor.”
Lillia nearly choked on her indignation as she thrust a finger into
Arwin’s chest. “The absolute gall to claim that when you’re the one who
murdered countless innocents and torched their villages to the ground. Your
hands are stained with more blood than you can ever wash off.”
“Murder?” Arwin’s eyes narrowed. “The only things I killed were the
ones trying to rip my throat out.”
“Children were trying to kill you?” Lillia crossed her arms. “Bullshit.”
“Children?” Arwin blinked. “I never killed any children.”
“Just because you don’t see monsters as rational beings doesn’t
mean⁠—”
“Did they look like actual children?”
“What?” Lillia blinked. “What kind of question is that?”
“Was it obvious they were children? They resembled human children?”
“With monster traits, but yes. Many of them did.”
Arwin stared at Lillia, but he couldn’t find any deception in her face.
She seemed to be telling the truth, but that made absolutely no sense. Arwin
didn’t remember the faces of everyone he’d killed, but he’d never killed a
child.
“I never did that,” Arwin said. “I didn’t kill any children. I’d remember
that. I know I would. You’re the one who⁠—”
Lillia was shaking her head before Arwin could finish speaking. “I’d
never kill a kid. I’ve killed more humans than I can ever remember, and
some of them were younger than me, but no kids. Not unless you were
sending kids against me in your armies.”
“Of course we didn’t,” Arwin snapped. His mind whirred, trying to
make sense of Lillia’s words, but the answer was staring him right in the
face, no matter how badly he wanted to ignore it. “You’re telling the truth.”
“You’re telling me that you thought I was going around slaughtering
villages of people for no reason?” Lillia demanded. “What, did you think
that I was just some monster that loved killing? I was defending my land!”
“I think we both were.” A sinking pit formed in Arwin’s stomach. “We
got played.”

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“P layed?” Lillia asked, anger and confusion mixing in her tone. “What
are you talking about? Are you saying that everything that you did to
my people was just a game to you?”
“What? No. It wasn’t a game. We were the game. The pieces, at least,”
Arwin said, speaking faster as pieces started to slot together. He wasn’t sure
if they were the right ones, but they began to form a picture he couldn’t
remove. “Forget me for a moment. Did your guild—or whoever it was that
aided with your army and management—did they ever do anything… off?”
Lillia blinked, the vexation taken from her features as she was forced to
think for a moment. “Off? What are you talking about?”
There was a sinking understanding in her words that told Arwin he was
on the right track. He just wasn’t sure if that was something to be happy
about or not.
“Actions that didn’t line up with what they claimed. The guild told me
they wanted me to be the strongest adventurer so I could fight off the
Horde, and yet they didn’t tell me how important getting Achievements
early on was,” Arwin said. “Anything like that?”
Lillia swallowed, her eyes drifting as she sifted through memories. Her
features went flat. “Yes. They did the same thing. I was Archon-tier before I
realized that the true power in classes came from Achievements rather than
pure tiers.”
“What about your army? Did they let you vet it?”
“No. They always said I had⁠—”
 “Other things that were far more important, such as training to defeat
the Hero of Lian?”
Lillia swallowed again, realization starting to set in. “Yes.”
“They told me the same shit,” Arwin said. “Except my line was to
defeat the Demon Queen. Everything else was the same. Did they let you
use any of the armor or weapons you ever picked up?”
“No. I had to use the stuff they made in the guild. What about your
orders? Did you ever speak to anyone outside of the guild for them?”
“No. Everything came from the guild leader or one of his subordinates.
I didn’t get any outside information aside from when I was out on missions,
and the guild always herded my group straight to the battles without letting
me spend too much time in the cities. They were always watching us to
make sure we wouldn’t learn too much, weren’t they?”
They stared at each other. There wasn’t a single word that could
properly encapsulate the emotions Arwin was feeling, but Lillia gave her
best shot at it.
“Fuck.” Lillia leaned closer to squint at his features. “You didn’t kill
kids?”
“No more than you did.”
“The villages?”
“Not me.”
Lillia rocked back, her eyes wide with disbelief. “You’re telling the
truth—but I saw your men torching villages with my own eyes. I literally
watched innocents get cut down in front of me. That was your army!”
“Just like I saw your army doing the same,” Arwin said. “I don’t think
either of us are wrong. Your army did destroy human cities, and I suspect
mine did the same to monster cities. A portion of the army, at least. I can’t
imagine they were all in on it. It was always raids, and we always got the
information too late to properly interfere. A few times, that could have been
a coincidence. But with the amount it happened? The more I think about it,
the more impossible it feels. The only way we could have kept missing the
attacks and showing up late was if the other army knew exactly where we
were.”
“I never saw you at the attacks, but I heard claims you’d retreated. We
only fought when our full armies were clashing, and I never saw you retreat
once. The Monster Coalition always sent people to pull me out, claiming
they’d shown up just in time to save me. I never thought about it, but it
looked like your soldiers reinforced you at the same time. I thought that was
just them making sure we didn’t overrun you, but did they tell you⁠—”
“The same thing,” Arwin confirmed. “They’d arrive just as I was
running low on energy and pull me out. It seemed like they were trying to
keep me safe, but I think the truth was they wanted to make sure neither of
us died yet.”
Dread covered Lillia’s features. “Why? Why would anyone do that?
And who? You’re telling me the whole war was completely artificial?”
“I don’t know. I don’t understand it at all,” Arwin said, running his
hands through his hair and shaking his head. It felt like the floor had
collapsed out from under him. Even though he’d already decided that Lillia
wasn’t his enemy anymore, this was something more.
She’d never been his enemy in the first place. She’d been fighting for
the exact same thing he had.
“I can’t believe this,” Lillia muttered into the palms of her hands. “So
many people died. What about your closest group? The ones that were
always with you? Were they⁠—”
“Never left my side for long enough to destroy a town.”
Lillia looked like she wanted to throw up. “I killed so many of them.
They were just trying to defend their homes?”
Arwin’s stomach sank even further.
“Fuck. Your lieutenants were the same?”
“Always with me. I chose them myself. The only members of my army
I was allowed to choose,” Lillia muttered, her eyes boring into the ground.
Were we only allowed to choose our circles because they knew we’d kill
each other anyway?
Arwin’s throat constricted and his hands tightened at his sides. He’d
always been convinced that his blade had been wielded for justice, but it
was completely soaked through with the blood of innocents.
“I’m so sorry,” Arwin said. “I didn’t know. I thought⁠—”
“We both did, didn’t we?” Lillia asked bitterly. “I can’t believe I’m
saying this, but I believe you. Things line up too well to pull wool over my
eyes and even try to believe anything else.”
They sat on either corner of the bed wordlessly for nearly a minute.
Arwin stared at the dark wall until it swam before his eyes, but it wasn’t
changing anything. His friends were dead, and so were Lillia’s.
 Someone had used both of them like puppets and thrown them to the
side. Arwin had absolutely no idea why they’d been left alive, but he’d have
been willing to bet everything he had that neither he nor Lillia had been
meant to survive the explosion.
He glanced over at the former Demon Queen. Her shoulders were
hunched, and her face was buried deep into her hands. Arwin had already
suspected some degree of betrayal, so as hard as the news had hit him, his
subconscious had already been prepared for it to some degree.
To Lillia, it was completely out of the blue, and he didn’t envy her.
Having to handle the full revelation at once would have shattered
everything he knew. Arwin was far from the best at comforting anyone,
though.
He raised a hand, staring at it as if it were a foreign instrument, before
slowly reaching out and uncomfortably setting it on Lillia’s shoulder. She
stiffened but made no move to remove it.
“Do you have any idea who would have done this?” Lillia asked, her
voice muffled. “What was the point?”
“I have a theory,” Arwin said. “Two of them, actually.”
Lillia’s head snapped up, and she locked eyes with him. Specks of
molten fury danced within them. “Tell me. Now.”
“Do you recall the gem that was in my armor?” Arwin asked. “The
black one.”
“Yes. It was a backup strategy to kill me, wasn’t it?”
“No. I have no damn idea what it was,” Arwin said with a shake of his
head. “But I think it could have been a failsafe. I didn’t put it there, and I
oversaw my armor. The Adventurers’ Guild would have been the only ones
that could have modified it, but it doesn’t make sense why they didn’t tell
me about it. If I knew I had a bomb that could kill you, I’d have worked
around that. I already planned to die for the victory, so it just doesn’t line
up.”
“You’re telling me you think it was the entire guild? Not just one or two
people?”
“I don’t know, but I know the guild leader was in on it because he had
inspected my armor beforehand. I just don’t understand what they even
stand to gain from this in the first place.” Arwin pressed his lips together.
“Which leads me to the other option. I don’t know why we survived the
explosion, but I suspect it was due to an Achievement I got right before the
explosion. There’s a possibility that the Achievement, the bomb, or both
were put there by someone working against the guild to get us out. The end
result is the same either way, though. The guild betrayed us. But what about
you? Was there really nobody you knew that might have stood to gain
anything from the war?”
“I can’t see what anyone gains from keeping the war going. The
Monster Coalition were the ones that outfitted me and handled recruitment
and management for the army. They hate humans.”
“And the guild hates monsters. Their whole purpose is to destroy them,”
Arwin said. “Nothing makes sense, and the more I learn, the more
confusing it gets. I think I should make it clear that I don’t hold the deaths
of my friends against you, though. We were nothing but swords in someone
else’s hands.”
Lillia wiped her face with the back of a hand and raised her head, giving
Arwin a small nod. “I—The same. It makes me wonder how much of what I
believed was a lie, though. What if everything was fake from the start?”
A chilling thought struck Arwin. “You weren’t kidnapped from Earth as
well, were you?”
“Earth? Why would I be from dirt?”
He wasn’t sure if he was relieved or disappointed to hear that. Arwin let
out a breath and shook his head. “Never mind.”
“Hold on; you can’t just do that. We’re the only ones that know the truth
about what’s going on,” Lillia said, her eyes narrowing. “If you have any
information, you need to share it.”
“I don’t think it’s particularly relevant.”
“Let me decide that. Don’t deny me this,” Lillia begged. “I need to
know. I can’t let things be as they are, and every single piece of the puzzle
could be vital.”
It was hard to argue with that.
“Fine. I’m telling you that it isn’t going to be useful, though. If
anything, I think it’s just going to confuse you even more. I’m not from this
world. I’m from a planet called Earth, and I got magically kidnapped and
brought here as a child, specifically to fight you.”
Lillia stared at Arwin. “Is that meant to be a joke?”
“I told you,” Arwin said with a sigh. He took his hand off Lillia’s
shoulder and made to rise, but she caught him by his wrist before he could
stand.
 “I’m sorry. Sit back down. Please.”
Arwin glanced back at her, then slowly lowered himself back to the hay.
“There are other worlds?” Lillia asked.
“You believe me?”
“I don’t know what in the Nine Underlands to believe anymore, so I
might as well start with you,” Lillia said dryly. Her eyes narrowed and she
poked him in the chest. “But if you’re screwing with me, I swear I’ll make
you pay.”
“I’m not. There’s not much to say, unfortunately. There’s at least one
other world. Maybe it’s a different universe. I don’t know. There wasn’t
magic, and I really don’t remember much of it. I was taken away when I
was a child. I assume you’re native to this planet?”
“As far as I’m aware, yes.” Lillia scrunched her nose. “Well, shit. You
were right. All that did was give me more questions and absolutely nothing
useful in terms of what I actually wanted to find out. How long have you
suspected that something was awry with the war?”
“I thought I’d just been betrayed, not that the entire thing was a sham,”
Arwin said with a disbelieving shake of his head. “I only figured it out just
now, together with you.”
“So why did you come here to talk with me?” Lillia asked. “You must
have thought I was a bloodthirsty monster.”
“I assumed you’d finally changed your ways, and I was hoping I could
ask you about the mating habits of monsters.”
Lillia stared at Arwin, her cheeks tinging slightly red. “Why in the
world do you want to know about that?”
Arwin opened his mouth, but he’d butchered his wording so badly that
he couldn’t muster up an answer before a snicker slipped out of his lips.
Lillia couldn’t keep herself from matching it, and they both doubled over in
fits of poorly suppressed, hysterical laughter.
It took Arwin nearly five minutes to fully gather himself. Every time he
started to stop laughing, he caught Lillia’s eye and started to laugh again.
He couldn’t remember the last time he’d laughed this hard.
It wasn’t like anything had been that funny, but he suspected his body
had reached a breaking point and smashed right through it. There was only
so much it could handle before emotions started to mix together and break
down.
 “Seriously, why do you want to know that, though? I assume you meant
something by it,” Lillia said, her voice wavering as she tried to compose
herself.
Arwin wiped away tears of mirth, forcing himself back under control.
“It’s about the wyrm in the forest. From what I know, wyrms are ground
dwellers that rarely emerge from their tunnel systems, but this one came out
and tried to kill us. It was much more aggressive than I think it should have
been. The rest of the forest seemed to be in mating season, and I was
wondering…”
“If wyrms get worked up enough to chase people away when they’re in
the mood?” Lillia asked, raising an eyebrow. “It’s very possible, but I can’t
say I’m an expert on it. That’s like me asking you how horny old humans
usually get.”
“Very, but I get the point,” Arwin said. He heaved a sigh. “Damn.”
“To be honest, I still can’t believe you managed to survive a wyrm at
your tier. That should have been impossible. How’d you do it? Did you lie
about your class getting changed?”
“No. I’m a smith. I just have some ways to defend myself. And I wasn’t
alone. If I was, I’d have died.”
“Well, damn.” Lillia studied the palms of her hands. “They had to be
quite some people if they helped you fend off a wyrm. High-tiers?”
“Nope. Apprentice, just like me.”
“And you fought off a wyrm?”
“I cracked its knee enough to mildly inconvenience it,” Arwin
corrected.
“That’s impressive. I’m not sure if it’s appropriate to look at them
fondly, but it reminds me a bit of when I still had a party,” Lillia said, a
small smile crossing her face as she reminisced.
I guess she’s just been sitting in this inn all day, waiting for people to
show up. Sure, she’s gotten a few customers, but I’d already go insane if I
were in her shoes. This sounds miserable for someone who was even more
excited to be around others than I was.
“You know, that really does sound like mating behavior. And if the
wyrm was mating, we might have a problem,” Lillia said.
Arwin tilted his head to the side, pulled from his thoughts. “What?
Why?”
 “Well, wyrmlings are pretty damn destructive,” Lillia said. “And they
usually have huge litters. There could be dozens of them, and they’re going
to seek out the nearest food source. I don’t know about you, but I don’t
fancy a miniature horde of wyrms at my door.”
“Oh, shit,” Arwin muttered. “I did not know that bit. I thought you said
you didn’t know much about them.”
“Everyone knows that you don’t want to be near a wyrm when it
mates.”
“Not everyone.”
“Evidently,” Lillia said with a snort. “That’s going to be bad. What do
you think the chances are that the Adventurers’ Guild does something about
it?”
“I don’t know if I trust the guild,” Arwin said slowly. “I don’t know if I
want any attention on this city at all. Not until we’ve learned more about
what we’re up against.”
“It’s we, then?”
“Didn’t we just agree on that?” Arwin asked. “We were both used for
something, and I’m damn well going to find out what. I’ll do it with or
without you, but I imagine it’s going to be really hard to figure anything out
on my own. Only by putting together what we know are we going to be able
to figure out where the cracks in this shit were.”
Lillia’s jaw set and she nodded. “You’re right. I’m in.”
“Welcome to the guild,” Arwin said, rising to his feet and holding his
hand out to Lillia.
“Slow down there.” She raised an eyebrow. “The guild? I didn’t say
anything about that. An inn is one thing, but a whole guild? And one I’m
not the leader of? Are you really inviting the Demon Queen to a human
guild?”
“No. I’m inviting an innkeeper,” Arwin replied. “And it’s my damn
guild. I invite who I please.”
Lillia snorted. “A change of topic, then. I’ve got a question.” She
averted her gaze as Arwin looked at her.
“Yeah?”
“Do you hate my cooking?”
“What? No. It’s fantastic.”
“Then why do you never eat it? You’ve only come by a few times
recently.” Lillia crossed her arms and pursed her lips. “I’d rather you just
tell me the truth. If there’s something wrong with my cooking, I want to
improve it.”
Arwin grimaced. “That’s kind of a long story.”
“Sounds like you just don’t like my cooking.”
“Oh, fine.” Arwin threw his hands up in defeat. “I eat magical items.”
“You what?”

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“I take it this means that the explosion didn’t… change you somehow?”
Arwin asked, ignoring the incredulous expression on Lillia’s face.
“Change me? It damn well changed me, but it didn’t let me start
snacking on the Mesh itself!” Lillia exclaimed. “You’re not messing with
me, right? You can actually eat magic?”
“It’s not all sunshine and rainbows. It’s not just that I can eat magic,”
Arwin corrected, his features darkening. “It’s that I have to eat magic. If I
don’t, I’ll die.”
The surprise on Lillia’s face turned to a confused frown. “I’ve never
heard of something like that before. So you can’t eat normal food?”
“No, I can. It just doesn’t sustain me in the way that magic does. I’ll
also ask you not to mention that—you’re the only one I’ve told, and I’ve
only told you because I’m hoping you might have some insight as to what
happened to us.”
Lillia pulled her knees up to her chest, wrapping her arms around them
and chewing her lower lip in thought. “I definitely got changed by the
explosion. It took my class away and gave me a new one called
Hearthkeeper.”
“Unique?”
“Yeah. I got it from an Achievement—probably the same one that you
did. Does the word Sunset mean anything to you?”
“It does. That was the one I got as well.” Arwin rubbed the bridge of his
nose with a frown. “I’m not sure if that gives us more answers or
questions.”
“It could lend credence to the idea that someone planted the bomb to
save us.”
Arwin wasn’t sure he was optimistic enough to fully commit to the
hope. The Achievement hadn’t been granted by the explosion. The
conditions to fulfill it had been met. That was a subtle difference, but it was
still a difference. He’d felt the power from the explosion. It had been meant
to kill, not aid. There was no way to argue that someone knew that the
explosion would cause an Achievement to trigger either—nobody other
than the Mesh itself knew what could make it assign Achievements or
Titles.
And, even if they’d had a strong suspicion it would have worked, many
Achievements or Titles would only appear for certain people, even if two
people did the same thing. The fact that both Arwin and Lillia had gotten
the Achievement meant something else was going on.
“No way to know one way or the other for now, so we’ll just have to
assume we don’t. How different is your class from anything else you’ve
seen? There’s obviously a sliding scale for anything Unique that could
make it either good, bad, or worthless, but my own class is like nothing I’ve
ever seen. Does your class have anything odd about it that makes it more
than just a normal one? I’m a smith, but some of the abilities I’ve been
offered look far more offensive than they should be for a crafting class. It
almost feels like I got a hybrid.”
“I’ve noticed some similarities to what you’re describing. I don’t have
anything nearly as problematic as having to consume magic to live, but I do
gain benefits based on the people staying in my inn or eating at my tavern
—and drawbacks if it’s empty.”
“Like it is now?” Arwin raised an eyebrow and Lillia grimaced.
“Yes.”
“Significant benefits?”
“Very. Especially for the inn.” Lillia swallowed heavily. “Luckily, the
drawbacks haven’t activated yet, but it won’t be long. That’s why I’ve been
so desperate to get more people, but nothing I do works. Nobody wants to
come to this shitty old alleyway.”
“What happens when they activate?” Arwin asked. “And how long do
you have?”
 “Two days. The tavern drawbacks make it so that all my abilities are
weakened. The inn debuff… It’ll start by cutting my abilities off entirely. If
I can’t get anyone to stay after a month, I’ll die.”
“You need to get this shithole good enough to convince someone to stay
in it within a month?” Arwin asked, his eyes going wide. “Oh, shit. That’s
bad.”
“You think?” Lillia asked dryly. “I’m focusing on the tavern right now.
Nobody is going to bother staying if they don’t come in the first place.
That’s why I was desperate enough to try out your monster inn suggestion
—and honestly, it seems like it might work. I just don’t know if I’ll pick up
enough speed to convince anyone to stay here in time.”
“Can’t you just make it free for a night or something?”
Lillia shook her head. “I already thought of that. It doesn’t work. The
buffs only come into play if I’ve properly earned them, so inviting a ton of
people in for free or paying them to stay doesn’t do anything. They have to
come in of their own volition and eat or sleep while paying for it.”
“Ah,” Arwin said with a grimace. Lillia’s abilities were clearly more
limited than his were—but the Mesh was fair. That meant her potential
buffs were probably enormous as well, but getting to the point where she
could use them would be incredibly difficult.
“Ah,” Lillia agreed bitterly. “It’s still nice to live peacefully for a bit,
though. I’d trade a lifetime of living through war for a month of peace in a
heartbeat. Besides, I’m sure I’ll start getting customers soon.”
Arwin could hear the doubt in her voice. She wasn’t optimistic about
her chances, and if he was honest, he wasn’t either. Lillia’s cooking was
pretty damn good, but her location was horrible. Nobody lived on the street,
and nobody would come this far into the slums of the city if they were in
their right mind.
It would take a lot of time to build up a proper reputation, and by the
time Lillia managed to do that, she’d probably get killed by her own magic.
That’s bad. I just got another ally, and she’s probably going to end up
dying in just—wait. Am I an idiot?
Arwin burst into laughter. Lillia blinked, taken aback, then narrowed her
eyes. “I didn’t realize you took that much joy in my upcoming death.”
“No. It’s not that,” Arwin said, trying to get his laughter under control.
“I just realized how stupid we both are.”
“What are you talking about?”
 “You just need a few people to avoid dying?”
“To stay in the inn? Yeah. That wouldn’t stop the debuffs, but it would
be enough to keep me alive. Anything more than zero is going to be
impossible at this rate, so it hardly matters. You can’t strong-arm them into
doing it either. That goes against how it works.”
“I don’t need to,” Arwin said. “As I said, we’re both stupid. You already
have two people that can stay in your inn. Me and Reya.”
Lillia opened her mouth, then paused. She blinked, her brow furrowing.
Slowly, she let her mouth close again. “I—Oh, shit. You’re right. I didn’t
even think about that because you were… well, you know.”
“I’m well aware, yes. But that would work, wouldn’t it?”
“I don’t see why it wouldn’t,” Lillia said, excitement starting to enter
her tone. “You’d still have to pay me for the rooms, though. It can’t be free
or it won’t count.”
“I think we can handle that as long as your prices aren’t ridiculously
high. It’s not a big price to pay, at least until you can get enough people
here to keep yourself alive. We might even be able to go farther. The other
two members that joined my guild may be in need of an inn fairly soon.
They might be able to move in as well.”
Lillia’s eyes lit up and she took a step forward. “You’re serious? Two
more people?”
“Yeah. You’d have to have actual rooms for them, though. Does this
crappy place have anything like that?”
Lillia cleared her throat. “It… well, not yet. I’ve got two rooms upstairs
that I trust the floor in. The rest of it is liable to collapse—but still! I can
make do with that, and the money could go toward renovations and making
more rooms and a better tavern! Having you and Reya here would also
remove enough of the debuff on my abilities for me to get some helpers in
the tavern.”
“I’ve got 27 gold and 9 silver right now,” Arwin said, looking through
his pouch. “Would that be enough?”
“Twenty-seven? Are you kidding me? Yeah, that’s more than enough. I
only have to charge a silver a day!”
It was a bit odd—seeing excitement on the face that had belonged to his
mortal enemy for so many years. He’d never seen her direct anything
toward him other than disgust, anger, or apathy.
I suppose I was no different. That smile definitely suits her well, though.
 “What?” Lillia asked. Arwin realized that he’d zoned off and shook his
head to clear it.
“I just got lost in thought. How strong are those buffs you get if we
properly fill your tavern and inn?”
“Pretty damn powerful. I don’t even know the full extent of what they
do. A lot of it is gated behind how many people are staying or eating here.”
Arwin nodded. “We’ll have to make it a priority to get more attention
here, then. If your power is anything like mine, then I suspect you’re going
to have some form of scaling factor that means you need to get more and
more people to stick around to keep yourself from dying.”
Some of the excitement in Lillia’s expression slipped away. “Shit. That
could be bad.”
“We’ll handle it,” Arwin said. “After all, we’re going to have a whole
guild to back you up soon enough.”
“Optimistic, are you?”
Arwin chuckled. “Perhaps. Either way, I get the feeling Reya is going to
be ecstatic about this. She already eats your food constantly, so being closer
to it will probably make her blow steam out of her nose. I’ll introduce you
to the rest of the guild shortly—assuming they stick around.”
Lillia started to nod, then paused and looked down at herself, gesturing
vaguely. “Wait. What if they… well, you know.”
“For now, I’d suggest keeping up your disguise. They’re decent people,
but I don’t know how they’d react to the truth.”
“Even if we’re part of the same guild and they’re staying here
constantly? They’re going to have to suspect something.”
“Then you’d best make sure you really seem to be into your role,”
Arwin said dryly. “Hopefully, you’ll have the place in a bit more order by
the time they come around. Speaking of which, is there anything else you
need made?”
“I—Oh, yeah. Definitely. I still need more utensils, and some more
cookware would be incredible. I don’t know if I can afford anything extra
right now, though.”
“I could pay you with supplies. That wouldn’t count against your class,
would it?”
Lillia tilted her head to the side in thought for a few seconds, then
grinned. “I think that would work.”
 “Perfect,” Arwin said. “In that case, let’s go tell Reya. We’ll need to
move the beds out of the smithy and into your inn.”
“I can help,” Lillia said. “Seems only right. Can’t say I ever thought I’d
be in this position. It kind of feels like I had some nasty mushrooms in my
food and I’m passed out somewhere in a field. I mean… imagine that. The
Demon Queen and the Hero of Ma⁠—”
“Both still out there, fighting somewhere,” Arwin said. “The original
ones are dead and rotting. The only people in this room are Arwin and
Lillia.”
Lillia smiled and nodded. “Right. Thank you, Arwin. I’m looking
forward to working with you.”
“Likewise,” Arwin said. “I think we’ve both got a lot we can learn from
each other.”

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“W e’re staying here?” Reya asked, her eyes nearly doubling in size as
she looked from Arwin to Lillia. “Seriously? That’s awesome!
What happened back there? I thought you guys hated each other!”
“Wait, really?” Arwin blinked in surprise.
“I mean, yeah. Anyone would have seen the way you looked at each
other.”
“Why did you keep trying to have me come along with you if you
thought that?” Arwin demanded. “I thought you were oblivious!”
“So you did hate each other!”
“There was a misunderstanding,” Arwin said with a grimace. A
misunderstanding might have been the biggest understatement of the
century, but it wasn’t the right time to give Reya their full backstory. She
had enough on her plate to deal with already.
Reya arched an eyebrow and peered over their shoulders. “Interesting.
Now I really want to know what you did back there.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Arwin said. “What matters is that Lillia is going
to be joining our guild, and we’ll be moving into her inn—at least for our
night lodgings.”
“The ones you barely use because you’re always working?”
“Do you want to move in or not?”
“I definitely want to move in,” Reya said hurriedly. “Especially if that
means we get three meals a day instead of just one. I’d be dining like a
king.”
“Good,” Arwin said. He jerked his chin toward the door. “Come help
me gather up the beds and bring them over here, then. After that, I’ve got
some work to do.”
“Can I help?” Reya asked as the trio headed out of the dark room and
emerged into the sunlight outside.
“It’ll be smithing, so probably not. If you need something to do, maybe
try to help Lillia do some reorganization. Figure out what it is we’ll need
for the tavern to function better. It’s part of the guild now, so we’ll need to
do some reworking to make sure it lives up to our name.”
“What name?” Reya asked. “We aren’t even an official guild.”
“The first step of becoming is believing and acting as if you are.”
“That sounds more like bullshitting,” Reya said. Arwin glared at her and
she snickered, raising her hands in surrender. “Okay, okay. Understood, Sir
Guild Leader.”
“Do not start calling me that. My name is Arwin.”
Reya just snickered harder, and a small grin passed over Lillia’s face.
“You know,” Lillia drawled, a mischievous grin playing across her lips.
“In many monster cultures, the leaders of groups are called Mothers.”
“I’m not so sure Mommy Arwin has the right ring to it, but it could
grow on me,” Reya said, rubbing her chin.
I think I would genuinely rather die.
Arwin suppressed a sigh and shook his head, wisely choosing to
abandon the topic. The more he insisted that Reya do something, the less he
suspected she would actually do it.
At least she’s being herself. That’s a far cry from the desperate woman
that showed me the smithy just a few weeks ago.

It took a little under an hour to move both beds over to Lillia’s building.
Getting them up the stairs was the hardest part, but between the three of
them, they eventually managed it without destroying anything too
important.
As soon as they’d finished, Arwin bid Lillia and Reya farewell before
returning to his smithy. He took Reya’s damaged armor with him and set
about repairing it as soon as he got back.
The repairs weren’t too difficult, as all he had to do was remove the
damaged scales and add in a new layer of fresh ones. Fortunately, the item
hadn’t been damaged badly enough to impact its magic, so it only took
about an hour before he’d finished and moved on.
There was a variety of gear he still wanted to make, foremost amongst
everything being a hammer for himself. Arwin was tempted to start
immediately, but he resisted the urge. He wanted to use the Achievement
he’d gotten from scaring the wyrm off on his hammer, but wasting it on a
weapon made from poor materials would be pointless.
I need to get my hands on something really nice. That probably means
hunting a real nasty monster, so I should hold off on that. I’ll start with
making some cutlery for Lillia. Then I’ll look into going hunting again once
Anna and Rodrick come join us. We’re going to have to discuss the potential
upcoming disaster with the wyrms and what we’re going to do about it. If
we fight them, I get the feeling they’d be perfect for this.
For now, I might also spend some time shopping to fix up the smithy a
little more. I still need a bloody door.
With his plans in mind, Arwin got to work.
Time slipped away. Making utensils was far from a challenging task,
and Arwin soon made a drawer’s worth of forks, knives, and spoons. None
of them were magical—he had no idea what infusing a spoon with magic
would do, and he had no desire to find out. Someone would probably just
steal it.
The utensils were a bit rough, but they’d serve their purpose. A quick
glance out the cracks in the walls told Arwin that it was still early in the
evening, so he took a trip into town.
It didn’t take much time for him to find a carpenter that had a door for
sale. Arwin had never considered it, but apparently, most doorways were
the same size and shape. That made it considerably easier for him to
purchase a door as well as some hinges and nails to secure it for just 5 gold.
Arwin took it back to the smithy and hammered the nails into tight,
preexisting cracks in the stone. Once he’d finished, Arwin took a step back
and studied his handiwork.
The door wasn’t anything special, but it was a door. He had the key in
his pocket, an item he wasted no time applying to the lock, just to open and
close the door a few times. It struck him that he probably looked insane
opening and closing a door for no reason, but Arwin didn’t care.
It was a step closer to his goals. Soon he’d have a proper smithy, and his
guild was starting to come together. Sure, there might have been a potential
horde of wyrms just a few hours from town that could draw the attention of
the Adventurers’ Guild and bring everything crashing down on their heads,
but that was a problem for later.
For the time being, Arwin just wanted to test out the new location of his
bed. He headed inside and grabbed the utensils he’d made for Lillia, then
stepped back into the street and locked the door behind him. Nodding to
himself, Arwin set off down the dilapidated street and toward his new
lodgings for the foreseeable future.
He made his way into the back and up a set of rickety stairs, taking each
one carefully. Lillia had assured them that the stairs were safe when they
were bringing the beds up, but that didn’t make him any less suspicious of
them.
Never thought I’d be sleeping in the Demon—no, in Lillia’s house.
Certainly a bit odd, no matter what I say.
Reya had moved her bed into the room that Lillia had been using, so
Arwin had a room entirely to himself. There weren’t any doors on the upper
floor, but it was still more privacy than he’d had in the smithy.
The bed took up nearly a quarter of the room, but he had a dirt-smudged
window that someone had done their best to wipe down from the inside. It
gave him a dim view of the city streets outside, but there weren’t too many
cracks in the walls and only a little wind managed to slip through.
Not half bad.
Arwin covered a yawn and slipped into bed, setting the utensils on the
floor at the foot of the bed. It sounded like Lillia and Reya had already gone
to bed, and he didn’t want to wake them.
I’ll give her the utensils tomorrow.
It felt a little odd to fall asleep without the proximity of the forge, but it
was only a few minutes before he drifted off and darkness swallowed his
vision.
The next morning came before it was welcome, and Arwin blinked
awake as dull sunlight filtered through the window. Not much of it actually
managed to make it through, but there was just enough to pull him from his
rest.
 Arwin yawned and rolled out of bed, grimacing as he sniffed at his
arms.
I need to ask Lillia if her tavern has a bath yet. If it doesn’t, I’m going to
invest in one.
He scooped the utensils he’d made the previous day off the floor and
headed out. He could hear loud snores coming from the room across the
hall to him, and he poked his head into it to see that Reya was still fast
asleep, her head buried under a pillow to avoid the sunlight.
Repressing a laugh, Arwin headed downstairs. The sound of clinking
metal led him into the kitchen, where Lillia was busy trying to mix a bowl
of batter with a metal rod. She glanced up as he entered, then nodded
slightly in greeting, her attention returning to her work before doing a
double take.
“Are those forks?”
“Knives and spoons as well.” Arwin held the bundle out, and she took it
carefully from him, her eyes lighting up with delight.
“This is fantastic. Thank you. Now I’ll actually have something people
can eat with normally. All I have to do is actually get a few more
customers,” Lillia said with a grin. She pulled the rod out of her bowl and
claimed a spoon, sticking it into the batter and giving it a spin. “That’s so
much better. How much are these worth?”
“Probably about 5 silver,” Arwin said after a moment. “They were
pretty easy to make and aren’t all that fancy. Maybe six?”
“Six seems correct. That’s three days of stay for both you and Reya.”
“Good. Is there anything else urgent?”
“There’s nothing that I need right now, but I always need more
cookware.”
“I’ll look into that in a few days, then,” Arwin promised. “I’m going to
look into starting to make some gear. We should be meeting the other
members of my guild soon, and they’re going to want some equipment. I’ll
be in the forge if you need me.”
“Sounds good,” Lillia said. “Good luck.”
“You too,” Arwin said, raising a hand in farewell. “Feel free to ask Reya
for whatever help she can offer. She’s bored out of her mind.”
With that, he strode out of the tavern. He could already feel the call of
the scales waiting for him in the smithy. There was a lot he needed to work
on, and every item he crafted made the next one turn out just a bit nicer.
 I can’t wait to make my hammer—but one thing at a time. For now, I
need to work on some equipment. The stuff that turns out poorly can go into
a pile to be sold. It’s about time I started getting ready to make some real
money.

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 39

T
hree days passed in a blur. Arwin spent all his time in the smithy,
burning through the rest of his scales. He focused on making gear that
he already knew how to do—namely, chest pieces and greaves.
By the dawn of the fourth day, Arwin’s efforts had been rewarded with
five normal sets of armor and one set of magically enhanced armor.
Everything else had been detrimental and had promptly gotten consumed so
as to avoid letting it damage anything.
The one decent magical set he created was far from the strongest
magical item he’d made, with both the chest piece and the greaves
possessing heat resistance and increased durability, but it didn’t have any
negative drawbacks either.
It’s not Unique, so that’s probably for the best. The enchantment on this
is pretty weak, so it shouldn’t be completely unrealistic for Rodrick to have
this. It’ll serve him well until we can get him some more powerful armor
that he can conceal the properties of.
In addition to Arwin’s work on armor, he spent some time making one
more magical item—a bracelet. It took him a few hours and several tries
before he managed to get something that fit his needs.

Metal Bracelet: Average Quality

Resilient: This item was forged by a man who felt like a strong bracelet
was more important than a pair of greaves and hit it a few too many
times, making it considerably more difficult to damage or bend by any
means.

Arwin grinned to himself and slipped the bracelet onto his wrist. He
pulled his sleeve down over his wrist to hide it from any prying eyes. The
bracelet was far too thin to actually use defensively, but it would make a
good snack if The Hungering Maw suddenly started acting up when he
wasn’t ready for it.
All his work had netted him some magical energy and progress toward
his next tier advancement, but no movements in Titles or Achievements.
That wasn’t much of a surprise to him, though.
Arwin peeled his attention away from the hearth and turned to head out
of the smithy. But, as he walked toward the door, something gave him
pause. He couldn’t place what it was at first, but the smithy felt different. It
took him a few moments to realize what it was. The floor had been swept.
All the debris that had been scattered about was gone, and his piles of
material had been organized slightly. Arwin’s brow furrowed.
When did that happen?
He stepped outside, locking the door behind him before making his way
across the street to the tavern. To Arwin’s surprise, he heard voices coming
from within—voices that didn’t belong to Reya or Lillia.
He ducked through the dark doorway. Sitting at the counter, illuminated
faintly by the light of the lantern beside them, were Rodrick and Anna.
Arwin nearly choked as an imp strutted out of the kitchen and hopped up
onto the counter, setting down a handful of berries on each of their plates.
The hideous misshapen creature, fangs jutting out of its mouth and a
permanent snarl on its face, was wearing a dirty black dress with lacy white
frills. It was in a maid’s outfit. As Arwin watched, the imp gave them a
sharp salute and hopped back to the ground, heading into the kitchen.
“That’s great,” Rodrick said through a laugh, slapping the counter and
shaking his head. “Have you ever seen anything like that before? Best damn
costume I’ve ever seen.”
Arwin tried to study the imp, but the Mesh rolled off it as if it weren’t
even there.
How is she hiding their information from Rodrick and Anna? Actually,
that might be a dumb question. I’m sure she’s chosen a few skills by now,
and as a demon in a human city, I bet one of them was a form of
concealment skill for herself and her demons.
“I wonder how long it takes them to do that,” Anna mused. “It must cost
a fortune. I wonder why they chose such an odd place to set up shop.”
“It adds to the ambiance,” Rodrick said. “I love it. Do you think they’ll
have an orc at some point? That would be hilarious.”
Arwin fought to keep the disbelief from his features as he walked up to
join the two adventurers. They were completely convinced that the imp was
fake. Sure, he’d told Lillia to lean into things as hard as she could, but he
hadn’t meant this hard.
Then again, nobody in their right mind would ever assume a real imp
would be strolling around in a maid costume. Where did they get that?
“Oh, Arwin is here!” Rodrick said, catching a glimpse of him out of the
corner of his eye. He turned to face Arwin and raised a hand in greeting.
“Pleasure seeing you again, mate. We came looking for you like we said we
would. Reya found us a few streets over and brought us here. You should
have said how damn good the food here is. Cheap too.”
“She recently joined the guild,” Arwin said. “What do you think of the
tavern?”
“The theme is hilarious. Never seen anything like it. I feel like this
would be a hit if more people knew about it,” Rodrick replied, pausing to
pop some berries into his mouth. “Wait, did you say the innkeeper was part
of the guild?”
“Yeah. As of a few days ago.”
“You work fast,” Anna said with a soft smile. “Rodrick is right. This is
quite the spot. I didn’t think I’d like it much, but I’ve been pleasantly
surprised. How have the last few days been treating you?”
“Quite well. I’ve been mostly focused on work,” Arwin admitted,
rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. “Where’s Reya, by the way?”
“Out in town looking for something. She said she’d be back soon,”
Rodrick said. He let some of the amusement fade out of his tone as his
expression grew serious. “Anna and I tried to look into what might have
happened with the wyrm, but we didn’t have much luck.”
“I think I may have figured it out,” Arwin said. “Or rather, Lillia did.
She knows even more about monsters than I do, considering her… well,
appreciation of them.”
 Rodrick snorted and looked around the tavern. “Appreciation is an
understatement, but I love it. Nothing better than someone who’s really
invested in their passion. I hope she doesn’t object to hunting, though.”
You know, I never considered that. I should probably ask her. It’s not like
we can stop hunting monsters to get stronger unless there’s an alternative I
don’t know of, but it would probably be right to at least chat with her about
it.
“What’s that about hunting?” Lillia asked, stepping out of the kitchen
and wiping her hands off on her apron.
“We were talking about if you’d be okay with it, considering how much
you like monsters,” Anna said.
“Oh, I don’t care,” Lillia said with a shrug. “The monsters you’re
talking about hunting aren’t the same as the ones I care about. There are a
lot of different species, and monsters is honestly a bit of a misnomer.”
“Is that so?” Rodrick asked, tilting his head to the side. “What do you
mean? Is it just that you find some cuter than others or something?”
Lillia snorted and shook her head. “No. Well, yes, but that’s not why.
The difference is sapience. People generally refer to everything that isn’t a
normal animal or human as a monster, but there are actually two categories
beyond that. There are monsters that don’t have any intelligence beyond a
desire to grow stronger by killing, and there are monsters that are just as
intelligent as a human.”
“You’re kidding me,” Rodrick said. “You’re not exaggerating?”
“Identical,” Lillia confirmed. “I’ve seen some of them myself in my…
uh, studies.”
“You’re a monster researcher, then? Just like Arwin?”
“Something like that,” Lillia said, sending a glance at Arwin.
“How do we know if we’re fighting a smart one?” Anna asked, chewing
her lower lip with a frown. “I don’t want to mistakenly attack something
that doesn’t deserve it.”
“You’ll know,” Lillia said. “It would be like attacking a random human.
It would be really obvious.”
“Oh.” Anna let out a relieved sigh. “Good. So you don’t mind us talking
about hunting in here, then?”
“Not at all. Feel free.”
“Great. Back to the wyrm, then,” Rodrick said. “What was it the two of
you figured out?”
 “Oh, right.” Arwin shook his head, having temporarily lost his train of
thought, before continuing. “It might be about to have a litter. You recall
how the forest seemed like it was… ah, in the mood, right?”
Anna and Rodrick nodded.
“Well, it’s possible the wyrm is no different. And, if that’s the case,
there could be a bunch of wyrmlings running around everywhere really
soon. And, if I recall correctly, wyrmlings are typically born around high-
level Apprentice.”
Rodrick and Anna both paled.
“That could be really bad,” Rodrick said, tapping a finger on the counter
absentmindedly. “Depending on the number, the guards could get
overwhelmed. If the wyrms go hunting with their spawn… that’s a lot of
monsters, and at least two really powerful ones. Milten could get overrun.”
“Not to mention the Adventurers’ Guild might send people,” Anna
added, biting her inner cheek and furrowing her brow. “The town would be
insufferable for weeks, even if the Horde was fought off.”
“Having the Guild show up would be… less than opportune,” Arwin
agreed. “Which is why I think we should try to act before anyone figures
out what’s going on.”
“You want us to try and take out two wyrms when we barely managed
to escape one?” Rodrick asked doubtfully. “That kind of seems like a
suicide mission.”
“It would be, if we were actually trying to kill both of them,” Arwin
said. “There’s no way we’d be able to take them out. Not on our own, at
least. But if we could somehow get them to fight or otherwise distract them,
maybe we could either get the upper hand or make them run away.”
“That seems a bit optimistic,” Rodrick said. “I’d be willing to hear you
out if you had a plan, though.”
“Well, I think we’re going to need to get stronger before we even think
about trying anything,” Arwin amended. “As it stands, we’d be slaughtered
no matter what we went for. Luckily, we’ve got time. Wyrmlings don’t just
pop out in a day.”
“It should be about two months before they’re born.” Lillia put in. “But
it could be less. I wouldn’t use that number as a hard deadline, but it’s a
rough one.”
“Two months isn’t much time,” Rodrick hedged. “Especially if we don’t
have a good place to hunt anymore. The forest is too dangerous as it is right
now.”
“We do have a spot, though,” Arwin said, a grin pulling across his lips.
“We do?” Anna asked. “Where? Do you know of another location that’s
close to town?”
“I do. It’s not the safest area, but we’re the only ones with access to it.
Consider it a perk of being in the guild.”
“Stop dangling it over me and say what it is already!” Rodrick
exclaimed.
“Are you sure? I was thinking about showing you the armor I made
first,” Arwin said, grinning at the hungry look that flashed across Rodrick’s
face.
“Wait, you made me armor? I can’t afford anything yet!”
“It’s an investment. Don’t expect anything too great.”
“Are you kidding? Anything would be—wait. You distracted me. This is
bullying,” Rodrick complained. “Just tell us what you’ve got already!”
Arwin laughed and held his hands up in surrender as both Lillia and
Anna nodded in agreement, joining Rodrick in glaring at him.
“We’ve got access to a Journeyman dungeon,” Arwin said. “One with
only one key. It’s going to be a tough one for our current abilities, but if
we’re all doing it together, I think we can handle it. The monsters probably
won’t be at the level of the wyrm, so I think we could slowly make our way
through it. They’ll still be Journeyman level, but as long as we don’t get too
deep, I strongly believe we should be able to handle it.”
“Holy shit,” Anna breathed, jumping to her feet. “We have an exclusive
dungeon? How is that possible? The guild isn’t even official. Who are
you?”
“Technically, I think we stole an exclusive dungeon,” Arwin amended.
“There might be a local Thieves’ Guild that’s still pretty miffed about that—
but who cares? It’s the best option I can think of. What do you say?”
“I say you give me that armor and we get to it,” Rodrick replied,
rubbing his hands together. “This is either going to end in glory or a really,
really pathetic death.”
“Way to spoil the mood,” Anna said, flicking Rodrick in the shoulder.
“Bah. At least I’m going to leave a beautiful corpse. Let me see that
armor you made,” Rodrick said eagerly. “This is going to be glorious.”

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 40

E
veryone followed Arwin back to his smithy, where he very proudly
unlocked his door, pausing to make sure everyone saw him push it
open.
“Why’s he doing that?” Rodrick whispered as Arwin walked inside.
“He got a door,” Lillia explained.
“That doesn’t explain anything.”
“No, it makes sense.” Lillia looked back at the door and nodded. “It’s a
nice door.”
Rodrick didn’t respond. He’d spotted the pile of armor lying on the
ground beside the anvil. Sitting on top of the anvil were a pair of scale
greaves and a chest piece, both faintly shimmering with the Mesh’s power.
He stood in mute disbelief, staring at the items as if they were a pile of
glittering gold. Rodrick swallowed heavily and looked over to Arwin,
raising a finger toward the armor.
“That… me? It’s for me?”
Arwin chuckled and nodded. Rodrick looked like someone had just told
him he had a long-lost son. Edging toward the magical pieces of equipment,
Rodrick drew up to the anvil and let his hands brush over the scale plate.
“This is incredible,” Rodrick muttered. “I never thought—I can’t afford
this. No way.”
“I told you it was an investment,” Arwin said with a shrug. “The only
rule is that you can only keep this as long as you stay in the guild, and you
can’t sell it to someone else.”
 “Sell it?” Rodrick exclaimed as if the very idea offended him. “I would
never. This is incredible. A work of art. Nobody would be able to buy it off
me for any amount of money. And damn—talk about a way to get your
hooks in. I don’t think I could leave if I wanted to anymore.”
“Try it on, then,” Arwin said, gesturing toward the armor. “Make sure it
fits. I made it with you in mind, but sometimes it can be hard to tell.”
Rodrick didn’t need to be told twice. He hurried to start pulling
everything on, and Arwin gave Anna an apologetic look.
“I’m sorry I didn’t make anything for you. I didn’t think a healer would
benefit much from metal armor. You probably aren’t particularly strong.”
“No offense taken. You’d be correct. I’d probably suffer in just chain
mail, much less anything like that,” Anna said with a laugh. “It’s more than
enough to see Rodrick this happy. Besides, he’s the one that takes the hits
for me, so any armor for him is functionally armor for me.”
Arwin noticed Lillia’s eyes were firmly fixed on the armor. He hadn’t
made her anything yet, but she was definitely far stronger than any normal
innkeeper.
I should try to make her something. I’ve seen her wear some pretty
heavy armor in the past, so as long as I don’t go too crazy with the weight
of the material, some armor would do her a lot of good. Then again, I don’t
know all the passives or abilities she kept. She might not be able to use
heavy armor easily anymore.
“It fits me perfectly!” Rodrick exclaimed in delight, twisting to test out
his new range of motion. In some ways, he’d reacted the exact same way
that Reya had. Arwin chuckled at his expression.
“I’m glad to hear that. No problems, then?”
“None that I can feel. It’s way lighter than I thought it would be too,”
Rodrick said, rapping his chest with his knuckles. “Definitely the best set of
armor I’ve ever worn. You’re not going to get me into eternal debt by
making me pay for repairs if this gets damaged, are you? I mean, I’d
probably take you up on it, but I’m just checking.”
Arwin rolled his eyes. “No, I’m not. Just do your job and keep any
monsters off our backline and you’ll have earned it. You might want to find
something to cover yourself with, though. I don’t see a lot of people
walking around with magic items.”
“Gee, I wonder why. Not everyone just pops them out,” Rodrick said,
still looking down at himself in disbelief. “Seriously, how did you get the
materials to make this? Do you have a deal with a powerful demon or
something? Enchantments are so expensive.”
They are?
“Don’t worry about it. Just try to let me know if you find anything off. I
haven’t gotten around to making boots, gloves, or helmets yet, so make sure
you don’t get hit there. I’ll try to get to it soon enough.”
“Are you seriously apologizing for not making enough magical
equipment?” Rodrick asked. “I’d be willing to run out and fight monsters
naked wearing nothing but a thong if it was magical.”
Arwin grimaced, banishing that mental image from his mind before it
could permanently scar him. “Then let’s all thank God that I made armor
and not a thong. I’m rather eager to get things started, so if nobody needs
anything else, we should look into finding Reya and getting to work. No
reason to waste time.”
Anna pulled her cloak off and tossed it to Rodrick. He wrapped it
around himself, leaving the hood down. As soon as it covered his armor, the
faint tingle of the Mesh faded away.
“Thanks,” Rodrick said. Anna nodded in response.
“What are you doing with the other sets of armor?” Lillia asked,
nodding to the pile in the corner.
“Selling them, probably. They’re nothing special. You’re welcome to try
some on if you want, but I don’t think it’ll fit you,” Arwin warned. “I made
them all pretty generic for broad-shouldered male builds.”
“Oh. No problem,” Lillia said, waving a hand dismissively. “Let’s get
on with it, then. I haven’t gone hunting in a long time. Maybe we can pick
up some fresh ingredients for me to work with while we’re out.”
“You know, I just realized how efficient a pair you two make,” Anna
observed, hiding a smile behind her hand. “Arwin takes all the inedible
parts of the monsters to make armor and weapons with, and you can use the
rest for food.”
“Waste not, want not,” Arwin said. “Come on. Let’s go find Reya.”

Fortunately, finding Reya was a fairly simple task. By the time they left the
smithy and headed toward the tavern, she was on her way out of it in search
of them.
“Did I miss something?” Reya asked. “Also, hi, Arwin. Haven’t seen
you much recently. Did you like what I did with the smithy?”
“Wait, that was you? You swept everything up?”
“Yep! It looks way better, doesn’t it?”
“Much better,” Arwin agreed. “Thank you very much. It’s looking more
and more professional with every passing day. I still have no idea how you
managed that while I was working, though.”
“No offense, but you’re basically as dense as a brick while you’re
smithing,” Reya said through a snicker. “I was singing to myself the whole
time while I cleaned, and you didn’t notice me once.”
Arwin grunted. That was mildly concerning—he’d have to remember to
lock the door while he was working in the future so nobody strolled in and
robbed him blind.
“Noted.”
“So, what’s everyone up to? You all look excited, and it’s making me
feel left out.”
“We decided it’s just about time to use that key of yours,” Arwin said,
bringing Reya up to speed on everything that they’d just discussed.
“Are we really going to be able to handle a Journeyman dungeon,
though?” Anna asked once Arwin had finished, biting her inner cheek. “I
mean, we barely managed to handle a high-level Apprentice lizard.”
“That was some time ago, and there are more of us now,” Arwin said.
“Dungeon monsters, especially ones at the start, should be easier to handle.
I’ll admit that it’s far from ideal, but the forest is too dangerous with the
wyrm roaming around it. This might be our best shot at a safe training
space.”
“Do you think the Thieves’ Guild will let us in? I bet they’re still
guarding it.” Reya warned.
“It’s hard to say. If they want to pick a fight, I think we’re pretty well
equipped to handle it,” Arwin said. “They won’t have their whole guild
there, and I think we more than made our point the last time we had a
disagreement.”
“You had a disagreement with a whole guild? Were they a small one or
something?” Anna asked.
Arwin cleared his throat. “Maybe we’ll tell you the story on the road.
It’s a bit of a long one, and all that matters in the end is that we’ve got a
chance to do something big here. If we can handle the dungeon and get
strong enough to fight off the wyrmlings—not only will we get stronger, but
I’ll have a slew of powerful new materials to work with.”
“I’d have new ingredients to cook with as well,” Lillia said, licking her
lips. “It’s dangerous, but we’re not getting anywhere by hiding like
cowards. I’m in.”
“I was in the moment you gave me this,” Rodrick said, tapping his
armor. “If you need a whole guild destroyed, just point me in their
direction. I’ll take ’em out.”
“You’re such an idiot,” Anna said with a laugh. “I’m in, obviously.
Journeyman-tier monsters aren’t going to be easy, but I’ve seen almost
everyone here fight. We can handle it as long as we can get past that guild;
it’s a chance. If we pull this off, we might actually have enough capital to
look into becoming a proper guild.”
“I’m obviously in as well.” Reya gave Arwin a confident grin. “I’m not
letting you just take my key and waltz off with it. Besides, I’ve got a new
class to test out. I want revenge on that stupid wyrm for eating my dagger.
Let’s do this.”
“Hold on. We should wait for Lillia to take off her disguise first,”
Rodrick said. “It can’t be comfortable to fight in all that stuff.”
“Actually, it’s semi-permanent,” Lillia said. “It doesn’t really come off
easily. I’ll just fight in it.”
“Seriously?” Rodrick let out a whistle. “Wow. You’re dedicated to the
cause, aren’t you? I respect that.”
I can’t believe that actually worked. I suppose anything is more
believable than her being a literal demon.
“We’re all in agreement, then.” Arwin scooped his blacksmithing
hammer off the ground and tested its weight. Even though it was meant for
the forge, the thing was one hefty bastard. It would be perfect for bashing in
the heads of anything that got in his way—at least until he got the chance to
forge his new weapon. “Reya, care to take the lead? We’ve got a dungeon to
start clearing, and the only thing that might be standing in our way is a tiny
little guild.”
“So they were small after all?” Anna asked. “What, do they have five
members or something?”
“No, it was more like thirty,” Arwin replied absently. He ignored the
horrified looks that Anna and Rodrick sent him. “Don’t worry about that.
We probably won’t even have to fight them again. The last time I
confronted their guild, I sent a pretty strong message.”
“You confronted them? Alone?” Anna asked.
“Nah, I had a bit of help. It worked out in the end.”
“You can’t leave it at that,” Rodrick protested. “What happened? How’d
you handle a whole guild?”
“I told you, it’s a long story. Reya, care to take the lead? I want to get
this underway.”
Reya grinned and nodded. “With pleasure. Let’s go.”

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T
he trip out of the city didn’t take long and went easily. The only
stressful part of their exit was the fear that someone might notice
Rodrick’s armor, but he kept the cloak Anna had given him wrapped
tightly around himself. Lillia kept to the shadows, the ever-present cloak of
darkness wrapped around her preventing anyone from glancing in her
direction.
Even though nobody had any way to tell what he had, none of them
breathed easily until they’d stepped out of the city gates and were well on
their way toward the dungeon.
“I need to get strong enough to conceal my equipment,” Rodrick
grumbled, glancing over his shoulder at the city walls as they followed
Reya. “That was horrible. I felt like every single person we passed was
staring me down.”
“Well, we’re already working on that, so all you have to do is keep at
it,” Anna pointed out. “I felt the same way, though.”
Makes me even happier I have [Arsenal]. Even if my equipment doesn’t
have the property that lets it appear mundane, I can still banish and
summon it at will as long as I bind to it. Speaking of which, I only have two
pieces of equipment bound right now since my sword got chomped. I
wonder…
Arwin activated [Arsenal] and bound the hammer in his hands. It wasn’t
magical, but it still counted as a piece of equipment as far as he was
concerned. A moment later, the black weapon vanished.
 “Whoa,” Reya said. “That’s so strange to watch.”
The hammer reformed in Arwin’s hands. “It’s quite convenient,
though.”
“You can’t do that for my stuff, can you?” Rodrick asked hopefully.
“Unfortunately not. It’s a personal equipment thing only. You’ll just
have to conceal things the old-fashioned way,” Arwin said apologetically.
“Reya, how far are we from the dungeon? I want to make sure we’re all
ready when we get closer. Your old friends might be hanging around.”
“About an hour away, I think,” Reya said after a moment of thought. “I
thought you said they wouldn’t put up much fight, though. Didn’t we come
to an agreement?”
“That kind of thing can fall through sometimes,” Arwin said with a
shrug. He scanned their surroundings, but there didn’t seem to be anything
other than grass. “Never hurts to be prepared, just in case something goes
awry.”
Their trek continued on in silence. Minutes slipped by, and soon
enough, they’d been walking for nearly an hour. The slope of the hills
intensified the deeper they went, making it harder to tell exactly where they
were.
Reya seemed to have a pretty good grasp of their direction, though. She
kept glancing up at the sky, then slightly rerouting and continuing on with
almost no hesitation. Just when Arwin was about to ask how she knew
where they were, Reya held a hand to her lips and pointed down the hill.
From what he could tell, the only thing there was the bottom of a small,
grassy hill and a small pile of large stones. It took Arwin a moment to
notice what she was pointing at. Nestled behind the rocks was a thin
rectangular outline in the ground.
He would have missed it completely if Reya hadn’t pointed it out to
him. Arwin glanced around to see if there was anyone else in the area, but
as far as he could tell, it was completely empty.
“That… almost seems too easy,” Rodrick muttered. “I thought you said
there was a guild guarding this?”
“Maybe they gave up since we took the key,” Reya said.
That did seem a bit optimistic, but Arwin couldn’t find any traces of
other people in the area. It really did look like the Thieves’ Guild had given
up on the dungeon. He’d definitely made a pretty strong impression on their
guild leader, so it was possible that they’d decided it wasn’t worth the
trouble.
“Well, sitting around here isn’t going to make things any better for us.
We’ve come this far, so let’s keep pushing forward,” Arwin said.
They crept down the side of the hill and approached the outline. After
glancing around one last time to make sure they weren’t being watched,
Reya pulled the necklace over her head and set it down on the grass,
pressing it down.
The back of Arwin’s neck tingled. The feeling passed over the rest of his
body, crawling down his spine and along his limbs as the Mesh’s presence
around them intensified. There was a sharp pop, followed by a wet squelch.
Shimmers of energy lit up along the outline of the rectangle at their feet.
The tingling grew stronger, and lines of magical power stretched out
through the grass, forming intricate patterns.
With one final buzz, the Mesh faded away and the grass sank down,
turning into a stairwell that wound deep into the earth. Faint flickers of light
appeared within as glowing motes of orange light appeared to guide their
path.
“Whoa,” Reya breathed, peering down the stairwell with undisguised
awe. “That’s incredible.”
“Just remember the exit is only going to open back up for us as long as
you’ve got that key,” Arwin said. He let his armor manifest on his body, not
wanting to risk a surprise attack hitting something important, and stepped
into the darkness.
The rest of the group followed behind him, Reya taking up their tail. As
soon as she had passed several stairs and was out of the way of the
entrance, it ground shut behind them, leaving only flat stone.
“That’s creepy,” Reya said, throwing glances back over her shoulder as
they continued by the light of the faint glowing orbs. Arwin considered
batting at one of them as he passed, but he pushed the intrusive thought
away.
Most dungeons were pretty much inanimate—the only living things
inside them were the actual monsters. There were a few that did have a
degree of sapience, though—and those took rather poorly to anyone
fiddling with them.
No point finding out the hard way. Right now, all we want to do is figure
out if we can handle this dungeon. I don’t want to mistakenly make anything
harder for us.
They continued down the stairs for several minutes until they came to a
stop at an archway that led into a large, square room made of old
cobblestone. Vines crawled across the walls, half-dried out from lack of
water.
The faint smell of moss and stale water drifted into Arwin’s nose as he
squinted through the dim light, trying to see if there was anything in the
room. There was no door that he could initially see, but there was a shallow
pool of water in the center of the room.
“Emptier than I expected,” Reya said, peering over his shoulder. “I
thought there would be monsters.”
“There will be,” Arwin said absently, scanning the corners where the
shadows were the darkest. No two dungeons were exactly the same, but
there were usually similarities—and monsters weren’t stupid.
They congregated in dungeons because of the condensed magical power
within them, and the dungeons used the monsters to fuel themselves—either
through the blood they spilled from inquisitive adventurers or through their
own blood.
Something might be in the water, or it could be hiding on the ceiling
where we can’t see it. I doubt the dungeon would just have an open room
that does absolutely nothing this early on, especially since I don’t see a
door anywhere.
The weakest monsters always hang around the upper levels of a
dungeon because they aren’t strong enough to make it deeper and closer to
the more intense magical energy. The ones far out from the ground usually
aren’t the smartest of the lot, but ambush predators are common.
“Keep your guard up,” Arwin advised as he crept into the room, letting
his hammer materialize in his hands and adjusting his grip on the rough
metal handle. “Watch out for little buggers lurking in the shadows or
underwater.”
“You think they’re small?” Lillia asked.
“Figure of speech,” Arwin replied. “I have no idea how big anything
here is. Reya, Anna—both of you stay back. Let me and Rodrick draw their
attention. Lillia—I’m not sure how your combat skills are now, but I
imagine you can handle yourself without instruction.”
Lillia nodded. “I’ll hang back so I don’t draw anything’s attention too
early. I’m not in the best spot to fight anything right now.”
 Arwin crept further into the room. He could still remember countless
other dungeons he’d plowed through, but the difference in strategy was so
stark that it almost hurt. He could recall wading straight into dungeons,
power rolling off his body as he sent waves of molten light into the dark,
ripping through everything that stood in his way—often before they even
realized they were under attack.
His party had been full of trained warriors that had done the dungeons
dozens of times over already, and they knew every single thing about what
they were facing. The dungeons almost never held surprises, and they’d
certainly never held challenges.
Now, it was different. Arwin had no clue what was waiting for him in
the darkness, and there was a very real chance that whatever it was had the
strength to kill him and everyone behind him if they weren’t properly
prepared to fight it.
I can’t believe I’m thinking this, but in a morbid sense, it’s actually more
interesting. Sure, we might all end up dead, but it feels like we’re actually
doing something, not just going through the motions that we have to go
through to get stronger.
“Sneaky little cretins in this room, aren’t they?” Rodrick asked,
spinning his sword in his hand and baring his teeth in a grin. “What do you
think are the chances that we’re up against some slimy creature that lives in
the pool?”
“Considering we haven’t been jumped yet? Pretty damn high,” Arwin
said. He tried to squint into the murky water, but it was too dark to make
anything out. “Only one way to find out.”
His foot shifted across the ground until it found a loose stone. Arwin
kicked it, sending the rock sailing through the air and into the very center of
the puddle, where it struck the water with a sploosh, sending ripples
running out and vanishing beneath the surface.
Almost instantly, the water erupted. A slippery gray form burst out,
tentacles whipping through the air as a screech split the air. Arwin swung
his hammer, batting one of the tentacles out of the air as it shot out for him.
The weapon hit the soft, fleshy appendage and ripped straight through
it, spraying blue blood across the ground and drawing out another screech.
The monster heaved itself fully out of the water, revealing a bulbous head
and dozens of beady black eyes scattered across a blobby body.
 [Landsquid – Apprentice 9]

“Gods, that thing is hideous,” Anna exclaimed from behind them. “Get
it away from me, please!”
“That looks delicious,” Lillia said, running her tongue along her lips.
“Arwin, don’t squish its body too much, please. I want it unmushed.”
“I say we kill the damn thing and figure out what to do with it
afterward,” Rodrick suggested, taking a step back as the monster whipped a
tentacle at his head. “Any info on this ugly bastard, Arwin?”
“It’s a variant of a Landsquid,” Arwin replied. “They’re not very
dangerous, but don’t let it grab you.”
“How do we kill it?” Rodrick asked.
“Stab it.”
“Lovely,” Rodrick said dryly, raising his sword and narrowing his eyes.
The Landsquid let out another screech, its tentacles slamming into the
ground around it like the beat of a dozen furious drummers. “One plate of
chopped wiggler, coming right up.”

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L
illia had specifically requested that Arwin avoid crushing the
Landsquid too badly, but he didn’t see how he was meant to fight the
monster without crushing it. It wasn’t like he had a particularly large
variety of pointy weapons to work with—all he had that was usable at the
moment was his hammer.
I can’t imagine she’ll complain if I cave the monster’s head in. I’ll just
leave the rest of the tentacles as untouched as I can.
“Focus on cutting the tentacles off,” Arwin ordered, ducking out of the
way as the Landsquid sent two tentacles snapping out to try and grab Arwin
while he was off guard. The monster was fast, but its attacks were fairly
predictable.
Rodrick didn’t even waste breath on a reply. As the next tentacles shot
out, he brought his blade down and carved one of them apart right at the
halfway mark. Blue blood splattered across the warrior’s chest, and he
ducked back to avoid getting hit by the monster’s follow-up attack.
The beast still had ten tentacles left, and Arwin didn’t know how deep
the pool of water beneath the Land Squid was. With its gelatinous body, he
suspected it could probably fit itself into small spaces, but he wasn’t about
to bet that the watery pit didn’t connect to a much larger area beneath.
If it did, the fastest way to get killed would be to let the Landsquid grab
him and drag him into the dark waters below. For the time being, the best
thing he could do was to keep the monster’s attention and let Rodrick work.
 Arwin dismissed his armor and hammer to let himself move faster. He
ducked and dodged away from attacks, letting each one pass by him
harmlessly. Compared to much of the training he’d gone through in his past
life, this creature was nothing. It was a monster that fought by ambushing
its prey and using the element of surprise, not through long, extended
combat.
Another tentacle squelched to the ground, thrashing about even though
it was no longer connected to its controlling body, and the Landsquid
screamed in pain. It lurched forward in a last-ditch effort to try and grab
Rodrick—and that was when Arwin struck.
His hammer materialized in his hands as he took advantage of the
monster’s temporary distraction, and he brought the weapon down clean on
the side of the Landsquid’s head, using [Scourge] to empower the blow.
The Landsquid’s squishy body gave way, and there was a loud crunch as
the hammer hit something solid deep within. It was lifted into the air and
sent splattering across the ground until it hit the wall.
Not defeated, the squid lurched forward and twisted across the ground,
making to retreat back into the pool that it had come from. Rodrick ran to
cut the monster’s path off, but Reya was faster.
She took a step forward and thrust her hand out. Faint blue light erupted
from her palm, swirling through the air and forming a dull pillar above the
Landsquid. The monster slowed, struggling against an invisible force.
It only lasted for an instant, but that instant was enough for Rodrick to
close the space between himself and the squid and drive his sword forward,
plunging it straight into the wounded monster’s carapace.
The Landsquid lurched once, then the tension vanished from its body,
and it collapsed in a wet pile at Rodrick’s feet. He ripped his sword free,
flicking purplish-blue goo from the blade, and sheathed it at his side.
Arwin didn’t get any energy from killing the monster, but that was
hardly a surprise. He didn’t get stronger from killing things—he got
stronger from forging them. And, unfortunately, there wasn’t much he could
do with the gelatinous monster’s corpse other than hope that Lillia fed it to
people she didn’t like.
“That was awesome!” Reya exclaimed, running up to the monster’s
body. “Did you see that? I helped!”
“That was actually pretty damn useful,” Rodrick said with an approving
smile. “What did you do? It felt like you slowed it.”
 “Yeah. The first ability I chose was [Imprison]. It lets me reduce the
physical attributes of any monster by a small percentage. It’s stronger the
closer in tier I am to my target, so I can’t do too much with it yet, but I
think it still helped. I got some energy for aiding in the kill.”
“It was definitely useful,” Arwin said. “I’m really curious to see what
else your class will be capable of. Any debuff abilities are really valuable,
so I think we can safely say you definitely went with the right choice.”
Rodrick nodded in agreement and let out a whistle. “Yeah. You’re going
to be in real high demand, kid.”
“I am?” Reya asked. “Why?”
“Debuffs are one of the best ways to fight strong monsters,” Anna
explained, walking up to stand beside Reya. “There’s only so hard you can
hit things, especially ones with really powerful defenses. But if you can
chip away at those defenses, you can make really nasty fights much easier.
Not many classes provide access to strong debuffs.”
“I never thought about it that way. I just thought it sounded useful,”
Reya said with a sheepish grin, rubbing the back of her neck. “I guess I
made the right choice.”
“And you all left the squid mostly intact as well,” Lillia said, kneeling
beside the dead monster and prodding it with a finger. “Thanks. I bet I
could do a bunch of stuff with this thing, but it’s just struck me that it’s
probably going to go bad pretty quickly, isn’t it?”
“Most likely,” Arwin said. “You should invest in an icebox when you
can.”
Lillia pursed her lips and groaned. “Just one of the many things I need
to get my hands on. I’m pretty sure the list gets longer with every day.”
She picked up one of the severed tentacles and held it out before herself,
ignoring the sickening squishing noises the limb made. It looked like an odd
cross between flesh and Jell-O, and from the strong fishy smell filling the
room, Arwin suspected it tasted like brine.
Please don’t try to turn that into sushi.
“Does anyone want to carry this?” Lillia asked hopefully.
Everyone suddenly found the walls fascinating. Lillia snorted and rolled
the tentacle up as best she could before tucking it under an arm, completely
staining her clothes. “Fine. I’ll carry it myself. True genius requires
experimentation.”
 “Does true genius also smell like fish?” Reya asked. “Because you’re
going to.”
They all chuckled, and Arwin summoned his armor back as he walked a
lap around the room, checking to see if there were any other monsters
lurking in wait. He kept his distance from the pool of water, not wanting to
find out the hard way that there was another squid.
“For our first fight of the dungeon, that wasn’t half bad,” Rodrick said.
“I’ll say,” Anna agreed. “We didn’t even get hit.”
“It was only Apprentice-tier. I thought this was a Journeyman dungeon,”
Reya said with a frown. “How come it was so weak?”
“Trust me, that wouldn’t have been weak if we hadn’t outnumbered it
five to one,” Arwin said, still scanning the walls. “And Journeyman
dungeon means it’s appropriate for Journeyman-tier adventurers, not that
everything within is a Journeyman. The weakest monsters are always
toward the entrance of the dungeon, and it’ll only get harder the deeper we
go.”
“Oh, so that’s why we can’t clear out the whole thing yet?” Reya
guessed.
“Exactly,” Arwin said. “We’ll probably be able to go a few rooms deep
at the most, but that should be more than enough for our purposes. I want
you to make sure you don’t land any killing blows on any monsters yet, by
the way.”
Reya blinked in confusion. “Really? Why? Wouldn’t that get me energy
faster so I could get stronger?”
“It would, but that would cripple you in the future,” Arwin said. He
paused as some lines in the wall caught his eye. “Power lies in Titles and
Achievements, not through jumping through the tiers as quickly as you can.
Trust me on this.”
“Okay,” Reya said with a mock salute. “Whatever you say, boss.”
“Arwin.”
“Right.” Reya didn’t sound particularly mollified, but Arwin didn’t
press the issue.
He let his hand run along a crack in the stone, searching for a loose
brick. It didn’t take long before he found it. There was a soft click and a
portion of the wall ground back, swinging out to reveal another room.
“That was fast,” Anna said, her eyebrows crawling up her forehead.
“How’d you know there was a secret door? I would have suspected
something in the pool.”
“There might very well be something there,” Arwin allowed. “But I
didn’t feel like going for a swim, and once you’ve seen a few dungeons,
you start to keep an eye out for crap like this. Most of them were originally
forts or other structures that got warped by the Mesh. Who doesn’t like a
secret passage?”
“I only like secret passages when I find the stupid things,” Rodrick said
as he walked over to stand beside Arwin. “We going in there?”
Arwin turned back to the pool and stuck his hammer out, reaching in
until it was several feet beneath the water. He grimaced, then pulled it free
and backed away from the water once more.
“Yeah. We’ve got a deep pool over here, but nothing popped out when I
tested it. I don’t think the monsters should be that clever this far out, so we
should be good to go deeper. Make sure to take things slowly, though.”
“Will do,” Rodrick promised. The two of them stepped into the next
room. As soon as their feet fell beyond the doorway, dozens of little orange
motes of energy identical to the ones that had lit up the stairs erupted all
around the room, bathing it in soft light.
This room was even mossier than the first had been, and the vine
growth was thick enough that it almost resembled roots running along the
floor. Water dripped from the ceiling, pattering to the floor gently.
Sitting in the center of the room, still unaware of their presence, was a
hunched green humanoid creature. It was hunched over the body of a dead
Landsquid, ripping large portions of the fleshy body away and shoveling
them into its fanged mouth.

[Swamp Orc – Journeyman 1]

A rusty cleaver hung at the monster’s side, still covered with goop from
the Landsquid and dried blood from other victims. Rodrick gagged as the
orc shoved a whole tentacle down its throat, barely even pausing to
swallow. It wiped its mouth with the back of a clawed hand, then ripped
another piece of the dead monster away.
“That’s one ugly bugger,” Rodrick muttered, just loud enough for Arwin
to hear.
“Orcs are good fighters, but they’re not particularly clever. They’re
more of a threat when they’re in groups,” Arwin said, tightening his grip on
his hammer. The orc hadn’t noticed them yet, but it would soon—and,
unfortunately, they didn’t have any ranged attacks that could take advantage
of its distraction. “Just remember they’re a lot stronger than humans are on
average, and that one’s also got the tier advantage. Try to dodge attacks
more than block them.”
“Right with you. Do you want to take the lead, considering…” Rodrick
gestured vaguely to the armor covering Arwin’s body.
“Yeah. Wait until it’s distracted by me, then see if you can cripple it.
Don’t go for a killing blow too early. It’ll make you overextend and you
could end up getting hit. It’s safer to just take this nice and steady. Reya,
can you [Imprison] it when it looks like Rodrick is about to strike?”
“Yeah. I’ll do my best,” Reya whispered.
Arwin crept forward, and the others followed him. It had been a long
time since Arwin had fought an orc, but he got the feeling this one wouldn’t
go down nearly as easily as their previous opponent had.

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N
o sooner had Arwin inched a few feet into the room than the orc
jerked upright from its meal, its dull eyes flashing as it spun toward
him. The gelatinous body of the Landsquid splattered across the
ground as the orc threw it to the side.
It drew its cleaver and threw its head back, letting out a furious roar that
sent spittle flying all across the floor. Even at the distance Arwin was at, he
could smell the monster’s rancid breath.
Arwin moved carefully, not wanting to get his feet caught in the thick
vines on the ground. One misstep would be more than enough to give the
orc an advantage that he had absolutely no desire to hand over.
He bared his own teeth in challenge and beat a fist against the armor on
his chest, drawing the orc’s attention to him. From what he remembered,
orcs were incredibly competent in physical combat, but they weren’t hard to
trick.
As long as I can keep its attention on me, we should be able to handle
this without too much trouble. I just have to make sure I don’t take a blow to
the head and die before Anna can patch up any damage I take.
The orc, fed up with waiting for an attack, charged. Its powerful
muscles propelled the humanoid beast forward, closing the distance
between it and Arwin in just a few steps. It reared back, bringing the cleaver
down for the nape of Arwin’s neck for what would have been a killing blow.
Arwin spun his hammer, knocking the cleaver to the side with a grunt.
He’d planned to convert the momentum of the deflection into a
counterattack, but the orc was strong. All the force he’d put into the attack
was absorbed, leaving nothing to press forward with.
The orc, having a considerably nimbler weapon than Arwin, recovered
first and swung the cleaver back toward his neck with brutal speed. He
leaned back, letting the blow whistle by harmlessly, and then drove his knee
into the orc.
It was like striking a brick wall. Arwin cursed, and his greaves tingled
as a small portion of kinetic energy was stored within them. His attack had
done so little that it had actually counted as an attack against Arwin.
Or is that just physics? If I hit something really hard, isn’t that the same
as it hitting me just as hard? The force has to go somewhere. Interesting
thought.
If the orc could have read Arwin’s thoughts, perhaps it would have been
impressed with his budding career as a physicist. Unfortunately for him, it
was entirely incapable of both mathematical calculations and mind reading,
so it was forced to settle for a scream and a lunge.
Arwin’s foot caught on one of the many vines littered across the ground,
and he twisted as he fell, bringing his hammer around to keep the orc from
instantly pouncing on him. He hit the ground with a grunt and rolled to the
side without waiting.
A loud screech rang out as the monster’s cleaver scraped against his
armor, leaving a furrow through the scales. Heat swirled in Arwin’s chest
and a lash of molten flame arced out from the armor, striking the orc across
the face before it could react.
It screamed in pain and stumbled back, dropping the cleaver. Rodrick
took that moment to act. He burst into motion from where he’d been
standing at the sidelines, thrusting his sword forward without a sound.
Even still, the orc managed to notice him coming. It twisted at the last
second, bringing its heart out of Rodrick’s path. The sword bit deep into the
monster’s side and sent blood splattering across the damp floor.
Rodrick nearly tripped over his own feet at the lack of resistance his
blade met. He’d been planning to run the monster through, not leave a nasty
cut on its side. Even as he recovered, the orc lunged for his neck, reaching
out with rancid, jagged claws.
A flash of blue light enveloped the monster. It slowed, and Rodrick
ducked out of the way. Arwin surged forward, bringing his hammer for the
orc’s side just as the blue energy wore off.
 In an impressive display of acrobatics, the orc vaulted backward. It
grabbed on to a vine hanging from the ceiling and swung itself even further,
landing on the other side of the room. It pressed a hand to the bloody
furrow in its side, then bared its teeth and let out a roar.
Dull red energy ignited behind the orc’s eyes and its posture shifted. It
flexed its claws, hissing as it swayed from foot to foot. Arwin grimaced in
distaste.
“Shit.”
“What the hell is it doing?” Rodrick asked. “Nobody told me the damn
things could glow!”
“Orcs often have a berserker state that gets triggered when they’re in a
really intense fight or when their shaman triggers it intentionally,” Arwin
said. “Be careful. Back up and let me handle this.”
“What? But I thought⁠—”
“Have you ever fought a rampaging orc?”
“No.”
“Then back up,” Arwin said, advancing to make sure he kept the
monster’s attention. Not every orc had the bloodline that let them rampage
without the aid of a shaman, and he’d been hoping to get lucky.
Evidently, that had been a poor idea. In concept, a rampaging orc
shouldn’t have actually been that much more dangerous than a normal one.
They didn’t get stronger or faster—in fact, they didn’t change their physical
abilities at all.
Instead, they completely lost their ability to feel pain. Their bodies
basically forgot that they were living, breathing creatures and transformed
into weapons hellbent on killing their target.
“Don’t do anything dumb,” Lillia warned. “You know what⁠—”
“I know,” Arwin said briskly. Lillia did likely know more than he did,
but she’d been hiding her powers from Anna and Rodrick. He didn’t blame
her, but it meant she couldn’t do anything in the fight. If he wanted to make
it out from this fight with his armor in one piece, he was going to need his
full concentration.
The orc roared and sprinted toward Arwin, its arms extended to rip him
to shreds. Arwin empowered his legs and bounded to the side, swinging his
hammer at the monster as he passed. It didn’t even bother trying to dodge,
and a loud crunch rang out as the weapon impacted the orc’s shoulder.
 It lurched toward Arwin, slashing with its claws and nearly catching
him while he backed up and readied his hammer again. Arwin swung the
weapon once more, this time empowering it with [Scourge].
A keening wail filled the air as the hammer hurtled through the air and
slammed straight into the center of the orc’s chest, sending a spray of blood
and bone up into the air with a sickening crunch.
The force of Arwin’s blow sent it tumbling across the ground. It
bounced twice, then slammed into the wall. Blood pouring from the
massive crater in the orc’s chest, it clambered to its feet and swayed toward
him, apparently unaware that it should have been dead twice over.
Annoying bastards.
The orc burst into motion, and Arwin matched the attack with his
hammer. As the weapon neared the orc’s head, it twitched to the side and
just barely managed to avoid it. In the same motion, it lunged to bite at
Arwin’s neck.
He used [Scourge] to empower his leg as he brought it up, driving his
knee straight into the orc’s chin. It snapped back with enough force to
shatter the teeth in its mouth. Not finished, Arwin brought his bare fist
down on the monster’s head, pouring in all the power [Scourge] would let
him.
In a scene vaguely reminiscent of a very gory whack-a-mole, the orc’s
head crumpled. Blood and gore seeped out of its face as it careened, still
managing to rake its jagged claws across Arwin’s chest as it collapsed.
His armor absorbed the blow, keeping it from penetrating, but Arwin
earned four thick new furrows in his armor for his troubles. Even when the
orc’s body hit the ground, Arwin didn’t hesitate.
He brought his hammer down once more, driving it straight into the
monster’s back. Its body flailed, then fell still. Arwin took a step back,
breathing heavily as blood dripped from the end of his hammer.
“There,” Arwin said, pausing to swallow and catch his breath. “I got it.”
“Holy shit,” Reya said. “I knew you could fight, but I didn’t know you
could fight.”
“What’s that meant to mean?” Arwin asked. “I fought the wyrm.”
“We ran from the wyrm,” Rodrick corrected, regarding Arwin in a new
light. “That was brutal. Have you fought orcs before? You ripped that thing
apart.”
 “On occasion,” Arwin said. He saw the look in Lillia’s eye and
grimaced. He knew what she was thinking, even if she wasn’t saying it.
She’s seen me do that to a whole lot more than just an orc.
“So the room is safe now?” Reya asked. “Can we look around and see if
there’s anything good?”
“There almost certainly is,” Arwin replied, kneeling to pick up the fallen
cleaver. It had two rough initials carved into it, a V and an A overlaid on top
of each other. The initials probably belonged to the original owner of the
cleaver, before it landed in the grasp of the mindless creature lying at
Arwin’s feet. “Don’t get too excited yet, though. Take things slow. This
room is pretty hard to see in, so there could be doors leading to other parts
of the dungeon.”
“Do monsters actually travel between the rooms? I always thought they
kind of just… sat there,” Reya said.
Arwin looked at Reya, blinking in surprise. “Why would they do that?
They want to get deeper and closer to the source of Mesh that lured them
here in the first place, so they rarely come back out of the dungeon into the
worse rooms—but rarely doesn’t mean they won’t.”
“That was a good save, by the way,” Rodrick said. “If Reya hadn’t
slowed that orc down, I’d have taken a nasty hit. I didn’t think the darn
thing would be so aware when it was actively fighting you.”
“That’s why I told you to go for crippling blows, not finishing ones,”
Arwin said. “Harder to correct when you’re throwing your whole weight
behind an attack. Now, let’s⁠—”
“Hush!” Lillia hissed, slipping forward and clapping a hand over
Arwin’s mouth. His eyes widened and he had to stop himself from throwing
her arm away instinctively. The expression on her face was serious enough
to kill any questions that Arwin had.
They all went silent, eyes darting around the room to try and find what
Lillia had spotted. It took Arwin a few more seconds than he would have
liked, but he finally managed to locate what had drawn Lillia’s attention.
The vines near the far left wall were… off. Their tone was just slightly
different to the other vines covering the ground, and they were more tightly
knit than they were in other areas. They weren’t just vines—it was the
coiled body of a large snake. The Mesh didn’t appear to identify the
monster, so it had to have some form of stealth or concealment skill.
 The snake must have been at least three feet wide and eighteen feet
long. It hadn’t attacked yet, but it was ever-so-slowly making its way
toward them.
No sooner had Arwin spotted the monster than he heard a grunt from
down a hall in the room behind it—a grunt that sounded suspiciously like
an orc.
“More orcs coming,” Arwin whispered, tightening his grip on his
hammer. “I knew it. They’re rarely alone. The others must have gone deeper
into the dungeon. Get ready to fight. Rodrick, do you see the snake?”
“Barely.”
“That’s your job. Keep it off the backline. I’ll hold the orcs off until you
can back me up. Don’t let the snake get behind me, or I’m dead.”
Dull red eyes appeared in the darkness of the doorway and Arwin
suppressed a curse. The orc was already in a rampaging state—but it wasn’t
running around like an idiot, which meant only one thing.
There was an orc shaman.
This may get ugly.

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A
rwin charged the door. In general, charging an orc was the act of
either a madman or someone so strong that the orc posed absolutely
no threat to them. But, in this instance, he was neither.
I need to make sure they don’t make it out of the doorway. There are
going to be at least two orcs coming out, and I can’t fend them off if they
gang up on me. Routing them at the door is my only option.
Arwin reached the doorway an instant before the orcs could emerge and
thrust his hammer forward like a spear. The orc before him snarled and
dodged out of the way, pressing its body to the wall to keep from getting
struck. As soon as he got a good look at the monster, the Mesh identified it.

[Swamp Orc – Journeyman 1]

In the darkness behind the orc, Arwin could make out a pair of glowing
green eyes and the rough form of another orc.
That’s the shaman. It’ll stay out of the fight and try to whittle me down
with magic while buffing up its warrior. I can’t let this drag on for long. I’m
not going to win a battle of attrition.
Almost as if on cue, the Mesh shimmered forth once more.

[Swamp Orc Shaman – Journeyman 2]

 Behind him, Arwin heard Rodrick let out a battle cry. There was a loud
thump, presumably the snake as it entered the fight with him, but Arwin
didn’t have the liberty to turn and see how their fight was unfolding.
The orc before him lunged, thrusting its rusty sword for his chest. Arwin
batted the blow away with the hilt of his hammer and drove his foot into the
orc’s stomach, using [Scourge] to give himself enough strength to throw it
back several feet.
His magical energy reserves weren’t as high as he would have liked, but
it wasn’t like the orcs were going to sit around and wait for him to recover.
The light in the orc’s eyes turned even brighter, and it let out a furious roar,
charging Arwin like a mad bull.
He drove his hammer forward, but this time, the monster didn’t even
bother dodging it. It thrust its sword forward, taking the hammer blow to
the shoulder and striking Arwin in the chest with its own weapon.
If it hadn’t been for his armor, the blow would have gone straight
through his heart. Instead, it rang off the scales and caught on the furrows
already present in Arwin’s armor, only leaving a superficial cut on his chest.
In turn, Arwin’s blow demolished the monster’s left shoulder. Bone and
blood splattered across the floor, but the orc didn’t even notice. It thrust its
blade again and again, having gotten close enough to Arwin that his
hammer was nowhere near as effective.
He gritted his teeth as the sword carved into his armor. He tried to shove
the orc back, but it managed to dodge out of the way. Its sword rang off his
greaves, giving them some kinetic energy, but Arwin wasn’t going to be
able to get much use out of it if⁠—
The orc’s sword slammed into his armor again. Heat swirled in Arwin’s
chest, and a whip of fire lashed out, striking the monster in the eyes. It
screamed, more in fury than pain, and Arwin took the brief reprieve to use a
[Scourge]-empowered kick to throw the orc back.
His chest stung something furious, and blood dripped down his front,
but none of the cuts he’d taken were fatal. His armor had held up against
most of the monster’s attacks, but it wasn’t going to last forever.
A loud hiss rang out behind Arwin, followed by the clash of metal on
scale and a slew of curses. In the brief instant that Arwin was distracted, the
shaman sent a bolt of green light into the back of the orc he was fighting.
The wound on its shoulder stopped bleeding. It hadn’t been healed, but
it wouldn’t be dying from blood loss anytime soon. Roaring, the orc
charged Arwin again. The light in its eyes burned even brighter than it had
before.
I can’t keep trading blows like this. The shaman is going to keep picking
this bastard back up until it’s using the corpse like a puppet. I need to blow
through and kill the real threat.
Instead of trying to fend off the orc’s blows, Arwin threw caution to the
wind. He drove his shoulder into the monster, slamming it into the wall. He
caught a sword to the side in the process, but it rang off his armor and failed
to find purchase in his skin.
Arwin charged forward, and he was rewarded with a flash of surprise
and fear in the orc shaman’s eyes a moment before he grabbed it by the
neck. Letting [Scourge] empower his body, Arwin slammed the shaman’s
head into the stone.
There was a sickening crunch and a splatter, much like a watermelon
being dropped. The shaman’s body went limp in his hand and Arwin spun
just in time for the other orc’s sword to slam into his shoulder with enough
force to drive him to one knee.
He snarled, lunging forward and tackling the monster to the ground. The
sword flew from the orc’s hands, and it reached up to claw at his face.
Arwin drew on [Scourge] once more, slamming the orc’s hands to the
ground.
It roared up at him—but the roar was quickly turned into a garbled
scream as Arwin drove his forehead into the beast’s face, shattering its nose.
One of its fangs caught his chin. If it hadn’t been for [Indomitable
Bulwark], the fang likely would have completely ripped his face open. But,
even with his empowered defenses, it still ripped across his flesh and left a
deep cut.
Arwin didn’t give himself time to register the wound. It was taking
literally all of his power to keep the struggling orc pinned down, and it
wouldn’t be long before the monster managed to escape him again.
With a roar, Arwin activated [Scourge] once more, draining the majority
of the magical energy he still had left to work with, and drove his head
down once more. The orc’s skull caved in beneath him.
Blood splattered across his face, but Arwin didn’t care. He leaned back,
releasing the monster’s hands and driving one more blow into its sternum to
make sure it was well and truly dead before staggering back to his feet,
breathing heavily.
 Achievement: [Use Your Head] has been earned.
[Use Your Head] – Awarded for using your head in a way in which you
probably should not have used it. Effects: The next piece of headgear
you forge will be magical. This achievement will be consumed upon
creation of your next piece of headgear.

Arwin dismissed the Mesh. He grabbed his hammer from where it had
fallen on the floor and strode back into the other room, readying himself for
another fight. But when Arwin emerged from the hallway, he nearly ran
straight into Rodrick.
The man let out a scream and jumped nearly a foot into the air, bringing
his sword to bear.
“Good gods!” Rodrick exclaimed, his eyes wide. “You look like a
monster!”
“Are you okay?” Reya asked, her face pale. Lillia looked like she
wanted to say something as well, but she remained quiet. Anna hurried over
to him and started to draw on her magic.
Arwin looked down at his torn-up armor, then wiped the blood from his
face with the back of an arm. “I killed the orcs. Where’s the snake?”
“Dead,” Rodrick said, stepping back so Arwin could see the corpse of
the monster behind him. It was largely in one piece, having been run
through the eye. Arwin gave Rodrick an approving nod, letting himself
relax slightly.
Anna’s magic washed over his body, stitching shut the wounds he’d
picked up.
“Thank you, and good job. We should pause here for a moment. That
was… a little harder than I expected.”
“You killed three of those things on your own?” Rodrick asked, looking
over Arwin’s shoulder and shaking his head in disbelief. “Some smith you
are.”
“It’s not about the tools you have. It’s about how you use them.”
“Do you even have any tools other than that armor?” Rodrick asked
with a laugh. “With the amount of blood on you, it looks more like you
used your head to beat the life out of them.”
“Your whole body is a tool,” Arwin said. He touched the damage to his
armor, then frowned. It had taken quite the beating from the fight. It didn’t
feel like the magic within was about to falter, but if he went through another
fight that was as brutal as this one had been, there was a good chance it
would be too ripped up to be repairable.
At least I got a pretty nice Achievement out of this. I’ve got more than
enough scales to repair the damage I took back at home. If I can just gather
some new material to work with, then I can consider this a huge success.
Lillia dug through her pockets and pulled out a black napkin, tossing it
down to Arwin. He caught it with a hand and wiped the blood off his face,
giving her an appreciative nod.
“Thanks. This is probably going to stain, though.”
“That’s fine. I always use it to clean up blood. Butchering animals is
messy.”
Arwin looked at the napkin, then shrugged. It wasn’t going to be any
less dirty than he already was, so he wiped the rest of his face off. He gave
himself another few seconds to recover before standing back up. He handed
the napkin back to Lillia, who took it between two fingers.
“Should we go deeper?” Reya asked. “If the next room is even harder
than this one…”
“It could be difficult. My armor is pretty cut up,” Arwin said. He walked
over to the snake and knelt beside it, examining the monster’s body. He
pulled at one of the scales, bending it until it snapped.
Not nearly as strong as the Forest Lizard scales. This thing must have
been much more reliant on its stealth abilities. Not particularly useful for
my forging, but it’s a good thing Lillia spotted it.
Arwin pulled the monster’s head up, holding it by one of the fangs to
study the inside of its mouth. The fangs were large, so he snapped them off
and stuck them into a pocket. He wasn’t sure if he could use them, but it
wouldn’t hurt to keep them around.
He then knelt by the dead orc and ruffled through its belongings. Aside
from the cleaver, there really wasn’t anything of real use on it. The first orc
in the hallway was similarly useless, its sword far too rusted to be of use,
but the shaman was different.
Arwin hadn’t had a chance to see it during the fight, but the monster had
been holding a wooden staff of some sort. Its end was adorned with a
glittering purple gemstone. Arwin wasn’t sure what it did—or if it did
anything at all—as the Mesh didn’t identify it. Either way, he ripped the
gem free of the staff and tucked it into a pocket. At the very least, it would
probably sell for a little.
 He returned to the room with the others in it. “Nothing too useful yet.”
“I did get a good amount of energy from killing the snake,” Rodrick cut
in.
Reya nodded. “I did too, even though I only helped a bit.”
“Any Achievements?”
Both of them shook their heads.
“Then it’s up to you lot,” Arwin said. “I’d be willing to push forward for
one more room. We haven’t really gotten much out of this yet. If I rest for a
few more minutes, I should be able to handle another fight without much
trouble. I’d like to try to get more out of the dungeon on our first run.”
“I’m not keen on cooking orc, and the snake is kind of stringy,” Lillia
said. “I’d like to go further as well, but I’m not really doing much fighting
right now, so it’s up to you.”
“I haven’t been hurt yet, so I’m good to go deeper,” Reya said.
“Same here,” Rodrick said, and Anna nodded in agreement.
“Then it’s settled,” Arwin said. “We go deeper.”

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A
fter a few minutes of sitting around to recover their energy, the group
crept down the hall. It had been long enough since their last fight that
it didn’t seem likely that anything else had overheard it, but there was
no point in taking chances.
They crept down the dark hall, following its curves deeper into the
earth. The scent of mildew grew stronger with every step, and a faint mist
greeted them, prickling against their skin. It was mostly concentrated
around their feet, sending wisps of swirling white up with every step they
took.
The Mesh prickled at Arwin’s skin, telling him that there was faint
power stored within the mist—or, more likely, whatever had created it.
After a few more minutes of walking, they reached the end of the hall.
A stone door sat before them, its surface flush with the walls around it. It
was plain, aside from a small green crystal jutting out from one side of it
like a doorknob.
“That’s not suspicious at all,” Rodrick said, squinting at the door.
“Something nasty past this, you think?”
“Probably,” Arwin said with a nod. “I’d say the mist is coming from
beyond the door. It’s probably something a little stronger than what we’ve
faced before.”
“What are the chances it’s waiting on the other end of the door to attack
us?”
 “Non-zero,” Arwin admitted. “But this mist could be a good sign. If we
can take out whatever is waiting for us, I’d be willing to bet we’ll be able to
get some good stuff from the victory.”
“I’d be willing to try. I’m topped up on magic right now, so as long as
nobody gets hurt too seriously, I can keep everyone patched up for a while,”
Anna supplied.
“Can we just poke our heads in there and see what we’re up against? Or
will it chase us?” Rodrick asked.
“No clue. Depends on what’s there,” Arwin replied. He idly ran a finger
along the damage to his armor. “Not every monster is the same. I think it’s
worth a try, though. We can always use the door as a choke point if it’s a
real threat. Most monsters won’t throw their lives away trying to kill you,
so they’ll try to run once injured enough. We’re not that deep into the
dungeon yet anyway, so I think we can handle it.”
“Let’s go, then,” Reya said. She paused, then cleared her throat. “You
first, though, please.”
Arwin snorted and stepped toward the door. He wrapped his hand
around the crystal and pulled. The door didn’t budge, so he pushed instead.
It swung open silently, gliding across the stone without a noise.
More mist poured out of the room, rolling past their feet and going up to
their waists, accompanied by the sound of rushing water. A small waterfall
poured from an outcropping of rocks at the far right of the room, its blueish-
green water making a river that traveled across the ground and disappeared
into a hole.
Glistening teal gemstones jutted out of the walls and disrupted the flow
of the river, sending faint flickers of light dancing across the walls and
ceiling. Compared to the rest of the dungeon, it was shockingly beautiful.
A pile of strangely shaped rocks and gemstones about seven feet tall
caught Arwin’s eye as the familiar tingle of the Mesh greeted him. He
focused on it more intently and was rewarded by a swirl of golden letters.

[Crystal Golem – Journeyman 3]

“Over there,” Arwin whispered. The golem didn’t seem to have noticed
them yet—or perhaps it simply didn’t care about their presence. Not every
monster in a dungeon was always hostile, though they usually didn’t
appreciate getting bothered.
 “That thing is huge,” Reya muttered. “Can we really fight it?”
“Smaller than the wyrm,” Rodrick whispered.
“That we had to run from,” Reya pointed out. “It’s just… sitting there.
What is it waiting for?”
“Us, probably,” Arwin replied. He adjusted his grip on his hammer.
He’d fought golems before. They were a rather interesting kind of monster,
as they weren’t naturally born. Instead, they formed when the environment
had so much magical energy sitting around that it got infused.
Most of the time, golems tended to guard whatever it was that had
formed them. They were occasionally aggressive, but most of the time, they
didn’t care about anyone unless they got near whatever it was they
happened to be protecting.
“There might be something good in this room,” Arwin said. “Golems
are protectors, but I don’t know what it’s guarding. I have to say that I’m a
little tempted to try and harvest some of these crystals.”
“What are the chances that it’s going to take offense to that?” Reya
asked.
“Almost 100 percent,” Arwin admitted. “Up to you all.”
“If you think we can handle it, I’m willing to give it a shot,” Rodrick
said. “Never fought a giant pile of rocks before, but I’m always willing to
try new experiences.”
“The strategy for this should be pretty straightforward, then. Golems
tend to embody the traits of whatever it is they’re made of. Crystal and
stone, in this case, so it’ll probably be heavy and strong. Don’t get hit.
Focus on chipping away at it until we reveal its core. Once that gets
shattered, it’ll die,” Arwin said.
“Understood,” Rodrick said. “I guess we just smack at it and Reya waits
to use her power until one of us are about to get hit or we see its core?”
“Exactly,” Arwin said with a nod. “And Anna will sit at the back and
quickly heal anyone that does get hit. This should be a short fight, but it can
go badly pretty fast if the golem lands a good strike on us and we can’t get
away in time. Sound good to everyone?”
“I’ll sit here and provide moral support,” Lillia said with a grin. Arwin
snorted, but he couldn’t exactly ask her to do anything else. Unless they had
absolutely no choice, it was better to keep her powers concealed.
“I feel like it’s more of a curse than a support with that tentacle you’re
carrying around,” Rodrick grumbled. “I keep seeing it out of the corner of
my eye and shuddering.”
“There’s nothing wrong with it,” Lillia said defensively. “It’s going to
taste great.”
“I’ll believe it when I see someone else try it.”
“Let’s just kill this thing already, shall we?” Anna asked. “The mist is
tingly. I don’t like it. I know it’s not doing anything, but it kind of feels like
I’ve got ants trying to crawl up my pants.”
Arwin grimaced at that thought, then hoisted his hammer and started
toward the golem, Rodrick at his side. The monster didn’t respond to their
approach, and Arwin kept his guard up to make sure nothing else was
lurking in the shadows.
Golems were pretty non-confrontational so long as they weren’t
annoyed, so it was very possible for another monster to be in the room. But,
at least as far as he could tell, there wasn’t anything else in the area. He
wasn’t even sure where the door to the next room was—though he would
have bet a fair sum of gold that it was behind the waterfall.
Dungeons always liked sticking things behind waterfalls.
As they grew closer to the golem, a dull grinding noise echoed through
the room. The golem’s head shifted up, dim green lighting in the sockets
that made up its eyes. It hadn’t attacked yet, but it was watching them.
“I think it sees us,” Rodrick said.
“I don’t know if sees is the right word,” Arwin said. “It doesn’t actually
have eyes. It’s just magic manifest. Golems don’t process information or
think like we do, as far as I’m aware.”
“What’s that mean?”
“It means I don’t have to feel bad about this,” Arwin replied, rearing
back and swinging his hammer, empowering the blow with [Scourge]. The
hammer slammed into the side of the golem’s head with a resounding crash,
sending a spray of stone fragments flying everywhere.
The monster staggered, catching itself on the ground with an arm. It
shoved itself upright, stone screeching against crystal as it stood upright.
Rock flew from the ground, filling the crater Arwin had made in it.
“I think you pissed it off,” Rodrick said, taking a step back as a dull
hum filled the air. The translucent green crystals covering the monster
started to pulsate, their light reflecting in the mist around them.
“So I did,” Arwin agreed. “The core isn’t on the left side of its head, in
case you were wondering.”
 The golem lurched forward, bringing a large, rocky hand the size of
Arwin’s upper body down toward him. He dove to the side and the ground
shook behind him from the force of the golem’s blow.
Rodrick darted at the monster and slammed the butt of his sword down
into the top of its arm, cracking the stone slightly. His eyes went wide and
he skipped back, avoiding the golem’s other hand as it swept at him.
“Nine Underlands—that thing is really hard to crack. How’d you
damage it so easily?”
“I’ve got a bloody hammer,” Arwin replied.
And an ability that lets me grow far more powerful than I normally am.
Just a small buff, really. Definitely not a big deal.
The golem rumbled toward them, raising a hand. Crystals shifted across
its body, gathering in its palm and forming into a large, jagged sword. It
swept the blade and Arwin dropped to the ground, just barely ducking under
the powerful blow in time.
The rush of wind from its passing buffeted his hair, and Rodrick let out
a slew of curses from behind him. There hadn’t been a loud crunch, so the
warrior must have avoided the attack as well.
As the golem went to pull the sword back for another swing, Arwin
attacked once more. He brought his hammer hurtling toward the other side
of its head like a meteor, slamming it into the stone with all the force his
body could muster.
Another loud crash echoed through the room. The force of his blow,
empowered by [Scourge], sent the golem staggering several feet to the side.
Rubble rained down from the huge crater, but there was still no core to be
seen.
The wound quickly started to patch over. Arwin went to attack again,
but he was forced to abandon the attempt as the golem nearly impaled him
with its enormous crystal sword. He twisted at the last second, letting the
weapon scrape across his armor with a loud screech.
“You okay?” Rodrick yelled.
“Fine,” Arwin replied with a grimace. The golem was a bit faster than
he’d expected—or perhaps he was just slower than he’d once been. It was
probably a mixture of the two. “The golem’s core isn’t in its head. Let’s go
for the body, around the heart area.”
“I’ll distract it,” Rodrick said, running up and smacking the golem on
the arm before Arwin could respond. It turned toward him, bringing the
crystal sword whistling for Rodrick’s head.
A blue glow enveloped the golem, slowing its movements for just an
instant. Rodrick leapt back and the sword whiffed past him. Arwin’s
hammer shot out and caught the golem in the shoulder with another spray of
stone. A resounding chime rang out as he struck some of the crystal, and a
tremor raced down his arms with such intensity that Arwin was forced to
drop his hammer.
He hopped back, cursing and shaking his arms off. Whatever the
crystals were made out of, it was really strong. Arwin used [Arsenal] to
summon his hammer back into his hands. The golem reached out for him,
and Rodrick unleashed several rapid—but largely ineffective—attacks into
its back.
This time, the golem completely ignored him. It had clearly registered
that Rodrick didn’t have a good way to injure it, and Arwin was the greater
threat.
“Over here, you overgrown lump!” Rodrick called, racing past the
golem to stand where it had risen. “You’re protecting something, right?
Sure would be a shame if I⁠—”
Rodrick didn’t get a chance to finish his sentence. The golem spun with
such speed that its hand caught Arwin by surprise, striking him in the
shoulder and sending him tumbling across the ground.
He slammed into a wall and the world flashed around him as the air was
knocked from his lungs. The golem lunged for Rodrick. A flash of blue light
enveloped it, but it wasn’t enough to stop the monster.
Its weapon came crashing down, on a collision course for Rodrick—and
the warrior wasn’t anywhere near fast enough to dodge it in time.

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L
illia snapped her fingers and a shadow shot out from the darkness,
wrapping around Rodrick’s leg and yanking him to the side with a
surprised yelp a moment before his head could get turned into a fine
bloody mist by the swinging sword.
Arwin stumbled to his feet, his head still ringing. Even the glancing
blow had been enough to completely knock him out of sorts. Anna raced up
to him, slapping her palm against his shoulder.
Healing energy rushed into him, pushing the dizziness back. Arwin
sprinted back into the fight, not even spending the time to give Anna a
grateful nod. The golem was already rearing back to swing at Lillia and
Rodrick again.
He swung his hammer with a roar, bringing it crashing into the golem’s
side while using the full force of [Scourge]. A powerful shockwave ran up
his arms as his hammer struck home, crashing through the golem’s body.
For a brief instant, a flicker of green caught Arwin’s eye. A gemstone,
roughly the size of his fist, rested directly in the center of the monster’s
chest.
“The core is in the middle of its body!” Arwin roared, jumping back to
avoid getting crumpled like a tin can by the golem’s sword. “One of you
needs to finish it off! If I kill it, you’ll barely get any rewards!”
“I’ll be honest—I’m a little more concerned with not dying,” Rodrick
yelled back.
“You’ll not be dying more often if you get stronger.”
 The golem’s limbs ground against each other as it stomped toward
Arwin. Tremors ran through the ground with every step it took, and Arwin
was forced to use [Scourge] to empower his feet and jump out of the way of
a devastating sword swing.
Stone had already started rolling up the monster’s body, gathering and
concealing the core once more. Arwin gritted his teeth. The golem wasn’t
exactly a sapient monster, but it could adapt. It wasn’t going to sit around
and let him whale on it.
“I’m going to reveal the core again,” Arwin said. “Reya, slow it down
as soon as I land the hit. Rodrick, finish it off. I’ll make sure its attention is
on me.”
He didn’t wait for any confirmations. Arwin activated [Arsenal] and
dismissed his armor and hammer before bursting into motion. Without the
heavy equipment, Arwin dove under the golem’s next blow and rolled to his
feet. He summoned his hammer back to his hands and armor back to his
body as he rose and thrusted his weapon into the golem’s chest.
Stone shattered and rained against the wall behind the golem, revealing
the shimmering core in the center of its chest. The golem brought a fist
hurtling toward Arwin. The man had put himself in a good position to hit
the monster, but the same was true for the other direction.
Rodrick ran forward, sword ignited with burning light as he swung it at
the core, but it wasn’t going to hit in time to stop the rocky fist from
colliding with its target.
Arwin yanked his hand up, ripping his sleeve back and shoving the
bracelet into his mouth. He bit down on the metal an instant before the
golem’s fist slammed into him like a freight train.
With just [Indomitable Bulwark], Arwin’s body wouldn’t have been
able to handle the blow. The golem was too large, and its full force was
directed straight into Arwin’s chest. But as the fist collided, energy flooded
through his body.
The strike threw Arwin back like a discarded toy, sending him hurtling
across the room and crashing into the wall at the far end. He slid down it,
dust and debris raining around him.
Another wave of blue energy bound the golem. The monster slammed to
a halt just as Rodrick’s sword struck the green gemstone with a high-
pitched clink. Cracks shot through the gemstone and it shattered, letting out
a flash of faint light. The entire golem crumbled, stumbling forward and
collapsing into a large pile of debris.
“Arwin!” Lillia yelled, running up to his side—and skidding to a halt as
he rose. Her eyes went wide in disbelief.
Arwin was uninjured. He could feel the magic from the bracelet already
leaving his body, unable to handle the sheer force it had just absorbed for
him. He shook his arms off, then grinned. “I’m fine.”
“What? How?” Anna demanded, running up beside Lillia. “You should
be dead!”
“I’m a tough nut to crack,” Arwin said with a shrug. He was pleased to
find that his armor wasn’t too damaged from the strike either—his body had
failed to give way even slightly, so while it had warped a bit around him, it
was still roughly in the right shape.
Before anyone could say anything else, the Mesh swirled before Arwin.

Achievement: [Topple the Strong] has been earned.

[Topple the Strong] – Awarded for defeating an opponent one full tier
above you. Effects: One skill in your next Skill Selection has been
upgraded. This achievement will be consumed upon choosing your next
skill.

A huge grin split Arwin’s face. Even if they got absolutely nothing else
from the dungeon, this single Achievement made everything worth it. The
value of upgrading upcoming skills had already been proven time and time
again to be immense.
“Whoa,” Rodrick breathed, staring into the air before him in mute awe.
“What?” Anna asked. “What happened? Are you okay?”
“I got an Achievement,” Rodrick said. “For killing a golem with one
strike.”
“Congratulations. What’s it do?” Arwin asked, grateful for a way to
switch the topic away from himself.
“It lets me upgrade one of my skills,” Rodrick replied absent-mindedly,
his gaze still fixed on the air before him. “And I got a pretty damn good
upgrade out of it. My Empowered Strike now carries on into my next two
attacks. That’ll be pretty useful, since using it once draws pretty much all
my magical energy.”
 “I didn’t get anything this time around, but I barely did anything to help
in the fight, so it’s not much of a surprise,” Anna said. She gave Arwin one
last look before turning away from him. “What about you, Reya?”
The girl nodded mutely. She swallowed, then licked her lips. “I—Yeah.
I got something.”
“An Achievement?” Rodrick asked.
“No. A Title.”
All of them froze. Rodrick drew in a sharp breath, letting it out in a
whistle. Getting Achievements was incredibly important, but they were
always consumed at some point. Titles, on the other hand, were arguably
the most powerful boons that anyone could get.
Barring the most extreme circumstances, Titles were permanent. Their
benefits could range from borderline useless to incredibly powerful, but
they never left. Every single Title was immensely valuable. To get one this
early was huge for Reya.
“What does it do?” Anna asked, her eyes wide with shock. “Is it a good
one? I can’t believe you got a Title at Apprentice 1. That’s incredible. That
could set your entire future up for you.”
“Don’t forget she got it by helping kill something more than twice her
tier,” Rodrick pointed out. “She actually helped take it out too. It wasn’t just
fed to her. That’s not an easy feat to replicate.”
“Stop yapping and let me hear what the Title is,” Lillia said. She
paused, then reddened. “Assuming you want to say, of course. You don’t
have to tell us if you don’t want to, Reya.”
“I think it’s fine,” Reya said with a hurried shake of her head. “I was
just distracted reading it. It’s called Gaiac Heart.”
“What’s it do?” Arwin asked, a flash of concern passing through him.
Not every Title was always beneficial. It was incredibly rare, but it wasn’t
impossible to get a detrimental effect from them. Anything that had the
chance to affect the heart was a little worrying.
Reya swallowed before speaking again. “It’s a passive that draws on my
magical energy whenever I get injured, healing slowly depending on how
bad the damage is.”
“Oh, shit,” Anna whispered. “That’s absolutely ridiculous. A healing
passive?”
“A very slow one,” Reya said, but that did little to reduce the
significance of the ability.
 “That’s quite the Title,” Arwin said. “It’ll serve you well. I’ve seen a lot
of them, and I can say without a doubt that defensive and restorative Titles
are almost always the best ones you can get. Even if it’s just a small
amount, that’s going to be useful for as long as you live.”
“Might make you live longer too,” Anna mused. “Aging is just the
destruction of the body. You might stay young for longer without even
having to reach the higher tiers and slow your aging by infusing yourself
with magic.”
“Whoa. I didn’t even think of that,” Reya said, blinking in surprise. She
touched her face, as if trying to see if she’d suddenly grown younger. “How
come I got a Title when the rest of you got Achievements?”
“Questioning the Mesh is a pretty pointless task,” Arwin said. “It does
what it wants. If I had to venture a guess, I’d say it’s because the difference
in your abilities and those of the golem was really large, even compared to
the rest of us. You basically just started fighting monsters, while everyone
else here has been at it for at least a little while.”
“It’s too bad we can’t replicate the scenario by fighting some real big
bad monster ourselves,” Rodrick mused, rubbing his chin. “I’d quite fancy a
Title myself.”
“You could. Go try to beat up the wyrm,” Anna said with a snort of
laughter. “See how it goes for you.”
Rodrick grimaced and wasted no time in shaking his head. “No thanks. I
choose life.”
Lillia didn’t mention if she’d gotten anything from the fight, and
nobody pressed her on it. Arwin suspected she’d likely gotten a skill
advancement similar to what he had, but reading the Mesh’s moves was
impossible. It was possible she’d gotten nothing. Either way, they all had
enough secrets to know not to go prying into those of others. When
information wasn’t offered, it wasn’t asked for.
“We’ll have more than enough time to get ourselves Titles and
Achievements in the future,” Arwin said, approaching the remains of the
golem and kneeling beside them. He pushed through the rubble and pulled
out one of the faintly glowing crystals. To his disappointment, it crumbled
to dust in his hand. Evidently, it had been integrally tied to the golem.
Arwin tried picking up a few more crystals. They all ended in the same
way. Cursing under his breath, he rose to his feet. He stepped over the
monster’s remains and headed over to the waterfall, stepping through the
rushing water.
The frown on his face vanished, replaced by a delighted grin. Resting in
a small pile in a small cave were two dozen crystals, polished and waiting
for an owner. They were all around an inch wide and two to three inches
long.
He hadn’t been left empty-handed by the Mesh. The ground beneath the
crystals was mushy, and he was able to pull each one out without too much
difficulty.
Arwin scooped them into his arms and walked back through the
waterfall. He turned one of them over in his hand, watching the light reflect
off the walls. “And I got what I was looking for as well.”
“The crystals?” Anna asked.
“I think I can use them,” Arwin said with a nod.
If I had a pickaxe, I’d consider trying to take some of the crystal in the
walls as well. That would have a pretty high chance of attracting more
attention than we want, though. This is more than enough to work with for
now. I couldn’t carry more if I wanted to.
“So, do we try to venture any deeper?” Anna asked while Arwin worked
to collect the crystals.
“I don’t think it would be wise,” Lillia said, adjusting her grip on the
tentacle tucked under her arm. “We’ve already gotten some pretty good
rewards from going this deep, and the golem was already a pretty tough
fight. Arwin’s armor is already pretty damaged, so pushing further could
mean biting off more than we can chew.”
“I agree,” Reya said. “I don’t think we should rush things. We should
reset, get used to our new benefits, and let Arwin fix up his armor.”
And make my hammer. If I can figure out how to use this crystal, I bet it
could be quite effective. With how hard it was to damage them, they’d
definitely pack a significant punch. I’ll probably need to use a different
material for the handle of the hammer if I don’t want to vibrate myself to
death every time I hit something.
“No need to push ourselves further.” Arwin straightened back up, every
pocket he had completely stuffed full of crystals. “We can all be pretty
proud of our performance. Before we head out—Anna, how is it that your
class gets strength?”
 “Mostly through combat. It’s really hard to get energy as a healer,”
Anna said with a frown. “I’ve got to participate in the fight, but I don’t have
any good ways to damage monsters. My healing counts, but the severity of
the wound has to be pretty nasty for it to give a huge boost. Since I don’t
have the buffs or benefits that other combat classes have, I’m more liable to
getting chopped in half when I try to fight. It’s okay, though. I get a really
small amount just from standing around and keeping everyone safe.”
Arwin shook his head. “That’s not going to be acceptable in the long
run, and I’m not particularly partial to standing around and letting myself
get nasty cuts so you can get levels.”
“I doubt that would work anyway,” Anna said. “The Mesh wouldn’t
recognize healing self-inflicted wounds as dangerous in most
circumstances.”
“Right. We can’t have you far weaker than the rest of us in the span of a
few weeks, so we’ll have to do something about that,” Arwin said.
“A few weeks? Just how aggressively are you planning to push us?”
Anna asked with a nervous laugh. “It’s not like I can do much about it
anyway. The only way for me to safely participate in a fight would be to get
close, and my magic doesn’t work on myself. I’m just a liability unless you
guys get really cut up.”
“Not if we hold the monster down for you,” Arwin said.
“That’s an assisted kill, though,” Anna said. “You’d lose so much
energy for doing it, and I’d barely get any because you basically fed it to
me. The Mesh only awards challenge.”
“I’d say it’s a good bit of challenge to get close enough to a monster that
can kill you in one blow,” Arwin said with a dry laugh. “Besides, Reya got
a good bit of energy from sitting in the back. We’ll be ensuring you get
energy as well from here on out. We don’t need an under-leveled healer.”
Anna bit the insides of her cheeks. “That’s a lot of energy you’d be
wasting.”
“Not my energy. I don’t get shit for killing things,” Arwin said with a
snort. “What about you, Rodrick? Complaints?”
“Are you kidding? No way in the Nine Underlands. I’d do it for Anna
myself if I thought I could actually manage it safely,” Rodrick said with an
eager grin. “She’s too damn polite to say yes, but I’ll do it for her. Thank
you. We’ll gladly do as you ask.”
 “Good,” Arwin said. “Let’s get going, then. I’ve got some armor to
repair and some new toys to play with. I think I’m going to try to make
myself a hammer.”

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 47

L
illia had been pretty sure that someone would have been waiting for
them the moment they left the dungeon, or that something would have
gone awry.
But, to her surprise, nothing did. The trip back from the dungeon went
smoothly, though they did get some strange looks from the guards on the
way back into the city. Fortunately, nobody asked too many questions, and
the group . broke off once they’d gotten deep enough.
Rodrick and Anna returned to the Glowing Swordfish. Arwin headed
back to the smithy to get to work, while Reya joined her in heading back to
the tavern. The tentacle she’d taken from the Landsquid was getting a little
difficult to hold with how slippery it was, but she’d carried it for this far,
and she’d be damned if she dropped it now.
I’m starting to suspect that this isn’t going to taste anywhere near good
enough to justify all the effort I’ve put into it. I’ve already basically ruined
my clothes with goo, but I’m going to cook this piece of shit if it’s the last
thing I do.
“Are you okay?” Reya asked as they ducked through the doorway and
entered the dark tavern. “You’ve got a really concentrated expression on
your face. You aren’t mad, are you?”
Lillia hurriedly got her features under control and cleared her throat. “I
—No, no. I’m fine. Just… thinking.”
“About what?” Reya asked. “Also, can I have something to eat?”
 “Well, I was going to try to cook this,” Lillia said, glancing down at the
tentacle. Reya blanched.
“You know what? I did just have a workout, and it’s not a good idea to
eat right after working,” Reya said hurriedly. “It’s bad for… uh, digestion.”
I’m pretty sure the rule was to not eat before exercise, not after it. Oh
well. Can’t force anybody to eat something. It’s her loss.
“Suit yourself,” Lillia said with a shrug. She stepped into the kitchen
and set the tentacle down on the counter, wiping her hands off on the sides
of her shirt before poking her head back out. “You did a great job today, by
the way. I’m looking forward to seeing what you can do after you’ve got
some more experience and training.”
“Me too,” Reya said, her face turning serious. She ran a hand along her
armor, then shook her head as a small smile appeared on her lips. “I never
thought I’d get a class, much less a Unique one. It feels like Arwin never
even considered that to be an option, though. He kind of just plowed
through everything in his way and got what he wanted. I feel like I don’t
even deserve the damn class.”
“From what I heard, you’re the one that charged the wyrm. That wasn’t
him.”
“He’s the one that set everything up for me, though. I wouldn’t have
been able to do any of that on my own.”
“Don’t dismiss your own actions,” Lillia said. “Arwin put you in a
situation where you could succeed, but you’re the one that did it. I certainly
won’t argue about his determination, though. He’s a force of nature.”
A memory flickered through Lillia’s mind. The crunch of bone gave
way under the blade of Arwin’s sword, glowing with immense holy might
as he carved through the necks of her closest friends.
Her hands tightened at her sides as she turned away from Reya, stepping
back into the kitchen. It was difficult to associate the gruff but kind man
who had just led them through the dungeon with the Hero of Man.
The Hero of Man had killed everyone she’d ever loved—and yet, he’d
risked his life purely to get Reya a class for no reason other than the fact
that she hadn’t had one. He’d refused to let a healer he barely knew fall
behind, just because it was the wrong thing to do.
If I ever get my hands on the people that turned me and Arwin into
murderers, I’m going to rip them to shreds and feed them their own innards.
“Lillia?” Reya asked worriedly. “Are you okay?”
 Lillia blinked, unclenching her hands and coming back into the present.
The darkness around her had intensified into a thick blanket, completely
blocking out the light from the lanterns. She hurriedly dismissed the magic,
pushing it as far back as she could and letting the faint glowing lights
reignite.
“I’m fine,” Lillia said, coughing into her fist. “Just… worked up from
the dungeon.”
“Oh, I get that,” Reya said. “It still feels like I’m going to get attacked
by a monster at any moment, even though I know that obviously isn’t going
to happen in the middle of town. There probably isn’t anywhere safer—
from monsters, that is. I could definitely get jumped by someone from the
Thieves’ Guild. Or just about anyone else, for that matter.”
Just how many enemies does Reya have?
Lillia couldn’t keep a laugh from slipping out of her mouth. It was hard
to stay angsty when Reya’s wide eyes were peering into her.
“Maybe you should make sure that doesn’t happen. It would be a shame
if you got injured after all the work you’re doing to get stronger.”
“That’s true,” Reya said with a thoughtful nod. “Can I ask you a
question?”
“I think you just did, but feel free to ask another.”
“Why do you think Arwin’s bothering with all this?” Reya asked. “He
could be rich. He makes magic equipment. If he tried to sell his wares, he’d
probably be rich in the span of days. And yet… he sits around with us. He
gave me gear worth more than my life, and he didn’t even ask for anything
in return.”
“I’m going to choose not to take offense to that,” Lillia said dryly. “And
I don’t know why Arwin does anything he does. He’s an odd one. I think he
just does what he thinks is right, regardless of if it’s the smart move or not.”
“Why, though?” Reya asked. “What does he get out of it? I mean, I
appreciate it… but why?”
“That might be something you have to ask him yourself,” Lillia said
with a shake of her head. The more she spent time with Arwin, the harder it
was to associate him with the man she’d spent the majority of her life trying
to kill. That was probably a good thing, but it certainly felt odd.
“I might be overstepping my bounds here, but did you really meet for
the first time in the tavern? The way you both act seems like you’ve known
each other for a lot longer.”
 Lillia nearly choked. “I—What? No. No, we definitely just met. He just
reminds me of someone I used to know.”
“Oh,” Reya said. “I guess that makes sense. I honestly thought you’d
been courting each other for a few years and broke it off or something like
that.”
This time, Lillia did choke. She doubled over, coughing into her hand in
surprise. “What? Date? No. Definitely not. Why would you think that?”
“I don’t know. Just a thought.” Reya shrugged. “Well, I’m probably
going to go find some food. Not that I’m hungry. It’s, uh, to look at.”
“Right,” Lillia said, grateful for the change of subject. “You do that.”
Reya headed out of the tavern, and Lillia watched her leave, a small
frown on her face. Thoughts whirred in her head, so jumbled that she
couldn’t make out which ones were hers and which were just strays passing
through.
After a minute, she shook her head and turned back to the tentacle on
the counter. It looked remarkably unappetizing. Grimacing, Lillia rolled her
sleeves back. She had work to do, and she’d be damned if she’d done all the
work lugging the stupid thing this far if it didn’t taste good.
I’m going to eat you, and I’m going to like it. That isn’t a threat. It’s a
promise.
Oh, who am I kidding. It’s also a threat.

Arwin held a palm-sized crystal up to the light of his [Soul Flame],

watching the light dance within its green depths. Before he started properly
working the material, he needed to learn more about it.
There was a faint hum within—the call of the crystal, asking to be
turned into… well, something. Therein lay the problem. Arwin could feel
the call within the crystal. It hungered to be more than what it was.
Unfortunately, unlike the other materials he’d worked with, he had
absolutely no idea how to understand it. The desire was there, but it was
like he was listening to someone speaking in a different language.
“But why, I wonder,” Arwin mused, turning the crystal over in his hand.
“How come you can’t speak to me? Is it because you’re more complex than
the other stuff I’ve worked with? Or am I just not listening properly?”
 The crystal, unfortunately, wasn’t much help. Even if it could have
answered, Arwin wouldn’t have understood it anyway. He shook his head
and set the crystal in the hearth, watching the flames lick at its sides.
Unsurprisingly, it was resistant to fire. Arwin hadn’t expected a bloody
crystal to be particularly easy to heat, but this was ridiculous. He worked
the bellows, raising the intensity of the fire to see how it affected the green
crystal.
Fire danced all around it, licking at its sides. Arwin would have sworn
that the fire wasn’t just outside—it was within the crystal as well. But still,
the voice of the crystal eluded him entirely.
There was nothing to do but to continue working the bellows, and so
that was what he did. And, as the minutes ticked by, the crystal started to
change. It was gradual, but its edges started to darken and turn a translucent
black.
Arwin stopped as soon as he noticed the change starting to happen. He
took the crystal from the fire, wondering if he’d somehow managed to burn
it. However, the crystal’s structural integrity seemed fine.
He tapped a finger on the side of the crystal. It wasn’t burnt. If anything,
it felt like it might have hardened slightly. The greenish-black material was
oddly beautiful, and Arwin could just barely make out the faint flickers of
flame within the crystal.
“You’re certainly magical,” Arwin murmured, running a finger along
the crystal’s smooth surface. “But how do I work with you? I don’t want to
waste crystals testing things out. They’re too valuable.”
He chewed his lower lip, still turning the crystal around in his hand. He
went to hold it up to the daylight, only to find that the sun had already set. It
was already dark outside. Arwin’s nose scrunched in annoyance, and he
tucked the crystal into his pocket, drawing the [Soul Flame] out of the
hearth.
Maybe Lillia will know more about this thing. It can’t hurt to ask.
Arwin moved some scrap metal to cover the pile of crystals as best he
could, then thought better of it and collected all his winnings, stuffing his
pockets full once more before waddling out of the smithy—making sure to
lock the door behind him—and heading for Lillia’s tavern.

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 48

I
t was, as usual, dark when Arwin stepped through the entrance. Faint
lanternlight illuminated the counter, where Arwin was surprised to find
Lillia sitting on one of the stools, her head in her hands.
A plate of… something sat before her. It was a gelatinous pile of half-
melted flesh, singed black in some parts and semi-raw in others. Evidently,
the tentacle Lillia had lugged all the way back to the tavern hadn’t met a
fortunate fate.
“Is this a bad time?” Arwin asked.
Lillia turned, looking mildly surprised to find him standing there. “I
didn’t realize you got back. Sorry. I was… uh, distracted.”
More like you were in mourning.
Arwin walked over to the stool beside her and tested it to make sure it
would hold his weight before sitting down.
“Looks like you cooked the tentacle.”
“Cooked might be the wrong word for it,” Lillia grumbled. “The stupid
thing fought me, even in death.”
“It looks like you put up a valiant effort.”
“Yeah, right. I put up a valiant effort and lost.”
Arwin eyed the tentacle. He couldn’t help but agree, but he wasn’t
dumb enough to voice that sentiment. “It doesn’t look that bad. At least,
parts of it don’t.”
Lillia pierced him with a withering stare. “My feelings aren’t that
fragile. You don’t have to lie. It might possibly be the most horrendous
thing I’ve put on a plate.”
Arwin, against his better judgment, reached out and picked up one of
the more burnt-looking pieces of squid. At least if it was burnt, it wouldn’t
try to come back alive in his mouth.
Lillia stared in disbelief as he brought it to his mouth and bit down.
Arwin chewed slowly—then chewed some more. It wasn’t anything like
what he’d expected it to taste like. The meat was somehow simultaneously
slimy and unbelievably chewy.
It was, without a doubt, probably the worst-textured food that Arwin
had ever eaten. After chewing for about another minute, he gave up the
battle and swallowed the piece. Despite its horrid mouthfeel, the taste
wasn’t atrocious.
“Wow,” Lillia said, blinking. “I’m impressed, honestly. I didn’t think⁠—”
Arwin took another piece. Lillia’s mouth nearly dropped open as he ate.
She squinted at him, then stood up to walk around him and see if he was
somehow hiding the squid with sleight of hand.
“What are you doing?”
“Eating,” Arwin replied through a mouthful of squid.
“Why?”
“Because it’s food. And, once you get past the texture, it’s not all that
bad. The flavor is actually decent.”
“Bullshit,” Lillia said, crossing her arms. “It’s horrible. Objectively
horrible.”
Arwin swallowed the second piece of squid and took a third. He arched
an eyebrow, locking eyes with Lillia as he brought it to his mouth and
popped it in. Arwin chewed deliberately, making sure she could see him
eating it. “There are good sides to most things.”
Lillia’s disbelief changed to a different emotion. Arwin couldn’t quite
tell which one it was, but it was an emotion he’d never seen on her face
before. Before he could even try to properly read it, she brought her features
under control once more.
“I suppose so. You won’t catch me eating it, though.”
“More for me.” Arwin took another piece of squid and ate it. With his
other hand, he pulled out the blackened crystal and waggled it in the air.
“What’s this?” Lillia asked. “The crystals from the cave?”
“I was hoping you might know something about it,” Arwin replied
through a mouthful of squid, doing his best not to spray food everywhere
while he spoke. “It seems slightly magical.”
Lillia reached out and took the crystal from him, a small frown creasing
her lips as she held it up to the light of the lantern. The flames from the
forge still flickered within like a layered mural, dancing in waves of green.
“It’s beautiful,” Lillia murmured. “Hard too. It feels slightly magic-
resistant.”
“Resistant?” Arwin swallowed his food. “I was thinking the opposite.”
“No, it’s definitely resistant,” Lillia said. One of her nails, as black as
the night, elongated into a thin point and tapped against the green material.
“I don’t know that much about it, but magic-resistant and absorptive
materials are usually a circle. You start with something that absorbs magic,
and it absorbs all the energy it can until there’s no room left. Then boom—
resistant.”
“I see,” Arwin mused. “I never knew that, but I wasn’t exactly the most
involved with the actual materials I used. I was more interested in seeing
what could be made with them.”
“I had a friend who was really interested in gemstones,” Lillia said,
lowering the crystal and handing it back to Arwin as her brow creased.
“Particularly magical ones.”
Arwin didn’t ask what had happened to the friend—he was pretty sure
he knew.
“Would it be possible for this resistance to cause them to be harder to
work with?”
“If you’ve got some form of magical fire, sure. You’d probably have to
work really fast if you’re making something magical,” Lillia mused,
chewing her lower lip. “If you couldn’t finish by the time the crystal
completely filled, it would probably become very hard to influence or
change.”
And I’d be willing to bet it would be borderline impossible to
understand as well. That’s it. I need to add the crystals last, not first. That
doesn’t actually solve my issues understanding what they want, but if I
introduce them to the project at the proper time, I’d be willing to bet I’ll be
able to understand what they want far better.
“I think you might have just solved my issue,” Arwin said, sliding the
crystal back into his pocket. “Thanks, Lillia. What do I owe you for the
food?”
 “I feel like I should be the one asking you that,” Lillia muttered, sending
a glance over at the plate of squid. “Thank you, though.”
“Thanks? For what?” Arwin asked, blinking in confusion.
“Never mind.” Lillia shook her head and waved her hands dismissively.
“I’ve got prep to do for tomorrow. Go to your room—or back to your
smithy, depending on whichever you’re going to be doing tonight.
Somehow, I think I’ve already guessed which one it will be.”
Arwin chuckled and nodded to her, turning to head out the door.
“Probably. Goodnight.”
“Goodnight,” Lillia replied, picking the plate of food up and heading
toward the kitchen. Arwin stepped out of the tavern and made a beeline
back for his smithy.
The excitement in his steps faltered slightly as he drew closer, recalling
a slightly significant issue. He may have had crystals to work with, but he
didn’t have any material to make the rest of the hammer with.
Sure, I could use the crappy scrap metal I’ve got, but that would be such
a waste with the quality of these crystals. I need to use something nicer…
but what? Maybe I should go shopping tomorrow. More importantly, I
really need to start selling some of my normal pieces. I keep telling myself
I’m going to do it and not getting around to it.
Arwin let his thoughts entertain him as he headed back down the street.
He was so caught up in them that he almost didn’t notice the figure standing
at the entrance of the smithy—almost. Arwin skidded to a stop and
narrowed his eyes, nearly dropping into a fighting stance before he realized
that the figure was just Reya with a bag over her shoulder.
“God, Reya,” Arwin said, shaking his head. “What are you doing? I
thought you’d be asleep by now.”
“I was busy,” Reya replied, holding the sack out to him. The movement
caused it to clink and sway precariously. “Here!”
“What’s this?” Arwin asked, accepting the sack. It was considerably
heavier than he’d been expecting, and he almost dropped it in surprise.
“Well, you spent so much effort trying to help me get a class that I
figured I’d try to do something back. I may have stumbled into a little gold,
so I went shopping earlier today. Looked around for some good material for
you,” Reya said, shifting her feet. “I don’t know if it’ll be useful, but I
know you’ve been trying to get better metal.”
 Arwin opened the top of the sack and peered inside. There were several
glistening silver rods, as well as a dozen bars of the same metal.
“Reya, this is incredible,” Arwin said, lowering the bag to look back at
her. “How did you know I needed this? I was just thinking⁠—”
“You’ve kind of been muttering it under your breath the whole time you
work,” Reya said with a relieved grin. “It’s useful, then?”
“It’s definitely better than anything else I’ve got,” Arwin said with a
huge grin. “This is exactly what I need. Do you know what kind of metal it
is?”
Reya nodded. “It’s called Brightsteel. Not to be confused with Starsteel
—that stuff is actually from the stars. This is more just… pretty metal, I
guess. It’s pretty sturdy, but the smith that sold it to me said it was great for
the internals of weapons. It’s apparently pretty decent at hitting things
because it absorbs vibrations so you don’t hurt yourself. I didn’t really
understand more than that, but hopefully, it will be useful.”
“It most certainly will be,” Arwin said. “Thank you, Reya. How much
was this?”
“You don’t want to know,” Reya replied. “Don’t expect more of it
anytime soon, though.”
“Noted,” Arwin said as he slung the bag over his shoulder and unlocked
the door to the smithy. “I appreciate it. If things go as I hope, I’m going to
be making something really important with this.”
“Magic?” Reya whispered, lowering her voice conspiratorially.
“We’ll see,” Arwin replied with a chuckle. “For now, it’s just a hope.”
“I’ll be looking forward to it, then. I’m going to go sleep now, so I’ll see
you tomorrow—or whenever you finish smithing.”
“Probably the latter,” Arwin said. He bid Reya goodnight and headed
into the smithy.
A new barrel caught his eye and he blinked in surprise. It was about two
and a half feet tall and half as wide. Its cover sat askew, a dark liquid
running in rivulets down its side.
He approached the barrel slowly and flicked the cover off. His eyebrows
lifted as he studied the liquid within. It was a small barrel of oil.
“Well, I’ll be damned,” Arwin muttered. “Thanks, Reya.”
Now he really did everything he needed to start working. He upended
the bag and dumped all the metal to the ground at his feet before adding all
his crystals to the mix.
 He then drew a spark of [Soul Flame] from his chest and sent it into the
hearth, filling the smithy with flickering light. Arwin picked up one of the
pieces of metal and held it up before him, the flame illuminating the smile
that stretched across his lips.
It was time to make a hammer.

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A
rwin was delighted. Almost as if in spite of the crystal’s stubbornness,
the metal that Reya had brought him was perfect. Every blow of his
hammer landed exactly the way he wanted it to, and the handle of his
hammer was taking shape perfectly. Small flakes of metal fell away with
every strike he made, falling around his anvil.
The Brightsteel didn’t just speak to him. It sang, and all he had to do
was listen. His hammer rang again and again against the metal, coaxing it
into position with every blow. Arwin almost felt as if the metal were forging
itself, and he was just the tool with which it used to become more.
Either way, he certainly wasn’t going to complain. The hard part of this
piece—both figuratively and literally—was going to be adding the crystals
into the head of the hammer. But that would come when it came.
For now, the only thing Arwin was concerned with was listening to the
Brightsteel. Time passed, and the night slowly started to fade as dawn
approached outside. Faint slivers of light broke into the forge, but Arwin
barely noticed them.
He’d finished forming the handle of the hammer and moved on to
combining the ingots to form the head. He hammered the metal out, folding
it over itself to combine the ingots into one large piece. A mold probably
would have been a better way to form it, but he unfortunately didn’t have
anything like that to work with yet, so he resorted to whatever techniques
he did have.
 Arwin hadn’t exactly determined how large he wanted the head of the
hammer to be yet. A larger one would be better for crushing things with, but
he wasn’t going to be able to use it to forge if it was too big. He couldn’t
deny that the idea of having a weapon that he could both craft and fight
with was quite tantalizing.
It seemed like the metal agreed. As Arwin rained down blows on the
glowing portions of the Brightsteel, a shape started to take form. The head
of a hammer, large on one end and focused on the other.
And yet, as it took form, Arwin could immediately tell that it was
incomplete. The Brightsteel knew his thoughts just as well as he knew its,
and the hammer was meant to be built around the glowing crystals, not just
pure metal.
A flicker of concern gripped Arwin as he let his hammer lower and
grabbed a handful of crystals. If he made a mistake here, something told
him that he wasn’t going to be able to recover. The hammer would be
ruined, and he’d have to try to rip it apart and salvage what materials he
could.
That degree of loss will delay for me days, if not more. It’ll probably
ruin the crystals as well.
This wasn’t the time for concern, though. Concern meant he was
leaving the possibility of failure on the table, and that wasn’t how things
worked. There could be no doubt. No room to even consider anything but
the goals he would accomplish.
If he allowed such thoughts to creep into his head, then it would have
been no different from insulting the materials he was working with. They
held all the potential he needed to make the perfect weapon, so it was unfair
to disparage them.
Arwin laid the hammer to the side, leaving its head buried deeply within
the heat of his [Soul Flame] within the forge. He needed to pick out the
right crystals to use, and they all had to be inserted in conjunction. If he did
them one at a time, they’d lock up and stop absorbing magic before the item
was complete.
It took Arwin about ten minutes to select all the crystals. He wasn’t
exactly sure which metric he judged them by beyond his gut, but he
eventually found himself staring at a small pile of glistening green stone.
He still couldn’t quite understand what they wanted, but there was
desire within them. Just like the Brightsteel, the crystals desired to be used.
 “You and I,” Arwin informed the crystals, cupping them in his hands. “I
may not be able to hear your voice in the same way as that of the metal, but
perhaps it can translate for me, eh?”
Arwin pulled the hammer from the flames. Its head glowed red, barely
holding its shape from the heat that had been beating down on it. Wasting
no time, Arwin picked up the first of the crystals and pressed it into the
head, using [Scourge] to make himself strong enough to drive it through the
metal.
It wasn’t the most elegant forging method, but it worked. The crystal
sank deep. And, to Arwin’s delight, he felt a flicker of acknowledgment
from within the weapon. It wasn’t quite a song, much less a word or any
form of guidance, but it was something.
That was all he needed. Arwin grabbed the other crystals and got to
work, driving them into the head of the hammer. He felt the Brightsteel
shifting as he worked, trying to accommodate the new material entering it.
Arwin hammered the material as he worked, working the crystals in as if he
were folding dough together.
It was a strange way to look at it, but the Brightsteel was so easy to
work with that he couldn’t think of another analogy. More flakes of black
rained down as he hammered away, pushing the metal together and
hardening it.
Arwin worked as fast as he dared without risking a mistake, piling the
crystals into the hammer before embedding one right below where the head
connected with the shaft. As an afterthought, Arwin also added a crystal to
the bottom of the shaft.
It’s practical, but that doesn’t mean it can’t look pretty.
Arwin set the hammer down on the anvil, grabbing his old smithing
hammer and setting back to work as parts of his new weapon called to him,
asking for help. The ring of metal rang out through the dilapidated smithy
once more.
The sun continued to rise outside, the rays of light squeezing through
the cracks in the walls growing stronger as they lit up the smithy. They
passed over the hammer, causing metal and crystal to glimmer in unison.
He returned the hammer to his hearth, letting the flame scorch the
crystal and meld it together with the Brightsteel.
He pulled it free and nearly strode outside before he remembered he had
a new barrel of oil to work with. The head of the hammer plunged down.
Flames erupted from the oil’s surface as it hissed, cooling the hammer.
As he turned it to get even cooling, the side of the hammer got a little
closer to the walls of the barrel than he’d planned. There was a hiss and the
barrel cracked. Arwin let out a curse as oil poured out and ran across the
floor. Luckily, the hammer was just about quenched, and most of the flame
had already petered out. He looked out at the mess, then sighed. Finishing
the hammer was more important now. At least the barrel had been small.
Arwin got to cleaning up the hammer. It was a lengthy process that took
longer than he’d expected, but he eventually got the last of the weapon
freed from the confines of blackened metal.
The Mesh tingled at his fingertips, racing down his arm and into his
heart. Power gathered around the newly forged weapon. The prickling
turned into a pulse, and Arwin’s hair stood on end as the air became
charged.
Ozone filled the air as a pop rang out and a delighted laugh escaped
Arwin’s lips. Golden writing erupted before him, and the Mesh finally
acknowledged his creation in true. He felt a faint question tickle at the back
of his mind as the Achievement he’d earned for scaring off the wyrm felt an
opportunity to take hold.
Arwin sent a thought of approval without a second of hesitation.

[Verdant Blaze: Unique Quality] has been forged. Forging a magical

item has granted you energy.
[Shieldbreaker] has been consumed.
Title: [Stonesinger] has been earned.
[Stonesinger] – You crafted an Awoken item with a magical component
that was beyond your comprehension, and your efforts have attuned you
to the whispers of the world. If you listen close enough, you can speak
with magical materials—though they may not wish to reply.

“I’ll be damned,” Arwin breathed, not even daring to look away from
the Mesh’s words in case it decided to take his Title away from him. It was
vague, but everything he knew about crafting had already come from just
barely being able to pick up on the desires of the material he worked with.
I always assumed that it was just the Mesh guiding me, or that the
materials kind of had some vague sense of desire. I didn’t realize that
magical components could literally speak with me. They could tell me
exactly what I need to do to make the perfect item with them! This is
incredible.
That wasn’t it, though. Arwin’s eyes caught on the Mesh once more. It
hadn’t said he’d crafted just a Unique item. He’d made an Awoken one. A
delighted grin stretched across his lips, and he nearly pumped a hand in the
air with delight.
Arwin waved the window away, then quickly summoned his status to
make sure the Title remained. After confirming that it had, he turned his
gaze to the newly forged hammer in his hands.
It felt right. The hammer had a weight to it, but not so much that it
would be unwieldy to use. The large fighting head had crystals jutting out
of it, their points blackened and dancing with faint flame.
Its other side had a single crystal, turned flat side out so he could use it
to strike metal without putting holes in it. The perfect blend of combat and
crafting capabilities condensed into a single weapon.
The Mesh bloomed as Arwin inspected the hammer.

Verdant Blaze: Unique Quality

Awoken: This item has taken on a life of its own. With every death it
causes and every magical item it is used to craft, it will grow slightly
more powerful. Upon reaching [Unknown] threshold, it will be able to
bond with its wielder.
Shieldbreaker: This weapon hungers to destroy. Every consecutive
blow against the same target will deal increased damage. Changing
targets or blocking an attack with this weapon will reset any power that
Shieldbreaker has generated.
Firestarter: This weapon is one with the fire used to forge it. It will
drink in [Soul Flame], imbuing its blows with it at the cost of magical
energy.
Unique: This item was created for Arwin Tyrr, and it will never know
another owner. This item will attempt to burn anyone who attempts to
wield it other than its owner. Information about this item may be
hidden from others.

“Now that,” Arwin breathed, letting the Mesh fade as he held the
hammer before him, delight in his eyes, “is one hell of a hammer.”
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A
rwin wasted no time in trying to bond Verdant Blaze to himself with
[Arsenal], only to be reminded that he still had his other smithing
hammer bonded to him. He found the mental bond to the weapon in
his mind and severed it without a second thought.
His armor instantly snapped into place around him as [Arsenal] faded.
According to the skill description, it wouldn’t come back until the following
day—which meant Arwin wasn’t going to let his new weapon out of his
sight for just as long.
He reached up to his armor, frowning slightly as his hands ran along a
rough gouge in its center. He’d still yet to actually get around to fixing the
damage he’d taken during the dungeon. And, as much as he wanted to show
off his new creation, it was more important to make sure he didn’t have a
glaring ‘stab me here’ target right in the middle of his chest.
Arwin set his hammer down by his anvil and worked himself out of his
armor, setting the scale mail down beside the hearth. He still had enough
scales to patch the damage his armor had taken, but he did pause for a
moment to consider if he should make himself a plate chest piece rather
than a mail one.
No. Not yet. I promised myself I’d try to sell some shit today, and that’s
what I’m going to do.
He gathered some scales and brought them into the hearth, letting his
[Soul Flame] heat them before setting about patching the damage to his
shirt. He’d gotten pretty decent at working with the scales, so the entire
process took him less than an hour.
Arwin pulled the [Soul Flame] from the hearth and donned his armor
once more. Nodding to himself, he slung his hammer over a shoulder and
paused to hide its properties from any prying eyes before scooping up the
armor he’d made to sell and striding outside, balancing it on his shoulder in
a large pile.
He was a little weary from having missed sleep, but something about
forging almost seemed to sustain him. It definitely wasn’t the same as
getting a good night of rest, but he didn’t feel anywhere near as exhausted
as he should have.
I wonder if energy from the Mesh counts as energy for your brain as
well. That’s an interesting thought. Could you hypothetically make so many
items that the Mesh just gives you endless energy and you never have to
sleep?
Arwin let out an amused huff and locked the door to his smithy behind
him, double-checking the handle before setting off. It wasn’t like anybody
was going to break into the smithy, but it was still his, and it was the first of
many steps into turning the drafty old building into a home.
Once I get these things sold, I’ll go spend some of the money getting
materials to patch the place up. I think it’s about time those cracks go. I
need a cart as well. Hm. Need a cart to sell the goods, but need to sell the
goods to get the cart.
That’s bothersome.
He arrived at Lillia’s tavern and stepped inside, blinking to let his eyes
adjust. Arwin wasn’t sure he’d ever get used to it being darker inside the
building than outside, even when the sun was literally sitting right beyond
the doorway.
“Morning,” Reya said through a mouthful of food, raising a hand in
greeting from where she sat by the counter. “Lillia made pancakes.”
“Finish chewing before you speak,” Arwin said automatically, joining
her by the counter. He’d been taught a lot of things in his training as the
Hero, one of them being the proper way to conduct himself amongst others.
And while some of that training had eroded over the years, a few bits still
stuck around like stubborn specks of dirt.
Reya started to nod, then froze as she caught a glimpse of Arwin’s
hammer in the dim lantern light. She opened her mouth, then closed it
again. She swallowed her food. “You’ve got a new hammer. Did you…”
“Find it in the gutter? Yeah.”
Reya frowned. “Oh. I thought⁠—”
“I lied,” Arwin said with a sigh. “It was a joke. I thought it was funny.”
“I’m sure you’ll get there,” Reya said, not even paying attention. Her
eyes were transfixed by the dull gemstones in the hammer’s head. “Is it
magical? Did it work?”
Arwin chuckled and nodded. “Yes. Best weapon I’ve ever made,
without a doubt. Not that I’ve made many, but still.”
“Best?” Reya’s eyes widened. “Even compared to my dagger?”
“The one that’s currently inside a wyrm? Yes, I’d say so,” Arwin said
with a wry smile. “Don’t worry. I’ll make you a new weapon at some point.
I’m not sure if a dagger fits your new class anyway.”
“I don’t want a new weapon,” Reya muttered, sticking out her lower lip
and crossing her arms. “You made me that one. I want that one.”
Arwin repressed a laugh at her expression. She looked like a child
whose birthday present had just been confiscated—which, now that he
thought about it, really wasn’t all that funny.
“We’ll kill the wyrm and take the dagger back,” Arwin promised.
“Besides, I’m sure it’s probably not actually in the wyrm anymore. It’s
probably, well… out.”
“As long as I get it back one day, I don’t care where it is,” Reya said.
“What’s the hammer do?”
“A lot,” Arwin replied honestly. He hoisted the armor he was carrying.
“But, for the time being, I want to follow through with what I was talking
about yesterday and get to selling this stuff. It’s starting to get heavy.”
“You really think it’s going to go any better than last time?” Reya asked
doubtfully. “There isn’t anything magical in there, is there?”
“Just plain old armor,” Arwin confirmed. “But I’m thinking this time we
go buy a cart first. I’ve still got 22 gold, which should be more than enough
to get one. With that, we’ll look more legitimate.”
“A sign would probably help.”
“Well, I don’t have a sign. Maybe I’ll buy one of those too,” Arwin said.
Lillia poked her head out of the kitchen. “Do you have a name for your
smithy yet?”
“Well, no.”
“Then why would you get a sign?”
 “Because Reya told me to,” Arwin said irritably. “I don’t know. Maybe
I’ll call it Arwin’s Smithy.”
“No,” Reya and Lillia said in unison.
“What?” Arwin asked defensively. “It’s a good name.”
“No, it really isn’t,” Reya said. “And if you’re going to sell stuff, don’t
you need a smith’s mark or something?”
Arwin frowned. “A smith’s mark?”
“You know, the little badge or stamp that shows you’re the one that
made something,” Reya said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the
world. “You put it on all the equipment you make so that when people
travel out with it, it’s easy for them to figure out that you’re the one who
made that something. It’s good for recognition.”
“Where’d you learn about this? I didn’t realize you were learned in
marketing.” Arwin raised an eyebrow.
“One of the groups I used to run with occasionally sold some… stuff.
We wanted to make sure people knew where it came from. Look, do you
want advice or not?”
“Please, continue,” Arwin said. He would have raised his hands in
surrender if doing so wouldn’t have caused him to drop everything he had
on the floor. The idea of marking his work was actually rather appealing,
and it made a lot of sense.
It’s like free marketing. I just need to make sure the mark doesn’t look
stupid. Well, that and I also have to get around to actually making a brand
of some sort to put my mark on anything I make.
“That’s kind of it. I didn’t think of anything beyond that,” Reya
admitted.
Why stop at just a mark, though? One of my biggest concerns has been
that the guild could bring me trouble before I’m ready to handle them if
they figure out who I am. What if I get a whole persona, mask and
everything? People love masks. I could make it as well, from a sheet of
scrap metal or something.
“You’re a genius,” Arwin said. “I can’t just be Arwin. I should pretend
to be someone else.”
“I didn’t say anything about that at all,” Reya said, staring at him in
befuddlement. “Are you okay?”
“Perfectly,” Arwin replied with a grin. He laid the armor on the ground
beside Reya, then nudged it with his foot. “Watch over that, would you? I
need to make something really quick.”
Before either she or Lillia could respond, Arwin was out the door and
down the street. He shot back into the smithy and hurried over to his forge,
throwing some [Soul Flame] into it and pumping the bellows.
While they heated, Arwin let his eyes drift over the room. He didn’t
have any of the metal that Reya had gifted him left over—he’d used every
single piece of it in making his hammer. He still had some of the other stuff
she’d brought over, though—and that would be more than enough for his
purposes.
Arwin gathered some of the scrap and tossed it into the hearth, more
occupied with figuring out exactly what his seal would be.
Something catchy. Maybe something to do with fire. Flame, perhaps?
No. Too generic.
What about… Black Flame?
Wait, that definitely won’t work. It sounds badass, but I don’t use Black
Flame. Also, something tells me someone else is already using that. I mean,
isn’t every branding of flame on a piece of armor going to end up being
black?
As Arwin mused, a thought struck him. A snicker escaped his lips, but
the longer he thought about it, the more tempting it became. It was a bit on
the nose—more than a bit, if he was honest with himself.
I could be Ifrit. A monster known for immense magical power and the
ability to grant wishes, though it twists them to make sure the result is
always as horrible as possible. Calling myself a genie would be too
arrogant—but this fits perfectly. And, once the guild learns who I am, I
imagine it won’t be long before they start calling me a monster as well.
Might as well lean into it.
Arwin took a piece of metal from the hearth and set it on the anvil. He
hoisted Verdant Blaze and brought it down on the burnt orange metal with a
ringing crash. It was a bit awkward to hold because of its size, but after a
few more swings, Arwin started to pick it up.
Flakes of metal fell away from the piece as he worked, shaping it into a
rough circle. It didn’t take long before he had a several-inch-thick disk
resting on the anvil before him.
For the design, something simple and clear should work great. But how
do I actually put the design in? I’ll have to make it stick out so it gets
pressed into whatever I’m marking, but I don’t really have any small tools.
 Arwin looked around the shop, half-hoping he’d find a jeweler’s kit
lying around somewhere, but there was no such luck. Huffing, he brought
the disk he’d made back to the hearth to reheat it.
Guess I’ll do this like a kid. It’s finger art time.
Once the puck was glowing, Arwin pressed a finger into the softened
metal and started to—very slowly—press a design into it.
It was slow, borderline-infuriating work. Arwin had never been a master
artist, though art had always fascinated him. Fortunately, the design he was
hoping for was far from complex. But, even still, it took him nearly five
hours before he actually managed to get the disk to look the way he wanted
it to.
His Ifrit design consisted of two inversed shapes going down the center
of the mask, each roughly in an F shape with the back of the letters facing
each other. They were stylized so that the lines sticking out their sides
outlined the eyeholes and curled up like the wings of a bird to form
something akin to a face. Arwin then added in a few flowing lines running
out from either side of the mask to give the vague impression of fire.
Far from beautiful, but it looks how I wanted it to. Definitely
recognizable.
Most people probably would have had to stick a handle onto the disk so
they could handle it properly when it was hot, but Arwin wasn’t most
people. He stuck the disk into a pocket, satisfied with his creation.
Perfect. Now I just need to make a matching mask and I’ll be good to
go. Then I’ll definitely gather a lot of attention—everyone is going to want
to know what the creepy smith with the metal mask has for sale. This is
flawless. I can’t wait to see what Lillia and Reya think.

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“T hat… is terrifying,” Reya said. “And kind of ugly.”

It was the following morning, and Arwin had completely missed
his previously imposed deadline of the previous day to get to the
market and sell his armor. He’d spent the rest of the day making a metal
mask that matched the design on his newly made stamp, but he was proud
of the results.
The mask apparently didn’t count as headgear because the Mesh hadn’t
recognized it. That came as a relief, as it wouldn’t have been particularly
useful if it was clearly magical, and he had no way to know if the mask
would have been able to hide itself like some of his other items.
Perhaps the delay had been a blessing in disguise because it had given
him time to bind Verdant Blaze to himself with [Arsenal]. He’d also
dismissed his armor, so he was just walking around in his normal clothes.
Arwin lowered the mask from his face. “Right? It looks memorable.”
“It’s definitely something,” Lillia said, her features unreadable. “Is there
a reason you went with a monster design rather than a human or a symbolic
one?”
“Nothing wrong with being a monster, is there?”
Lillia tilted her head to the side. A small smile traced across her lips and
she shrugged one shoulder. “I suppose not.”
“Anyway, the mask isn’t all I made. Take a look at this,” Arwin said. He
held a hand out and summoned Verdant Blaze. Lillia’s eyebrows lifted in
surprise at the appearance of the weapon.
 “Flashy. Did you make that?”
“No. I found it on the side of the road.”
Lillia snorted. “Very funny. What can it⁠—”
Arwin dismissed the magic hiding the weapon’s stats. Lillia’s eyes
glazed over as she read over Verdant Blaze’s lengthy description. Her lips
parted in surprise until she finished and snapped her mouth closed.
“Godspit,” Lillia breathed. “You made this? At this tier?”
“It’s not bad, eh?”
“Are you kidding?” Lillia asked as Arwin concealed the stats once
more. “This is ridiculous. You’re an Apprentice! For anyone at our tier, that
weapon is beyond bullshit.”
She sent him a pointed look, likely trying to remind him of what
weapons he’d used when he was an Apprentice Hero. Arwin’s brow
furrowed in thought, but all he could do was shake his head helplessly.
He couldn’t remember much of that time, but he’d always used more
gear than Lillia had. Her class had been a magic-focused swordsman, while
he was a swordsman that happened to have magic. A subtle difference, but
an important one nonetheless.
“I just want to know what happens when it wakes up,” Arwin said. “You
think it’ll start speaking?”
“I hope not,” Lillia said. “That would be creepy.”
“And cool,” Reya added in, her eyes sparkling with delight and awe.
“That was the strongest weapon I’ve ever seen in my entire life. You should
make more.”
“No promises, but I can do my best,” Arwin said with a laugh. “It just
might take a bit to get around to. Did you want one?”
“No. I want my dagger back,” Reya said adamantly.
Arwin snorted. “Figures. Well, we need to handle some other stuff
first.”
“Like getting some money?”
“Yeah, that might be a good idea.”
“Then we’re going to go try and sell the stuff now?” Reya asked,
eagerly hopping down from her chair. “You said we were doing it yesterday,
but⁠—”
“Yeah, yeah,” Arwin grumbled. He dismissed Verdant Blaze. “I got
distracted. We’re doing it today.”
 He slipped the mask back over his face. The eye and nose holes weren’t
quite in the spots where he would have liked them, but he could still see and
breathe, which was all that mattered. “I just have to do this first.”
Arwin knelt beside the sets of armor and took out the disk bearing his
mark. He let [Soul Flame] rise up from his palm and heat the mark until it
was glowing red. He then pressed it into each piece of armor, just enough to
burn the impression of the Ifrit onto them.
“Perfect,” Arwin said, drawing his [Soul Flame] back out of the disk so
he could return it to his pocket. “Now we’re ready. We just need to go get
ourselves a cart and we can make some money.”
“I might know a place that could have a cart,” Reya said. “I’ve been
keeping an eye out.”
“Not a stolen one.”
“It isn’t stolen.” It was Reya’s turn to be defensive, though Arwin
strongly suspected that she’d left off a yet somewhere in her sentence. “It’s
just not getting used much. I’m sure nobody would miss it.”
“So maybe we could buy it,” Arwin said with a grin. He then realized
Reya couldn’t see his face behind the mask and cleared his throat. “Well,
shall we? I’m eager to do this already.”
And I should also try to make some edible items again. I had a snack in
the dungeon, but I should make sure to keep ahead of the Mesh so I don’t
have to panic and rush the next time a stomachache comes on. I’ll get
materials and make something right after this is done.
“Do you want to come, Lillia?” Reya asked as she headed over to the
entrance.
“Who, me?” Lillia started.
“I didn’t think there were any other Lillias here.”
“I have to stay at the tavern,” Lillia said, putting a hand on the counter.
“What if someone shows up while I’m out?”
“You left when we were doing the dungeon.”
“That was a special circumstance.”
And she didn’t have to go into the town, dragging the cloud of darkness
along with her. Someone would figure out something was off pretty quickly
if she was just standing around on the street.
“Maybe next time?” Arwin offered, giving Lillia a way out.
“Yeah, maybe,” Lillia said with a grateful nod. “Good luck, though. If
you happen to find anyone looking for a good meal, send them my way. No
inn-goers, though. I don’t have enough rooms for more people right now.”
Reya shrugged and scooped up half the armor on the ground. Arwin
picked up the other half.
“Noted.” Arwin raised a hand in farewell, then followed Reya as she
headed out onto the street.
He followed her down the streets of Milten, still getting used to looking
out of his new mask and barely keeping up with her brisk pace. After a few
minutes of walking and weaving through the alleys, Reya brought them out
onto a small street.
There were a few storefronts and buildings along it, but it looked like a
relatively quiet area. Reya walked over to a rundown two-story building
directly across from the alleyway they’d stepped out of.
“This place,” Reya said. “They’ve got a cart in the back, and it’s never
moved. I’ve seen it from the rooftops.”
“What were you doing on the rooftops?”
“Don’t ask questions you don’t want answers to. I don’t like it up
there.” Reya rapped on the door with her knuckles. “I think this place is a
really small inn, but nobody ever uses it. I have no idea how it’s still in
business.”
No sooner than she had finished speaking, the door creaked open. An
elderly man with an underbite and a thinning bed of white hair stood on the
other side, his face already pinched in distaste.
“What do you want?” He stared at Arwin suspiciously, keeping a hand
on the door to slam it shut at a moment’s notice.
“We’re looking to buy a cart.” Arwin held his hands out in what he
hoped was a placating manner. It was a little difficult to do with all the
armor he was clutching to his chest. “Something I could sell these out of.
I’m a smith.”
“You’re a freak in a mask,” the old man said curtly.
“A freak in a mask that wants a cart,” Arwin said. “Do you happen to be
in possession of one that you don’t want to be in possession of?”
“What?” He squinted at Arwin. “Speak louder. I can’t see you.”
You can’t what now?
“A cart!” Arwin said, nearly yelling. “Do you have one? I want to buy
it!”
“Oh, a cart. I’ve got an old piece of shit in the back, yeah. It rolls just
fine, but I’m not giving you a donkey to drag it with you.”
 I don’t recall ever asking for a donkey.
“That would be perfect,” Arwin said, keeping his tone raised. “How
much for the cart?”
“You don’t have to yell,” the old man said with a grunt. “Twenty gold.”
“Twenty?” Reya exclaimed. “No! Five!”
“Five? It’s not made of gold; it’s made of wood!”
They both stared at him.
“That’s why we don’t to pay 20 gold for it,” Reya said with a baffled
frown. “If it was made out of gold, we’d pay more. It’s not made out of
gold, though.”
“Are you sure?”
“Pretty sure, yeah,” Reya said. “Five gold.”
“Fifteen.”
“Seven.”
“Ten?” the old man offered. “Last offer.”
“It’s literally just sitting back there!” Reya protested. “You aren’t even
using it!”
“How do you know that?”
“Ten is fine,” Arwin said hurriedly, fishing five coins out of his pocket
and handing them to the man. “Other five once we take the cart out.”
Shrugging, the man nodded over to a fence beside his building. “It’s
open. Feel free to drag the cart out, but don’t think about trying to take a
step away from the street with it before you pay up, or I’ll beat you for an
inch of your life.”
Arwin was pretty sure the man wasn’t capable of beating a common
cold, much less another person, but he didn’t say anything. There was no
reason to antagonize him, and while 10 gold felt like it was more than a bit
steep, he really didn’t need people poking further into Reya’s dealings.
Reya ran over to the gate and pulled it open before heading through.
Arwin followed her in to find an old wooden cart wedged between the walls
of the old man’s house and the house next door.
The wood was cracked and dry, covered with a layer of dust that spoke
tales of the last time it had been used. But, in spite of that, the wheels
looked to be in decent condition. They weren’t great, but they weren’t trash
either.
The wagon itself was a little on the small side, with just enough counter
space on either side to support his arms if he wanted to lean on it. Old metal
hooks hung along the ceiling, giving spots to hang merchandise from.
“This is perfect. Step out of the way, Reya,” Arwin said. He dumped his
pile of armor at the bottom of the cart, and Reya did the same.
Arwin then grabbed the handles at the front of the cart. He straightened
and gritted his teeth, his muscles bulging as he pulled.
The cart was stuck fast, buried in a layer of mud. Arwin activated
[Scourge], letting power course through his body and empower his
movements. With a snarl, he pulled the cart free of the ground with a lurch.
He dragged it out onto the street, moving slowly at first to make sure
nothing fell apart. When it became clear that it would stay in one piece,
Arwin lowered the cart again. He walked over to the old man in the
doorway and handed him the last five pieces of gold.
“Pleasure,” Arwin said, ignoring the wide-eyed look he was getting.
“You an adventurer or something?” the old man asked. “I didn’t peg you
for one.”
“I’m just a smith,” Arwin said with a chuckle. “You can call me Ifrit.”
“Hey, can I ride in the cart?” Reya asked, climbing in before waiting for
Arwin to answer. She held one of the beams and grinned down at him. “To
make sure it can bear the weight of the armor and stuff.”
“I suppose it would be a good workout.” Arwin raised a hand in
farewell to the stunned old man, then grabbed the cart and drew on
[Scourge] once more, trotting off down the street with the cart rumbling
behind him.
Excitement swirled in Arwin’s stomach. Even if he was only selling
mundane gear, he was confident that he’d be able to impress people with
the quality of his work. He hadn’t seen anything like the scale armor in the
other blacksmith’s shop.
And, once I start to get a steady flow of money, I’ll be able to start
doing magical weapons and armor on commission for people that I think
deserve them. Then I’ll be able to upgrade the smithy even more.
It was time for Ifrit to make his name known.

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 52

T
he market was busy when Arwin and Reya arrived. But, unlike the last
time, where not a single person had glanced in their direction, their
entrance drew a fair number of eyes. Arwin wasn’t sure if that was
because of his mask or the cart at his back, but he didn’t care.
He scoped out an empty area beside a merchant selling dumplings and
brought the cart over beside him, setting it down with a grunt. Reya hopped
down and gave him a grin.
“Cart seems safe.”
“You think?” Arwin asked dryly, brushing his hands off on his shirt. “I
can’t tell if I want to sell everything as fast as possible or if I want to find
the right person for the armor instead.”
Reya rolled her eyes. “Maybe worry about selling anything at all first?
And this is just normal gear. Don’t be picky about that stuff. You can be
picky once you’re famous.”
“Good point,” Arwin admitted. He picked up a set of scale mail and
hung it from one of the hooks, holding his hands out to catch it in case the
hook failed. Fortunately, it looked like the metal was in good condition and
it held firm.
Reya helped him hang the rest of the armor, and then they settled in to
wait. It was still somewhat early in the day, and the market was just starting
to get to its busiest hour.
Minutes ticked by, turning into an hour. People walked by their cart, a
few of them craning their necks as they passed, but nobody was stopping
by. Arwin frowned behind his mask.
“Why is nobody stopping by? They aren’t even trying to take a closer
look.”
“Probably because you look intimidating,” Reya said from where she
sat at the base of the wagon. She stood up, brushing some specks of wood
from her clothes, and glanced around. “Here. Let me try something.”
“What are you going to⁠—”
“Hey!” Reya screamed, thrusting a finger at a bald man with a sword at
his side. “You!”
The man froze in surprise, spinning to face Reya. “Me? What⁠—”
“Where’s your armor?” Reya demanded, hopping down from the cart
before Arwin could even think of saying anything. She stormed up to the
man and thrust a finger at him. “What if monsters attacked the town?
You’re an adventurer, aren’t you?”
“I’m just not wearing it right⁠—”
“You’re not wearing it because it’s no good,” Reya said. “It’s
uncomfortable. It’s unwieldy. Probably heavy and a huge pain to lug
around, isn’t it? But look at me!”
Reya slapped her chest. She’d taken her armor off—which was
probably wise, as it was magical and had no way to conceal its properties—
then pointed over at the cart with her other hand. “Look at that. Light, easy
to wear—and yet, just as effective as metal.”
“I already have⁠—”
“You don’t have this armor,” Reya said, fluttering her eyes. “Though
you’re going to wish you did when a horde of Forest Lizards run you down
and rip your limbs off in your clunky, heavy armor. Good luck running
anywhere in that crap. Your loss, though!”
She spun, sauntering back to the cart with a smirk on her face that only
Arwin could see. The adventurer’s eyes traced Reya’s walk, then lifted up
to Arwin and the armor. His head tilted slightly to the side, and after a
moment of standing in the middle of traffic, he walked over to join them.
“All you,” Reya whispered as she climbed back onto the wagon. “Don’t
screw it up.”
Arwin found himself supremely grateful for the mask on his face, as it
was doing a fantastic job of covering his mouth, which was currently
hanging open.
 “What kind of shop you got here? Only four sets of armor?” the
adventurer asked, peering past Arwin. “Interesting design, though.”
“Scale mail,” Arwin said, getting himself back under control and taking
down a set of armor so the man could inspect it. “And the greaves are plate,
though made from the same material. It’s considerably lighter than metal
but has almost the same level of protection.”
The adventurer ran his hand over the greaves, the mild interest on his
face growing as he took in the armor. “You made this?”
“Yes.”
“How’d you get the scales like this? I’ve never seen someone make a
set of armor with them that wasn’t scale mail,” the man said, turning the
greaves over in his hands to try and find out if there was a trick to them. “Is
this really as effective as metal?”
“I’ve tested them myself,” Arwin said. “The shirt protected someone
from a wyrm blow, though it was badly damaged in the process.”
“You’re shitting me,” the man muttered. “A wyrm?”
“It did break,” Arwin reminded him.
“But the person wearing it lived,” Reya piped up. “I’d say that’s a damn
good trade.”
“So it is,” the adventurer mused. “Can I try this on?”
“Help yourself, but don’t run off with it. I’m faster than you are.”
The man laughed at what he presumed to be a joke, then pulled the
greaves on. Fortunately, his build wasn’t too far from average, so they
seemed to fit him pretty well. Arwin had left them fairly loose, and a lot of
their fit relied on the latches, which he helped the adventurer fasten
properly.
Shifting from foot to foot, the man’s expression continued to grow more
interested. He gestured for the scale mail and Arwin handed it over, letting
the man pull it over his head.
“Well, I’ll be damned. This is a lot more comfortable than I thought it
would be. Why is the shirt mail while the pants are plate?”
“Still working on the plate chest piece,” Arwin replied with a shrug.
“This is lighter, though. If you value your mobility, it’ll give you the best of
both worlds.”
The adventurer nodded slowly. “How much is it?”
“Forty gold apiece, or seventy for the pair?” Arwin offered, taking a
shot at a price. He was pretty sure it was on the lower end, but he had no
name as a smith yet. Getting some people to buy his gear and get the word
out would be far more effective than trying to sell it at high prices initially.
The adventurer considered it for a moment, then reached into a pouch at
his waist and pulled out a small leather bag. He sifted through it, removing
a handful of coins, and then set the bag on Arwin’s counter.
“Seventy. Feel free to count it.”
Arwin quickly checked the bag, but it looked like the number of coins
was right. He inclined his head. “Thank you for your patronage. I hope the
armor serves you well. If it ever gets damaged, feel free to bring it back to
me. I’ll repair it at a low cost.”
“Seriously?” The adventurer grinned and held his hand out. “I’ll keep
that in mind, mate. What’s your name? You must be new around here.”
“Ifrit,” Arwin replied, shaking the man’s hand.
“I’m Ted. Pleasure, Ifrit. If your armor is half as good as it feels, you’ll
be seeing me again.”
The adventurer strode off, raising a hand in farewell. Arwin looked
down at the bag on the counter, then over to Reya. “What was that?”
“What was what?”
“When did you become so good at being a saleswoman?”
“Good? All I did was cut him off a bunch of times and sway my ass
when I walked back here,” Reya said with a snort. “You did everything
else.”
That’s one way to completely undersell yourself.
“I’m not so sure that was it. You definitely⁠—”
“Eyes up ahead,” Reya said with a grin, looking past Arwin’s shoulder.
“You’ve got some more interest.”
Arwin turned to find that several other people had walked over to the
cart and were studying the armor hanging around him. Now that one person
had bought something, he’d functionally proven himself and drawn the
attention of other passersby.
“Good luck,” Reya said, crossing her arms behind her head and closing
her eyes. “And don’t forget to leave me a cut.”
About five hours later, they sold out. Even though a lot of people came by
to look at the armor, most of them didn’t end up buying anything. But, even
so, with the small crowd that Reya had summoned, there was enough
interest to sell every piece of armor they’d brought.
Arwin found his purse had gone from a mere 10 gold to a hefty 362. In
the span of five hours, they’d gone from destitute to well off. If a meal cost
around a silver coin or two, then 1 gold was roughly equivalent to five
meals at worst. They weren’t exactly rich, but they had a very healthy
amount of coin.
He wasted absolutely no time in counting out 100 gold from his profits
and tossing it to Reya.
“This much?” Reya asked, staring at the bag in disbelief. “I barely even
did anything!”
“Are you kidding? I wouldn’t have sold anything at all if you weren’t
here. You earned that.”
“You made the armor.”
“Are you really asking me to give you less gold?”
Reya blinked, then shook her head. “You know what? Never mind. I
deserve this.”
They both laughed.
“You’re going to have to make a bunch more of that. I think I’m going
to get addicted to having this much money,” Reya said.
“I think I’m going to end up spending almost all of this immediately,”
Arwin said, feeling the bulging bag at his waist. “I need some more of that
metal you bought me as well. Could you say how much it was?”
“The whole lot was 80 gold, and I got it at a huge discount,” Reya said.
“Someone ordered a bunch of it and then didn’t pick it up. I think it’s
normally around 30 gold a bar.”
“Could you get me three bars of it?” Arwin asked, pouring another 100
gold into Reya’s bag. “I need some to work with.”
Reya blinked, then shrugged. “Okay. What about you?”
“I’m going to bring the cart back, then go shopping for some supplies to
upgrade the smithy. Come tomorrow, we aren’t going to have any more
cracks in the walls.”
Reya grinned. “I’m looking forward to it. I’ll see you back at the tavern,
then?”
 “Sounds good,” Arwin said, hopping down from the wagon to lift it by
the handles. He nodded to Reya, and the two of them set off, their spirits
high from a successful day.

“He was right here, Jessen,” Tix said, thrusting a finger at the open space in
the market. “I swear.”
“I believe you,” the man beside her said, running a hand through his
dark beard. He wore heavy black armor with spiked pauldrons and carried a
huge greatsword on his back that shimmered with poorly hidden magical
energy. “Unfortunate. I had hoped to speak with him. Our guild needs a new
crafter.”
“I’ve been trying to find the street that I heard he lived on, but I haven’t
had any luck thus far. I’ve sent out some feelers to see if anyone has heard
anything, but so far, the only ones that have claimed to know anything are a
bunch of worthless grubs.”
“Grubs?” Jessen asked, tilting his head to the side and glancing at Tix.
“I believe I told you to spare no expenses.”
“Yes, but they’re a gutter-trash Thieves’ Guild,” Tix said. “They’d lie
through their teeth just to get our coin. There’s no point⁠—”
“Tix?” Jessen asked, his voice cold.
She cut herself off mid-sentence, then swallowed heavily. “I’ll speak
with them.”
“Good,” Jessen said. “It’s just a little bit of gold. It hardly matters when
there’s so much profit on the line. In the meantime, how has our side project
been going?”
“Well. We should have the materials we need soon. A month or two, if I
had to guess,” Tix replied.
“As you were.” Jessen strode off, somehow blending in with the crowd
in just seconds despite his striking armor and towering height. Tix turned
back to the empty lot, then grimaced. She had a meeting with a bunch of
worthless thieves to catch, and she wasn’t looking forward to it in the
slightest.

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 53

A
rwin got back to the smithy after spending a little over 100 gold on
various supplies and repair materials. He took them out of his cart and
brought them into the cracked building one by one, stacking the extra
stone and brick by the wall beside the mortar and a slew of new tools.
Reya swung by with the Brightsteel he’d requested, dropping it off by
the forge before heading over to brag to Lillia about how well their efforts
had gone and dragging the cart back with her. As tempting as it was to get
started on the repairs, Arwin shifted gears and grabbed one of the
Brightsteel pieces, firing up his forge.
A tightness had started to form in the pit of his stomach, and it wasn’t
going to be long before he ran out of time and needed to eat a magical item.
He had pretty high hopes for the new material.
Better stuff to work with means it’s more likely I’ll be able to sate [The
Hungering Maw] without having to make a bunch of crap. The best way to
test that would be to make a nice bracelet with this instead of some crappy
metal.
And that was exactly what Arwin did. As the heat of his [Soul Flame]
washed across the smithy, he got to work forming a bracelet out of one of
the three ingots. He used Verdant Blaze to hammer it down, flattening the
piece into a long strip before starting to work it into a ring.
Instead of just making a basic circle, Arwin took one of the new tools
he’d purchased—a small handle with a pointed end—and used it to start
tracing designs into the steel. He wasn’t sure if it would actually change the
quality of the magical item, but it probably couldn’t hurt.
He carved a vine that ran from one end of the circlet to the other, then
started putting in leaves. The more he worked, the more Brightsteel helped
him. His design went from sub-average at best to something that he was
actually rather proud of, and the steel matched his delight.
Arwin set the tool down away from the flame and held the finished
bracelet up. It had been several hours since he’d started working, but that
only made the tingle of the Mesh as it raced across his skin all the more
delightful.

[Brightsteel Bracelet: Art Quality] has been forged.

Arwin waited for more to appear, but it never did. That was it. He’d
never heard of Art Quality before, but it wasn’t hard to deduce what it
meant.
It was just a beautiful bracelet. It didn’t do anything special, but at the
same time, the Mesh recognized it as more than just a mere bracelet. It
wasn’t exactly magical, but it wasn’t not magical either.
Arwin examined the design on the bracelet for a few minutes, marveling
at the work. It was hard to believe it had come from his hands—but it
wasn’t long before curiosity overcame his other thoughts.
He brought the bracelet up to his mouth and carefully nibbled at it. To
his relief, the metal melted instantly as it met his mouth. It was still edible.
Arwin ate the rest of the bracelet, then waited with bated breath.
The tightness in his stomach faded. A huge grin passed over his lips, and
he let out a relieved sigh.
“Art Quality seems to be good enough, then. Lucky me,” Arwin said.
He glanced over at the other two pieces of Brightsteel. There was still a lot
he could do with them, but he wanted to make sure he had an emergency
backup in case he needed to eat more magic in the near future.
Probably best to save it for now. Maybe I should get some rest, then go
about fixing up the smithy tomorrow. That’ll be nice.
Arwin brushed his hands off and sucked the [Soul Flame] from the
hearth, heading for the door. He paused as he reached the exit, putting his
mask back on.
 Now that I’ve made my debut, I’ll have to be more careful about
wearing the mask whenever I enter or leave the smithy. Never know when
someone will be waiting around to meet me, even though it’s probably a bit
too early for that.
Arwin headed into the street and locked the door behind himself. It was,
as usual, completely desolate. Unbothered, Arwin headed off to Lillia’s
tavern. There was a lot he wanted to do the next morning, and he was
worried he’d start early if he didn’t force himself into bed soon.
Lillia and Reya had already retired by the time Arwin got there. So,
after carefully making his way through the darkness of the tavern below, he
ascended the stairs and slipped into bed while trying to make as little noise
as possible.
Sleep took him, but it felt like a fleeting embrace.
Before Arwin knew it, the sun was streaming through the window once
again. He was out of bed nearly instantly, his thoughts already on his new
smithy repairs. He could practically see the remade building in his mind.
Lillia nodded to Arwin as he stepped off the stairs and into the tavern.
“Reya told me yesterday went well.”
“Very well. She’s a good saleswoman,” Arwin said. “I got everything I
needed to start some repairs, and I think we might be getting some more
attention on the street pretty soon. Is your tavern ready for more
customers?”
“Working on it,” Lillia said with a wince. “It’s hard to do much with no
funds, but I’m slowly getting there.”
“You don’t have a bath, do you?”
“Not yet. It’s on the list.”
Arwin counted out 50 gold and set it on the counter. “Here.”
Lillia stared at the pile of money with undisguised desire. “What’s this
for?”
“I want a bath. Consider it an investment, not a donation. The more
people come to the street, the better. We don’t need anyone looking down
on us.”
Lillia looked like she wanted to refuse, but practicality won over ego.
She swept the coins into her pocket and gave Arwin an appreciative nod.
“Thank you. This is going to go a really long way.”
“I figured it would. Maybe start with a door.” A grin flickered across
Arwin’s face. “Doors are nice, you know?”
 “What is it with you and doors?” Lillia asked with a laugh.
“It just makes it feel more like a home. If you can just stride in without
having to stop and do something, it feels wrong.”
“You know what? Fair enough,” Lillia said. “I’ll get a door. And a tub,
at the very least. At some point, I’d love to have a whole hot spring. That
might cost a bit more than 50 gold, though.”
“You think?” Arwin asked. “I’m sure you’ll get to it soon enough,
though. You still have that Lesser Imp acting as a waiter?”
“Yeah. It’s just not out right now. No reason to waste energy when
nobody is around.”
“Makes sense. I’m going to go work on repairs, then,” Arwin said. “I’ll
try to be back for nightfall, so you don’t get penalized for me not sleeping
in the inn.”
Lillia gave him a grateful nod, and he headed off, whistling to himself
as he pulled his mask on. It struck him that, despite everything that had
happened, he was happier now than he ever had been as the Hero of Man.
Before his supposed death, Arwin’s life had consisted of war, killing,
and training to kill. The best moments had been the ones when he’d had a
few seconds to breathe and relax with his friends—back when they’d still
lived.
It had felt like he was living underwater, slowly drowning a little more
every day. But now, the only things he had to do were make more armor,
upgrade the smithy, and make sure they were ready to handle a small horde
of wyrms.
It was far from a completely carefree life, but it finally felt like a
worthwhile one.
“Wish you were here with me, Blake,” Arwin muttered to himself, a
pang of guilt shooting through him as he strode down the street. He’d
always dreamed of leaving the war behind after it was over and settling
down, but the desire to become a crafter hadn’t actually been his.
It had been Blake’s dream. The man had talked Arwin’s ear off for hours
on end about all the things he’d make once the Demon Queen had fallen, to
the point where he’d started paying more attention to his own armor and
weapons purely because of how much he’d inadvertently learned about
smithing.
I’ll live it for the two of us, Blake. I can’t help but feel as if you had
some hand in me ending up as a smith. I bet you’d have gotten a huge kick
out of it.
A faint smile formed on Arwin’s lips. He reached the smithy and lifted
the key to the door, going to turn the handle—and froze. It was already
unlocked. Arwin’s grin fell away and his eyes narrowed.
The Thieves’ Guild? Did those idiots come back?
He threw the door open, striding in and preparing to activate [Arsenal]
at the first sign of an ambush or an attack.
But, instead of armed men, Arwin found the only person in his smithy to
be a young teenager, probably around fourteen or fifteen years old. The boy
was holding a brick of Brightsteel.
He spun as he heard Arwin enter, dropping the ingot and lunging to grab
it before it could hit the ground. The boy backed up, setting the brick on the
anvil and swallowing as he held his hands out defensively. “I didn’t realize
someone moved in here, mister. I don’t mean any harm.”
Arwin let his hands lower. “What are you doing here?”
“I used to use this place as my hideout. Thought it was weird when
someone put a door on it, so I picked the lock to come in,” the boy said
hurriedly. He turned the pockets of his pants inside out. “I didn’t take
anything, I swear. I was just looking around.”
Arwin studied the boy for a moment, but it looked like he was telling
the truth. He was as thin as a rail, and Arwin strongly suspected he didn’t
have a class by how little threat he felt from him. “What were you doing
with my ingots?”
“I dunno. They were shiny,” the boy said sheepishly. “Looked
expensive.”
“They are,” Arwin said. “I didn’t realize this was your hideout. I
apologize.”
“It’s fine. There’s lots of other places on the street,” the boy said with a
shrug. “I’ll find a different one. I just liked this one because my dad was a
smith. Made me feel like I was with him.”
Arwin coughed into his fist. It wasn’t like anyone owned the smithy
when he’d moved in, but he still felt a pang of guilt—though not nearly
enough to offer up the smithy. There were other perfectly usable buildings
around them.
“You hiding from something?” Arwin asked.
“What? No. Nothing like that, sir.”
 “You can just call me Ifrit,” Arwin said, shaking his head. “And you
said this was your hideout, so I figured you were hiding.”
“Oh, no. The Thieves’ Guild just expanded and took over the area I was
camping out in before, so I came back to this one. It’s a bit farther from the
markets, but…” He shrugged. “It’s fine. Not too busy, aside from you.”
“And the tavern down the street,” Arwin said. “I can’t recommend
trying to rob either me or the tavern, though.”
“I ain’t no robber!”
Arwin raised an eyebrow.
“I’m a reallocator of goods.” The boy gave him a gap-toothed grin.
“Sounds better that way.”
Arwin couldn’t help himself from laughing. The kid had a certain
upbeat air to him that made it difficult to stay uptight. “What’s your name?
If you’re moving in next door, I might as well get to know you.”
“Zeke. You aren’t mad about me breakin’ in, then?”
“Not as long as you don’t do it again or try to take anything,” Arwin
said. “I’ve got bigger problems than people checking out my forge.”
Zeke’s stomach rumbled loudly. His face went bright red and he
scampered to the side, making to loop around Arwin so he could leave.
“I’ll be off, then. Sorry ’bout the bother.”
“Hold on,” Arwin said. “You want to earn some coin? Actually earn, not
steal.”
Zeke paused. “How?”
“I’m doing some repairs, if you couldn’t tell,” Arwin said, nodding at
the wall with all his neatly stacked supplies. “There’s probably going to be
a good bit of labor. Dragging crap out, putting crap in. That kind of thing.
I’ll pay you 5 gold if you help me shuffle everything around today.”
Zeke’s eyes went as wide as saucers. “Five gold? I’m your man, Mister
Ifrit!”
“Just Ifrit,” Arwin corrected, grateful that he’d worn his mask.
I better get that habit out of him before he and Reya meet, or I’ll never
hear my actual name again.
“Yes, si—uh, Ifrit. I’ll call you ‘King’ if it gets me that gold.”
Arwin rolled his eyes. “Come on, then. Let’s get started by taking out
all the debris and cracked stones in the walls. We’ve got a lot of work ahead
of us.”
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 54

Z
eke was a hard worker, and he made clearing out the smithy
considerably faster than it would have been if Arwin was working on
his own. Between the two of them, in just a few hours, they’d
removed the majority of the worst damage in the building.
After they'd finished, Zeke headed out to get some fresh air. Arwin took
the opportunity to do a little more smithing. He hadn’t forgotten just how
useful the bracelet he’d made had been against the golem—and he never
knew when [The Hungering Maw] would demand another sacrifice.
He took a piece of scrap Brightsteel and brought it to the hearth, heating
it and working it into a band. The metal was receptive enough to his work,
and it only took around an hour of work to hammer it out and reshape it
with the Mesh’s guidance. Arwin tried a few times before he got everything
shaped the way he’d envisioned. Energy sparked at his fingertips as the
Mesh recognized his work.

[Metal Bracelet: Average Quality] has been forged.

Metal Bracelet: Average Quality
Happy Feet: This item was forged faster than it should have been,
resulting in some imperfection in an otherwise decent band. It can
provide increased movement speed at the cost of magical energy.
Greedy: This item draws more magical energy than it needs, causing its
wielder to lose strength while its ability is active.
 Arwin nodded to himself. It was a good item. Nothing incredible, but it
would serve as a snack if nothing else—and he could see a number of
situations where speed would be considerably more important than strength.
He slipped it onto his wrist, heading out to find Zeke—if the boy hadn't run
off already.
He found the kid standing outside the tavern, squinting inside. Zeke
turned as Arwin approached.
“Hungry?” Arwin asked.
“Yeah,” Zeke said, squinting through the shadows. “But why's it so dark
in there?”
“It’s meant to be a little creepy. For fun,” Arwin explained. “Come on. I
know it looks suspicious, but it's just a bit odd. The innkeeper makes some
great food.”
Zeke shot him a suspicious look, but he followed Arwin inside.
All the suspicion vanished the moment Lillia stepped out of the kitchen
with a large plate of fried rice.
“I’m surprised you’re eating real food today,” Lillia said. “What ch⁠—”
She froze as she spotted Zeke standing beside Arwin. “You brought
someone new?”
“He broke into the smithy,” Arwin said with a chuckle, “and he’s been
helping me do some renovations. Can I get him lunch?”
“Obviously,” Lillia replied, setting the plate down on the counter and
snapping her fingers. “Come. Eat.”
Zeke sprang to obey, shoveling food from the plate into his mouth
without even waiting for Lillia to set out any utensils for him. Arwin and
Lillia exchanged a glance, but both chose to say nothing.
It only took the boy a few minutes to completely mow through the
entire meal. Once he’d polished off the last scraps and licked the plate
clean, he leaned back in his stool and let out a satisfied sigh.
“Was it good?” Lillia asked.
“Best food I’ve had in years,” Zeke replied without a second of
hesitation. “Thank you, ma’am.”
“Just call her Lillia,” Arwin said with a chuckle. “If you’re up to it, let’s
get back to working, shall we? I’d like to get the shop built up a bit more
before tomorrow.”
“You’re not gonna eat?”
“I’ll be fine,” Arwin replied.
 Zeke nodded empathetically and hopped to his feet. “Thanks for the
food. It was really good.”
He zipped out of the tavern, heading back for the smithy. Arwin shook
his head as he watched the boy go.
“Interesting kid. Seems more than willing to work for his money.”
“Polite too,” Lillia said. “I kind of like the sound of ‘ma’am.’ It feels
really official, like I’m a real innkeeper.”
“What are you, an old woman?”
Lillia glared at him. “Oh, stuff it. Go follow the brat.”
Arwin chuckled and headed after Zeke. In the time it took him to catch
up, the boy had already picked the lock to the smithy back open. Arwin
stared at the lock, then looked over to the boy, who had started bringing
bricks over to the gaps in the walls.
“Is this lock really that easy to break through?” Arwin asked as he
joined Zeke.
“Nah. I’m just good at it.”
“Well, I suppose that’s a good thing,” Arwin said dryly. The two of them
got to sliding the stone into the gaps and applying the mortar to them with a
flat plate of metal. They worked quickly, soon running out of easy fixes.
Arwin set about using a small spike to carve the rest of the stones to fit
into the oddly shaped gaps in the walls. Zeke continued supplying him with
stones as he slid them into the gaps.
A few more hours of hard work passed, but it came with reward. By the
time the sun started to dip in the sky, the cracks had been filled. Arwin’s
smithy was actually a proper building, without any holes in it that didn’t
belong.
It was a bit darker than it had been before, with the only light coming in
through the holes that had been windows, but Arwin couldn’t have been
more thrilled. The two of them spent a few minutes bringing all the extra
materials over to a corner so they wouldn’t be in the way.
“You did a pretty damn good job,” Arwin said, counting out five gold
coins and handing them to Zeke.
Zeke barely seemed to hear him. He stared at the gold in his hands, his
eyes twinkling in disbelief. “I can really have all this?”
“I promised it, didn’t I?”
“Yeah, but I kinda figured you’d stiff me after the meal,” Zeke said.
“If you thought I’d do that, why’d you stick around?”
 “In case you didn’t.”
The answer was so matter-of-fact that Arwin couldn’t keep from
snorting. “Fair enough. Well, you earned it.”
“I really didn’t. This wasn’t worth 5 gold, but I’ll take it anyway. If you
can give money away like this, why are you moving into such a crappy
building?”
“It’s not crappy anymore,” Arwin said. “I’m actually rather taken with
it. With just a little more polishing up, this place can become something
incredible. It’s not ugly. It’s just got enormous potential.”
“That’s what my mum used to say about my face,” Zeke said with a
snicker. “Thanks again for the food and the money. I won’t break into your
place again, I promise.”
Arwin started to nod, then caught himself. “Say… you have any interest
in a longer-term job?”
Zeke blinked. “What kind? You going to tear this whole place down or
something?”
“Nothing like that, but it could be useful to have an assistant,” Arwin
said. “Someone to help me get some things when I need them, or to help out
in the forge while I’m working.”
Zeke’s gaze bored into Arwin like twin drills. “You’re serious?”
“Yeah. Maybe a gold a day? I don’t know how much money I’ll have in
the long run, but I imagine I should be able to⁠—”
“A whole gold?” Zeke exclaimed. “Every day? How long?”
“As long as I stick around, I guess,” Arwin said. “Is that⁠—”
“Done deal!” Zeke said, grabbing Arwin’s hand and pumping it in a
furious handshake. “I’m your man!”
Sad state of affairs when a kid his age has to be a man at all, but hey—
this is another person to stay at Lillia’s tavern.
Wait, didn’t she say she didn’t have room for more people yet? Whoops.
Oh well, I’m sure we’ll figure something out.
Having an assistant should be pretty useful, especially as I start to
expand and get more people. At some point, maybe I can have Zeke manage
the storefront when Reya and I go out to the dungeons. And, who knows? In
the long run, if he seems to be a genuinely decent person, I’ll help him get a
class and let him join the guild.
“Come along, then,” Arwin said. “Let’s go back over to that tavern so
we can figure out your lodgings. I should also introduce you to everyone
and we can figure out what your exact duties will be.”
They returned to the tavern at the perfect time. Lillia and Reya looked
like they’d both just started on dinner. It was more fried rice, but Arwin
suspected Zeke wouldn’t mind all that much.
“We’re back,” Arwin said, nodding for Zeke to take one of the stools.
“Do you have enough for another, Lillia?”
“Yeah. Give me one second.” Lillia vanished into the kitchen, returning
a few seconds later with another plate of metal stacked high with food. She
set it down before Zeke, this time making sure to put down utensils for him.
“This is Zeke, then?” Reya asked. She noticed Arwin’s surprised glance
and grinned. “Lillia told me.”
“Ah. Yeah. He’s been doing some pretty good work helping me rebuild
the smithy today,” Arwin said. “I hired him on to help out with some other
basic tasks. Maybe run the storefront once we get a little more popular.”
“Good idea,” Reya said through a mouthful of food. “You can’t sit in
the smithy the whole time. You’ll have to leave occasionally to get
materials and stuff. It’s nice to meet you, Zeke. I’m Reya.”
Zeke nodded in greeting, swallowing to make sure he didn’t risk losing
any food before responding. “Yeah. Thanks. I’m Zeke.”
It was a tad awkward, but Zeke seemed considerably more interested in
eating than he was in socializing. Arwin didn’t blame him. Considering how
skinny Zeke was, Arwin suspected he didn’t get much opportunity to eat.
“I know you said not to get more people for the time being, but do you
have somewhere he could stay?” Arwin asked. “I’ll look into getting
another bed.”
“I’ll handle that,” Lillia said, shaking her head. “It’s my inn, and you’ve
already put in enough gold. Does he know any woodworking? If he could
help me patch up some of the floor, we could get another room functional.”
“I’m a fast learner,” Zeke said with a hopeful glint in his eye.
“Better than nothing,” Lillia said with a shrug. “Mind if I steal him
tomorrow?”
“All yours,” Arwin said. “I’ll be smithing again tomorrow, but nothing
too crazy. I shouldn’t need any help.”
Might be better to keep him out of the smithy for now anyway. I don’t
need to be broadcasting to the world what I can do yet. Either way, I want
to try to make some headgear before we head back into the dungeon.
“What about where he’ll sleep tonight?” Reya asked.
 “I can take the floor,” Zeke said hurriedly. “It’s better than outside. If I
have a real spot to sleep in tomorrow, then I’ll have nothing to complain
about.”
There was nothing to argue with there, so they all fell silent as Reya and
Zeke finished off the rest of their food. Lillia caught Arwin’s eye while the
others ate and nodded to the kitchen before heading into it. Arwin followed,
trailing Lillia back to her room.
“When are we heading back into the dungeon?” Lillia asked, keeping
her tone low so nobody would overhear them. “There are some things I’d
like to try.”
“I was thinking tomorrow, assuming Rodrick and Anna are both fine
with it,” Arwin replied. “We can probably push deeper than we did last
time, especially if more monsters haven’t moved in by the time we get
there.”
“You think that’s likely?”
“Probably not,” Arwin admitted. “Dungeons never have a shortage of
monsters that show up to use their energy, but I can’t complain. More
monsters mean more material for me to work with. Is there something in
particular you need?”
“Mostly supplies, just like you. It sounds like we’re going to have more
people coming by the street soon, and I want to try to get some more stuff
to sell. I need a lot of expansions and more ingredients to cook with.”
“Fair enough,” Arwin said. “We’ll aim for day after tomorrow, then.
What do you think of Zeke?”
“He seems too young to be on the streets,” Lillia said with a frown.
“But I think he should be fine. Seems honest enough, and you’re the only
one that has anything really worth stealing.”
“The things I have that are most worth stealing are impossible to steal,”
Arwin said, even more grateful for [Arsenal] than he had been before. “Let
me know if you have any trouble with him, though.”
“A human brat isn’t going to give me any issues, but I’ll take note of
that. In any case, I’m going to start cleaning up the kitchen and getting
ready for tomorrow morning. You never know when people will show up.”
Arwin nodded, thinking much along the same lines. His equipment was
out on the market now, which meant that it wouldn’t be long before his
name started to build. He had a lot of smithing to do if he wanted to
properly establish himself.
 But that would come. For today, Arwin had done more than enough
work on his smithy to be satisfied. Right now, the only other thing he
wanted to do was get some rest and prepare for what tomorrow held.

OceanofPDF.com
 55

W
hen Arwin got out of bed the following morning and stepped into
the common room after pulling on his mask, he found he wasn’t
the first. In fact, it seemed like he might have been the last.
Rodrick, Anna, and Reya all sat at the counter across from
Lillia, who was busy trying to fix up the weathered wine rack with Zeke’s
help. Even though the shadows in the inn were just as dark as they always
seemed to be, it felt brighter than normal.
“Were you hibernating or something?” Rodrick asked with a chuckle as
he saw Arwin. “Also, what’s with the… well, ugly thing?”
“My mask is not ugly,” Arwin said curtly. “It’s intimidating.”
“It’s ugly,” Rodrick said.
“Whatever helps you sleep at night. It’s to protect my identity. I’m well
aware it’s far from the most effective way to handle things, but even a small
layer of defense is better than nothing.”
“I think you just like wearing ugly masks.”
“Oh, stop it,” Anna said, shoulder-checking Rodrick and nearly
knocking him out of his chair. He grabbed on to the counter to balance
himself, chuckling.
“No rough housing,” Lillia said, glancing over her shoulder at them.
“Not unless you plan to replace my barstools. In that case, feel free. They’re
kind of rickety. I’m honestly hoping someone breaks one so I don’t have to
pay for an upgrade. Victor’s Blood.” Everyone sent confused glances at
Lillia and she blinked. “What?”
“What’s Victor’s Blood mean?” Rodrick asked. “I’ve never heard of that
saying.”
“Oh.” Lillia’s cheeks reddened and she rubbed the back of her neck. “It
means whoever wins the fight has to pay up for the damage done by it. It’s a
deterrent to keep people from getting into shit because nobody wants to
lose, but nobody wants to foot the bill.”
Demon culture is pretty interesting. That’s actually a really clever way
to keep people from fighting too much. It’s a lose-lose situation.
Anna and Rodrick hurriedly straightened back up, taking on the posture
of model adventurers and returning to their meals.
From what Arwin could tell, everyone seemed to be getting on pretty
well with each other. Zeke clearly knew his way around a toolset, and
Arwin couldn’t help but notice some of the tools he’d bought to fix up his
smithy were in the boy’s hands.
He didn’t bother saying anything. Zeke was using them to fix up the
tavern, and the kid seemed to have his head screwed on right. If he’d
wanted to steal, he could have done that in the night.
Guess the guild has another member. Faster than I expected, but I can’t
complain. We need someone to hold the fort down while we go to the
dungeon. And, judging by the presence we’ve got around today, I think
that’s looking pretty likely.
“Is today good, then?” Anna asked Reya.
“I think it should be.” Reya sent a look at Arwin. “Is it?”
“Good? For what?”
“Heading to the dungeon.”
“Oh,” Arwin said, shaking his head and laughing. “Yes. I was just
thinking about that, actually. I’m prepared, so long as the rest of you are.”
Zeke sent Arwin a surprised look. “You go into the dungeon? You’re a
smith!”
“I don’t do any fighting,” Arwin said as he raised his hands, showing his
lack of a weapon. “I just travel along and pick up the supplies that look
useful. I bought a bag yesterday for that exact reason, actually. Stuffing my
pockets got a bit old.”
“Oh, yeah. Tell me about it. You can barely fit half a loaf of bread in,”
Zeke said with a knowing nod.
 “You can fit half a loaf into your pockets?” Reya exclaimed, her eyes
going wide. “I can barely get a pouch of coins in mine!”
“That’s because you’re wearing skinny women’s pants. You gotta get
the good stuff, not the pretty stuff.”
“I didn’t realize there was a difference. I stole these,” Reya said, looking
down at her pants with a frown. “Where’d you get yours?”
“Oh, I stole them too.”
They both snickered, and Arwin was struck with the realization that
bringing two thieves together might not have been the best idea if he
wanted to keep his guild strictly above the board. He cleared his throat to
get their attention.
“No more stealing, please,” Arwin said. “I’d prefer to avoid any trouble
with the authorities.”
Zeke rolled his eyes. “As if I’d get caught.”
“And as if they care,” Reya added. “It’s all just a front, you know. They
pretend to care, but Milten is one of the most crime-ridden cities in the
kingdom. Even if you do get caught doing something, as long as you bribe
them, it’s fine.”
“Even so, I’d prefer to keep our activities legal,” Arwin said firmly. “At
least, whenever possible.”
“Aren’t you technically squatting?” Reya asked.
Arwin opened his mouth, then closed it and crossed his arms. “You may
have a point, but it is a point that I am going to choose to ignore because I
don’t have a good argument for it. If we can’t keep all our activities legal,
what if we do our best to minimize the illegal ones?”
“Buddy, I think you’re losing the argument,” Rodrick put in.
“You’re on my side if you want more armor.”
“No doing illegal shit, kids,” Rodrick said.
Anna smacked him on the back of the head. “Don’t curse in front of
children.”
“I’m not a kid!” Zeke protested. “I know a whole bunch of curse words,
like⁠—”
“We don’t need a demonstration. I believe you,” Anna said curtly,
cutting Zeke off while he was mid-breath, likely preparing to launch into a
long list that he’d been waiting to share for who knew how long. “But
Rodrick certainly isn’t going to be encouraging you. Isn’t that right?”
 “Yup. I’d never do something like that. What’s the kid going to be
doing, Ar—” Rodrick caught himself as Anna pierced him with a sharp
look. He cut himself off before continuing, “—doing with us? Surely not
dungeons.”
“He’s not ready for that,” Arwin said. “Zeke will be helping me with
some smithing activities as well as with the repairs for the smithy and the
inn.”
“Seems useful,” Rodrick said. He finished the rest of his plate and slid
out of his chair, stretching his arms over his head and yawning. “In that
case, should we get moving? No point letting good hours slip away, and I
want to test out some moves.”
“I don’t see why not. I’ll just check up on the smithy before I leave,”
Arwin said. “You made sure to lock it, right, Zeke?”
Zeke glanced at the tools in his hands and his cheeks reddened. “Yeah, I
did. All locked up.”
“Good enough for me. I’ll just see if there’s anything that strikes me
while I’m there. I haven’t had a chance to make a helmet yet—I do want to
get around to that, but it can wait for after we’ve gotten back. I just need to
grab my bag and I’ll be good to go.”
The others nodded and Arwin headed out, crossing the street and
making for his smithy. He paused at the door, taking a moment to appreciate
his newly built walls, all devoid of cracks and damage.
Sure, the building still looked old, but it was in one piece. The next step
would be to get some furniture and really spice the place up, but that could
come after he’d forged enough to really fill the shop out and draw
customers.
Arwin unlocked the door and headed inside. Zeke had barely disturbed
the locations of anything he had, so it only took him a second to find the old
tarp bag he’d purchased along with all the repair supplies.
He slung the bag over a shoulder and did one last check over the smithy
to make sure nothing was out of place before heading back outside. He
went to lock the door behind him, but paused as the key entered the lock.
A middle-aged woman was standing across the street, leaning against
the wall of a crumbling building. It took Arwin a moment to realize he
recognized her dark hair and blue eyes. It was Tix, the adventurer who had
purchased some of his work from him at the tavern.
 “Can I help you?” Arwin asked, locking the door and pocketing the key.
He didn’t even have to work on deepening his voice—the mask muffled his
words enough that they already sounded quite different.
“I believe you can,” Tix said, walking over to stand before him. “I’ve
been looking for you. You’re Ifrit, right?”
“I’d hope there aren’t other people running around with my design on
their masks,” Arwin said dryly. “Yes. I’m Ifrit.”
“Great. You have no idea how damn hard I’ve been looking around to
find you,” Tix said, holding a hand out to shake. “My name is Tix. I’m with
the Iron Hounds.”
Arwin took it. “Pleasure. What is it that you need me for? I didn’t
realize I was worth drawing that much attention.”
“Are you kidding? Don’t downplay the value of the work you put out.
I’ve heard of people working with scales for armor, but not in the way you
have. My people got their hands on some of the gear you put out yesterday,
and I’ve never seen anything like it.”
It really isn’t all that special. I know I’ve seen similar before when I was
the Hero… which either means this place is much farther out in the boonies
than I thought, or Tix is trying to butter me up for something.
“You overpraise me,” Arwin said. “And you still haven’t said what you
want.”
“Not one for small talk, are you?” Tix laughed and shrugged. “Fine with
me. Neither am I. Look—the Iron Hounds need someone like you. We’ve
been working our way up the guild ranks, and we’re starting to get access to
some pretty big jobs, but it’s really hard getting everyone outfitted. I’m sure
I’m preaching to the choir here, but you have to know how hard it can be to
outfit a raid group. Getting good-quality armor that isn’t magical is like
ripping nails out.”
“Why not just get magical armor?”
Tix burst into laughter and slapped Arwin on the shoulder. “Jokester, are
you? I said that we were up and coming, not filthy rich. We can’t afford
magic armor for anyone but the top of the guild. Buying enchantments and
gathering the materials… we aren’t anywhere near the point of that for
anyone but our main group. That doesn’t mean we want everyone else
getting cut down left and right, though.”
“Sure,” Arwin allowed with a shrug. “That makes sense, but I’m not
sure what your question for me is. You’re welcome to buy my work
whenever it goes up for sale.”
“That would be great, but we need a lot more than that. Our guild has
fifty members,” Tix said. “Do you have any idea how long it would take to
get individual sets from you that fit all of them?”
“You’re asking for custom commissions?”
Tix waggled a hand in the air. “That would be nice, but then you’d still
be able to make gear for other guilds.”
Arwin blinked in confusion. “Why would that matter?”
“Because they’re our competitors,” Tix said, the smile fading from her
lips as her eyes darkened. “And they’re the ones we’re fighting. If you
make us armor and then you make them armor, it’s no different than where
things were before, isn’t it?”
“I see your issue,” Arwin said, grateful for his mask once more as it
concealed the disgust on his features.
Why the hell are you fighting other guilds? That’s not what guilds are
meant to do.
“Fantastic,” Tix said. “Then you can imagine why I came here. We’d
like to offer you a position among the Iron Hounds. You’d be well paid, and
we’d provide all the material you could ever⁠—”
“I refuse.”
Tix blinked. “What?”
“I have no interest in joining a guild,” Arwin said. “Not yours, and not
someone else’s. I’m sorry you came out here for nothing.”
“You’d better put more thought into this,” Tix warned. “You aren’t
going to get another offer, and if you aren’t with us, you’re against us.”
“That sort of attitude is going to cause you a lot of problems,” Arwin
said, unable to contain his distaste any longer. “I am a smith. If you wish to
purchase gear from me, you may join the line whenever I arrive at the
market. Just like all the other guilds.”
“Final answer?” Tix asked.
“Ah. By asking again, you have changed my mind.”
“I did?” Tix asked, her face brightening. “Great. I⁠—”
“I lied,” Arwin said flatly. “I appreciate your invitation, but I am unable
to accept it. If it makes you feel any better, any other guilds that bring me
the same offer will receive the same answer. It won’t impact the Iron
Hounds.”
 Tix’s jaw clenched. For a second, Arwin thought she’d start insulting
him. But, instead, she just shrugged and turned, heading down the alleyway
she’d come from.
“Suit yourself. Have a good day, Ifrit.”

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 56

A
rwin watched Tix until her back had completely disappeared into the
darkness, remaining in place for another minute before heading back
to the tavern.
“You took a bit longer than I thought you would. What happened? Get
lost?” Reya asked.
“No. Someone from a guild called the Iron Hounds tried to get me to
join their guild,” Arwin said with a dry laugh. “They were a little pushy, but
they gave up.”
“Iron Hounds? I don’t think I’ve heard of them,” Reya said, chewing
her bottom lip. “Maybe they’re new to the area.”
“Probably,” Rodrick said. “I haven’t heard of them either. Why’d they
want you to join? They need a personal smith?”
“Yeah. It seemed like they were more concerned with stopping me from
making gear for other guilds than they were with getting it for their own,”
Arwin said with a shake of his head. “Can you imagine that? What a stupid
notion. It sounded like their opponents were the other guilds more than
anything else.”
Lillia nodded in agreement, but everyone else stared at Arwin as if he’d
suddenly sprouted a horn.
“That’s like… half the point of a guild,” Reya said with a snort of
laughter. “Of course they don’t want you working for anyone else.”
“Wait, what?” Arwin asked. “Fighting other guilds? That’s not the point
of a guild at all.”
 “Yes, it is,” Rodrick said. “What do you think they’re for? Guilds are a
way to get stronger in a safer environment. And, if you want to get stronger,
the Mesh won’t let you do that in any way other than seeking challenge.”
“Which is why you fight monsters.”
“Sure, but not everywhere has a ton of monsters to fight, and a lot of
dungeons are protected by guilds that don’t let other people get to them,”
Rodrick said. “Because if other people can, then they can get stronger. You
keep the resources for yourself. That’s how it works. Besides, if you’re just
worried about monsters, you go with a small team rather than a guild. It’s
not like you can fit an entire guild in a dungeon at once—it would be too
packed.”
“You rotate out.” Arwin frowned in confusion. “That’s the point.
Everyone is good at their own things, so a guild lets you make sure you’re
properly outfitted for every kind of fight. They’re not meant to… fight off
other guilds. We’re meant to work together.”
“If you think that’s how the guilds work, I don’t know what to say other
than sorry,” Anna said with an apologetic smile. “Nothing is keeping our
guild from being different, of course.”
“Until another guild shows up while we’ve got our backs turned,”
Rodrick said. “Then we become just like the rest of them.”
“What I meant was that we don’t have to attack anyone,” Anna said,
shooting a sharp glare in Rodrick’s direction.
“You’re saying that the guilds have turned to fighting each other and are
using that as a challenge instead of defeating monsters?” Arwin asked in
disbelief. “Why? Guilds are meant to protect people!”
“Only in stories,” Rodrick said. “The truth of the matter is exactly what
you just said. Why protect when hunting down another guild will give you
way more power? Safety is weakness. They want conflict.”
Arwin and Lillia exchanged a look. Based on the expression on her
face, Lillia definitely had the exact same view of guilds that he had. Arwin
had never thought about it, but if some monsters were just as intelligent as
humans, then it wasn’t unrealistic for them to also have guilds.
Just how sheltered were we? I thought I knew almost everything there
was to know this shit, but with every passing day, I realize that the
Adventurers’ Guild completely kept me in the dark. I was just a puppet on
their strings.
 “Well, that’s… disheartening to hear,” Arwin said, pursing his lips. “But
Anna is right. We won’t be like them. We’ll protect ourselves with all the
force we need, but we aren’t going to be preying on others.”
“That’s reassuring to hear, even if I already expected it,” Anna said. She
rose from her spot by the counter and brushed her hands off on her pants.
“Is it time to get moving, then? All this talk of guilds puts a bad taste in my
mouth.”
“I think it is,” Arwin said. “Zeke, it’s still a little too dangerous for you
to come to the dungeon with us right now, but you’re welcome to hang out
in the tavern, the smithy, or wherever you’d like to.”
“Really?” Zeke asked. “I don’t have to leave?”
“Why would you?” Arwin asked with a chuckle. “Just don’t get into
trouble, and if you do end up going into the smithy, make sure to lock the
door behind you. Sound good?”
“Yeah,” Zeke said with a nod. “Will do.”
“I don’t suppose I need to give you the key?”
Zeke grinned in response and Arwin shook his head, also grinning.
“Figured. Let’s go, everyone. Daylight is burning, and we’ve got a dungeon
to work through. I’m looking forward to getting my hands on some more
materials to work with.”

Their second run at the dungeon kicked off much smoother than their first.
With Arwin at the lead, the group advanced past another Landsquid without
any difficulty—though, this time, Lillia didn’t try collecting any of its
tentacles.
None of them got so much as hit, much less injured—though it did
come a little close for Arwin, who had failed to take his mask off and
almost didn’t see a blow coming. The mask came off soon after that, and
that was the end of their issues with the Landsquid. Unfortunately, Anna
didn’t have a chance to land any blows on the monster. While they were
able to take it down without too much difficulty, it was too dangerous to let
her near it.
That opportunity arose in the second room, which had changed
considerably since their previous run.
 It had turned into a long, rectangular room that vaguely resembled a
banquet hall without any of the tables. Vines still hung from the walls and
crawled across the floor, and water dripped from the ceiling and flowed in
small rivers to pools that formed at cracks in the ground.
Several short, bald creatures with wrinkly green skin and rusted
weapons paced around the room and chewed at the vines, completely
unaware of the group of adventurers.
“Why’d the room change? Did we get lost?” Reya whispered.
“Dungeons can change their layouts. They’re magic,” Anna muttered. “I
wasn’t expecting goblins, but I suppose I should have. They fit right into
the swamp-like environment this dungeon seems to favor.”
“Haven’t fought these before,” Rodrick said. “I’ve heard they can be
nasty in groups. Any suggestions, Arwin?”
“Nasty in groups is accurate. But, alone, they should be quite simple,”
Arwin said as he studied the nearest monster with a careful eye.

[Swamp Goblin – Apprentice 8]

The other goblins were all roughly around the same tier, with a few
going above or below by one or two spots. None of them were going to be a
significant threat in any stretch of the imagination—not to a trained fighter,
at least.
From Arwin’s experience with goblins, he knew the monsters were far
from the cleverest. They generally threw themselves at their enemy with
reckless abandon, hoping to win through sheer numbers.
They were also incredibly deaf, generally due to their⁠—
One of the goblins let out an ear-splitting shriek and bashed its head
against the wall, snarling in fury. A few of the others spotted it and did the
same, filling the room with a cacophony of screeches and thuds for a few
seconds before they went back to wandering around aimlessly.
Deaf and half-blind. Typical.
“We can handle them with no trouble,” Arwin said. “This is a perfect
opportunity for you, Anna.”
“For me?” Anna asked doubtfully. “They may be stupid, but I don’t
think I can handle a fight with one of those things.”
“You don’t have to handle a full fight. Just the last blow,” Arwin said.
“Rodrick, with me. Reya, stay farther back and focus on slowing the
goblins—and Rodrick, aim to cripple rather than to kill. The goblins are all
going to horde, so let me take their attention first. After that, just take them
out one by one. Anna can just hang back for now.”
Rodrick’s eyes flashed with understanding and he nodded. “I’m with
you. Let’s do it.”
“Me too,” Reya added.
Arwin strode forward and activated [Arsenal], summoning Verdant
Blaze to his hands. He hadn’t had a chance to use its [Soul Flame]–related
abilities yet, but he wasn’t about to splatter a goblin with them and steal the
chance to gain credit for the kill from Anna, Rodrick, or Reya.
I’ll use the stronger abilities when we run into an enemy that I actually
have to try against. Goblins aren’t that enemy.
The first goblin spotted Arwin when he was already upon it. The
monster’s ears shot back as it bared its teeth, throwing its head back in
preparation to let out a battle cry. Arwin’s hammer fell on the creature’s
shoulder, pulverizing through flesh and bone as if nothing were there.
Screeching in pain, the goblin crumpled. The other monsters in the
room spun, finally spotting the adventurers. Their eyes locked onto Arwin,
and they sprinted toward him, drawing their weapons and screaming
challenges.
The first jumped—only to be enveloped by a shimmer of blue energy
midair. The hilt of Rodrick’s sword slammed into its head, knocking the
beast out cold and sending it sprawling across the ground.
None of the other goblins met better fates. Arwin and Rodrick carved
through their ranks with the help of Reya’s restraining abilities, putting the
goblins down like they were cutting grass. Between the three of them, only
two goblins ended up dead on Rodrick’s sword. The rest lay, unable to fight,
in piles around the room.
“You’re up,” Arwin said, nodding to Anna. “Get to it. None of us are
going to get hurt fighting these things, so you can’t get energy from healing
us. That means you’ve got to do the dirty work.”
“This… somehow feels wrong,” Anna muttered. Rodrick walked up to
her and flipped his sword around, offering it hilt first. She took the blade,
holding it awkwardly in her hands.
“You won’t get much credit for this. The Mesh isn’t stupid,” Arwin
explained. “But you’ll still get some. There’s a degree of risk, and any
challenge can give energy. Just be careful and take care of business. Who
knows when you’ll get another free opportunity like this.”
Anna nodded. She went up to the first goblin and plunged the sword
down, missing its heart and driving through its chest. The monster hissed
and bucked, trying to slash at her legs with its claws. She barely managed to
jump out of the way in time to avoid getting hamstrung.
“Don’t miss,” Arwin suggested. Lillia snorted, but Arwin could tell
from the way that she was shifting from foot to foot that she was impatient
to get to the point where she could do something. She hadn’t had a chance
to fight anything since they’d entered the dungeon, and nothing they’d met
so far had been edible either.
Anna plunged the sword back down, putting the goblin out of its misery,
and then glared at Arwin. He grinned in response. Shaking her head, Anna
made her way around the room, killing the monsters.
It only took about five minutes for her to finish the creatures off, but by
the time she returned Rodrick’s sword to him, her forehead was covered in
a sheen of stressed sweat. Her gaze was unfocused, a telltale sign of reading
a message from the Mesh.
“That was terrifying,” Anna said.
“Did it work?” Arwin asked.
Anna swallowed, then nodded. “Yes. It worked. I can’t believe it, but I
got an Achievement that will upgrade one of my new skills when I reach the
next level in my tier.”
“Just for putting down a bunch of goblins?” Reya asked, blinking in
disbelief.
“Even though I didn’t get much energy, I think the Mesh still sees me
killing nearly ten goblins in the span of a few minutes as remarkable for a
healer,” Anna said, chewing her lower lip. “I imagine that won’t work again
to this effect, but… how’d you know it would do that?”
“I didn’t,” Arwin replied, letting his hammer disappear and shrugging.
“But energy is energy, and I told you that you’d be working to catch up with
the rest of us. Now, shall we continue? I’ve yet to find anything I can craft
with, and I think we can go deeper.”

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T
he temperature dropped as Arwin approached the door leading into the
next room. It was at the far end of the hall, isolated from the rest of the
room by a patch of dead foliage. The vines around it had withered and
turned a dull white, and the water pooling near the base of the door looked
sickly.
“That doesn’t seem hospitable,” Rodrick said, kneeling beside the
puddle but taking care not to touch it.
“It feels… off,” Anna added. “Wrong, I guess.”
“I’m inclined to agree. Could be some form of necrotic presence in the
area,” Arwin theorized. “Or just normal dark magic. I doubt it’s anything
too powerful since we’re still in a Journeyman dungeon, but we should still
keep our guard up. I’ll take the lead as usual.”
“I’ll back you up,” Lillia said.
Rodrick looked at her in surprise. “Really? Shouldn’t that be me? I
mean, I know you can handle yourself, but I’m the warrior.”
“Someone needs to watch our backs in case something happens to be
behind us,” Lillia said smoothly, with all the grace of an older sister
redirecting her sibling from something she wanted.
“I suppose that’s a good point,” Rodrick allowed, falling for it
completely. He stepped back, letting Lillia move up beside Arwin. With
their new formation established, Arwin summoned his hammer back and
pushed the door open with its head.
 Dried vines squelched and cracked beneath it as it swung open, opening
a passageway into the darkness. Not too far down, two dim purple flames
flickered at the end of the hall, illuminating an old stone door. Arwin’s eyes
narrowed.
That’s definitely a guarded room. Something strong is probably in there.
“Probably got a nasty bugger up ahead,” Rodrick whispered. “Look at
those torches. The dungeon is warning us.”
Arwin wasn’t so sure warning was the right word. Dungeons did tend to
mark their more powerful rooms, but it wasn’t to scare people off. At least
in his opinion, it was to bring them closer.
When adventurers stumbled across a room that stood out, curiosity
almost always got the better of them and drew them to investigate it further.
Stronger monsters meant better rewards, and that meant people were willing
to take bigger risks.
And, in the end, magical energy was magical energy. Dungeons didn’t
care where it came from. They just wanted more. Monsters, humans, it was
all alike. As long as more magical energy entered and didn’t leave, the
dungeon would be happy.
Those torches are bait, not a warning.
Of course, Arwin’s thoughts were just theory. Nobody knew exactly
how dungeons worked.
Then again, maybe the Adventurers’ Guild lied about that as well. I bet
there could be some people that have researched dungeons a lot and could
tell me more about them, but now isn’t the time to wonder. Warning or bait,
the result is the same. I think we can handle this. We haven’t gone deep
enough to be at the base of the dungeon, so this enemy shouldn’t be so
strong that we can’t handle them.
“We can handle it,” Arwin said, edging toward the door. “But, on the off
chance that we can’t, get out of the room. Let Lillia and me try to handle it
while the rest of you run.”
Nobody questioned his orders, and Arwin got a round of understanding
nods. They advanced into the darkness until they stood before the stone
door. There was no handle, but there was an imprint clearly inviting Arwin
to push it open.
I suppose it’d be rude to refuse at this point.
Arwin pushed the door open. Stone ground on stone and purple light
spilled out, illuminating a circular room with several doors running along
its edges. A locked stone chest sat in the middle of the room. Directly
behind it was a large marble pillar riddled with cracks and worn with age.
And, clutching on to the pillar with alabaster skin that matched it nearly
perfectly, was a monster. Fangs jutted out from its lips and curled around
them, and two massive wings were folded against its back.
It had a humanoid body, but its hands and feet were disproportionally
large and bore large claws that dug into the stone like butter. The monster
was roughly eight feet long, from head to the base of its barbed tail.

[Bone Gargoyle – Journeyman 6]

Unlike many of the other monsters, the gargoyle wasn’t content to sit
around while they figured out a plan. As soon as Arwin stepped into the
room, the monster’s gray tongue flicked out and tasted the air.
It released the pillar, dropping to the ground with a crash. It stood on all
fours like an irate cat. A very, very large irate cat. Bone wings unfurled
from its back with a series of loud cracks, raining dust down onto the
ground around it as the monster let out a deep, brassy hiss.
“I don’t suppose you count as a magical material?” Arwin asked the
gargoyle. It roared in response. Arwin grunted and spun the hammer in his
grasp, calling on his [Soul Flame]. A gargoyle wasn’t an easy enemy, and
they weren’t going to win this if they pulled any punches.
“Oh, shit,” Reya muttered, swallowing heavily. “That’s big.”
“Go all out, but focus on surviving over doing damage,” Arwin ordered.
“Gargoyles are really difficult to keep injured, but we win the war of
attrition. Let me and Rodrick take most of its aggression. Lillia—well, do
what you can.”
I don’t want to force you to blow your cover, but we might need the
power of your demons if we’re going to win this.
Lillia gave Arwin a slight nod, showing she would step up if they
needed her to. They didn’t have any more time to discuss strategy. The
gargoyle leapt forward, letting out a catlike yowl.
Stepping forward, Arwin poured [Soul Flame] through the handle of
Verdant Blaze. The weapon responded with a roar of its own. The crystals
in its head ignited, sending shimmering green light dancing across the
room.
 He brought the hammer into the gargoyle’s side as it charged him,
empowering his blow with the full strength that [Scourge] would afford
him. Fire erupted from the head of his hammer with a roar as it connected
with the gargoyle and a wave of scorching heat rolled past Arwin.
And, while the heat of the flame didn’t hurt Arwin, he couldn’t say the
same for the gargoyle. The monster hurtled back, coils of flame rolling off
the huge crater Arwin had just put in its side and slammed into the wall with
a resounding crash.
It dropped to the ground, a few wisps of persistent fire still burning at its
side. Scrambling to its feet, the gargoyle let out a snarl. Even as chips of
bone rained down from its body, the damage faded away as if it had never
been there.
“Godspit,” Lillia muttered. “Where in the Nine Underlands did you
learn how to do that?”
Arwin adjusted his grip on the hammer, trying not to look too surprised
at his own strength. Verdant Blaze vibrated in his hands, as if hungry for
more. It was warm to the touch—the [Soul Flame] had completely
permeated the weapon, and it almost felt as if it were hungry.
“I don’t think the gargoyle is impressed,” Rodrick muttered under his
breath. “How do we kill it?”
“By hitting it a lot,” Arwin replied, striding toward the gargoyle to keep
the monster’s attention on him. Despite his words, he had no plans of
blindly flinging himself at the gargoyle. The claws on its paws weren’t just
for show.
Even with his armor and enhanced defenses, the gargoyle would
probably shred him to ribbons pretty quickly. The monster was simple, but
it was effective. Generally, the best way to defeat gargoyles was through
magic.
Unfortunately, Arwin’s team didn’t have a proper mage. The closest
thing to that was probably Anna, and she had no way to fight back.
That’s fine. Magic is the easiest way to take out a gargoyle, but it’s not
the only way. There’s always another way. And, in this case, that other way
is to wear this bastard down until there’s nothing left of him to regenerate.
Any healing skill is going to be either really slow or really taxing.
Considering the gargoyle regenerated that wound in just a second, we’re
looking at the latter.
 “It can’t keep up the healing forever,” Arwin said. “Just keep safe and
wear it down. Reya, focus on slowing it if it’s about to hit someone. Your
job is to keep us safe, not to help us land hits.”
“Understood,” Reya said.
The gargoyle threw itself at Arwin, turning into a white blur. If Arwin
had been with anyone else, he would have tried to dodge the blow. Taking
the monster head-on was far from the best way to handle it—but he was the
best-defended out of the entire group, and they were all behind him.
With a roar, Arwin channeled [Scourge] and swung Verdant Blaze. The
head of the hammer erupted with flames as it connected. At the same time,
lines of heat carved through Arwin’s shoulder.
The gargoyle shot off like a bullet and slammed into the wall, shattering
both the stone and its own body. At the same time, Arwin nearly lost his
grip on the hammer. He stumbled, blood pouring down his arm in rivers.
In the brief instant the gargoyle had been beside him, it had managed to
snag his arm with one claw. And, in that glancing blow, it had ripped his
armor open like a can, gouging deep into the muscle and scratching the
bone beneath.
If I didn’t have [Indomitable Bulwark], I think I would have lost my arm
there.
Anna rushed up to Arwin and pressed her hands to his arm. Relief
flooded through him as the wounds knitted shut. The few seconds it took
her to heal him were just enough for the gargoyle to rise as well, the last
smoldering embers falling away as its body reformed.
Arwin’s second blow had done more damage to it than the first had—
likely because it had been head-on and also had the additional force from
[Shieldbreaker], but it still wasn’t anywhere near enough to kill the monster.
“How many times do you have to kill that thing?” Rodrick demanded,
adjusting his grip on his sword.
“Until it stays dead.”
“Fair enough.”
The gargoyle charged again, screaming. This time, before Arwin could
attack, Rodrick lunged forward. Despite Arwin’s orders, Reya thrust her
hand forward with a yell of her own. Blue light enveloped the monster, and
its dash slowed for a flicker of an instant.
Rodrick’s sword ignited with a burning yellow light, and he released a
flurry of three blows into the monster’s side in rapid-fire succession before
throwing himself back just in time to avoid getting carved apart.
Each of his cuts left a deep gouge in the monster’s side—and the cuts
weren’t healing. Arwin nearly burst into laughter as realization struck him.
The gargoyle craned its head back to study the damage it had taken,
flapping its wings and creating a powerful gust of wind to keep them back.
“Your attacks count as magic?” Arwin asked, the air rushing past them.
“Yours don’t?” Rodrick demanded. “What’s all the fire if not magic?
And why does that matter?”
“It’s [Soul Flame]. I think soul attacks count differently,” Arwin replied.
“And gargoyles can heal from physical attacks easily. Magic disrupts
them.”
“Why?” Rodrick asked.
“Now really isn’t the time for a lesson,” Arwin said as the gargoyle
stopped flapping its wings and turned baleful eyes toward them, its gaze
locked on Rodrick with revenge promised in its eyes.
“It’s because they’re made of magic, and magic always disrupts magic,”
Lillia answered for Arwin.
Arwin started to nod, then paused.
Wait. It’s made of magic, and gargoyles aren’t technically living
creatures. They’re objects that have gained sentience, usually stone.
Does that mean…
“What’s that look on your face?” Lillia asked. “Focus!”
“Sorry,” Arwin said, letting his tongue wet his lips as he moved to stand
in front of the gargoyle. “I just realized I was feeling a bit peckish.”

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“Y ou’re what?” Lillia asked, but there was no more time for Arwin to
reply. The gargoyle was already hurtling through the air toward them,
propelled by a single beat of its enormous wings.
The monster’s path set it straight for Rodrick, and at the speed that it
was moving at, Arwin wasn’t completely confident he’d be able to hit it in
time. If he got so much as a glancing blow, it would barrel through and
carve the warrior to shreds.
So, instead, Arwin shoved Rodrick to the side and threw himself
forward with a roar. Perhaps he’d caught the gargoyle by complete surprise,
or perhaps it was just luck—either way, Arwin cleared the monster’s claws
and drove his shoulder into its side, throwing all [Scourge] had to offer
behind the blow.
It was just like sprinting into a wall at full tilt. Arwin’s armor shuddered
and the bones in his shoulder cracked. Without the extra force of his
hammer, Arwin only just barely managed to redirect the gargoyle to the
side.
The monster spun, slamming into the wall before it could fully skid to a
stop—but Arwin didn’t wait for it to turn. He sprinted forward and
dismissed his hammer before flinging himself at the gargoyle, much to the
horrified yells of everyone behind him.
Arwin ignored them. He wrapped his arms around the gargoyle’s neck
and swung himself onto its cold back, ignoring the pain that arced through
his broken arm as he pulled himself close. The gargoyle let out a confused
hiss, spinning to try and throw Arwin off.
But, before it could, Arwin leaned in and bit into the monster’s neck
with all his might. It was as solid as, well, stone. For a horrifying instant, he
thought he might have miscalculated and was about to earn himself some
early dentures.
Then, with a crunch, the monster’s cold body gave way. His teeth dug
through its flesh, and power coursed into Arwin’s body. The gargoyle
screamed and bucked violently, finally throwing him free.
Arwin landed on his feet, skidding a foot back. His arm popped and
shifted. Blinking in surprise, Arwin flexed his hand. A grin crept across his
face. It had healed. The power he’d stolen from the gargoyle was already
fading away, but it had been enough.
“Oh yeah,” Arwin said, baring his teeth in a hungry grin. “You’re on the
menu, buddy.”
The gargoyle stared at Arwin, trying to process what had happened.
And, in that moment, Lillia struck. Condensed shadows carved out from
beneath her feet and drove up, sending spikes straight through the monster’s
stomach.
Lurching, the gargoyle flapped its wings desperately in an attempt to
free itself, but Lillia’s magic had it pinned firmly in place.
Damn, I completely screwed this up, didn’t I? We do have an offensive
mage.
The battlefield wasn’t the spot to lament mistakes. Arwin extended his
hands and Verdant Blaze reformed within, the crystals in the hammer’s head
igniting with power as he broke into a run.
Struggling even harder, the gargoyle tried to free itself—but a shimmer
of blue light enveloped it, stopping the monster from ripping free of Lillia’s
bindings. Rodrick darted forward, gritting his teeth as his sword lit with
burning light once more.
Three flashes of light cut into the gargoyle’s neck as Rodrick unleashed
his flurry of strikes into it. An instant later, Arwin’s hammer came crashing
down on the monster’s head. Fire bloomed with a roar, blowing his hair
back as he unloaded every ounce of strength that he could bring to bear on
the monster.
The gargoyle’s head caved in and shattered. For a moment, the bone that
made up its body started to knit itself back together, trying to reform the
head, but a second set of unified strikes from Arwin and Rodrick put that
notion to rest.
Smooth bone turned gray and cracked. Arwin stepped back as the
gargoyle crumbled away, collapsing into a pile of discolored rubble at his
feet.
“No!” Lillia groaned, dropping to her knees and rifling through the
pieces of the monster. “I can’t cook any of this! It’s inedible!”
“Tell that to him,” Rodrick said, sheathing his sword and eyeing Arwin.
“Did you take a damned bite out of a rock monster?”
“Bone,” Arwin corrected. “And I may have—which is something I’d
appreciate you kept to yourself.”
The air before Arwin shimmered, and he blinked in surprise. The
gargoyle had been troublesome, but he hadn’t expected to get any sort of
Achievement for taking it out. It wasn’t like he was going to complain,
though.

Achievement: [Rock and Stone] has been earned.

[Rock and Stone] – Awarded for hitting a magical rock with a magical
hammer really hard. Effects: Forging materials. This achievement has
been consumed.

This gargoyle wasn’t made out of rock, though. It was made out of bone.
The Mesh seemed to take offense to Arwin’s thoughts because the
materials he had been promised manifested themselves directly above his
head. He jumped out of the way a moment before several ivory-colored bars
fell to the ground with loud clangs.
“Well,” Arwin said, brushing his shoulder off and clearing his throat.
“That was convenient. Nobody got hurt, right?”
“We can’t just gloss over the fact that you took a bite out of the
gargoyle,” Rodrick said, looking at the others. “Right? I mean, how are
your teeth still in your mouth?”
“I was more focused on biting than it was on not getting bitten.”
“You—Oh, come on,” Rodrick groaned. “That’s just gibberish. You’re
screwing with me.”
“Maybe,” Arwin said with a dry laugh. “Does it really matter? We’ve all
got our secrets.”
 Rodrick opened his mouth, then let it fall shut and sighed, rubbing the
back of his neck and shaking his head. “I suppose so. Fine. I figured you
had some sort of nasty ability anyway, so I shouldn’t be surprised.”
“If anything, I’m more surprised by Lillia,” Anna said, glancing at the
Demon Queen out of the corners of her eyes. “I didn’t realize you were a
mage.”
“I’m not,” Lillia said. “I just have a few combat abilities that I happened
to earn. I’m an innkeeper. Nothing more.”
“Right,” Anna said. “Well, Arwin said it first. We’ve got our own
secrets, and it’s not right to pry when Lillia just used her abilities to help us.
Isn’t that right?”
It was Rodrick’s turn to clear his throat. He nodded. “Right. Don’t
worry, I won’t press. Just curiosity getting the better of me. But… uh, could
I ask one more question?”
“You can ask, but it doesn’t mean I’ll answer.”
“What in the world is that hammer of yours?” Rodrick asked. “I’ve
never seen a weapon literally spit flame like that. Don’t tell me that it’s
also…”
I’m not sharing too much information about Living Forge yet, but I trust
Rodrick and Anna enough to spill a few secrets about my equipment. It’s not
like they don’t already know I can make magical equipment.
“Magical?” Arwin asked. “Yeah. It is.”
Rodrick swallowed. Heavily. “Feel free to ignore this, but that seems
like a whole lot more than just a basic enchantment.”
“Is it?” Arwin asked, tilting his head to the side. “It’s a Unique weapon,
so it can be hard to tell how good it is sometimes. It interacts with one of
my abilities, which is probably why the fire was so impressive.”
Rodrick’s eyes bored into Arwin’s head. “You made a Unique weapon
that specifically uses your abilities? It’s not just synergistic? A weapon
specifically made for you?”
“That’s a lot of ways to say the exact same thing.”
All my equipment used to be custom-made. I didn’t think it would be that
much of a difference from a normal magical item. I mean, it was definitely
more effort, but does it warrant a reaction like this?
The look on Anna’s face told Arwin that it did, her lower jaw hanging
askew as she gaped at him in disbelief.
 “I’m pretty sure that hammer might be the most expensive thing I’ve
seen ever since leaving the Adventurers’ Guild,” Rodrick breathed. “I am
unbelievably glad that I can’t see what its abilities are. I think I might
actually die of jealousy. Can you⁠—”
“Rodrick,” Anna snapped.
He coughed, collecting himself as his cheeks reddened. “Never mind.
Sorry. If you ever decide you’re looking to sell something like that, please
keep me somewhere at the top of the list. I’ll do whatever it takes. Well,
most things. Actually, just a few things. But most of them involve money.”
“I’m first,” Reya said, glaring at Rodrick. “I already booked my spot in
line.”
“Then count me in as the second. I’ll be your man forever. Well, mostly.
A few bits belong to Anna, but I’m sure she wouldn’t mind if she also got
on the list.”
“Depends which bits,” Anna said dryly, bumping her shoulder against
Rodrick’s playfully before giving Arwin a serious look. “Seriously, though.
Don’t flash that thing around unless you want to get murdered.”
Noted. I wonder what Rodrick’s reaction would be if he found out that
the weapon gets stronger every time I kill or make something with it. He’d
probably pass out on the spot.
“I’ll keep that in mind,” Arwin said with a nod. “I didn’t realize it was
that rare. Thanks for the heads-up, Anna, Rodrick.”
“Yeah,” Rodrick muttered, still staring in disbelief. “No problem. You
don’t have to ask me to keep this secret, by the way. I’ll die before I let
anybody else know, if only to hope that I can hopefully get my hands on
one of those things first.”
As fair a reason as any.
Lillia stood up, brushing her knees off and gazing at the remains of the
monster with a disappointed frown. “I was really hoping I’d be able to eat
this.”
“You didn’t get an Achievement for helping out?” Rodrick asked. “I
would have thought an innkeeper would get something for taking out a
monster like this, even if it wasn’t what you were looking for.”
“No, I did,” Lillia admitted. “It just wasn’t what I was hoping for. It’s an
ability upgrade.”
“Are you kidding me? You’re complaining about that?” Reya
demanded. “That’s incredible!”
 Lillia sent a despondent look at the rubble. “Yeah. I just got excited.
Imagine how excited people would be to eat a gargoyle. Could you
imagine? It would be incredible. The meal of a lifetime.”
Talk about dedicated to her craft. Did Lillia always want to be a chef or
something?
Arwin shook his head and knelt beside the bars of metal he’d been
awarded with. He picked one of them up, testing its weight in his hand. It
was heavier than the Brightsteel, but not unbearably so. For a bar its size, it
seemed quite balanced.
I’ll have to test this out later. Doesn’t seem magical, but it looks like
good metal. There’s a lot here—probably sixty or so pounds worth. I can
make a lot with that. I believe an average set of plate armor is around thirty
to fifty pounds, so I should be able to do a lot with this. Maybe I can finally
get a full set.
Arwin glanced down at his chest and grimaced. The left side of his chest
piece was completely shredded. The Mesh within felt faint and distant. It
had done a lot more for him than he’d thought during the fight—a furrow
ran across the left half of his chest, only turning to a full rip when it reached
his arm.
This piece is on its last legs. For one of my first pieces, it served its
purpose. The effect is pretty damn useful too, even if it doesn’t always go
off. Too useful to ignore. I’ll see if I can get this back to the forge and use
[Soul Flame] to break it down and put the ability to use in a different piece
of armor.
“Do we keep going?” Reya asked. “The only one that got hit was
Arwin, right?”
“Yeah, but he nearly got ripped in half from just one cut,” Anna said,
nodding to Arwin’s armor. “I mean, look at that. If that was anywhere else,
he could be dead. I think we’re pushing our luck.”
“We could go deeper,” Lillia said, but Arwin was pretty sure she was
more concerned with getting something to cook than she was with the
actual threat anything further posed them. “The room after this one is likely
going to be a little easier. There isn’t going to be another powerful monster
like this just sitting around.”
“Maybe we should open the chest first?” Arwin suggested, nodding to
the stone box beside the pillar that the gargoyle had been hanging off. “We
can determine if we press farther or not after we see what’s in it.”
 Nobody had any objection to that, so they crowed around the chest.
Arwin knelt beside it and studied the latch, trying to figure out how it was
locked. They hadn’t been graced with a key, and a lot of chests had traps
that would trigger if their locks were broken. But, still, the Mesh rarely
offered up prizes that were completely out of reach.
He just had to figure out how to⁠—
Lillia squeezed in beside Arwin, not even bothering to tell him to move.
She reached out, grabbing the lock from Arwin’s hands and sending a
tendril of shadow into the hole. There was a soft pop a second later, and the
latch clicked open.
Arwin stared at the lock, not even registering their proximity. “How did
you do that?”
“Made a shadow solid,” Lillia replied with a smug grin. She stood back
up and brushed her pants off as she took a few steps back. “Feel free to
open that without keeping me in the blast radius, though. You never know.”
Arwin snorted. He tossed the lock down and pulled the lid of the crate
open slightly, squinting to see if there was a thread attached to anything.
There didn’t seem to be, so he pulled the lid the rest of the way back.
Resting within the chest was a single dagger, made out of the same
material that the gargoyle had been.

Bone Dagger: Average Quality

[Splintered Wrath] (3 Charges): This item was forged from the flesh of
a living gargoyle, imbuing it with hatred. It leaves a piece of itself
behind with every strike to worm into its victim’s bloodstream and seek
out their heart. After all charges have been consumed, this item’s magic
will be fully depleted, and it will irreparably shatter.

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“W hoa,” Reya said. “That’s one nasty dagger. Who’d make something
like this?”
“I can think of a lot of people,” Rodrick muttered, looking over
Arwin’s shoulder at the dagger. “Still, that’s a magical weapon. Not the
prettiest, but magic is magic. Could probably sell for around 100 gold,
maybe more. If it wasn’t limited uses, it would go for a lot more.”
“Anyone want this?” Arwin asked. “I have a possible use for it, but I
don’t know how it’ll turn out.”
“Not me,” Reya said hurriedly. “I want my dagger back, not this one.”
Arwin wasn’t sure if he wanted to laugh or feel flattered by how much
Reya liked the dagger he’d given her. It had definitely been quite the
weapon, but he was pretty sure he could always make another one.
Not sure if she wants another one, though. I suppose I’ll have to hope
the magic was enough to keep it safe in the wyrm. With any luck, we’ll be
able to get it back after the wyrm leaves—or dies.
“Daggers aren’t of any use to me,” Rodrick said. “I don’t know how to
use them. Anna?”
“I prefer to heal, not kill.” Anna’s lips pressed thin in distaste as she
shook her head. “And this dagger is meant for killing people. Not for me.”
“Can’t cook with it. It’ll get bone in the food,” Lillia said with a shrug.
“All yours.”
 Arwin wasn’t surprised. The dagger hadn’t been something that he
thought any of the team would have wanted, but it was still good to check.
And, if anything, their refusal to take it was a reassurance.
He’d known far too many people that would have gone for the weapon
just so they could sell it. Money was a powerful lure, even when people had
everything. A group that only took what they needed and nothing more was
a group that would be able to work together for a long time.
Arwin carefully placed the dagger in his bag, making sure to keep it as
far away from the metal ingots as possible. He closed the bag and
straightened back up, nodding to the others.
“Right. Shall we continue on, then? We can take on one more room
before calling it for the day and heading back to celebrate our victories.”

The next room wasn’t anything of particular interest to anyone other than
Lillia. It contained a large, fuzzy monster that the Mesh only identified as
the Wiggler. It was really more of a furry cylinder than anything else. Arwin
hadn’t even been able to figure out which end of the Wiggler had been its
head, but it had gone down before it had a proper chance to fight back.
None of them got any Achievements from killing it, a fact Arwin was
somewhat thankful for. If the Mesh was going around handing out
Achievements for killing moldy turds, the world would have probably been
headed for disaster.
Unfortunately for everyone, the Wiggler had turned out to have a rather
fleshy interior that very strongly resembled normal meat. Lillia carved the
monster up, then stuffed her arms—and the rest of Arwin’s bag—full of its
meat. Considering it was the only thing that she was going to take from the
dungeon, Arwin didn’t complain too much.
The group didn’t push their luck any further, not wanting to press so
deep into the dungeon that they ran into something they couldn’t handle yet.
They retraced their steps and made their way back to Milten. Before they
returned, Arwin pulled his Ifrit mask back on to hide him from any prying
eyes. He dismissed his armor and hammer as well.
As usual, Rodrick and Anna split off once they were inside the city,
promising to meet back up with everyone after a few days. The remaining
three headed over to Lillia’s tavern, only to find that something had
changed.
“What in the Nine Underlands?” Lillia asked, nearly tripping over her
own feet as she entered the tavern. She managed to catch herself at the last
second, and Arwin grabbed a piece of Wiggler steak as it fell from her arms
to prevent it from falling to the ground.
Not that falling on the ground would have been much of an issue
anymore. Someone had gone through the entire tavern and made it spotless.
It had been relatively clean before, but now it was polished.
Sure, the majority of the building was old and dilapidated, but the worst
of the cracked stones had been replaced and repaired. The floor had been
swept and the last remnants of dust that had been in the corners was gone.
It was still dark, but the tavern looked… fresh. Ready. Lillia hurried into
the kitchen, only to find that it had received a similar treatment. Everything
had been wiped off and dusted, and the damaged parts of the walls had been
replaced.
“Whoa,” Reya said from behind them. “It’s almost shiny in here.”
Lillia set the pile of steaks in her arms down and turned in a circle. Even
in the darkness, Arwin could see the delight in her features.
“What happened?” Lillia breathed, running a hand along the counter.
“It’s so clean!”
Arwin took the steaks out of his own bag and stacked them beside the
pile Lillia had made. He then crouched and squinted at the mortar that had
been used to patch the walls over. It was the very same one that he’d used to
patch over the smithy, and the stones that had been put into the tavern in
place of the damaged ones were identical to the ones he’d bought as well.
“I think Zeke has been busy while we were out,” Arwin said, rising back
to his feet. He headed out of the kitchen and up the rickety staircase to
check out the second floor. It was identical to the last time he’d seen it,
which only made sense.
There was only so much time in a day, and it would have been
impossible for Zeke to singlehandedly repair every single part of the tavern
in the hours they were gone. Still, it was a pretty impressive feat.
He must have been working ever since we left to pull this off.
Arwin headed back downstairs, where Lillia was walking around the
common room. It was devoid of any tables and still painfully dark, but
Arwin could almost picture what it would look like in a few more weeks.
 “Zeke did a damn good job,” Arwin said.
“He did,” Lillia agreed, pulling her gaze away from the walls to look at
Arwin. “Where’d he go?”
“Probably the smithy,” Arwin replied, picking at the hole in his armor.
“Which is where I’m going to head as well. I’ve got some new toys to play
with and new gear to make.”
“Let Zeke know I’ve got a few meals with his name on them, would
you?” Lillia asked. “I’ll thank him personally whenever he swings around
the tavern again. Maybe I’ll work on patching up one of those second-floor
rooms sooner than I’d planned so he can have a room to himself.”
“I suspect he’d appreciate that. You might want to focus on a large ice
box first, though,” Arwin suggested, glancing at the large stack of meat on
the countertop. “Because most of that is going to go bad way before you
can use it.”
Lillia paled and nodded. “Yeah, good point. I’ll get on that.”
“I’ll come with you,” Reya volunteered. “I’ve got a little gold, so some
shopping would be fun.”
The three all headed out of the tavern, splitting off in their respective
directions. Arwin checked the door of the smithy when he got to it. It was
locked, but he could hear clangs coming from within.
Arwin slid the key into the lock and stepped inside, letting the door
swing shut behind him. Zeke stood at the anvil, hammering away at a rough
sword. The hearth flickered with faint light behind him, not nearly as hot as
it should have been.
“Having fun there?” Arwin asked with a wry smile.
Zeke glanced up at him, his cheeks coloring. “I’m not using your metal.
It’s just scrap I found on the streets.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Arwin said, walking over to join Zeke and
depositing his bag in a corner of the room. He studied the sword, tilting his
head to the side. Even though it was still rough, it was surprisingly decent-
looking. Better than his first few attempts at a sword had been.
Beyond that, there were waves in the metal where it looked like two
different pieces had been layered over each other. It was far from perfect,
and the metal was separating at the seams instead of melding together.
“What were you going for with the kinds of metal you used?” Arwin
asked. “Was it just that you couldn’t find enough of the same kind?”
 “No. I was trying to layer them,” Zeke said, wiping the sweat from his
brow with the back of a hand. “My dad would always say layering metal
was the best way to make a sword. You use metals of different kinds so you
get the best bits of each one, you know? Cuz some metal is springy and
other metal is really stiff. So, if you mix them, you can get a balance.”
“Huh,” Arwin said. “Interesting. I’ve seen smiths fold metal together,
but I just thought folding it was a way to work it into shape, not to mix
different metals to get a better result. I guess it’s almost like cooking.”
Zeke stared at Arwin with doubt in his eyes. “I don’t really think it is.”
Arwin burst into laughter and slapped Zeke on the shoulder. “Perhaps
not. I’m flying by the seat of my pants here. You’re doing great, though. I
haven’t had a chance to really figure out how to be a proper smith yet. I’ve
been overly reliant on my class, as the Mesh has been helping guide me to
keep my work from being complete trash. Without that, you might be better
at this than I am right now.”
“I’m not doing that great,” Zeke grumbled, sending a glance over his
shoulder at the hearth. “That’s not hot enough, and we don’t have any oil to
quench the stuff we make.”
Oil… not anymore. I kinda torched up my barrel. I’d tell him about my
little hole next to the ditch, but I think that might just make things look even
worse. Better keep that as a surprise. For a first weapon, water will be fine.
I don’t want to mistakenly break another barrel and pour flaming oil onto
Zeke.
“Resources have also been tight up until recently,” Arwin said with a
sheepish grin. “That will come in time. And getting the hearth hotter is a
pretty simple task.”
“I already used the bellows,” Zeke said, crossing his arms. “But it’s way
too windy, even with all the repairs. Also, your wood supply is almost
entirely gone. How was that thing hot enough to do anything?”
“If you can keep a secret, I’ll show you.”
Zeke’s eyes widened and he nodded without missing a beat.
“Lillia says thank you for all the work you put into the tavern, by the
way,” Arwin said as he approached the forge.
“It wasn’t much,” Zeke said, glancing away as his cheeks reddened. “I
just wanted to help out a little more. I didn’t have anything better to do with
my day anyway.”
 “Well, we’ll get that changed soon enough,” Arwin promised. He held
his hand up and summoned a ball of [Soul Flame] to it, tossing it into the
hearth. The fire roared up, instantly tripling in size.
Zeke’s eyes widened and he rushed forward—though he made sure to
keep enough space between himself and the crackling flame to avoid
getting burned.
“Whoa,” Zeke breathed. “You can throw fire?”
“It’s one of my class’s abilities,” Arwin said. “No sharing that, though. I
don’t think it’s a big deal, but I don’t want the extra attention, you know?”
“Oh, yeah. I won’t say a word,” Zeke promised. He fidgeted in place,
and Arwin could tell he was resisting the urge to look back at his sword.
“Go on,” Arwin said with a chuckle. “Get your sword. Let’s finish it,
shall we?”
Zeke didn’t need to be told twice. He grabbed the blade, then carefully
edged forward and stuck the first half of the blade into the fire. Arwin took
the unfinished piece between two fingers and lifted it into the fire, ignoring
Zeke’s yelp of warning.
“It’s my fire,” Arwin said. “It won’t burn me. You’re a different case,
though.”
Zeke, who had been moments from sticking his hand into the fire,
quickly yanked it back and cleared his throat. “Oh. Yeah, that makes sense.
I’ll work the bellows.”
He ran over to the other side of the forge and started to pump air into the
fire, causing it to roar even higher. It wasn’t long before the sword had
turned a mixture of bright orange and cherry red.
As tempting as it is to whip out Verdant Blaze, I don’t think this is the
right spot for it. This is Zeke’s sword, and he can’t use my magic hammer
safely. He’ll have to settle for the normal one.
“Go ahead and grab the hammer,” Arwin said. “I trust you can swing it
considering you’ve already got this much of the sword made. Just be
careful. It’s kind of… vibrate-y.”
Zeke picked up the black hammer and hoisted it over his shoulder with
a grunt, giving Arwin a sharp nod. “I can hold it.”
“Good. Don’t hit my fingers,” Arwin said, bringing the heated sword
over to the anvil. “I’ll hold it in place. Get to swinging.”
Zeke grinned, and then the two of them got to work.
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“T ip of the sword, toward the left,” Arwin ordered.

The hammer slammed home with a loud clang, and another
shimmer faded from the sword as it continued to come together. Zeke
shook his arms off, shuddering at the kickback from the metal hammer.
Arwin could have finished the weapon a good bit ago if he’d been
working on his own, but this wasn’t his weapon. He’d let Zeke handle
almost all the forging, only participating enough to make sure the Mesh
actually acknowledged his assistance in making the sword so it would—
hopefully—turn out magical.
If anything, he was surprised his abilities were still working when he
wasn’t even the one technically forging the blade. He certainly wasn’t going
to complain, though. With Arwin’s direction, Zeke continued to bring the
sword closer to completion.
Every strike made it just a little more whole, and the telltale tingle of the
Mesh was already shimmering within the blade. After a few more trips
through the hearth and some more work by Zeke, the last of the shimmers
faded.
“Nice,” Arwin said. He nodded to the tang of the blade. “We just need
to quench it now.”
“You don’t have a barrel for that yet, do you?”
“I’ve got something even better,” Arwin said, well aware he was lying
straight through his teeth. He took the sword out of the smithy, and Zeke
followed behind him. The two walked over to a gutter near the ditch, a
confused frown on Zeke’s face.
“Where are we going?” Zeke asked.
“Here,” Arwin replied, stopping and pointing at his makeshift
quenching spot—a hole in the ground that still had just a quarter foot of still
water resting in it. He stuck the sword into the water, squeezing his eyes
shut as steam hissed and erupted from the blade as it was brought down to a
cooler temperature.
“You can’t be serious,” Zeke said after the bubbles had stopped and the
steam had abated. “That can’t count.”
“It counts,” Arwin replied once the bubbling had stopped. He rose and
picked at the blade with [Scourge] to clean it up for a few minutes. They
then brought the sword back into the smithy. “Do you have wood for the⁠—”
Before he could even finish speaking, Zeke hurried over to the pile of
organized supplies and brought back two pieces of a handle that had already
been carved into shape. “Made the handle before I started.”
“Anything to pin it?”
“Some nails.” Zeke slid the pieces of wood around the tang, then pulled
several small nails out of his pocket. That wasn’t the best spot that Arwin
could think of to keep loose nails, but he shrugged.
“That works,” Arwin said. “Get to it.”
“Something about this feels wrong,” Zeke muttered. “I can’t believe you
quenched this in a puddle.”
Despite his doubt, Zeke held one of the nails above the wood and
started to tap away at it with the hammer. Arwin helped by holding the
handle in place, and Zeke soon had the nail driven all the way through.
They repeated the process for several more nails, and Arwin then broke
off the parts of the nails that jutted out the other end of the handle. He got to
sharpening the blade, and Zeke procured a strip of leather before Arwin
could declare the sword done. The boy wrapped it around the handle in a
practiced pattern.
“Tell that to the Mesh,” Arwin said. “Now we’re done.”
The Mesh agreed.

[Sword: Average Quality] has been forged.

[Sword: Average Quality] has been forged. Forging a magical item has
granted you energy.
 Achievement: [Better Together] has been earned.
[Better Together] – Awarded for crafting your first magical weapon while
working with another smith. Effects: One skill in your next Skill
Selection has been upgraded. This achievement will be consumed upon
choosing your next skill.

Holy shit. I got an Achievement for helping him make a sword? Does
that mean…
“Nine Underlands!” Zeke exclaimed, staring into the air above Arwin’s
shoulder. “I got an Achievement! I don’t even have a class!”
“Not just that,” Arwin said, directing his eyes toward the weapon in his
hands. “You made a magical weapon.”

Sword: Average Quality

Resilient: This item was forged by two burgeoning smiths, granting it
the fortitude of an army. Its blade has been magically sharpened, and it
will be considerably more difficult to damage or dull by any means.

Zeke nearly choked as he took in the blade. His mouth hung open and
disbelief swirled within his eyes.
“What? How? It was just a normal sword!”
“Not anymore,” Arwin said. He set the sword down on the anvil and
walked over to his supplies, ruffling through them in search of something
he could wrap the sword with. He didn’t have any more spare leather lying
around, so he settled for grabbing a piece of canvas.
Wrapping the blade to keep anyone from realizing the weapon was
magic, Arwin held it out to Zeke. “Here.”
“What? I can’t take this.”
“Sure you can. You made it.”
“But—”
“It’s yours, Zeke,” Arwin said, pushing it into the boy’s arms. “You
made it. I just helped.”
“There’s no way I’d just make a magical weapon by accident,” Zeke
said accusingly, but he held on to the sword as Arwin released it. He
clutched the weapon to his chest like a baby, unwilling to release it.
“Perhaps not,” Arwin allowed. “But you can keep a secret, can’t you?”
 Zeke’s eyes hardened with determination, and he gave Arwin a sharp
nod. “I won’t tell a soul. I’ll take this to my grave, I swear. I’ve never had a
magical item before.”
“You didn’t just get this,” Arwin reminded Zeke. “You made it. And I’d
prefer you keep the sword until you don’t need it anymore and then hand it
off to someone else, not get yourself killed, eh?”
“I’ll do my best,” Zeke said with a laugh. He swallowed, his grip
tightening on the hilt of the sword and lifting it into the air. “A magic item. I
can’t believe it.”
“It’s a sword,” Arwin reminded him. “Be careful with it. You don’t want
to⁠—”
Zeke gave the sword a test swing. The blade flew from his hands, and
Arwin ducked as it spun across the smithy, striking a pot of mortar and
shattering it with a crash. Zeke yanked his hands back and froze in place.
Arwin’s eye twitched, but he didn’t let his annoyance slip out. Mortar
wasn’t that expensive. He just shook his head and walked over to the sword,
picking it up and wiping the mortar off on a bag.
“I—Sorry,” Zeke stammered. “I didn’t⁠—”
Arwin spun the sword around and held it out handle-first to Zeke.
“Don’t swing this around until you can actually use it.”
Zeke swallowed heavily. “Sorry.”
“Just clean up the mess,” Arwin said, nodding to the mortar. “Then you
can go show Lillia the sword. She might even show you a trick or two with
it—but please don’t swing the damn thing until someone’s supervising
you.”
Zeke hurried to comply, not even risking so much as a word. Once he’d
cleaned the spilled mortar up, he stood awkwardly, shifting from foot to
foot and waiting for Arwin to say something.
“Go on. Git,” Arwin said, making a shooing motion. “I won’t tell
anyone if you don’t, so wipe that look off your face. You can trust anyone in
the guild. You’re part of it too, so long as you want to be. Lillia’s got a hot
meal waiting for you in the tavern.”
Zeke’s face lit up and he nodded. “I will. Thank you, Ifrit! I’ll never
forget this, I swear.”
He hurried out the door, closing it behind him. Arwin expected to hear
him sprint away but was instead rewarded with the sound of Zeke picking
the lock shut behind him. Grinning, Arwin shook his head as he heard
Zeke’s hurried footsteps fading in the direction of the tavern.
That puts me at two Achievements that upgrade my skills upon my next
level advancement, as well as the improvement to the next helmet I make.
Pretty damn solid, if I do say so myself.
Zeke got himself a pretty good enchantment on that sword, but it makes
me wonder. I feel like some of the stuff I’ve made with similar material and
less knowledge turned out better, and I refuse to believe that was entirely
due to luck.
Was it because Zeke was the one forging it instead of me, so my abilities
didn’t activate as much? Perhaps that’s for the best, as it would have sucked
for him to make a magic weapon with a nasty, detrimental trait.
Arwin shrugged to himself and made his way back over to the bag he’d
left at the door. One way or another, Zeke would be a good addition to the
guild. The kid had his head screwed on right, and his lack of class was
hardly an issue.
Maybe we’ll go try to get him one after the wyrm’s babies are dealt
with. I don’t think it would be safe for him in either the dungeon or the
forest right now.
That would come when it came. For now, Arwin had another goal in
mind. He needed to make more armor, and he had to replace his chest piece.
He had more than enough metal to work with between the remaining two
pieces of Brightsteel and the three ingots of the new metal the Mesh had
given him.
Let’s see. The Brightsteel absorbs shock really well, so it would be a
pretty good material to use on the inside of the armor. Maybe I could layer
it with the harder metal that the Mesh gave me? I don’t see why the
technique wouldn’t work on armor if it works on a sword.
Before I even start with that, I don’t want to just walk around wearing a
heavy breastplate with no padding. Really, I need a gambeson… but I don’t
really know how to make one. I could wear some extra clothes for padding,
but I think I can add some leather to the inside of the armor to at least make
it a little more comfortable. I can handle the pain from the hits for now with
[Indomitable Bulwark].
Arwin took a moment to do an inventory of his smithy, then headed out
for the markets at a brisk pace. It was already late in the evening, and he
didn’t want to wait until tomorrow to get started on his new project.
 Fortunately, Arwin was able to find the leather he needed for 10 gold. It
ended up taking him considerably more time to walk over to the markets
and walk back than it did to actually buy the materials.
Now stocked with everything he needed, Arwin tossed an ingot of
Brightsteel into the forge. Once it got hot enough, he took it out and set it
on the anvil. Arwin then summoned Verdant Blaze and got to work
hammering an ingot of Brightsteel out into a sheet. Time flew by, and it
didn’t take long before Arwin set the large sheet to the side, brushing the
flakes of metal off it, and got started on one of the ivory bars.
Every strike he delivered with Verdant Blaze seemed to do twice what it
should have and pouring [Soul Flame] into the weapon only increased his
forging speed even further. The metal seemed to absorb the heat from the
hammer strikes, staying hot for longer than it should have.
It didn’t take long for Arwin to have two large sheets of different metals
ready and waiting for their next step. He paused for a few moments to
consider the design of what he was going for, then used his chisel to
separate portions of the sheets.
Once he’d gotten them to workable sizes, Arwin overlaid the sheets of
metal and started hammering once more. Flame coiled at the head of his
hammer, flowing around Arwin with every strike.
The temperature in the smithy rose. Sweat poured down his skin as he
worked, but Arwin was too focused to stop now. His hammer rang out
through the night, each strike bringing him closer and closer to his goal.
Even though the materials he was working with weren’t magical, Arwin
could still feel them guiding his motions. The metal sensed his desire and
matched it, aiding his blows with faint shimmers of energy only visible to
him.
As the hours ticked on, the front of a breastplate took form. Arwin still
had absolutely no idea if his folding of the two metals had worked, but the
faint ripples running through the metal seemed to imply that it had.
Even if it hadn’t, he wouldn’t truly know until his work was done. Once
the front of the breastplate was in roughly the right shape, he moved on to
the back half of the armor, repeating the process.
I should bring everything to the spot where it’s nearly finished, then
wrap it all up at the end. That’ll give me more room to modify things if I
need to.
 In that manner, Arwin continued his work. The back half of the chest
piece took form, followed by both pauldrons. He brought every part of the
armor to the point where it was the rough shape that it needed to be so he
could envision the project as a whole, but he made no moves to put
finishing touches on anything.
But, as Arwin studied all the pieces of what would be his armor, he
frowned. The base was there—of that, there was no doubt. But… for all the
effort he was putting into it, the armor was strikingly plain.
It was beautiful, but it didn’t have any flair. And no matter how much
Arwin would argue against it, he had a bit of a flair for the dramatic. Strong
armor couldn’t just be effective. It had to be cool.
There was definitely something to be said for making a beautiful set of
plain armor, but the silvered-ivory mix of metal he had before him was
screaming for something more. Arwin’s eye caught on a glint sticking out of
his belongings and his frown slipped away.
He still had some of the green crystals from the dungeon left over—not
to mention the purple gem he’d taken from the orc shaman. Arwin hurried
over, scooping up some of the crystals and snagging the circular gemstone.
He brought it back over to the armor and set it down on the anvil before
holding up one of the gemstones to the pauldrons.
“What do you think?” Arwin mused to himself. “Good extra layer of
protection. Maybe a few per pauldron? I don’t want to be too shiny.”
A dull, warm hum ran down his fingers, making him drop the crystal.
Arwin scrambled, catching it an instant before it could hit the side of the
anvil. He stared at it for a second, then let a slow grin cross his lips.
It’s my Title, [Stonesinger]. The crystal approves, huh? Well, far be it
for me to stand in the way of your destiny. Let’s turn you into some armor.

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 61

T
ix pulled a seat out across the table from a balding man, sitting down
and letting out an exasperated sigh. The rest of the tavern around them
was a dull roar of hushed conversations that mixed into a soup that
made it impossible to make out anything farther than a few feet away from
her ears.
“He refused, Erik. Told me to kick rocks,” Tix said.
“You’re kidding. Did he cut you off before you could say anything?” the
bald man asked, pausing to take a sip of ale from his wooden mug. Tix’s
throat was parched. She would have ordered something for herself if the
tavern had anything other than swill.
“Yeah, he heard it. Said we could wait in line like everyone else.”
“Cocky bastard,” Erik said. “That was a deal to die for. Most smiths
would jump at it.”
“Well, not this one.” Tix grimaced at the rough wood digging into her
back and shifted, trying to find a way to make herself comfortable on the
poorly made chair. “And I don’t think knocking on his door again is going
to change anything.”
“That’s fine. He didn’t follow you here, did he?” Erik asked. He wiped a
thin sheen of sweat from his head and Tix grimaced again. The room wasn’t
even hot. Erik might have been the most terrified man she’d ever met. But,
for some reason, Jessen had chosen him as second-in-command of the Iron
Hounds.
 It makes no sense. This idiot’s paranoia isn’t even effective. He just
jumps at every shadow and thinks everyone’s out to kill him. Nobody even
knows what your ugly bald face looks like, moron.
“What do you think he is, Erik?” Tix asked, trying to keep her features
patient. Stupid or not, Erik was still the second-in-command of the guild.
And, as bad as he was at tactics, he was a filthy good mage. “He’s a smith,
not an adventurer. He might make good armor, but he’s not going to start
playing detective and track me down after a rejected offer.”
“That’s true. That’s true,” Erik said, almost as if he were trying to
convince himself. He nodded along with his words, then licked his lips.
After draining the rest of his drink, Erik spoke again. “No matter. There are
other smiths. He would have been useful, but we can find someone else.”
That’s… surprisingly reasonable of you. Maybe Jessen finally gave you
the talk I’ve been begging him to do.
“How are things going with the wyrm?” Tix asked, lowering her voice
even in spite of the noise in the tavern. Nobody was close to their table, and
she highly doubted anything would get overheard, but it was better to be
safe than sorry.
Erik’s features darkened. He peered into his finished mug, then set it on
the table and sighed. “Not good. Someone has been trying to screw with
us.”
Sure they are. Just like someone was poisoning your food last week.
That definitely wasn’t because you eat like a pig and forgot to wash your
hands after taking a shit.
“How so?” Tix asked. “What’s happening?”
“Jessen’s wyrm is acting off. It’s barely listening to his orders and has
basically been lying around in the forest doing nothing for the past few
days. It even snipped at him when he went to try and figure out what’s
going on.”
“Maybe it’s having a tantrum. Have you fed it well?”
Erik’s glare bored into Tix’s skull. “It’s in a damn forest full of food. Of
course it’s fed. I think it’s been poisoned.”
I’m sure you do.
“Why would anyone bother poisoning a wyrm?”
“I don’t know,” Erik said with a shrug. He narrowed his eyes and
glanced over his shoulder—as if Tix wouldn’t have noticed someone
standing right behind him—before leaning in and lowering his voice. “But
what if they figured it out?”
“Are you telling me there’s a leak?” Tix did her best to keep from
retching at Erik’s hot breath. He stank of carrion and poor beer. “There are
three people that know about the wyrm, Erik. You, me, and Jessen. Which
of us do you think went leaking things when we all have so much to gain
from this? Jessen certainly didn’t. It was his idea. And you couldn’t be
accusing me of it, could you?”
“I don’t know,” Erik said. “Maybe someone has a way to magically
listen in.”
“Right. Someone with magic of that level would definitely be sitting
around Milten, spying on Apprentice- and Journeyman–tier adventurers,”
Tix said dryly. She rolled her eyes and snapped her fingers under Erik’s
nose. “Come off it, you idiot. Nobody knows. The wyrm probably just ate
some mushrooms or something. It’s a high-level Journeyman monster. Do
you really think there’s poison anywhere in the area that’s strong enough to
cause it enough of an issue to kill it?”
Erik chewed his lower lip, then grunted an agreement. “Maybe. I don’t
know. I won’t be relaxed until the plan is finished.”
Up until the next minor inconvenience pops up and you suddenly get
terrified of something new, sure.
“I feel the same,” Tix lied, “but just focus up. It’ll only be a month until
we’ve finished all of our preparations, and then we’ll be so strong that it
won’t matter.”
“Right. You’re right,” Erik said, shaking his head and letting out another
sigh. “Whatever. For now, we’re going to need another blacksmith. Go back
to the original plans, I suppose.”
“Easy enough,” Tix said with a shrug. “We’ve got so many people
looking for a decent one that I’ve got no doubt that we’ll find someone
smart enough to take us up on the deal in time.”
Tix pushed her chair back and rose from the table, making to leave.
“Tix?”
She gritted her teeth and turned back to Erik. “Yes?”
“Deal with the other blacksmith.” Erik’s eyes were as cold as ice. “We
don’t need him outfitting the other guilds. There can’t be any threats to the
plan.”
“You’re kidding. He’s just a random⁠—”
 “Deal with him,” Erik snapped. “I don’t want to see him selling on the
market again, you hear me? The Thieves’ Guild said he lived on an
abandoned street haunted by some ghost legend, didn’t they?”
“That was a legend,” Tix said, rolling her eyes. “I don’t see how⁠—”
“Nobody will hear anything. It’s far from the rest of the city. Destroy
the smith and any stock he’s got, but make sure it can’t be tied back to you.
Strike at the right time,” Erik said, cutting Tix off again. “Do you
understand?”
Tix’s hands tightened at her sides. One day soon, when Jessen got his
head screwed back on the right way, they’d be rid of the fat idiot at the
table. But, for now, all she could do was give him a curt nod.
“Understood.”

Arwin hummed to himself as he worked, the clang of his hammer and the
roar of the flame filling the air around him. He’d already worked the
gemstones deep into the pauldrons, working the metal up and around them
to only leave their tips exposed.
The result was a set of ridges that ended in spikes jutting out from the
ends of the pauldrons, their blackened tips actually heat-treated crystals.
Arwin had worked some of the crystal into the chest and back as well.
He’d quenched every piece of armor as he’d made it and was now onto
the last part—the front of the chest piece. He could feel everything coming
together, but it still wasn’t quite there. Even as he smoothed out the metal
and coaxed it to its finished state, there was one final piece missing.
Fortunately, he was pretty sure he knew what it was.
The purple crystal that he’d taken from the Orc Shaman had been
whispering at the back of his mind, waiting for its time. And now that he’d
finished just about every other piece of the chest plate and could hear the
Mesh tingling at his fingertips, he was ready for it.
Arwin didn’t know the proper way to slot a gem into armor. He was
pretty sure there was a more elegant way to do it than sticking the entire
piece into the flame and using [Scourge] to shove the stone in and push
metal over its top, but that was the only way he knew—and so that was
what he did.
 He smoothed the rough edges of the metal around the gem out, then
shifted it slightly to the side to make sure it was centered right in the middle
of his chest. The fire dulled the sheen of the gem to a faint purple that was
only an inch past gray, but that suited him just fine. If anything, it suited the
ivory armor even better.
The forging was complete—but Arwin wasn’t finished. He grabbed his
Forest Lizard scale mail and tossed it into the [Soul Flame] burning within
the hearth, letting it join the newly finished piece.
Tingles raced down Arwin’s arms and neck, but the Mesh held off as if
it could sense what he was doing. In all likelihood, it probably could. Arwin
extended his senses to the flames, and they responded instantly.
A tiny mote of glowing light lifted out of the scale mail, so faint that he
could barely see it within the fire. It drifted out, then sank into the new plate
armor he’d just made. Grinning, Arwin reached into the fire and took the
armor out, setting it on the anvil to cool.
He’d already cut some leather into the right shapes, so Arwin hammered
it in place with some pins he’d made. He returned the armor to the fire
briefly, just to make sure everything was completely set, and then finally
laid it out once more.
The Mesh surged, finally freed from its reins, and flooded into the
armor with such intensity that Arwin had to yank his hands back to avoid
getting burned. Energy swirled before him and twisted into golden letters.

[Ivory Executioner Chestplate: Unique Quality] has been forged.

Forging a magical item has granted you energy.
Ivory Executioner Chestplate: Unique Quality
Resonant: The crystals buried within this armor sing with every
magical attack it takes, absorbing a small amount of the attack’s
energy and storing it within the gem at its center. When the gem has
filled, the bearer of this armor can infuse its power into their next
attack.
Smelted Fury: This item was born again within the flames of [Soul
Flame]. The wearer of this item gains heat resistance. Upon being
struck, this item may forcibly draw magical energy and release a whip
of [Soul Flame] at the attacker.
Unique: Once donned, this item will bond with its owner. It will change
sizes so long as the material permits it to fit them perfectly, and anyone
 else who attempts to wear it may suffer retaliation. Information about
this item may be hidden from others after it has bonded.
It possesses [1] concealed property.

Arwin wished he could use [Arsenal] to bond with the armor on the
spot, but it was still bound to his old Scale Mail armor. He broke the bond
and the ability instantly deactivated, turning itself off for the remainder of
the day. That was fine—Arwin didn’t plan to let the armor out of his sight
any time soon.
He scooped it up with a huge grin, already anticipating testing the armor
out on their next trip to the dungeon. There was still a lot of metal left to
work with, so he could make a helm next. After that could come gauntlets
and boots—and then he’d have a full set.
I kind of want to hide this until the dungeon. That might be a bit petty of
me, but the looks on everyone’s faces will be so much better if I can pull out
a whole set.
Arwin stuffed the armor into a tarp bag, then adjusted his mask and left
the smithy to return to the tavern, humming to himself as he pictured what
his full set of armor would look like. This was going to be a good week.

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 62

T
he next week passed quietly, and Arwin enjoyed every second of it. He
managed to keep his new armor hidden until he could bond to it, but
he ended up spending considerably more time than he’d planned on
helping Lillia and Zeke refurbish the tavern.
They rebuilt a large portion of the second floor, getting two more rooms
into a usable state. Rodrick and Anna both moved into her tavern with
almost no hesitation, taking one of the rooms so Zeke could have the other.
Lillia added a proper bathroom at the back of the tavern through a door
that she and Zeke installed, and Arwin spent most of his time polishing the
smithy up even further or planning his next armor sets.
The entire group—Zeke excluded, of course—made another dungeon
run midway through the week and sold everything they’d gotten for a tidy
profit. Arwin then used all the money he’d just earned to buy more metal to
work with.
A good portion of that metal had gone into making two magical swords
that Arwin had eaten throughout the week to keep [The Hungering Maw] at
bay, but weapons weren’t currently his focus.
He made several drafts for a helmet, but none of them sat quite right
with him and they were scrapped. Several of them felt like they would have
turned out magical, but none of them felt right.
When he wasn’t working on figuring out how to make his helm, Arwin
spent his time in the smithy forging new sets of armor to sell at the market.
He was out of lizard scales for the time being, but armor was still armor.
 Arwin also found himself spending far more time with Zeke than he’d
initially planned. While he’d just wanted the boy to occasionally help him
tidy a few things up and give some slight help while smithing, he ended up
letting Zeke work the forge nearly as much as he did.
They invested in an oil barrel, and the two of them worked together on
more sets of plain armor than Arwin made himself. Zeke’s snippets of
memory paired with Arwin’s pushed the two further, and the boy was a fast
learner on top of everything.
“You know what your helmet is missing?” Zeke asked on the night of
the last day of the week.
Arwin glanced up from the half-finished helm in his hands, well aware
that it was nothing like what he wanted it to be. “No. What?”
“It’s not cool enough,” Zeke said.
“Not cool enough?” Arwin’s brow furrowed. “I need an effective helm,
not a cool one. I mean, cool is good too, but the most important part is that
it does its job.”
“Sure, but nobody is going to be scared of you if you show up with a
bunch of crystals jutting out of your head like a weird porcupine,” Zeke
said with a laugh. “I think armor is more than just what it does, you know?
It’s what it looks like. It’s almost like fashion, but fashion that protects
you.”
Arwin glanced down at the crystal he’d wedged into the top of the helm
and cleared his throat. Zeke had a point. He tugged the crystal out and
sighed, shaking his head.
“Okay, you’ve got a point. I see where you’re coming from,” Arwin
said. “But I don’t know how I’m supposed to make a helmet look cool.”
I wonder what he’d think of my new Ivory Executioner Chestplate. It’s
too early to show it off, though. I need the helm at the bare minimum. It’s
just an unfinished set right now.
“Horns?” Zeke offered.
“Why would I want horns? Where would I get those in the first place?”
“Not real ones. You could make ’em,” Zeke said. “Think about it.
Demons have horns. All the really big monsters have horns. They’re scary.”
“Okay, I can agree to that,” Arwin said. “But do you really think the
reason none of the helms are turning out the right way is because they don’t
look cool enough?”
 Zeke shrugged. “It’s your magic, not mine. I dunno. I just think that if
something doesn’t look the way you want it to, how can it act the way you
want it to?”
“I guess appearance and ability can be two halves of the same coin
when you’re talking about pure armor,” Arwin said slowly, tapping a finger
against his chin. “I was just thinking that magic should make that irrelevant.
As long as the helm is made properly, shouldn’t it work regardless?”
Zeke shrugged once more. He turned back to the hearth, where he had a
metal ingot heating. They’d invested in some normal coal and a new
bellows for Zeke so he could work while Arwin wasn’t actively working,
and the hearth was currently crackling with normal flame. Using a pair of
tongs that Arwin had bought him, Zeke brought the ingot over to the anvil.
“It’s magic. I don’t know how it works,” Zeke said. “But maybe it’s
because you aren’t telling the magic what you want, so it’s confused?”
That’s not possible. I’m literally speaking with the metal. [Stonesinger]
lets me communicate with magical materials as well. It knows exactly what
I⁠—
Arwin blinked, a frown slipping across his features.
Wait. When did my mindset shift like this? I started by listening to the
metal and helping it become what it wanted to be, but now I’m telling it
what it should be. Shouldn’t the real answer be somewhere in the middle? I
should be finding materials that actually want to be a helmet, and then I
should be asking them to form into what I want, not just telling them.
“Shit,” Arwin said, looking at his helm and shaking his head. “I turned
into an arrogant ass and I didn’t even realize it.”
“What? You didn’t do anything like that,” Zeke protested. “I just
meant⁠—”
“No, you’re fine,” Arwin said with a laugh. “I didn’t mean that in regard
to what you were saying. You just made me realize something really
important. Thanks, Zeke.”
“I did?” Zeke raised his gaze from the metal rod to find Arwin’s old
hammer, then grinned. “Well, you’re welcome, I guess. I’m just a genius.”
Arwin chuckled. “Don’t get too excited. I can just be a bit nearsighted
sometimes. Either way, I appreciate it.”
“You want the forge now?” Zeke asked. “I can do this later.”
“Nah. You already started working, so I won’t get in the way,” Arwin
said. “It would be rude. The forge is all yours tonight. I’ll probably head
back to the tavern and help Lillia on the second floor again. We’re pretty
close to getting a third room functional.”
“Okay,” Zeke said. “I’ll head in later, then. And I’ll make sure to lock
the smithy up, don’t worry.”
“I didn’t,” Arwin said with a chuckle. “Don’t stay up too late. That’s my
thing, and I don’t like sharing. You need some rest.”
“Why?” Zeke asked. “A few hours a night is more than enough.”
“Not if you’re hunting monsters.”
“Hunting monsters? I’m not—” Zeke cut himself off, his eyes going
wide with realization. “Wait. We’re going to go get a class for me? I was
hoping I’d get the blacksmith one, but the Mesh hasn’t recognized anything
I made yet.”
Arwin had been hoping for the same thing, but Zeke had been in the
forge and had helped with enough magical items by now to make it clear
that smithing wasn’t necessarily his final calling.
“We are,” Arwin said with a nod. “So long as you want to, of course. I
won’t force anything.”
“Are you kidding? Damn right I want to!” Zeke exclaimed, nearly
dropping his tongs in his excitement. He hurriedly adjusted his grip on the
hot metal, sending Arwin a sheepish look. “Sorry.”
“Just focus on your work,” Arwin said, setting the unfinished helmet on
the ground at the corner of the room. “And remember what I said. Don’t
stay up too late.”
Zeke nodded absently, but Arwin could tell the boy wasn’t paying
attention as he headed out of the smithy and locked the door behind
himself. If Arwin was honest, he couldn’t blame Zeke. There was
something enrapturing about the feeling of creating something.
A small shiver of desire ran down Arwin’s spine.
I want to make my helmet. Not now, though. I’ll wait. Zeke’s already
doing something, and he’s been helping me out all day. He deserves a
chance to use the smithy. I’ll just occupy myself helping Lillia out and then
sleep until tomorrow.
Arwin was ripped from his sleep by a deafening crash. He flew from his
bed, his armor slamming into place around him as his hammer materialized
in his hands. Visions of past battlefields flashed through his mind and
tightened his chest, and he spun, searching for enemies in the shadows.
He sprinted out of his room, the last vestiges of sleep gone by the time
he took the second step, and raced down the stairs. Lillia was already in the
common room, swirls of darkness gathered at her back and a Lesser Imp
standing at her side.
The windows, which they’d still been in the process of replacing, were
covered by large tarps that blocked the view of the street.
“What in the Nine Underlands was that?” Lillia’s eyes darted around the
room; her lips peeled back just enough to reveal fangs. Her eyes seemed to
gaze into the same past that Arwin saw at the edges of his own vision.
“No damn idea,” Arwin said. His chest felt tight, but he didn’t give
himself time to consider it. “It wasn’t the tavern. We’d be smoldering by
now if it was.”
Light poured into the entrance of the tavern, though it didn’t make it
deep into Lillia’s magical darkness. Confusion passed over Arwin’s
features.
It’s the middle of the night. Why is it so damn bright?
Arwin stepped past Lillia, trying to get a look into the street—and froze
as he saw where the light was coming from. Fire twisted and smoke rose
into the air from the shattered remains of his smithy.
He burst into a run. Lillia yelled something behind him, but Arwin
didn’t even hear it. He skidded to a stop before the broken remains of his
door, burnt black by intense flame—flame far too intense to have been
created by any mundane means.
Arwin’s ears rang as he charged through the flame, ignoring the heat as
it burned his skin. He wasn’t resistant to this like he was to [Soul Flame],
but the heat resistance from his armor was enough to let him tolerate the
inferno.
He coughed as he pushed through the smoke, moving more from
memory than from sight as he staggered into the smithy.
“Zeke!” Arwin roared. “Where are you?”
There was no response. Arwin’s foot hit the anvil and he cursed in pain,
doubling over as a coughing fit gripped him. His head spun at the intensity
of the thick smoke pouring into his lungs, but he didn’t care.
 He crawled, his hands desperately searching across the ground. “Zeke!
Say something!”
A form took shape near the corner of the room, just barely visible from
the light of the flame in the rapidly deteriorating room. Arwin scrambled
toward it, squinting as his eyes stung and watered from the acrid smoke.
“Zeke!” Arwin yelled, coughing and grabbing at the body. It was burned
black and almost unrecognizable. Metal rang out as it rolled across the
ground, inadvertently pulling free of the body’s grip.
Arwin’s breathing sped up even as the world seemed to slow around
him, his throat constricting as a shape took form in the shadows. A helmet,
with two pieces of metal jutting out of the top. It was unfinished, but Arwin
knew what they were.
Horns.
“Arwin!” Lillia’s voice rang through the darkness, muted by the roar of
the flames and the thick smoke.
Clawed hands dug into Arwin’s arm as Lillia’s Lesser Imp found him
and let out a screech, but he didn’t even notice. He couldn’t comprehend the
scene before his eyes, but he couldn’t bring himself to look away either.
“Arwin!” Lillia yelled, choking and coughing on the smoke as she
stepped out of the flames.
She froze as she saw the body, but a cracking support beam spurred her
back into motion. She grabbed Arwin, yanking him to his feet. “We need to
move! The building is collapsing!”
Arwin didn’t respond. Lillia grabbed him under the arms and yanked
him back into the flames, dragging him toward the door. All Arwin could do
was stare into the consuming fire as Lillia pulled him away and the smithy
collapsed all around him, the roaring flames drawing shut like curtains on a
cruel play.

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F
lames danced in Arwin’s eyes long after the smithy had burned to the
ground and the consuming inferno that had swallowed it dwindled to
embers and ash. The world transformed into a muted swirl of dimming
color and sound.
He vaguely recalled the others around him, but none of their words so
much as reached his ears. It just sounded like mumbles beneath the ocean,
lost within the crash of the waves. Arwin remembered getting pulled away
from the street and into the darkness of the tavern. He didn’t know who the
guiding hands belonged to, and he couldn’t bring himself to care.
Even in the darkness, fire still crackled in Arwin’s mind. The explosion
rang through his mind over and over again, always ending with the same
scene in the end. It burned itself into his mind—one more death to join the
legions of others.
And yet, this one wasn’t the same. The adventurers had known the risks
that awaited them. They’d entered the battle for money, glory, and power.
They’d been prepared to die.
Zeke hadn’t. The boy had barely even started to live. He hadn’t had a
class. He’d barely just joined the guild and gotten off the streets. And now
he was a charred corpse in a broken building, beyond the reaches of even
the strongest magic.
Over and over, the scene ran through Arwin’s mind. He couldn’t seem
to shake it from his mind. Time passed, but it was hard to tell how long. The
darkness of the tavern was a blanket, swallowing up the hours and leaving
him with peaceful nothing.
Nobody was trying to say anything anymore—for that, Arwin was
thankful. He didn’t need words. He didn’t want words. Words would change
nothing.
He wasn’t sure what would change anything. Nothing he could do
would ever bring Zeke back. There was no magic in the world that could
raise the dead in true. There was no number of people he could kill that
would undo what had happened.
The darkness didn’t carry any answers for him, but it didn’t ask for
them either. It simply accepted and waited.
At some point, Arwin became aware of a presence in the dark with him.
He wasn’t sure when it had arrived or how long it had been there. It simply
sat in silence. In some odd way, even though not a word was said, Arwin
took solace in its presence.
But, as it always did, time continued to pass. A single mote of heat
swirled in the sea of shadow, keeping him grounded. The visions of embers
faded to memory, and Arwin could sit still no longer. He didn’t know how
long it had been, but it couldn’t have been more than a few days because
[The Hungering Maw] had yet to activate.
For the first time, Arwin turned toward the other presence in the room
beside him. Even in the darkness, he recognized Lillia’s features, and he
recognized the look in her eyes. It was the very same one that was within
his own.
“I know,” Lillia said simply, and Arwin knew she did. If there was
anyone else in the world who knew what it felt like to lose and lose, to
watch their allies vanish before their eyes until only they remained, it was
her.
The mote of heat that had accompanied him through the dark was her
hand, laid over his. A lifeline, possibly not just for him but for the both of
them. Arwin drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly as a deep anger
burned within his chest, begging for him to let it free. To destroy.
“That was an attack,” Arwin said, his voice raspy as he broke the
silence. “Magical fire. Someone was trying to kill me. I should have been in
the forge. Zeke offered to let me use it, but he’d started on something⁠—”
“It isn’t your fault,” Lillia said, her hand tightening around his. “You
didn’t kill him.”
 “I know that,” Arwin said, his teeth grinding against each other as he
fought to keep his breathing under control. “But someone did, Lillia. They
tried to kill me, and they got him instead.”
“It will not go unanswered,” Lillia promised, and a flash of the Demon
Queen that Arwin had once known passed through her features. “Zeke was
innocent. He didn’t deserve this.”
“Nobody ever does,” Arwin said. For some reason, the only thing
keeping his growing anger in check was the warmth of Lillia’s hand against
his.
“Could it have been the Adventurers’ Guild?” Lillia asked. “There’s no
way they found us, is there?”
Arwin dug through his memories—and one stuck out instantly. He
hadn’t made any enemies since the fight with Lillia. The Guild shouldn’t
have had any way to know where he was. There were only two groups of
people that even knew where he lived, not counting the members of his own
guild.
The first was the Thieves’ Guild. There was a chance they were the ones
that had attacked, but he doubted it. If they’d had access to the destructive
magic that had been used to destroy the smithy, they would have used it
when he’d attacked their own base.
No, it hadn’t been them. And, if it wasn’t the Thieves’ Guild, then there
was only one other person that knew where he lived.
Tix. The woman that had invited him to her guild to monopolize his
work. She’d even bought armor from him before. She hadn’t struck Arwin
as the type of person to attempt a murder, but he didn’t care about what her
motives had been.
She was the only possible one who could have wanted him dead and
known where he lived. And if her vile guild had been responsible, then
Arwin could guess why as well. They had wanted him to exclusively sell to
them. So, when he’d rejected their offer to join, they’d tried to make sure he
could never sell to anyone.
“You know,” Lillia said. “Who did it?”
“A guild called the Iron Hounds,” Arwin said. “The ones that came
trying to recruit me.”
“Are you sure?”
“No, but I have a strong suspicion. They were the only ones that had
any reason to dislike me. And, other than the local Thieves’ Guild, they
were the only ones that knew where I lived. They must have come to the
smithy, heard someone working in it, and assumed that it was me.” Arwin’s
voice broke and his brow tightened in anger.
“Then they will die,” Lillia said. “We’ll kill all of them.”
It was so tempting to agree. Arwin nearly dragged Lillia out of the
house then and there to track down the Iron Hounds, but a tiny portion of
his mind voiced itself. And, to Arwin’s infuriation, it was just loud enough
to give him pause.
“Not yet,” Arwin ground out.
Lillia stared at Arwin in disbelief. “What? You’re just going to let them
go? After what they did?”
“No,” Arwin said. “The ones that killed Zeke will die. Their guild is
large, though.”
“So what?” Lillia demanded. “Both of us have slaughtered entire
legions. I think we can handle a godspitten group of fucking murderers.”
“I’m sure we could,” Arwin snapped. “And what if some of them aren’t
murderers? Did we even know what our own armies were doing? How can
we assume that the ones at the bottom of the guild knew about what the
others did? Will we orphan more children? Slaughter more friends? How do
we know, Lillia?”
Lillia froze in place, her anger-creased brow flickering with shock. “I—
But they’re a guild. They should know. They work together.”
“Then why didn’t we know?” Arwin demanded. “We led entire armies
that didn’t even follow our command. They may not have even been
following our orders, and we knew nothing. If it was that bad there, how do
we know it isn’t the same here?”
Lillia’s jaw clenched. Her hand lifted from Arwin’s slightly, but she
stopped before breaking contact and let it sink back down as she cursed
under her breath. “Shit. What the hell are we supposed to do, then, Arwin? I
don’t care how much blood I have to spill. I’m not leaving things as they
lie.”
“We find out who did this,” Arwin said. “We figure out who they
worked for and everyone related to Zeke’s death. Then we kill them. Every.
Single. One. Maybe it’ll be the entire guild. Maybe it’ll just be Tix. I don’t
know, and I don’t care. The ones responsible will die, but nobody else. I
won’t tarnish Zeke’s afterlife with anything but the blood of the ones that
killed him.”
 “You’re right,” Lillia said. The shadows twisted around her, betraying
the fury and loss she felt, but the only thing in her eyes was cold
determination. “Together, then.”
“Together,” Arwin agreed without even a flicker of hesitation. If there
had ever been even the slightest speck of doubt remaining in him about
Lillia, it had long since vanished.
The former Hero of Lian and Demon Queen would ride together.

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A
rwin and Lillia didn’t spend much time ruminating on their decision
before a problematic thought struck both of them at roughly the same
time. There was only so far that righteous fury could take them. What
they needed was power—something that crafting classes were hardly
known for.
“How are we supposed to take on an entire guild?” Lillia asked. “I can
fight a few people at the Apprentice tier, but from that explosion… they
have to have at least one Journeyman member. Probably more.”
“With gear,” Arwin replied. “I’ll make armor for both of us. A weapon
too, if you need it. Something enough for us to challenge the Journeyman-
tier members as long as we catch them alone. We can’t storm into their
guild hall, but we can take them one at a time.”
“Armor would work for you, but I don’t think it’s something I can rely
on anymore,” Lillia said bitterly. “I’m an innkeeper, Arwin. I don’t have the
strength that you do as a blacksmith, much less what I used to have. I won’t
be able to move in anything heavy enough to let me survive an attack.”
“I’ll work around it,” Arwin said. “I’ll make chainmail, or I’ll make
armor with magic that makes it lighter. We can’t bring the rest of the guild
into this.”
“They’re not ready for it,” Lillia agreed. She swallowed, a wave of
emotion passing over her features. Arwin said nothing as she gathered
herself, keeping the pain buried beneath the surface and refusing to let it
seep out. Lillia had been there for him in the dark, and he would return the
favor. “We will be. If you can make me armor⁠—”
“I can.”
“Then we’ll kill them together,” Lillia said. “And we’ll do it before they
can destroy any more lives. We’ll rebuild the smithy or find enough of it for
you to work with—at least until we can take the rest of what we need from
the ones that killed Zeke.”
“At least we won’t have to worry much about the guards, given what
I’ve heard about them,” Arwin said with a flat, emotionless smile. “We have
to do this the right way, but I’m not letting a single guilty person walk free.”
Lillia nodded. She let out a slow breath and rose to her feet, keeping her
hold of Arwin’s hand and pulling him up beside her. The darkness in the
corner of the room shifted, and a Lesser Imp emerged from within, holding
a burnt metal helm in its hands.
“I had one of my imps grab this,” Lillia said, taking the helm and
holding it out to Arwin. “I thought you might want it.”
Arwin’s throat tightened as he took the helmet in one hand. He
swallowed, blinking hard. “Thank you.”
Lillia just nodded. “I suppose we have to leave now. It’s been a while,
and the others are probably worried. I haven’t been cooking recently.”
“Yeah,” Arwin said, nodding once. “Thank you.”
“You already said that.”
“That was for the helmet.”
Arwin released her hand, taking one last moment to steady himself. The
darkness around them peeled back just enough for the man to recognize that
he was in Lillia’s room. They walked out together, stepping back into the
main room of the tavern.
Reya, who sat between Anna and Rodrick at the counter, looked up at
them. She started to rise from her chair, then stopped halfway up, her
shoulders hunching.
“I tried to clean the smithy up a little,” Reya said, staring down at the
counter. “I tried to find Zeke’s body, but⁠—”
“He already had just about the best burial I think we could have given
him. It’s hard to beat a pyre,” Arwin said, his jaw clenched. “That’s more
than what the people that did this to him will get.”
“I’ll help you find them,” Reya said.
“No,” Arwin said. “This isn’t your fight.”
 “Are you kidding?” Reya demanded, pounding a fist against the
counter. “What, do you think I didn’t care about him? He joined the guild!
He was one of us!”
“And I don’t want you joining him in the afterlife,” Arwin snapped.
“You aren’t ready to go against a real guild, Reya. I’m not going to lose you
too.”
“A guild?” Reya asked, taken aback—but only for an instant. Her eyes
narrowed. “The ones that came after you. The Iron Hounds?”
“Don’t,” Arwin said softly. “Lillia and I are going to handle this
ourselves. You can help from the back, but I don’t want you on the
frontlines. Not this time.”
“Why not? I know how to fight. I’ve got a class! I’m not just going to
sit around while you take revenge!” Reya yelled, striding up to Arwin, the
hurt clear in her eyes. “You aren’t the only one who cared!”
“I know that,” Arwin snarled. “Do you think your class is going to save
you, Reya? Do you know how many people I’ve seen die with stronger
classes than you? Do you know how many of them I’ve killed myself?”
“I—”
“Hundreds,” Arwin said, not giving Reya a chance to speak. “I’ve
watched men die avenging their partners. I’ve seen parents die for their
children and children die for their parents. Their classes didn’t fucking
matter. Everyone dies the same with a piece of steel through their head—
especially ones that only got their class a short while ago!”
Reya took a step back, a flicker of fear passing over her features. Arwin
realized that his tone had been steadily rising into a yell, but it was too late
to take his words back now.
“What kind of smith are you?” Reya demanded. “Why do you talk like
you were a soldier? What did you do?”
“I killed.” Arwin let out an explosive breath. “That’s all that matters.”
“Fine,” Reya snapped. “Keep your stupid secrets and keep letting your
enemies kill all of us. Maybe you can come get revenge for the rest of us
after we all get killed too.”
Reya spun and stormed out of the building without another word. Arwin
made to go after her, but Anna stepped in front of him and shook her head.
“Not right now, Arwin,” Anna said. “I’ll speak with her, but you have to
understand how she feels. I know why you’re keeping her out of this, but
you’re keeping her from getting revenge for a friend.”
 “Revenge doesn’t heal wounds. It just makes sure that someone can’t
make more of them.”
“Spoken like someone who’s taken it before. She hasn’t,” Anna said.
“And I know you’re trying to protect her from that, but shield her too hard,
and she’ll set out on her own instead of doing it with you.”
“What do you want me to do?” Arwin demanded. “She’s not ready for
this.”
“For now? Nothing. I told you, I’ll speak with her,” Anna said, putting a
hand on Arwin’s shoulder and giving it a gentle squeeze. “She’s hurting.
Just like you are.”
Anna turned and headed out in pursuit of Reya. Arwin watched her
leave, his jaw clenched so tightly that the muscles in his face ached.
What am I supposed to do? I can’t let anyone else die. Not now. I don’t
think I could take it.
“Reya didn’t mean what she said,” Rodrick said as he slipped down
from his stool. “Anna will handle her; don’t worry. We’re all mad about
this. I don’t know what your background is, Arwin, but I’ve seen men like
you before—and they never spoke about what they used to do. Just… don’t
forget we’re here, okay? Anna and I joined this guild because you seemed
like you cared. Don’t get so caught up in protecting people that you forget
to let them grow.”
Arwin let out a heavy sigh, wishing that there was something he could
punch in the area. “I know. If Reya shows up while I’m working, can you
tell her to come speak to me? And please keep an eye out. I don’t know if
those Iron Hound bastards will come back, but if they do, I don’t want
anyone else dying.”
“Oh, I will,” Rodrick said, his features as cold as ice. “I assume you
plan to pretend to be dead?”
“Yeah,” Arwin said. “At least until I can start hunting the Iron Hounds,
they need to believe they succeeded.”
“What about the wyrm problem?”
“That’s still well over a month away,” Arwin said, anger sparking within
his chest before he snuffed it once more. “And if you think I’ll let the
bastards that did this live that long, you’re sorely mistaken.”
Rodrick gave Arwin a nod and stepped past him, heading toward the
door. He paused right outside the tavern, glancing back over his shoulder.
 “Make it painful,” Rodrick said. “Zeke was a good kid, but I know I’m
not strong enough to handle anyone that could blow up an entire building.
Anna and I pooled some funds to help you recover, and we’ll do anything
we can to help from the sidelines. Just… promise you’ll help us get strong
enough to fight alongside you at some point. I hate sitting around doing
nothing.”
“You will,” Arwin said. “I swear it.”
“Good,” Rodrick said. “Send them to the Ninth Underland for me. I’ll
make sure Anna and Reya are okay. I don’t think it’s a good idea to travel
without protection right now.”
With that, Rodrick stepped out of view. Arwin and Lillia were left in the
darkness of the tavern, staring out into the light pouring through the
doorway.
“I’ll help you make the armor,” Lillia said. “I don’t know how much I
can do, but I want to be involved if I can.”
“I’ll find something for you to do,” Arwin promised, the knot in his
stomach growing tighter as his thoughts drifted to Reya. He hadn’t handled
that conversation well. The last thing he wanted to do was hurt even more
of his friends. “I’ll probably need materials, and parts of the smithy will
have to be rebuilt if I’m going to do anything with it. I don’t know what’s
left.”
“Maybe that’s something we can all help with,” Lillia offered. “It would
give the others something to do so they don’t feel like they’re being
completely sidelined.”
That was a good idea—and it was one Arwin wished he’d had just a few
minutes earlier. Unfortunately, he couldn’t do anything to turn back time.
All he could do was forge onward.
“That could work,” Arwin said, looking out into the daylight pouring
through the doorway. “Let’s go. We have work to do, and I’m not going to
sleep properly until this is done.”
They stepped out into the street, heading to the remains of the smithy.
Arwin had armor to create, and he was going to start with the burnt helmet
clenched in his white-knuckled grip. He hadn’t thought that he’d have to
kill after he became a smith.
Now he just hoped he’d be able to stop.

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he smithy was not in good shape. That really shouldn’t have been
much of a surprise, but it hurt Arwin more than he cared to admit to
see the building in smoldering shambles. All the materials that he’d
bought to repair it had been completely ruined.
Cracked remains of pots littered the ground on top of burnt stone. The
wolf pelt was nothing more than a scorch mark on the ground and the
hearth had crumbled to bits. Even his tools hadn’t been spared. The heat of
the flame had been so intense that their metal had warped and bent,
becoming unusable.
Lillia walked beside Arwin as he waded through the soot, trying to see
if he could find anything salvageable in the ruins. The Iron Hounds had
taken care to make sure nothing within the smithy would survive.
Several melted chunks of metal marked the sets of armor that he’d
forged to sell at the market. They’d bent in on themselves and had been
buried under a layer of brick that had collapsed on top of the hot metal.
Arwin still collected them, handing the dirtied chunks to Lillia, who set
them on the street, safely out of the wreckage. Unfortunately, his hearth had
been completely destroyed. The bellows had gone with it, though the anvil
had survived.
It was too heavy to lift easily with his normal strength, so Arwin used
[Scourge] to pry the huge chunk of metal out of the wreckage and lug it
over to the street himself. He set it down with a clang, then straightened
with a grimace. His hands and legs had been stained pitch black by all the
soot.
“There should be more pieces of metal somewhere here,” Arwin said as
he waded back into the smithy’s remains. “Let me know if you see
anything.”
Lillia nodded, and the two of them got back to searching. Nearly an
hour passed before they’d gone through everything about as well as they
were going to be able to without literally diving through the soot.
They managed to rescue several sheets of ivory metal and Brightsteel as
well as a warped ingot of Brightsteel that Arwin had bought to make the
suits of armor he’d planned to sell on the market. Everything else had been
lost to the flames.
“What do we do with this?” Lillia asked. “Get rid of the soot and try to
rebuild the smithy here?”
“No. Not yet,” Arwin said. “If the Iron Hounds send anyone to check on
the smithy, they’ll obviously think something is up if the smithy is rebuilt.
We leave it as is. I’ll move the anvil to another building. We can rebuild
after the Iron Hounds have been dealt with.”
Lillia nodded. “What building, then?”
“Something far from the tavern,” Arwin said. “I don’t want anyone
getting caught up in another attack if the Iron Hounds do end up coming
back and figuring out I survived.”
They looked over the surrounding buildings. They all looked like pretty
basic shopfronts or plain houses, with nothing particularly distinctive about
any of them.
“The one at the side over there should work,” Arwin said, nodding to a
dilapidated building with a caved-in window and rickety door. “As long as
the inside isn’t completely ruined, that is.”
He headed across the street and pulled the door open carefully to avoid
accidentally ripping the rotting piece of wood off its weakened and rusted
hinges. It only had a single room, and whatever furniture may have been
within at one point had all been broken, stolen, or rotted away.
Piles of mush and rot were strewn across the ground, but the walls
looked mostly steady. There were only a few cracks that let light filter
through, and it didn’t look like the building was going to cave in any time
too soon.
 An image of the repaired smithy flitted through Arwin’s mind.
Compared to it, this new building was a complete dump—but that would
change soon enough. For now, this one would suit his purposes.
“Yeah. This one,” Arwin said. “I doubt it’s going to muffle what I’m
doing much, but there’s not really a way to work quietly unless I somehow
get deep underground, and I don’t think that’s possible with our current
resources.”
“Probably not,” Lillia agreed. “Where are you going to put the fire,
though? The whole building is wood.”
“I’ll take the stones that aren’t completely ruined and try to build an
area for it. It isn’t going to be perfect, but I don’t need a chimney because
I’m working with [Soul Flame] rather than normal flame, and it doesn’t
send up smoke since there’s nothing to burn.”
Lillia nodded, and the two of them headed back outside to start bringing
in the pieces that they’d rescued from the ruined smithy into Arwin’s new
workshop. That took considerably less time than finding them, and they
soon had a pile of what amounted to garbage surrounding an anvil
transferred into Arwin’s new workshop.
He and Lillia stood in silence at the entryway, staring at all that
remained of everything he’d built over the recent days. Drawing in a deep
breath, Arwin closed his eyes and steadied himself as he exhaled.
“Right. Let’s get to work. We have a lot to do,” Arwin said. “Starting
with making a spot for the hearth. I’m going to need some mortar for the
stones.”
“Do you have any gold?” Lillia asked. “Or was it… you know.”
“In the fire? No. I kept it on me,” Arwin said, reaching into his pocket
and pulling out several pouches. “I was going to the market so often that I
figured it was easier than taking it on and off constantly. I’ve got 90 gold.
Enough to get some mortar. We can use brick from the smithy to save costs
there. I think I’ll need all the coin I can get for materials in the coming
days.”
“I’d accompany you to the market, but…” Lillia trailed off and glanced
at her tail. “I don’t think that would go well.”
“Probably not. It’s fine. Just keep an eye on the street and make sure we
don’t have anyone rooting around where they shouldn’t be. I won’t wear my
mask for now—I don’t think anyone from the Iron Hounds should
recognize me without it other than Tix, and she doesn’t think I’m the smith.
At least, I’m pretty sure she doesn’t.”
Lillia pursed her lips. “I’m not sure if that’s a good risk to take. It might
be better to send someone else.”
“Like who?” Arwin asked. “Everyone is⁠—”
“Right here,” Reya finished.
Arwin spun toward the door. He’d been so distracted with his work that
he hadn’t noticed not just Reya but also Anna and Rodrick walking up on
the street behind them.
Damn it. I can’t afford to be this damn distracted. I’m going to get us
killed at this rate.
“Ah,” Arwin said intelligently. He glanced over his shoulder at the soot-
smeared metal behind him, then back over to the rest of his guild. “How
long were you there?”
“I’ll get the mortar,” Rodrick volunteered. “Anna can come with me.”
“Then I’ll make something for everyone to eat,” Lillia said, looking
from Reya to Arwin. “Let me know when I can help again.”
Arwin nodded absently and tossed a bag of gold to Rodrick. “There.”
“I’ll bring back the change,” Rodrick said, tucking the bag into his
waistband and heading off with Anna at his side. Lillia slipped past Arwin
and out of the building, leaving him alone within.
Reya stood on the street across from him. For several seconds, neither
of them spoke. Then Arwin sighed and stepped back, gesturing for her to
follow him. “Come on. Let’s talk.”
After a moment of hesitation, Reya walked inside. Arwin sat down on
the anvil, leaning forward and bracing his arms against his knees.
“Go on, then,” Arwin said wearily. “Ask.”
“Ask what?”
“You wanted to know my secrets,” Arwin said, rocking back to catch
Reya’s gaze. “I’ll tell them to you, if you want me to. I’ve just been trying
to protect you, but that didn’t work out so well for Zeke.”
“I’m sorry.” Reya’s hands tightened at her sides, and her eyes dropped
to the floor. “It was wrong of me to say you got him killed. It wasn’t your
fault. I—I’m just so mad. Why did he have to die?”
“It’s okay, Reya. You weren’t entirely wrong. Zeke died because I was
arrogant.” Arwin gritted his teeth. “I didn’t think that the Iron Hounds
would try to kill me. I kept thinking that there was no way humans would
do that to themselves, but I couldn’t have been more wrong. If I’d treated
them the way I treat monsters, then I never would have dismissed the
threat.”
“Nobody would assume that they’re going to get killed just because
they didn’t join a guild,” Reya said, looking back up at Arwin. “You can’t
blame yourself.”
“I don’t blame myself, but he did die because of me,” Arwin said. “That
was an attack meant to kill me, not him. My secrets have nothing to do with
why we were attacked, but you’ve been with me longer than any of the
others. If you want to know who I really am, then I’ll tell you.”
Reya shook her head, her eyes watering. “I’m sorry, Arwin. I really am.
I was speaking without thinking earlier. I don’t care about the secrets. I⁠—”
“I’m not angry at you,” Arwin said, raising a hand to cut Reya off
before she could continue. “You’re right, Reya. Even though my secrets
aren’t the reason he died, I’ve been treating you like a child, and I apologize
for it. I thought I could protect everyone.”
Reya wiped her face with the back of a sleeve, but Arwin continued
speaking before she could say anything else.
“I was strong enough—at one point. And, at one point, I will be again.
But, right now, I’m not,” Arwin said. “I can’t protect you like I once could.
So, right now, all I can offer is knowledge. I’m not giving this to you
because you hurt my feelings, Reya. I’m offering it because knowledge is
all I can offer. Well, that and armor.”
“How could knowledge protect me?” Reya asked with a sniffle.
“Knowledge is a tool, just like everything else. Now think, Reya—and
tell me if you really want to know. You can’t unlearn anything. But if you
want to know who I really am, I’ll tell you.”
Reya didn’t respond immediately, which Arwin was thankful for. He
wasn’t sure what answer he was hoping she’d give him. Part of him wanted
to bury his past and never think about it again, but another part desperately
wanted to share it. Either way, Reya was actually debating her answer rather
than just choosing impulsively.
“I want to know,” Reya finally said.
Arwin let out a slow sigh and inclined his head. “I figured you would.
I’m sure this comes as absolutely no surprise to you, but I wasn’t always a
smith.”
 Reya nodded as a flicker of a smile passed over her lips. “Yeah. I kind
of guessed. What were you? A high-ranking warrior in a guild or
something?”
“No,” Arwin said quietly. “I was the Hero of Lian.”

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“W hat?” Reya asked, the corner of her lip twitching preemptively into
a faint smile, waiting for Arwin to finish the second half of his
joke. He didn’t add anything else, and the grin fell away. “You’re
serious?”
“Yes,” Arwin said. “I was the Hero, up until just a short time ago.”
He could practically see the gears spinning in Reya’s head as she tried
to determine whether to believe him or not. Slowly, her expression changed
from disbelief to wide-eyed shock.
“They canceled the funeral,” Reya muttered. “I saw it on the flyers. You
mean you survived the explosion? I thought you killed the Demon Queen
but died in the process!”
“Someone certainly tried to make it look that way. There was a bomb in
my armor, and it’s one that I believe the Adventurers’ Guild planted. I was
betrayed, but the Mesh saved me. I don’t know why, but it took my class
and gave me the one I have now instead.”
“That’s why you know so much about monsters and fighting,” Reya
said, pulling at her hair. “You’re literally the greatest warrior alive. And
you’re saying the guild betrayed you? Why? What’s the point?”
“I don’t know,” Arwin replied with a shrug. “I haven’t figured that out
yet, and something tells me I wasn’t the greatest warrior either. I think the
guild intentionally kept me in the dark, but that’s a story for a different time.
The point is, I used to be the Hero, but I’m not the Hero anymore.”
 “That’s why you’re so deadset on protecting everyone?” Reya asked.
“I used to think that, yeah. Because it was my duty.” A short, bitter
laugh slipped from Arwin’s mouth and he shook his head. “Not anymore. I
don’t think I give a shit about duty or any of that. I just don’t want to see
my friends die anymore. When I realized I survived the explosion, I had just
planned to lock myself away and never deal with people again. It would
have been easier.”
“If you were betrayed by the biggest guild in the kingdom, I can see
why,” Reya said. “Why didn’t you?”
“Because I ran into you,” Arwin said. “And then I met Lillia—and
Rodrick and Anna after that. I realized that there wasn’t a point in living life
if there weren’t people to live it with you. Why be a smith if I can’t make
armor for the people that are important to me? Not that it did anything for
Zeke. As I said—I’m not the Hero anymore. I’m just a smith.”
Reya was silent for several seconds. Arwin didn’t blame her. There was
a lot to process. He still hadn’t fully come to grips with it himself, so he
didn’t expect Reya to be able to completely get over it in just the span of a
short conversation.
He wished he could see into her head to peer at her thoughts.
Is she mad that I didn’t reveal this earlier? Relieved that it isn’t
something worse? Or does she not even believe me and is just playing
along? I’m asking her to completely turn against the Adventurers’ Guild.
That’s not an easy⁠—
“Okay,” Reya said.
Arwin blinked. “What? You’re not surprised?”
Reya let out a burst of laughter. “I’m not insane, Arwin. No shit I’m
surprised. But… I never knew that much about the Hero. I mean, you were
always off killing demons and stuff on the other side of the kingdom. I
heard people talking about stuff the hero had done, but someone had to do
the hero stuff.”
“I mean, yes. But it was me,” Arwin said, his brow furrowed in
complete confusion. This wasn’t how he’d thought Reya would take the
revelation at all.
“Right. I get that. But everyone is someone. Right now, I don’t really
care who you used to be.” Reya said, walking up to Arwin and putting a
hand on his hunched shoulders. “I can’t even imagine what it must feel like
to have all that power and lose it—but you’re far from just a smith.”
 “I didn’t mean to turn this into a pity-fishing session,” Arwin said,
shaking his head and straightening back up. “But now you know. I was
acting like the Hero, even though I wasn’t him anymore.”
“I don’t think people can change that quickly,” Reya said. “It does make
a lot of things about you make way more sense, though.”
“Is that so?” Arwin asked, a small grin gracing his lips. “Like what?”
“Everything.” Reya waved vaguely in Arwin’s direction. She paused as
a thought struck her, face going pale as a sheet. “Wait. There’s a new Hero
and a new Demon Queen, isn’t there? Doesn’t that mean there’s a chance
the first Demon Queen also survived? What if they team up against the
Hero?”
Arwin squinted at Reya, trying to figure out if she was serious or not.
He felt like it couldn’t possibly have been that big of a stretch to determine
that Lillia wasn’t just really, really into her role of pretending to be a demon
waitress and was an actual demon.
“I don’t think she’ll be a problem,” Arwin said finally. It was one thing
to spill his own secrets, but Lillia’s were hers. Reya would probably figure
it out pretty soon either way. It may have seemed obvious to him, but
nobody in their right mind would expect the Demon Queen and the former
Hero were hanging out together on the same street.
“Oh. That’s good,” Reya said, letting out a sigh. “What about the
Adventurers’ Guild, then? If they betrayed you, doesn’t that mean they were
working with the demons? That’s really, really bad.”
Pretty sure they aren’t working with the demons either. Not in the way
Reya is thinking, at least. Lillia got just as screwed as I did.
“There’s something going on with them, but I don’t know if now is the
time to delve into it,” Arwin said. “There’s another guild that I need to
handle first.”
“The Iron Hounds.” Reya’s face darkened. “I know I’m not as strong as
you, even as a smith, but can’t I somehow help? I know you don’t want me
to fight, but I’m sure I could do something!”
“Yes,” Arwin said. “You can.”
“Just let me do something! I’m not completely incapable—wait. Did
you say I could help?”
“I did. It wasn’t right of me to completely exclude you,” Arwin said.
“You have as much of a right to want to avenge Zeke as I do, but I don’t
want you to die in the process. Revenge only matters if you live through it.
Would you be willing to settle for helping making the armor that Lillia and I
use to take down the people that killed Zeke?”
“I think I’d settle for that as a start,” Reya allowed. “But if there’s more
I can do, I want to do it. I want to see them pay for what they did.”
“It won’t feel the way you think it will,” Arwin warned. “In the end,
they’ll just be dead. Zeke won’t come back.”
“Yeah, but⁠—”
“But what?” Arwin asked. “I’m not going to tell you to forgive them,
but I want you to really think about what you want. The people that killed
Zeke will die—that, I promise you. But what more do you want? Do you
want to drive the blade into their heart yourself? Maybe take your time with
it, make sure they feel all the pain that they made you feel?”
Reya blanched. “I—I don’t know. I just want them to pay.”
“We all do,” Arwin said, rising to his feet. “If you’re still determined to
fight when the time comes, then I’ll see what we can do. Until then,
promise me you won’t try anything on your own and that you’ll stay away
from the Iron Hounds. We do this my way.”
Reya didn’t respond for several seconds as she mulled over his words.
He could tell she still wasn’t happy, but she finally gave him a sharp nod.
“Fine. I won’t. I couldn’t handle them on my own anyway. But… why
do you think Lillia can? She’s just an innkeeper.”
“If you still think people are just anything after speaking with me, then
you need to be more careful,” Arwin said, putting his hand on Reya’s
shoulder. Over her shoulder on the street, Rodrick and Anna stepped out
from an alleyway and headed their way, bearing two pots of mortar.
Reya noticed Arwin’s distraction and turned to follow his gaze. “Oh.
They’re back.”
“If you’ve got more questions, you can ask later,” Arwin said. “Don’t
share what we talked about with them yet. It’s not the right time, and I don’t
want to put undue stress on either of them.”
“Okay,” Reya said, giving him a final nod. Arwin took his hand off her
shoulder just as Rodrick and Anna came to a stop by the open door.
“Not interrupting, are we?” Rodrick asked.
Arwin shook his head. “No. We’ve just finished up. You’ve got good
timing. Did you run the whole way over and back from the market?”
“No comment,” Rodrick replied, stepping through the doorway and
setting the pot of mortar down on the ground beside Arwin. He then held
out the pouch of gold. “Here. Got what you needed.”
“Thank you,” Arwin said. “I can get started, then.”
“How can we help?” Reya asked. “You said I could help forge, right?”
“I need stone to make a hearth before I can do anything,” Arwin said.
“If you could look for stones from the smithy that weren’t completely
destroyed in its collapse, that would be really useful.”
“We can do that,” Rodrick said. They all started for the smithy, but
Rodrick paused in the doorway, blocking Arwin from leaving.
“You’re going to have to move for me to squeeze by you,” Arwin said.
“I’m not that thin.”
“I was just thinking—wouldn’t it be better if you generally stayed
inside?” Rodrick asked. “I haven’t noticed anyone spying on us, but it
might be safest if the Iron Hounds have absolutely no reason to believe you
might still be alive. The fewer prying eyes can figure out you’re here, the
better it is.”
Arwin grimaced. As much as he wanted to dismiss Rodrick’s concerns,
the warrior brought up a good point. He let out a sigh and took a step back.
“Damn it. You’re probably right, but I’m not happy about it. I’ll stay
here, then.”
“We won’t take long,” Rodrick promised, following after Anna and
Reya. Arwin watched him leave, then walked back over to his anvil and sat
down, drumming his foot on the ground.
The last thing he wanted to do right now was be left alone with his
thoughts. They weren’t going anywhere that he wanted them to, but it didn’t
look like he was going to have a choice.
Fortunately, he didn’t have to wait too long. It only took the trio around
an hour to gather all the stone that they’d need and bring it into the room,
stacking it in a pile beside Arwin. Once they had enough to start working
with, Arwin began layering stones on the ground and spreading mortar onto
them.
Reya joined him some time later, and by the time evening rolled around,
the group had a fully built, albeit slightly sloppy, stone dome. It vaguely
resembled an oven and was nowhere near what an actual hearth should have
looked like, but it would work for Arwin’s purposes once the mortar
hardened.
“Now what?” Reya asked, wiping off her dirty hands on her clothes.
“What else can we do?”
 “For today? Eat dinner,” Arwin replied. “One step at a time. I can’t do
anything until the mortar sets. Tomorrow, I think the main thing I’ll need is
supplies. That means either gold or hunting monsters, and I’m not sure
hunting is safe right now.”
“We can do it,” Reya said. “I’m sure we can find a way.”
“What’s more important is not getting killed,” Arwin said gently. “I
know you want to help, Reya. But don’t make me have to avenge two
people instead of just one. For now, we’ve got gold. We can use that. When
I run out—that’s when we can look at alternative ways to get money.”
Reya nodded reluctantly. “Fine. Just make sure you think of something.
I’m not just going to sit around.”
“And neither will we,” Rodrick put in.
“I will,” Arwin promised. “For now, just go get dinner. Lillia will be
disappointed if nobody eats her food, and you aren’t going to do anything
on empty stomachs.”
“What about you?” Anna asked. “You need food as well.”
“Not that kind of food,” Arwin replied, turning to his makeshift forge.
“And I’ve got something else to do.”
“Like what?” Reya frowned. “I thought you couldn’t do anything until
the hearth was ready to work with.”
“I’m not going to forge,” Arwin said, picking up the helmet Zeke had
been working on and running his hand over the burnt surface of the metal.
Deep within, a faint shimmer of intent spoke back to him. The helmet
hungered to be more, and Arwin planned to give it exactly what it wanted.
“I’m going to plan. It’s not something you can help me with.”
Reya and the others exchanged glances.
“Don’t stay up too late. Your own advice goes for you as well,” Rodrick
said, putting a hand around Anna’s shoulders.
Arwin nodded absently as the three of them headed off, closing the
rickety door behind them. His attention was fully focused on the helm in his
hands. He drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly.
“Tell me,” Arwin murmured, his fingertips tingling as he felt for the
faintest traces of the Mesh within the plain, burnt helmet. “What do you
want to be?”
And, deep within the charred, damaged metal, something responded.

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I
nitially, there was nothing but the faintest whisper—the brush of the
breeze across Arwin’s skin—so subtle that even a mouse might have
missed it. From within bloomed a distant, crackling flame.
Arwin flinched back as a wave of emotion slammed into him. Hunger
and heat mixed in a roaring inferno that sprang up within his mind unbidden
with such intensity that he saw fire dance across his temporary forge.
As soon as his hand left the helm, the vision vanished, and silence
crashed back down over him. It did nothing to still his hammering heart.
Arwin took a step back, staring at the plain helm on the ground and pressing
a hand to his chest.
What the hell was that?
Arwin crept closer to the helm, reaching out and brushing the backs of
his fingers across it. There was no response. It was just a piece of metal. He
carefully picked the helm back up, extending his senses toward it once
more.
And then, almost as if it had never left, the faint whisper of wind
returned. Arwin hurriedly set the helm back down on the anvil, not willing
to summon the vision forth again. He wasn’t sure what would happen if he
let it run its course, and he didn’t want to find out until he was actually
ready to forge it anew.
Arwin tucked the helm under his arm and rose to his feet, pushing the
rickety door back to stick his head outside. To his surprise, it was already
well into the night. The moon hung high overhead, over halfway through its
trip back toward the horizon.
How much time did I spend in those visions? It felt like I sank into them
almost instantly, but that clearly isn’t the case.
It was a question for tomorrow. Standing around in the middle of the
night and waiting for someone to see him was a damn fool thing to do, so
he closed the old door and strode toward the tavern.
As usual, the tavern was somehow darker than it was outside. Arwin
squinted as his eyes tried and failed to completely adjust to the dark. The
lanterns had all been snuffed for the night, so the only thing he had to see
was memory.
He worked his way across the common room and up the stairs, moving
slowly to avoid running into anything too loudly and waking someone up.
After successfully completing his ascent and finding his room, Arwin
lowered himself into his bed and lay back, letting his head hit the mattress
with a soft thump.
It wasn’t as dark in his room as it was in the tavern, likely because Lillia
was farther away. And, even though the amount of light was so faint that it
might as well not have been there, it was still enough to bore into Arwin’s
eyes like screws and ward sleep away.
He lay on his back, his mind rebelling against his desire to rest as it ran
through the events of the previous day over and over. Things were only
made worse by the presence of the room just behind him, now devoid of its
occupant.
Arwin gave it another few minutes before cursing softly under his
breath and rolling to his feet, resisting the urge to pound a fist into the bed.
Hands clenched, he headed back down the stairs and into the tavern.
I wish the damn hearth was ready. At least I could do something through
the night instead of just sitting around here like a damned idiot. Can’t sleep.
Can’t work. All I can do is stand around.
He made his way over to the doorway and poked his head out, checking
the position of the moon. It felt like it had been hours, but somehow, the
shimmering sphere of silver had only inched ever so slightly across the sky.
Figures.
Arwin turned back, then nearly jumped straight out of his skin as he saw
something shift in the shadows. He was halfway to summoning Verdant
Blaze to his hands when a shimmer of pale moonlight forced its way
through the darkness, just enough to illuminate purple skin.
“Why are you awake?” Arwin asked in a hushed whisper.
“The same reason you are,” Lillia replied dryly. “The light isn’t going to
help you sleep any better, though.”
“I’m not sure the darkness will either.”
“I’ve got something that might,” Lillia said. Arwin could just barely
pick up the flickers of movement as she walked across the tavern and into
the kitchen. He hesitated for a moment, then followed after her into the
darkness.
The faint trickle of liquid pouring into a mug led him toward the back of
the long kitchen, but it took him a little too far, and he nearly walked
straight into her before she stopped him with a hand on his chest.
“Here,” Lillia said.
“I have no idea where here is.”
Lillia’s hand found his and pushed a small cup into it.
“What is this?” Arwin asked, raising it to his lips and sniffing at it. His
nose scrunched and he almost doubled over coughing at the strong scent—
berries, mixed with a sour undertone like the greenest apple.
“Painful,” Lillia said, a note of humor in her voice.
Arwin shrugged, then tipped the cup back, draining it in one go. Fire
stung his throat and worked through his chest like the fingers of a vengeful
ghost. Arwin suppressed a cough, barely able to notice the faint but pleasant
aftertaste.
“Okay, now I really want to know what that was.”
“Something new I figured out,” Lillia replied. “Cider. I think.”
“How is this going to help me sleep? I feel like I swallowed hot coal.
Tasty coal, admittedly, but still coal.”
“You’re thinking about it instead of other things, aren’t you?”
Arwin paused. Lillia wasn’t wrong, and she took his lack of answer as
affirmation.
“Unfortunately, it’s far from a cure,” Lillia said. “It just makes sitting
around a little more tolerable.”
“I don’t suppose you’ve got more of that?”
“Gave you the last of it.”
“Sorry.”
A shift in the darkness marked what Arwin suspected to be a shrug.
 “I wouldn’t have given it to you if I was going to drink it myself. I’m
pretty sure it’s poisonous.”
Arwin almost laughed. “You fed me poison?”
“You eat magic. You’ll live. It’s only mild poison.”
Her footsteps headed off in the direction of her room, then paused.
Arwin considered heading back to the tavern and trying to sit at the counter
and wait for the morning to come, but that idea sounded about as appealing
as trying to go back to bed.
He followed after Lillia, and her steps resumed a second later. Her
actual room was even darker than the rest of the tavern, and he only
managed to find where she was by following the rustle of straw.
“I’m not going to sit on anything important, am I?” Arwin asked. “I’ve
got no blasted idea where I am.”
“You’re fine. Just straw.”
Arwin sat down on the makeshift mattress, then scooted back until his
back was pressed against the wall. Lillia shifted beside him, copying his
position. Neither of them spoke for several minutes.
“Of all the situations I would have seen in the future, I think this is the
one farthest from anything I could have pictured,” Lillia said, breaking the
silence.
Arwin grunted. “Tell me about it. I think the world got twisted on its
head some time ago and nothing has been right since.”
“I don’t suppose anyone is going to twist it back?”
“I’m not sure if I want them to,” Arwin admitted. “If anything, I feel
bad for our replacements. I wonder if they’re the same as we were.”
“It took us years to finally kill each other. I figure they can last until we
get around to figuring that out ourselves,” Lillia said.
“Lofty goals,” Arwin said, shifting to try and get more comfortable. The
wall was a little colder than he’d thought it would be, but it was better than
just sitting without support—and he wasn’t about to sprawl out on Lillia’s
bed. “We’ve got to deal with our much smaller problems before we can
even think about going up against the Adventurers’ Guild.”
“We will,” Lillia said, a note of steel entering her voice. “It might not be
soon, but we will. They’ll get what’s coming to them—just like the Iron
Hounds will.”
“Except sooner rather than later for them. The new hearth will be ready
tomorrow,” Arwin said. “And I think I know how I’m going to forge my
helmet. I’ll start on your armor after that. We’ll have to deal with them
before the wyrm horde, or the entire city is going to have much bigger
problems.”
“That could be the best time to strike,” Lillia pointed out. “Chaos makes
it difficult to react. The larger the organization, the worse it’ll be.”
“Maybe,” Arwin agreed. “But I don’t want to let anyone else die. Not if
I can help it.”
Lillia let out a soft laugh. “Still the Hero, even without the class. Using
the Horde would be distasteful anyway. I want them to know why they died,
not cut them down in the midst of panic.”
Arwin was pretty sure he should have warned Lillia off getting too
caught up in revenge, but he couldn’t help but feel the same way. He let out
a huff. After everything he’d told Reya, he was still nothing more than a
hypocrite.
Arwin shifted again, and his shoulder brushed against Lillia’s in the
darkness. Her arm was much warmer than the cold wall pressed against his
back. Before Arwin could pull his arm back and apologize, she leaned
slightly into him.
Neither of them said anything. They’d already spent all the words they
had to share for the night, and now all that remained was the night and their
looming thoughts. But, as Arwin’s breathing slowed, he couldn’t help but
wonder if Lillia’s drink had been a little more effective than she’d said.
He still wasn’t anywhere near falling asleep, and his heart still ached for
what could have been, but the faintest flicker of warmth split through the
cold, bringing with it the promise of solace.
It wasn’t much, but it was enough to get through the night.

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s it always did, the morning eventually came. Arwin had no clue how
Lillia knew, but she stirred from her spot beside him, quietly rising to
her feet. Blinking himself out of the trance state that stood between
sleep and awareness, Arwin stood as well. He took care to move slowly, not
wanting to accidentally headbutt Lillia on the way up.
“Are you going to need help with anything today?” Lillia asked.
Arwin shook his head. “No. It’ll probably take me the whole day to
make my helmet, and that’s something I’m best off doing alone. Maybe
keep Reya occupied somehow so she doesn’t feel like she’s just wasting
time?”
“I can do that,” Lillia said. “Just don’t forget to bring me in to help
when it’s time for my own armor. I don’t like sitting around and doing
nothing any more than she does—and right now, unless we go hunting, I’m
not going to have a whole lot I can do other than sit.”
“I won’t forget,” Arwin promised. He found the wall with a hand, using
it to guide himself out through the kitchen and out into the dining room.
Lillia followed behind him, lighting the lanterns to bring some light into the
building.
A glance out the doorway told Arwin that the morning was still young,
so he crept up the stairs to avoid waking anyone on his way to retrieve the
burnt helmet. Armed with what he needed, Arwin headed back down and
out the door, nodding to Lillia as he left.
 He wasn’t sure how to feel about the previous night or even if he was
allowed to feel anything at all. For the time being, his feelings didn’t matter.
The only thing that mattered was outfitting himself and his allies.
Setting out into the street, Arwin glanced around to make sure he
couldn’t see anyone lying in wait before stepping out. He kept to the
darkness that hid from the rising sun at the edges of buildings, making his
way across the street and into his temporary forge.
Someone had brought a barrel into it. He walked up, peering inside, to
find it full of water. A sad smile passed over his features. He’d finally
gotten a proper quenching station, but Zeke wasn’t around to see it.
Arwin took a deep breath and let it out slowly, centering himself. His
makeshift hearth and anvil waited for him, along with all the metal that he’d
managed to salvage. He ran a hand along the stone, feeling the mortar. It
still wasn’t completely set, but it would be enough. He didn’t have the
patience to wait any longer.
Summoning a ball of [Soul Flame] to his hand, Arwin tossed it into the
hearth. Without any wood to burn, he had to use considerably more than he
normally did, filling the mouth of the hearth with a crackling, hungry flame.
He stared into the depths of the fire, then drew in a deep breath. As he
exhaled, he sat down on the edge of his anvil and set the helm on his lap.
Arwin ran his fingers along its rough, charred surface, letting himself sink
into a reverie.
“I’m listening,” Arwin whispered.
And, as it had the previous day, the helm replied. A whisper of wind
danced across his arms and crawled up his back, followed shortly thereafter
by the growing crackle of fire. This time, though, Arwin didn’t shy away
from it.
He remained still in rapt attention as the flame spread through his mind,
growing until it swallowed his view of the room entirely. His own body
faded until the only thing that remained was the helm in a sea of flame.
The helm—and its desires. They slammed into Arwin like a crashing
tsunami, nearly overwhelming his mind in a deluge of information.
Not all of it was useful. There were flashes of hunger and the intense
feeling of burning mixed in with a deep-seated conviction. The helmet
wanted to be greater than it was, and he was just the vessel through which it
could make its wants manifest.
 Arwin had been expecting the helm to give him some form of indication
as to its shape or how to make it, but what he received instead was
knowledge of the helm itself. He learned of the metal that had been used to
make it.
How it had been mined from a local quarry and stolen by a bandit on the
way over to Milten, only to be confiscated by a corrupt guard who sold it to
the very smith who had originally bought it.
He saw himself forging it into a helm and felt the metal’s
disappointment that it would not become what it sought to be. And then he
saw Zeke. The excited nervousness burning in the boy’s eyes as he worked
through the night, attaching the horns to the helm—but not just that. His
passion was like fuel, flooding into the metal and infusing its very being.
It wasn’t a work of art, but Zeke had given it the desire to be one. And,
in that burgeoning joy, right in the middle of the promise that Zeke had
been making to the helm, there was an inferno.
The helm’s future had been stolen from it. It burned away in the fire that
scorched and warped its form, and the helm felt rage. The promise had been
ripped away. The emotion was so intense that Arwin could feel it bubbling
within his own chest like an overflowing cauldron.
There was no doubt in Arwin’s mind that the helm was just a piece of
metal. It was not sentient or sapient, but it had picked up on the
environments it had passed through. It carried with it the desires and stories
of everyone who had worked with it, and it was from those that its desires
were born.
And, through him, they would become reality.
Arwin drew in a sharp breath and his eyes snapped open, the vision
vanishing. He sat in the center of the room once more, cold sweat streaking
down his back and his muscles tensed. Arwin’s hand ran along the helmet,
but he didn’t need to hear it speak again.
He knew what he had to do. Arwin summoned Verdant Blaze to his
hands, then set the already-burnt helm into the awaiting maw of the [Soul
Flame]. As it started to heat, Arwin infused Verdant Blaze with the same
ability.
Taking out his mask, Arwin set it at the edge of the flames. He headed
over to some of the warped scraps and took a piece of the ivory metal,
placing it into the fire beside the helm. His fingers drummed against the
side of his leg as he waited for the metal to get hot enough to work with.
 Without a bellows, it took longer than Arwin would have liked. It
probably wouldn’t have grown hot enough at all if he hadn’t been using the
enhanced powers of his [Soul Flame]. But, soon enough, the metal turned
from a cherry red to a deep golden orange.
Arwin took the warped metal out first, hammering it back into a sheet.
Every blow of Verdant Blaze sent up a puff of [Soul Flame], driving the
impurities from the metal. Black flakes fell away from it with every blow.
Arwin then returned the plate to the fire for long enough to let it
completely reheat. He set his hammer down and, grabbing the metal with
both hands, pulled it apart into two pieces. Setting one of them to the side,
Arwin used his hands to start forming the metal into a horn.
He didn’t pay attention to the time as it passed and barely even paused
to breathe. His entire being was completely and utterly focused on
executing the helmet’s desires. The first horn took form and a second one
followed after it. Arwin put details into them by pressing his fingernails into
the molten metal, creating a spiral that ran from the tip to the base.
With the horns complete, Arwin took the heated helm and hammered it
flat, removing the impurities from it before forming it once more. He
formed it with his own head, using his resistance to heat created by his own
[Soul Flame] to his advantage.
Arwin attached the ivory horns he’d made to the top of the helm, then
added another piece of ivory scrap to the flame. Once it had heated, he set
the helm aside to hammer the new piece out.
When the impurities had been removed, Arwin ripped the metal apart
with his bare hands, working it into thin strips. Those too went to the side
and he turned his attention to his mask.
Arwin brought it to the helmet, using his hands to press the metal
together. It was a slow, arduous process. He didn’t want to heat the mask so
much that it lost any of its detail—for some reason, keeping it exactly as it
was felt… right.
At the same time, he needed to make sure the metal was completely
attached. He didn’t need it falling apart when a well-placed strike hit it at
the wrong angle. It wasn’t long before his fingers started to ache, but Arwin
was too caught up to slow down.
The tingle of the Mesh started to gather in the helm as he worked, but
Arwin didn’t let it distract him. There was only one thing he was focused on
right now, and it wasn’t the Mesh. It was making the helmet exactly what it
wanted to be. All else took second place. His purpose was just to give the
metal a voice.
When the mask was completely attached to the back of the helm, Arwin
took the strips of metal and started to overlay them onto it, making the
carved details pop with color. He didn’t want anyone who ever saw the
mask to be able to mistake it for something else.
And, with every detail he finished, the Mesh grew stronger. Its buzzing
became a dull roar, swirling into Arwin’s arms and dancing around the helm
with such anticipation that the air felt like it was electrically charged.
Arwin worked the final strip of metal into place, smoothing it out and
setting it in the flame. He took the metal out of the fire and plunged it into
the water.
Steam erupted and water splashed over the edges of the barrel,
splattering against the ground and hissing. Arwin waited until the roiling
bubbles had calmed down before pulling the helm free. He wiped the scale
away from it, and the metal flaked as if it longed to free the helmet from its
prison. Arwin held the finished helm up before his eyes. What stared back
at him was the visage of a demon.
The dull red from the fading heat made its eyes burn with molten fury.
The horns jutted out from the helmet’s sides, deadly sharp and sleek. It was
done, and the Mesh knew it too.
Verdant Blaze hummed at his side as the item grew stronger, having
aided in forming a magical item. Arwin didn’t have a chance to pay it any
more attention as the Mesh’s golden words traced through the air before
him.

[Use Your Head] has been consumed.

[Ivory Executioner’s Howl: Rare[?] Quality] has been forged. Forging
a magical item has granted you energy.
Achievement: [Setting up] has been earned.
[Setting up] – Awarded for forging an item of a Rare Quality set. Effects:
Upgrade one of your existing skills. This achievement will be consumed
immediately.
[Setting up] has been consumed.

For the first time, Arwin almost didn’t want to see the Achievement. He
was far more interested in seeing what he’d just created. He’d had Set items
before, but never at such a low tier. But, no matter the tier, they were always
rare—and generally powerful.
But before he could see his item, he had a skill to upgrade.

[Awaken] (Passive)
[Soul Flame]
[Arsenal]

Decisions, decisions. I’m pretty sure all three would be significant

boosts to my power, and I don’t know when I’ll get my next skill upgrade.
But… which one is the best right now?

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U
pgrading [Awaken] was immensely tempting. The skill was probably
the one with the most potential out of all the ones he had, but he just
didn’t fully know what an awakened item would do yet. Getting
stronger in the future was important, but Arwin needed to be strong now. It
was without a doubt the safest choice—but, at the same time, he could
always reforge items if they turned out detrimental, and he had no way to
know if upgrading the skill would make his awakened items better or just
reduce his chance of a detrimental trait on them.
Then there was [Soul Flame]. It had been the skill Arwin had probably
used the most. He’d gained several ways to use it offensively, and the
previous time he’d upgraded it had given him some pretty significant
boosts. There was a good chance that upgrading it again would make it even
stronger in combat.
It was a very strong candidate—but upgrading [Arsenal] was equally as
tempting. The only thing that gave him pause was that he had absolutely no
idea what upgrading it would actually do. The skill already scaled with his
tier, so upgrading it was unlikely to let him bond with more items.
It’ll probably give me something that directly relates to my items in
some way or another. So, in summary, my options are upgrading future
potential, a mixture of crafting and combat, or pure combat.
Arwin thought for several minutes, not wanting to rush into anything.
As much as he wanted to take [Awaken], the chances of it just giving him a
flat improvement to his crafting abilities that would benefit the long run far
more than the short were too high. He mentally crossed it off the list. He
needed something that would let him fight the Iron Hounds.
Both [Soul Flame] and [Arsenal] would do that, and Arwin honestly
couldn’t decide which one would be better. The former was probably the
safer bet, as he already had several ways to use it and knew that it would
come in handy no matter what.
But, in the end, curiosity ended up winning out. An upgrade to [Soul
Flame] would probably be useful, but Arwin didn’t think it would be useful
enough to make the difference between success and failure in a really
difficult fight.
[Arsenal], on the other hand, was a more combat- and item-focused
ability. Even though he was clueless as to what changing it would do, it was
still the skill most likely to give him something immediately useful. He
would upgrade [Awaken] the next time he got a chance to.
His decision made, Arwin selected the skill. The writing in the air
shifted before him as the Mesh tingled within his body.

[Arsenal] – You live and die on your equipment, so you might as well
make it part of yourself. Bind yourself to [3] pieces of equipment,
summoning and dismissing them at will. The number of equipment pieces
you can bind to scales with your tier, up to a total of 10. Unbinding a
piece of equipment will make this skill inactive for 1 day. You may
temporarily bind yourself to 1 extra piece of equipment after holding it for
an amount of time calculated from the difference between your current
tier and the tier of the item’s holder. Breaking this bond will not
deactivate [Arsenal].

It took Arwin a few seconds to read the new description of [Arsenal],

and then a few more to actually figure out what it meant. The original
function of the skill hadn’t changed at all. It still did exactly the same thing
that it did before, but it now had a new addition.
A temporary binding to an item, particularly that someone else was
holding. That sounded like another way to say that Arwin could functionally
steal someone’s weapon if he managed to get his hands on it for long
enough.
 I can already see how that would be useful. It’s not the direct offense
ability I thought it would be, and everything will depend on how long it
actually takes for me to bond with something. But if the time is within
reason… this could be really nasty.
Arwin wasn’t quite in the mood to grin, so he gave himself a satisfied
nod. If he came across anyone who was a significant enough threat to need
to steal gear from them, it would probably be difficult to hold on to them for
long enough to steal anything. There were always ways to get around
difficulties, though. An extra tool to rely on with the potential to turn a fight
around as drastically as this wasn’t something he was going to complain
about.
But now that the Mesh had loosed him from its grip, Arwin’s attention
was back to what it had been on originally. He peered into his newly formed
helm, and the Mesh bloomed before him for the second time.

Ivory Executioner’s Howl: Rare[?] Quality

Awoken: This item has taken on a life of its own. Forged in an
apprentice’s joy and quenched in his master’s sorrow, this item
resonates with the echoes of the past and burns with fury that may
never be sated.
Molten Gaze: The flame of a broken promise burns within this item.
After this item’s wielder kills an opponent, it will ignite with magical
power and release an aura that hinders the casting of magic nearby.
This effect is magnified with every consecutive kill.
Forged for One: This item was forged specifically for Arwin Tyrr. Its
abilities will not function for any other users.
What Could Have Been: This item’s information is hidden from prying
eyes until the time when it is whole once more.
Armor of the Executioner: This is a set item of [?] pieces. When the
entire set is worn, a concealed property will be unlocked.
?: This item’s potential has not been fully tapped into. Its full potential
and rarity will update upon the completion of its set.

“Would you look at that,” Arwin said, a soft laugh slipping from his
lips. The sides of his eyes prickled as he read the description and he blinked
to clear them. “I guess you were right after all, Zeke. That’s the first time
I’ve made anything better than Average Quality, much less something with
the potential to be even stronger than Rare.”
Well, some of my Unique items were much better than normal Average
items, but Unique isn’t on the rarity scale. It’s an item that can either be
utter shit, incredible, or anything in between. Rare, on the other hand, is a
promise—and it’s a step closer to truly understanding what I’m doing. My
work needs to be replicable, not just one-off creations where I roll the dice
and pray it turns out well.
Arwin slipped the helmet onto his head. It, unsurprisingly, fit perfectly.
He could still tell he was wearing a helmet, but it was far more comfortable
than it had any right being. Arwin looked around the forge, testing his field
of view, but it didn’t seem to be as impaired as it had been when he’d worn
the mask normally.
Unfortunately, it didn’t seem like he’d made the entire Armor of the
Executioner set yet. That was hardly a surprise, as sets were generally at
least three pieces. This one probably needed appropriate greaves and
possibly gauntlets as well to be completed.
Interestingly enough, the Executioner chest plate didn’t say it was part
of a set. Does that mean I need to finish it somehow? Maybe this is actually
a two-part set and the first part just isn’t done yet. I’ve got no clue what I
would do to change it, though.
Arwin reached up to his head and slid the helmet off, holding it under
an arm and standing in silent contemplation for several seconds. If the set
had said how many items it was, he’d have been tempted to figure out how
to make the correct chest piece.
But that wasn’t how life worked. The set might have been two pieces,
and it might have been six. There was always a chance it needed rings as
well—he just didn’t know, and that meant that focusing on trying to
complete it would be a huge gamble.
I can work on the set after I get armor for Lillia. We don’t have much
time before the wyrms are born—hell, we don’t even have an exact date.
The Iron Hounds need to be dealt with sooner rather than later.
Arwin focused on the helm in his hands. It was in his own possession,
but that didn’t mean he couldn’t test out the new ability he’d gotten from
[Arsenal]. His fingers warmed as the Mesh tingled, and he counted down
three seconds in his head before he felt a faint pop in his mind.
 With a thought, the helmet vanished from Arwin’s hands. He summoned
it back, then placed it on his head and repeated the process. It was just as
seamless as controlling any of the other items he was bound to, but this
connection took longer to establish.
Fair enough. How about breaking it?
That, as it turned out, was instant. The moment Arwin tried to pull his
mind away, his connection to the helm severed, and it materialized on him
like normal. Arwin re-bonded to it and dismissed the helm once more.
Three seconds again. That’s a basis, at least. In a fight, that’s a good bit,
but it’s not impossible.
Sending one last look around his rather pitiful-looking temporary forge,
Arwin stepped out into the street and headed for the tavern. It was already
midday, so he’d lost a fair portion of time sinking into the helm’s visions.
Thank God it didn’t have any detrimental elements. That would have
been absolutely infuriating. Actually, now that I think about it, I have no
clue if it has detrimental elements. It’s not like they’re marked, so the set
ability or the effects of its aura could be bad for me.
Oh well. I’m still using the damn thing. I’ll figure it out soon enough.
For now, I need to fulfill my promise.
Arwin stepped into the tavern, squinting as his eyes adjusted to the
darkness. Reya and Anna both sat at the counter, just barely illuminated by
the lantern hanging beside them. There was no sign of Rodrick, but a
sizzling sound from the kitchen told him that Lillia was cooking something.
“Did you finish?” Reya asked as she spotted him enter, sliding off her
stool.
“Yes,” Arwin said. “For the time being, at least.”
“Then, if you’re here, I assume there might be something else we can do
to help?” Anna guessed, turning to face him and taking a sip from an old
wooden mug. Arwin didn’t recognize it, so either Lillia had gotten a new
cup at some point or it belonged to Anna.
“I’m going to be making something for Lillia, and it might take a few
attempts. I don’t think I’ll be quite as… guided as I was this time around,”
Arwin said, his thoughts drifting to the visions.
The helmet seemed magical, so he wasn’t sure if it had been
[Stonesinger] that had allowed him to get such a vivid picture of what it had
wanted to be, but he wasn’t too confident he’d be able to replicate his
results for anything intentionally. Not yet, at least.
 For the time being, the most important thing he could do would be to
make Lillia the most effective set of armor as quickly as possible. They
didn’t know the exact date the wyrmlings would show up, so that meant he
realistically only had weeks to completely prepare a full set of armor for her
as well as make himself some gauntlets.
“What can we do?” Reya asked. “Do you need materials? We can hunt.”
“We already discussed how that would be a little too dangerous,” Arwin
said with a shake of his head. “But there are a lot of things in the forge that
go faster when I’ve got some assistance. Do you want to help me make
Lillia’s armor? We can have people rotate out.”
Reya gave Arwin a sharp nod. “Yeah. I’m in.”
“Good,” Arwin said, turning on his heel and jerking his chin toward the
street. “We’ve got a lot of work to do and not very much time to do it. There
will be more than enough work for both you and Lillia to help, so you can
aid in the initial parts and she can help finish it off.”
“That works. But… what am I supposed to do? I’ve never worked a
forge before.”
“Whatever I tell you to,” Arwin replied with a flicker of a smile. “Come
on. We’ve got some armor to forge.”

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“S o,” Reya asked, looking around the makeshift forge and shifting from
foot to foot. “Where do we start? Are you going to teach me how to
forge?”
“That would be an interesting idea if we had more time,” Arwin said as
he tossed his [Soul Flame] into the hearth. “Teaching basically forces you to
master topics, so it’s a good way for me to improve as well. Unfortunately, I
don’t think I’m qualified to teach anything.”
“What do you mean? You’re insanely good at making stuff!”
“I don’t think I am, actually.” Arwin headed over to the warped metal
on the ground that had once been a suit of armor and picked it up, placing it
in the hearth to heat. “My class is guiding me.”
“Isn’t that basically the same thing?”
“No,” Arwin said. “It means I’m good at following directions, and that
I’m learning what to do. But, the more I work, the more I realize that
actually understanding what I’m doing and working with a purpose are the
real keys to actually creating something powerful.”
“So you’re not going to teach me?”
Arwin chuckled and put his hand on the metal, rotating it to try to get it
to heat faster and wishing he had a bellows to intensify the [Soul Flame]
faster. “If you decide you want to know more when I get better at it, then
I’d be willing to share. But, until then, I’m going to be focusing on creating
rather than teaching. See, I learned something when I was working with the
helmet that Zeke… left me.”
 Reya’s hands tightened at her sides. “What was it?”
“When I just blindly follow the guidance I get from my materials, I can
make Unique objects,” Arwin said.
“That’s good, isn’t it?”
“It can be,” Arwin allowed. A thought struck him and he almost laughed
as he realized that his theory was even more accurate than he’d initially
thought. Just talking about it to Reya already revealed another aspect that
proved his point. He lifted a hand to his head and his helmet manifested
itself. He took it off and handed it to Reya so she could get a closer look.
“A Rare set item?” Reya asked after a second, her eyes going wide.
“Godspit. That’s incredible.”
“It is,” Arwin said with a nod. “But the thing is, I’ve made a piece of
armor that has a matching name.”
“So you’ve got two matching pieces of a set already?” Reya handed the
helmet back, and Arwin returned it to his head before allowing it to
disappear.
“No,” Arwin said. “That’s the problem. Unique items can turn out shit.
They can turn out great—but no matter what, they’re Unique. You can’t
have a set from them because they’re one of a kind and bordering on
random. Even though it should be a set item, it isn’t.”
“Because you didn’t fully understand what you were doing when you
made it?”
“That’s part of it,” Arwin said with a nod. “It’s not to say that the armor
is bad—it’s actually incredibly strong for our tier. It’s a trade-off, just like
everything else in life. But, if I want to make a set of armor for someone I
want to keep alive…”
“A set might be a lot stronger than a collection of Unique items,” Reya
finished. “I suppose it would be more manageable as well.”
“Most likely. You never know what you’re getting with a Unique item,
and surprises aren’t exactly what I need right now. Getting items that I
know can be trusted to work the same way in every situation is more
important than one that’s technically stronger but has a chance to chew up
all your energy because someone winked in your direction.”
A smile flickered across Reya’s face, and she almost laughed, but
neither of their spirits were quite high enough for that. Not yet.
Arwin nodded to the hearth, where his [Soul Flame] had finally gotten
the piece of metal to a deep orange.
 “We’ll start by beating the impurities out of this until it’s a workable
piece of metal again.”
“Okay,” Reya said. “How do I help?”
If Arwin was entirely honest with himself, he hadn’t fully figured that
out himself yet. He was pretty sure he could have forged everything on his
own, but with the amount he was excluding Reya from the rest of the plan,
it felt right to give her the opportunity to do at least something.
“I’ll let you temporarily take over whenever I need to step back and
think,” Arwin replied. “For now, just watch what I’m doing.”
Reya nodded and Arwin picked up the chunk of heated metal, bringing
it over to the forge. He beckoned for her to back up, then held his hands out
and summoned Verdant Blaze into his grip.
“On second thought,” Arwin said, glancing over to Reya’s clothes. “You
might want to go find something heavy to wear so the sparks don’t burn
you.”
Reya followed Arwin’s eyes, then grimaced. “Okay. I’ll be right back.
You don’t have to wait for me, though. It won’t take long.”
He nodded in response and Reya hurried out of the building while
Arwin got to work. [Soul Flame] pulsed through his hammer as it rang
against metal, flattening the chunk out strike by strike.
It didn’t take long for Arwin to slip into the flow. He was vaguely aware
of Reya’s return sometime later, but he didn’t stop immediately. She still
needed to see what he was doing before she could do anything herself.
He worked for another several minutes, brushing flakes of black away
from the metal before delivering another round of ringing blows to it.
Eventually, the metal started to cool and Arwin returned it to the hearth.
“Pretty straightforward, right?” Arwin asked, wiping the sweat from his
brow with the back of his hand. He wasn’t trying to actually make anything
yet, so he didn’t need to listen to the metal. All he had to do was prepare it.
Reya nodded hesitantly. “I’m not sure I’m going to be able to swing that
big hammer, though.”
Arwin hefted Verdant Blaze, glancing down at it. Now that Reya had
mentioned it, he wasn’t so sure that the weapon would even allow her to
swing it. When he’d worked with Zeke, the boy had used his old hammer.
“I’ll help you,” Arwin said. “You’ll need to learn how to swing the
hammer anyway. It’s not as easy as it looks.”
“I never thought it looked easy.”
 Arwin took the metal back out of the forge and set it on the anvil. He
beckoned Reya over.
“Here. Try to hold on to this, but… not too hard. It’s somewhat bonded
to me, so it’s possible it might not like someone else touching it.”
“That doesn’t sound very safe.”
“Only one way to find out,” Arwin said, hoisting the hammer and giving
it a pointed look. “Just touch it slowly. I think it should register that I’m
letting you use it and you aren’t trying to steal it.”
“Should?” Despite her doubt, Reya walked to stand beside Arwin. She
brushed the back of a hand across the shaft of the weapon. When nothing
happened, she slowly reached out and wrapped her hands around it.
“See?” Arwin asked, slightly more relieved that she hadn’t gotten
burned than he cared to admit. It had still been a possibility, and even if
Anna could have healed a burn without too much trouble, it still would have
been very unfortunate.
“Right. So what do I do?”
Arwin moved behind Reya, adjusting her grip on the hammer. “Try to
lift it. See how it feels.”
Reya raised the weapon, then shifted her stance to improve her stability.
She let out a surprised grunt. “It’s so much lighter than I thought it would
be.”
“Don’t let it get away from you,” Arwin warned. “It still hits like a bull.
Start out swinging it a bit less than you think you need to. The hammer is
heavy enough to do a lot of the swing for you, and we’re only trying to
work the impurities out of the metal right now.”
“Okay. Do I swing now?”
“Go for it,” Arwin said, keeping a light hold on the back of the hammer.
Even if it was tolerating her now, he didn’t want it to burn Reya the moment
he let go.
Reya raised the hammer, then brought it down on the metal with a
resounding clang. She glanced at Arwin over her shoulder and he gave her
an encouraging nod.
“One down. A few hundred more to go. Keep at it.”
Reya got tired. If anything, she managed to keep at it for longer than Arwin
had expected. She was half his size and had considerably less muscle, so
swinging a hammer for hours on end was exhausting.
He’d fully thought that he’d have to take over before the metal was
ready to start working with, but he’d been incorrect. Reya managed to
completely finish working the impurities out of the Brightsteel sheet they’d
been preparing, not stopping until Arwin had judged it finished.
“Well done,” Arwin said as Reya returned full control of the hammer to
him.
“Thanks,” Reya said with a weary smile. “It… feels good. To be able to
do something.”
“You’ll be able to do more in the future,” Arwin promised. “But, for
now, this is more than enough. Thank you. It gave me some time to rest.”
“Do you even need rest?”
“Everyone needs rest,” Arwin replied. “Even me.”
Reya’s stomach grumbled and her cheeks reddened.
“Might be time to get some food,” Arwin suggested, nudging her toward
the door. “Could you send Rodrick over as well? I’ve got a favor I’d like to
ask from him, and I’d imagine he probably wants to do something just as
much as you did. Also, if you can get me some leather at some point, that
would be really useful as well.”
“Yeah, I can do that,” Reya said. She paused at the door and sent a
glance back at Arwin. “Thanks. It feels nice to be able to do something. I
just wish I could do more.”
With that, she stepped out onto the street and headed off. Arwin picked
up the large sheet of metal that she’d hammered out, watching the light
reflect off the shimmering steel, and sighed.
I wanted a relaxing retirement, but I don’t think that’s going to be
happening anytime soon. If I want peace, I need to be strong. This wasn’t
the way I wanted to be reminded that I’m really not the Hero anymore, but
I’m not going to be forgetting it anytime soon.
The door creaked and Arwin turned as Rodrick stepped into the
building.
“Arwin. Reya said you needed help?” Rodrick asked. “I’m not sure how
much I’m going to be able to help with smith stuff, but I’ll do what I can.”
“Oh, I don’t need any help with that right now,” Arwin said. “I need
something else.”
 Rodrick blinked. “Really? What?”
“The Iron Hounds don’t know you beyond someone who just happened
to buy gear from me,” Arwin said, “and I don’t want to spend all this time
making armor only to find out I have no idea how to find them.”
“So you want me to sniff ’em out?”
“Yeah. Starting with Tix,” Arwin said, his features going flat. “She’s
involved, but I don’t know who else is.”
“I’ll find out,” Rodrick promised. “That shouldn’t be too hard.”
“Just Tix.” Arwin shook his head. “Anything more is suspicious. Just
figure out where Tix is and see if you can find out where she normally
spends time. I don’t want you getting gutted in a back alley.”
“Got it,” Rodrick said, giving Arwin a sharp nod. “I’ll find her.”
“Just be careful,” Arwin said. “I don’t want any more of us dying. Oh,
while you head out, could you find Lillia and send her over? She wanted to
help on the armor. And maybe let Anna know you’re going so she doesn’t
tear my head off.”
Rodrick let out a bark of dry laughter. “Oh, don’t worry. I will. I’ll get
Lillia as well. And I might not be the best warrior yet, but I’m damn good at
bullshitting. I’ll have Tix’s location, hobbies, and favorite food for you in a
day.”
Arwin’s hands tightened around Verdant Blaze. “Just her location will
be more than enough.”

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A
fter Rodrick left, Arwin got back to work. He reheated and split the
sheet of metal apart into workable pieces, then started to think about
how he would form them into armor. He ran his hands over the metal
sheets, trying to feel if any of them had desires that [Stonesinger] would
pick up on. To his disappointment, there was no such luck.
It wasn’t a surprise, though.
That’s fine. It would be weird if I got such an intense vision every single
time I tried to craft anything.
“I’ll be more forthright, then,” Arwin told the sheets of metal. “Do you
want to be a chest piece?”
He didn’t get a response. The metal seemed largely indifferent, but it
definitely wanted to be something. It wasn’t exactly a resounding round of
applause, but it was the best he had to work with for the time being.
Even if I can’t get Lillia the best set of armor to ever exist, even
something would be better than nothing. Might as well get started with
things and see where they take me. I’ve done all the diligence I can to
hopefully make sure this is a high-quality piece, but something tells me it
isn’t going to turn out any better than Average.
Arwin set the metal back down, his forehead creased in thought. There
was no answer waiting for him beyond the one that he would find when he
finished the piece. He would have much preferred to have been doing this
under different circumstances, but nobody could ever choose the hand the
world dealt to them. The only thing anyone could ever truly have control
over was the way they played their cards.
I should go find Lillia and find out her thoughts. I wonder where she is.
I swear Rodrick went to get her ages ago.
Arwin turned away from the anvil, only to find that he wasn’t alone in
the room. Lillia sat against the back wall, watching him work silently. His
heart nearly jumped out of his throat, and Arwin coughed into his fist to
hide his shock.
“I didn’t realize you were already there.”
“You really get into a flow state, don’t you?” Lillia asked with a small
laugh. “I’ve been here for at least an hour.”
“Hiding?” Arwin asked hopefully.
“Not even slightly. Just walked right in and sat down.” Lillia shifted and
stood up, brushing the dust off her backside off as she walked over to look
at what Arwin had been working on. “It’s pretty.”
“Just a piece of metal right now. I’m just hoping it doesn’t get a
detrimental trait and end up being useless. Then again, I could always
reforge it.”
“You can’t control them either, huh?” Lillia asked.
“Either?” Arwin blinked. “I didn’t realize you had more than just
straight buffs from your class.”
“Eh. They kind of vary, but they change day to day based on the food
I’ve made and the people in the tavern,” Lillia said. “I haven’t really figured
out what the metrics are, though. I thought it would be directly related to
how good my food was, but I’ve gotten some shit buffs when I’ve made
some of my best dishes. At least, I thought they were my best. I don’t know.
It feels like I’m trying to decode a message without a cipher.”
“Tell me about it,” Arwin said. “Right now, my biggest problem is
figuring out how to actually make this. I can’t just let the Mesh guide me,
but I can’t completely freehand it either. What do you think?”
Just accepting what I get is a great way to get stuck only making Unique
items and never being able to guarantee exactly what I need.
“Me?” Lillia blinked. “I’m not a smith.”
“Well, yeah. But it’s your armor, and it’s going to be pretty unique. No
guiding thoughts?”
“How close to leather can you get a piece of armor? Something that
doesn’t obstruct my movements would be best, I guess,” Lillia said, rubbing
her chin. “I know that really isn’t all that useful.”
Arwin focused his thoughts on trying to make something lighter—
something specifically for Lillia. He’d done it for Reya, although to a lesser
degree of intention. He didn’t just need something that would fit on Lillia.
He needed something that was made for her. An idea started to take form.
Focus on defending vital areas while leaving the others with thinner
layers of metal. That would take some weight off the armor, even if it
doesn’t end up getting the enchantments I’m hoping for.
Arwin turned to Lillia and held out his hammer. She took a hold of it,
but Arwin didn’t let go. He adjusted her grip on the weapon’s haft, and she
stiffened for a moment before turning her gaze to the metal.
“So how do I do this?”
“Swing it where I tell you to,” Arwin replied, returning the metal to the
fire to heat it. He moved to stand behind her. “I’ll help you guide the
hammer. We’ll start slowly and you’ll figure it out from there.”

Lillia let out a grunt that Arwin presumed to be a sound of understanding

and not confusion. It might not have been the most efficient way to do
things, but it was the best way he could think to let her help without letting
matters get too off the tracks—and he could still effectively control where
the hammer fell, so there wouldn't be a risk of poor-quality forging. Not any
poorer than normal, at least.
“Just tell me where to hit once the metal is ready,” Lillia said.

Hours slipped by. It would have been a lie to claim they were the most
efficient team. Beating a piece of metal to get rid of impurities was one
thing. Fine-shaping was another. Still, they made progress, and it felt far
better than Arwin suspected it would have if he did it on his own.
They eventually found themselves rewarded with a chest piece that
actually looked like it held a good amount of promise. It was thin and sleek,
with so little metal in some portions that he was a little worried it would be
too thin. All the vital areas had extra layers hammered in over them, giving
the armor rippling waves like it was a sculpture of the ocean. It was nearly
finished and was only awaiting the final touches before the Mesh could
enter it.
Arwin had intentionally ignored some of the Mesh’s suggestions that
would have made the armor heftier and more effective—while also taking it
further away from what Lillia had wanted. The result seemed like it had
worked, but doubt still lingered in his mind.
Are our changes actually going to make this better? Or is it just
arrogance that I know better than the Mesh? I feel like trying to improve
myself is the right strategy. There’s no way the Mesh would give me a class
where I just sit and follow directions. Creating something is about doing it
yourself.
But, at the same time, are we just ignoring what the metal actually
wants to be?
“What do you think?” Arwin asked.
“It looks beautiful,” Lillia said. “As nice as a lot of the armor I wore
before the explosion. Maybe nicer than some. I can’t believe we made that.”
“Well, let’s let it cool for a bit so you don’t get burned. I’m immune to
the heat from my [Soul Flame], but you certainly aren’t,” Arwin said,
setting the armor to the side. “Do you mind sitting around for a bit while I
make a meal?”
It hasn’t been that long since I last ate something magical, but better
safe than sorry.
“A meal? You mean⁠—”
“Yeah,” Arwin said. “A magical item to eat. Probably a bracelet.”
He still had the bracelet he’d made some time ago while Zeke had
watched, but its abilities were a little too useful to waste on a normal meal
if he could avoid it. There was a different plan in store for that particular
bracelet.
“I’d love nothing more,” Lillia said, gesturing eagerly. “It’s basically
cooking. Well, not really. But for you it is. Go on. I’ll watch.”
She was a bit more eager than Arwin had expected, but he didn’t let that
stop him. He took some other metal and set about fashioning it into a
bracelet over the course of the next thirty or so minutes. His reward was an
Average Quality bracelet with a [Brittle] detrimental trait, but Verdant Blaze
didn’t even recognize its formation. It wasn’t a bad bracelet, but Arwin got
the sinking suspicion that Awoken weapons worked the same way that
people did.
 If it didn’t have at least some degree of challenge in forging something,
the weapon wouldn’t grow stronger. It only cared about improving. Given
how the Mesh worked, that really wasn’t all that much of a surprise, but it
was still a mild annoyance.
Arwin bit into the bracelet, making a mental note to avoid getting hit
anytime in the near future. He really didn’t want to find out what [Brittle]
would do to him if he got smacked.
“Weird,” Lillia proclaimed.
“Thank you,” Arwin said with a chuckle. “If it makes you feel better, it
doesn’t taste very good. Just… metal.”
“So my food is better?”
“I don’t think there’s a contest. The only reason I eat this is that I need
to.”
“I suppose that’s a fair reason, so I can let you slide,” Lillia said with a
wry smile. She nodded over to the armor. “Do you think that’s ready to try
on now?”
“I’d say so,” Arwin said, testing it with the back of a hand. He picked
up the armor and held it out to her. “Let’s see how it fits on you, shall we?”

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 72

L
illia slipped the armor on. Her nose scrunched as she tried to contort
herself to grab the clasps.
“Here,” Arwin said, stepping up beside her and tightening the
clasps himself as she lifted her arm out of his way. “I suppose that might be
a bit of a design flaw. It would be nice if the armor wasn’t a two-person job
to put on.”
He walked to the other side, and Lillia held her other arm up so he could
finish securing everything. Once he finished, he took a step back and gave
her a nod.
“It fits well,” Lillia said, twisting her upper body to test her range of
motion. “How’d we guess my size that easily? Did you just eyeball it?”
“The Mesh helped,” Arwin admitted. “Does it feel too stiff?”
Lillia bent forward, reaching for her toes, then straightened back up and
frowned. “I’m not sure if stiff is the right word. I mean, it’s armor. Armor is
rarely going to give you 100 percent of the mobility you had, even if it can
get a lot of it. It’s a tad restrictive, but not the worst of what I’ve worn.”
“What about weight?”
“That might be a bit of a larger problem. This is a lot better than I was
expecting. It’s pretty damn light, but if I add on greaves, a helm, gauntlets,
and the rest, it might become a lot. My new class is really more of a caster
than a warrior, and too much restriction might be more of a drawback than
an aid. It’s better for me not to get hit than to get hit and survive it, you
know? I’m worried being weighed down too much will stop me from
avoiding attacks.”
“Yeah,” Arwin said, rubbing his chin in thought. “You didn’t manage to
keep any of the strength or movement passives from your past, then?”
“The only things I kept were the shadow manipulation and my imps,”
Lillia said. She hesitated for a moment, then sighed. “And the darkness that
seems to follow me around like a thundercloud.”
“It’s not so bad once you get used to it,” Arwin said. “It’s atmospheric—
and it definitely makes it easier to sleep. Once you get your tavern open,
people are going to come flocking.”
“Maybe,” Lillia said noncommittally. “That’s not going to happen if we
never get a damn chance to breathe, though. First the Iron Hounds, then the
wyrms. What next? There’s always something.”
“Then we’ll find a way to make time in between the shitshow,” Arwin
said. “I’m not abandoning smithing, and the wyrm isn’t completely
counterintuitive to what we want for ourselves. I can’t imagine wyrm meat
has been eaten in this area often. Being able to serve it up could bring you
some customers—and I want its scales.”
“Yeah,” Lillia mused. She walked in a circle, testing out the weight of
the armor like it was a new pair of shoes. “That’s true. We have to make it
there without somehow getting this entire street destroyed, though.”
“Once we’re stronger, that won’t be as much of a problem. It doesn’t
look like this area has anyone much beyond Journeyman tier right now,”
Arwin said. “That obviously might not be the case forever, but as long as
we can get to the point where we can contest people at that level, we’ll be
fine.”
“Right,” Lillia said dryly, coming to a stop beside Arwin. “I mean, we
could probably rush to Journeyman, but the drawbacks⁠—”
“Aren’t worth it. We aren’t just playing the short game anymore,”
Arwin said. He gently moved Lillia’s arm out of the way and started
unfastening the armor. “It’s fine. There are ways we can deal with a
Journeyman or two. I doubt they’ve got nearly as much gear as we do.”
“Fair point.” Lillia held her hands up and Arwin pulled the armor off
her, setting it back down on the anvil. She adjusted her shirt, giving him a
small nod. “Thanks.”
“Any modification requests beyond how stiff it felt?”
 “I don’t know. It would be great if it was lighter, but honestly, it seems
fantastic even without any magic,” Lillia said after a few more seconds of
thought. “There really isn’t something I feel I could fairly ask for.”
“What about unfairly?” Arwin asked.
“That would be something I’m not sure anyone can give me.” Lillia
laughed and shook her head. “This is more than enough, Arwin. If anything,
just make sure the greaves are on the lighter side.”
“I can do that,” Arwin said, but his eyes were still on the armor. Lillia
didn’t think it could get much more flexible, but he wasn’t so sure.
What if I combine some of the elements of the scale mail and this?
Couldn’t I make something that gives her a little more freedom of
movement?
“What’s that look on your face?” Lillia asked.
If I turn this solid piece into a bunch of segments from the upper chest
down, I think this should be much more maneuverable. I’d have to basically
take all the leatherwork apart and then cut the armor into pieces, though…
“I just had a bit of an idea.”
“Well? Are you going to tell me what it is?” Lillia asked. “Or are you
just going to make me stare at you?”
“Sorry. I was still processing it. What if we completely modify the
armor? Take it apart, strip it down—basically scrap the last few hours of
work and treat them as a learning experience. Then we remake the armor in
sliding segments that you can move in easier.”
Lillia blinked. “Sliding—huh. Interesting. I’m for it. It’s not like I’ve
got anything better to do.”
Arwin agreed. He had no interest in making anything but the best
product possible. If that meant he had to scrap the last few hours of work
and fix it, then so be it.
He used [Scourge] to pry out the bolts holding the leather in,
occasionally bringing the armor to the hearth to heat it and make the metal
easier to work with. It was slow, generally annoying work, as he wanted to
be able to reuse the leather after he made the modifications to the armor.
But, eventually, he got all the leather separated and laid out on top of
the stack. Arwin studied the metal, thinking on what the best way to split it
apart would be. Something sharp would have been great, but most of his
new tools had been destroyed by the magical fire.
 I don’t think the knife I made Lillia is going to be too useful either. I’d
probably ruin it if I used it for this, so I suppose we’re doing it the old-
fashioned way—with fingers.
Placing the armor into the flame, Arwin waited until it had grown to a
ruddy, glowing orange before activating [Scourge] and pressing his fingers
into it as precisely as he could. He made the smallest set of holes he could
through the metal, working until he’d severed both the front and the back
halves of the chest piece just a few inches below the breast area. Arwin took
the top half of the armor out of the fire and set it to the side.
He then got some more scrap and inserted it into the flame. After letting
it fully heat, Arwin took the scrap out and brought it to the anvil. In his
mind, he could already start to picture the final design of the armor. He had
absolutely no idea if it would actually work, but it felt fine in his mental
image.
“Your turn again,” Arwin said, holding the hammer out to Lillia. “I need
to hammer this piece out.”
“Gladly.” Lillia took hold of the hammer. Arwin automatically adjusted
her hands again, then shifted his position to avoid being in the path of the
hammer. If the weapon’s haft wasn’t so long, it probably would have been
impossible to use like this. Even using it as they were now was… awkward
at best. He tried not to think too much about his proximity to Lillia. This
was about making her a powerful set of armor, not about feeling like a
preteen idiot.
“Let’s get started,” Arwin said, guiding the hammer up, and they got to
work striking the metal to flatten it back out. The rhythmic clang of crystal
on metal filled the air.
Over the course of the next thirty or so minutes, they worked the metal
into a flat plate. Sweat dripped down her forehead and soaked into the back
of her shirt as Arwin gently took the hammer from her mid-swing.
“Done?” Lillia asked, wiping her face with the back of a sleeve.
“This step is,” Arwin said with a nod. “Now it’s my turn again.”
He then separated the sheet into thin bands the width of his palm and
quenched and cleaned every piece. He then sized the bands to the armor,
overlaying them on top of each other like the shell of an armadillo.
Arwin studied his design for a minute, making sure everything looked
right before he got about to making pins to secure them, allowing for just
enough movement for the plates to slide without letting them open too far
and leaving an unarmored spot.
Attaching them was slightly more problematic than he’d expected, as
even the slightest mistake in his measurements meant that the bands hung at
an odd angle. He had to redo his work several times, but the armor inched
closer to his goal with every passing minute.
The Mesh fed into him, and he felt energy building at his fingertips the
longer he worked. He worked out the shimmering lights that the Mesh
suggested he fix, but the original design of the armor had been his rather
than from the Mesh. Arwin wasn’t sure if that meant he’d gone too far and
had rebelled against the metal, but it didn’t feel like the metal had exactly
opposed anything he’d done.
It had wanted to be armor, but it hadn’t had a specific desire to be any
kind of armor, so Arwin’s request for it to be armor perfectly made for Lillia
didn’t seem to be too much of a stretch.
At least, I hope it isn’t. If it is, I think I’m going to be completely lost as
to what I’m supposed to do. This armor is either going to prove that the
Mesh wants to guide me but still have me think for myself, or it’s going to
show that I have absolutely no goddamn idea what I’m doing.
Arwin turned to the leather, layering strips of it over the metal bands so
they wouldn’t scrape against each other. He then put in the normal padding
on the chest and shoulder areas, making sure it wouldn’t be too
uncomfortable to wear. He added the straps and the final touches before
finally setting the armor down on the anvil, finished.
The Mesh sparked, then swirled around his fingertips. Verdant Blaze
hummed in approval at Arwin’s side as the Mesh flooded into the newly
made piece of armor.

[Flowing Ocean Chestpiece: Rare Quality] has been forged. Forging a

magical item has granted you energy.
Your tier has raised by 1 level.

“Whoa,” Lillia breathed, unable to hold her silence any longer as she
stepped up beside Arwin and stared at the finished piece of armor. A ripple
of blue traveled across its surface, so faint that Arwin almost missed it.
A wave of weariness wrapped around Arwin, but it didn’t stop the smile
from pulling at his lips.
 I leveled off making that, huh?
You know what? I think this piece might have turned out just how we
wanted it to.

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 73

T
he Mesh and its information about his tier advancing could wait—
right now, the only thing that Arwin cared about was the chest piece
sitting on the anvil before him. He peered at it and golden writing
bloomed before his eyes.

Flowing Ocean Chestplate: Rare Quality

Ebb and Flow: This item flows like a raging river, shifting its defenses
to reduce the damage of a single blow at a time. Repeated strikes in a
short period of time will spread it too thin, causing it to draw high
amounts of magical energy to sustain itself.
Fragile: This item has a high number of joints and moving components.
Powerful blows have a chance of severely damaging it, dampening its
magical effects until repairs can be applied.
Forged for One: This item was forged specifically for Lillian Los. Its
abilities will not function for any other users.
Flowing Ocean Chestpiece: This is a set item of [2] pieces. When the
entire set is worn, a concealed property will be unlocked.
It possesses [1] concealed property.

“Your full name is Lillian Los?” Arwin managed.

Lillia ripped her gaze away from the armor to send a glare at him.
“Why? Got something against it?”
 “No, nothing like that,” Arwin said, raising his hands defensively. “Just
surprised me. For some reason, I never thought…”
“I’d have a last name?” Lillia arched an eyebrow, then shook her head.
“Forget it—we made this, and the first thing you take notice of is that my
name is longer than you thought it was? Something’s wrong with your
head.”
“Well, it didn’t turn out quite how I wanted it to,” Arwin said. “There
are detrimental traits.”
“Bah. Are you kidding?” Lillia asked, picking up the armor. A faint
ripple of dull blue washed through the metal like a wave trapped within.
“You’re talking about the Fragile part? Who cares? The item says it itself—
we’ve got moving pieces in here. There’s no way it would be as solid as a
solid block of metal. That’s the point.”
She pulled it over her head, then sent Arwin an expectant look.
Suppressing a small laugh, Arwin fastened the armor onto her. When he
finished, he took a step back so Lillia could test the armor out.
She twisted to the left and right, then reached down to touch her toes.
Straightening back out, Lillia shook her head in mute disbelief.
“This is ridiculous. It almost feels like a second skin. It’s not stopping
my movements at all,” Lillia said.
“That’s because we stopped it at the shoulders, so you aren’t getting
much of your arms covered,” Arwin said. “It’s not the most defensive piece
of gear I’ve ever made.”
“But it’s a set item,” Lillia pointed out, running a hand along the side of
the armor. “And one you made in just a day. I don’t want to be greedy, but
do you think we could make the other one as well?”
“If you’re certain you don’t want me to reforge that⁠—”
“Don’t even think about it,” Lillia warned, thrusting a finger in Arwin’s
direction. “Don’t touch it. It’s perfect.”
“Fine, fine. I won’t. I’ll see what I can do for the other item,” Arwin
said. “I’m guessing the other part of the set is greaves, but I have no way to
know for sure.”
“It’s a safe bet. Most two-piece sets are a chest piece and greaves,”
Lillia said with a shrug. “Do you need any more supplies?”
Arwin glanced around the forge. He was running a little low on scrap,
but he still wasn’t completely out. He still had some leftover sheets and the
crumpled remains of the other pieces of armor he’d made for the market.
 His supplies of leather were fine as well, thanks to Reya’s delivery.
“I think I’m probably good on just about everything,” Arwin said.
“Rodrick went out a little while ago to figure out where Tix—the woman
from the Iron Hounds—was. Did he return?”
“Yeah. He came by while you were doing some of the solo work on the
armor. He’s got the information you need, but we’ve been holding off on
telling you to avoid distractions,” Lillia said. “Do you want to talk with
him?”
“Not yet,” Arwin said. His hand tightened around the shaft of Verdant
Blaze. “I don’t know if I’d be able to keep myself here if I knew where she
was. I need to get your armor finished, and then we’ll head out afterward—
unless you want me to try and make you gauntlets and a helm as well?”
“I think the two pieces will be more than enough,” Lillia said. Her
cheeks reddened faintly.
“It’s not just for you,” Arwin said. “It’s for Zeke.”
“Oh, I know.” Lillia’s features hardened. “I’m more than aware. That’s
the only reason I’m letting you make me this for free. If it were any other
situation, I’d refuse to accept it until I was making enough to cover your
costs and then some.”
“Your help dealing with these assholes is all I’ll need,” Arwin said.
“And, after that—and once we’ve dealt with the wyrms as well—I want a
damn break.”
Lillia shot Arwin a look that matched what he felt deep inside. The
chances of them getting a break probably weren’t too high, but he’d be
damned if he couldn’t carve out at least a week to relax and live his new life
the way he wanted to.
“I’ll go make something to eat, then,” Lillia said. “If you’re okay with
making the second piece on your own, that is. Smithing is nice, but I feel
like I like cooking more.”
Arwin chuckled. “I can finish up the second piece on my own no
problem, so I certainly won’t object to some food.”
“No,” Lillia agreed with a small smile as she pushed the door open.
“You wouldn’t.”
She stepped outside and let the door swing shut behind her. Arwin
watched the doorway for a few seconds, then looked back to the [Soul
Flame] in his hearth. He drummed his fingers on the hilt of Verdant Blaze,
then dismissed the weapon and reached out to the Mesh.
 Name: Arwin Tyrr
Class: Living Forge (Unique) (Tier: Apprentice 4)

New Skill Choice Available.

[Topple the Strong] has been consumed.
[Better Together] has been consumed.
Two of your skill options have been upgraded.

You may select one of the following skills.

[Overdrive] – The heat of the forge burns in your heart. Let it

free. Temporarily increase your resilience and power as your
muscles are infused with magical power. The duration of this
effect scales with your tier. When this effect ends, the increased
strain on your muscles will hinder you for five times the amount of
time you spent in Overdrive.

[UPGRADED] [Molten Novice] (Passive) – You have spent

enough time working immersed in fire that you have begun to
understand it. Unlock your potential to prepare for the first steps in
the path of Dwarven Forging.

[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.

Arwin’s brow furrowed as he studied the options floating in the air

before him. The Mesh certainly didn’t like making his options easy. All of
the skills—again—were tempting. He could see pretty good use cases for
literally every single one.
[Overdrive] would pair perfectly with [Scourge], making his short-term
fighting abilities even more powerful than they already were. Berserker
skills were, in general, some of the strongest self-buffs due to the
drawbacks that came with them.
The skill doesn’t say just how extensive being “hindered” is, but if its
anything like the skills I once had, it’ll be pretty brutal. I can basically
count myself out of the fight until the debuff wears off.
 As it currently stands, without [Scourge], I still have the benefits of my
armor. I imagine those benefits will only continue to go up so long as I
survive and can keep crafting stronger weapons, but having a winning move
to whip out certainly wouldn’t be amiss.
[Molten Novice] barely has any description at all. From what I can tell,
it literally doesn’t even give me anything yet. It’s clearly a multi-stage
ability that starts from basically nothing but could give me much better
bonuses in the long haul.
That’s an interesting gamble. I don’t get all that many abilities to work
with before the Mesh stops handing them out like candy and makes me
really earn everything, so committing one of them to something that might
not even work… is a big risk. It probably wouldn’t help me at all with the
Iron Hounds.
Then again, it’s not like I’m trying to live purely for killing them. The
Iron Hounds members that had a hand in what happened to Zeke will be
dead soon enough.
That leaves me with [Quench]. Obviously useful for crafting, but
sucking all the heat out of something in a fight could be pretty effective as
well. It’s unfortunate it doesn’t work on something living or I’d take it in a
heartbeat.
Arwin tapped his foot on the ground as he examined all of the abilities.
He wasn’t sure if he was happy that all his options were this beneficial or
annoyed that the choice was going to mean he’d have to always wonder
what he’d missed out on.
And, in thinking that thought, he realized that he’d probably made his
decision. Arwin let out a huff as he gave the other abilities one last look, not
wanting to miss out on something that could come back to bite him later on
down the line.
[Overdrive] was powerful, but it wasn’t the best berserker skill he’d
ever seen. As strong as it would be, he wasn’t sure he wanted to completely
sacrifice future strength for a boost now. [Quench] was also powerful, but
all of his abilities were already leaning toward fire.
While diversifying his strength would be useful, the Mesh expected
people to focus on a motif as they grew stronger. It didn’t force anything,
but having a good vision of exactly what he wanted to be was imperative.
Granted, I’m a smith. Part of smithing is quenching the shit you make,
and relying on a scuffed old barrel is hardly ideal. But… it’s not like there
are any smiths in the world better than the dwarves.
Their gear was some of the best I’ve ever seen, and the more I learn, the
more I realize I probably haven’t seen all that much at all. Even if it doesn’t
give me anything now, I think the potential of [Molten Novice] is just too
high to pass up on.
His mind set, Arwin chose his skill. The Mesh shimmered, then swirled
into new glittering letters.

Your core skills have been chosen.

Arwin waved it away. That was nothing of surprise. He’d gotten his
freebies. From what he remembered as the Hero, his levels from here on out
would provide a variety of things, but they wouldn’t always be skills
anymore. Level 5 would let him choose a skill to specialize in, and
advancing his tier to Journeyman would give him his first class
advancement. After that, every five levels would provide skill-related boons
while the other ones were—well, whatever he managed to wring out of the
Mesh.
He reached out to see if he could feel anything from [Molten Novice].
The skill was a passive, so it wasn’t like he could up and activate it. There
was nothing apparent, but that changed little. He was confident in his
decision. There were only so many things he could take for the immediate
future. He also had to focus on the long term, and the Mesh wouldn’t give
him something completely worthless. Molten Novice would come into play
—probably once he found something related to how the dwarves actually
forged. He made a mental note to keep an eye out for any dwarven forges in
the near future.
Arwin pulled up [Arsenal]. As he’d expected, the skill’s limit had raised
from three pieces of equipment to four. He summoned his helmet, releasing
it from the temporary bond, and established a proper bond with it before
banishing it once more.
He then took a second to study the new skill he’d gotten, but as he had
expected, the passive didn’t seem to be doing anything. Not yet at least.
That’s fine with me. I’ve got some greaves to forge.
And, after that, I have some people to kill.

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 74

L
illia came back with food just as Arwin got ready to start working
again. She rapped on the door after she’d already entered and Arwin
turned, a clump of melted metal in his hands just inches from the
awaiting hearth.
“That was fast,” Arwin said.
“I made something quick because I figured you’d be busy and not want
to get interrupted after you got started. It pisses me off when I get halfway
through a meal and then have to stop to do something else.”
“Has that happened a lot?” Arwin asked, sucking the [Soul Flame] out
of the hearth and setting the metal down. He really didn’t need the food, but
Lillia had made a plate of fried rice that smelled absolutely delicious.
“Surprisingly, yes.”
“Who’s bothering you?” Arwin asked as he accepted the plate from her
with a grateful nod. He dug into the food while waiting for her to respond.
“Oh, it’s not someone,” Lillia admitted reluctantly. “It’s more that I’ve
set fire to the kitchen once or twice. Kind of hard to keep cooking while
everything is burning.”
Arwin’s eyes widened and he almost choked mid-bite. “Recently?”
“Look, I’m used to a much hotter environment, okay?” Lillia said
defensively. “It’s not my fault there’s so much damn wood everywhere. My
old home was all stone. Can’t set fires there unless you really want to. But
here? Sure, there’s some stone. But that doesn’t help when the ceiling is
half wood and everything between you and it is just as hungry for fire as
your customers are for food.”
“I suppose that’s a fair point,” Arwin admitted through a mouthful of
rice. “I didn’t really think about that. Were the houses you lived in that
different from human ones? When you pointed out that we were similar, I
think I kind of just assumed that your cities were the same as well.”
“How did you get this far without ever knowing? I know we’ve fought
in some of my cities before.”
“I never paid that much attention to the décor. I was much more
concerned with killing you, unfortunately. The only thing I really focused
on was my immediate party and finding you as soon as possible. Did you
really pay that much attention to human cities?”
It was a second before Lillia responded. “I… did notice that they burned
rather easily, now that you mention it.”
Arwin grunted, then shoveled more rice into his mouth and swallowed
before speaking again. “So you weren’t any better.”
Lillia rolled her eyes. “Yeah, yeah. Our cities weren’t that similar, but
they were less… fragile, I guess? You use wood in so much, and you have
trees and plants scattered around. Even your people tend to be softer than
monsters. Monsters don’t breed as fast as humans do, but they’re also
considerably stronger on average.”
“So I found,” Arwin said. “But… no trees? Was it just stone and nothing
else?”
“What? No. Don’t get me wrong—some of our cities are beautiful.”
Lillia’s gaze drifted as she sank into memory. “Carvings, statues, all kinds
of art. We just kept it harder for things to get destroyed. For color, a lot of
places would have this beautiful moss.”
“Moss?” It was Arwin’s turn to raise an eyebrow. “The fuzzy green
stuff?”
“Nothing like that rot you’re talking about. The moss I’m talking about
is soft and fuzzy. It absorbs magic and glows with this soft, welcoming
light. It’s hard to describe. You’d only really be able to appreciate it if you
saw it with your own eyes.”
“Huh,” Arwin said. “I guess I’ll keep an eye out for it. I don’t recall
much of it from the battlefields, but I’ll admit that my focus was on other
things at the time.”
 “I doubt you’ll see it anytime soon,” Lillia said with a sad smile. “The
only locations where the moss grows are in monster cities, and there aren’t
any of those in the area.”
Arwin finished off the last of the rice, scraping everything off the plate
and into his mouth before lowering it. “That’s unfortunate. It would have
been nice to see what you were talking about.”
“Not while the war is going on. You’re a human,” Lillia pointed out.
“Great way to get yourself killed.”
“Maybe I could open a human-themed blacksmith.”
Lillia rolled her eyes and took the plate back from Arwin. “Right. Sure.
I’ll let you get back to work, then. I’m still looking forward to those
greaves. If you can actually finish the set, I don’t even know what I would
say.”
“Probably thank you.”
“Oh, get off it.” Lillia pushed the door open, then paused and glanced
back at him. “Good luck, though. And don’t stew on your own for too long.
It’s not good for your health.”
Arwin gave her a small nod. “Thanks. I’ll do my best.”
Lillia headed out onto the street, letting the door swing shut behind her.
Arwin sat there, listening to it creak back and forth until it finally settled
down. He shook his head to clear it, then summoned [Soul Flame] to his
hands and tossed it into the hearth.
The mental break had been nice—and likely needed. He hadn’t realized
quite how muddled his head was getting until after he’d finished eating, but
he was ready to work again. Picking up the piece of warped metal and
setting it into the fire, Arwin settled in to wait for it to grow hot enough to
work with.

Arwin’s hammer rang against metal, and [Soul Flame] washed off from
every strike, illuminating the partially finished greaves before him. After his
conversation with Lillia, he hadn’t stopped working aside from when the
heat got so high that he had to stop and take a drink from the mug of water
that seemed to refill itself whenever he turned his back on it.
 The greaves were coming along well. Arwin and the metal had an
understanding. It still didn’t have any real preference as to what it wanted to
be, but it was more than happy to let him guide a larger portion of the
process.
Arwin made the greaves in a similar manner to how he made the
moving plates on Lillia’s chest armor. By adding segmented plates and
pinning them at the joints, he was able to make the armor surprisingly
flexible.
It still wouldn’t bend too well to the sides, but if someone’s leg was
trying to bend in that direction in the first place, Arwin was pretty sure
they’d have bigger problems.
Making the armor out of so many pieces definitely didn’t do any
wonders for the amount of time it took him to finish it. Normally, Arwin
was fairly confident that he could have completed the work in a day or two.
But, while he wasn’t exactly sure how much time had passed, he was
pretty sure he’d seen night fall through the door at least three times. His
efforts hadn’t been wasted, though. The Mesh tingled with every
modification he made and sang as he quenched and cleaned the metal.
The Mesh pricked his fingertips every time he pressed a bolt into place
and melted it with the heat of his [Soul Flame], and it sang as he inserted
leather from the pile that seemed to refill itself just as much as his water
did.
His work hadn’t gone without trouble—there was a large pile of burnt
leather and damaged metal that Arwin had tossed to the side. The metal
hadn’t agreed with his desires and was no good for the current project, but it
had taken him nearly three hours of working it to realize.
As for the leather—well, he’d learned the hard way that there was only
so long he could stick armor with leather already pinned onto it into the
[Soul Flame]. That had been a mistake that cost him nearly two hours of
reworking and reforging to make sure the armor wasn’t so much as stained
from the mistake, but now he was nearly done.
He tapped at the metal with his hammer, limiting the energy that
emerged from Verdant Blaze to make sure he didn’t do more damage than
he wanted to as he smoothed out the last few imperfections.
The next step was inscribing the metal with his nail. It wasn’t exactly
necessary, but making it completely plain didn’t feel right, especially since
he’d done similar work to the chest piece. If it was going to be part of a set,
it had to look the part.
Arwin reached back, not even looking. His fingers found the water mug,
and he brought it to his lips to take a long drink from it. By this point, he
knew exactly where it was. As always, it had been refilled. He set it back
down, his eyes fixed on the greaves.
Will this be the set item I need? I don’t even want to know how much
time I spent making these greaves. Definitely one of my longest builds, and
not even because it’s that much fancier. That’s just the amount of effort this
set needed.
He wasn’t sure if he’d done everything correctly. Now that the greaves
were nearly done, there were so many things that Arwin already felt like he
could have done better. The inscriptions he was carving into the metal felt
like they weren’t quite smooth enough, and some of the plates felt like they
were just a bit too large or small.
There was no point sitting around and endlessly trying to change the
armor, though. What was done was done. And, as he put the final
inscriptions into the metal and the Mesh’s buzz grew stronger, it struck
Arwin that he probably didn’t have a choice in the matter. Verdant Blaze
shuddered at his side, small arcs of [Soul Flame] crackling off it like
electricity and scorching the ground.
Golden letters swirled forth and Arwin pulled his hands back, able to do
nothing but watch.
The Mesh had acknowledged his item.

[Flowing Ocean Greaves: Rare Quality] has been forged. Forging a

magical item has granted you energy.
Achievement: [Unified] has been earned.
[Unified] – Awarded for forging your first complete set. Effects: Your
set’s concealed property has been upgraded. This achievement has been
consumed upon creation of your first set.

“I did it,” Arwin muttered, barely able to believe his own words. Sure,
he’d been pretty sure his theory of finding a balance between his desires
and the metal’s desires had been correct, but actually seeing it work was a
whole different thing. He waved the Mesh away and peered down at the
greaves.
 Flowing Ocean Greaves: Rare Quality
Ebb and Flow: This item flows like a raging river, shifting its defenses
to reduce the damage of a single blow at a time. Repeated strikes in a
short period of time will spread it too thin, causing it to draw high
amounts of magical energy to sustain itself.
Fragile: This item has a high number of joints and moving components.
Powerful blows have a chance of severely damaging it, dampening its
magical effects until repairs can be applied.
Forged for One: This item was forged specifically for Lillian Los. Its
abilities will not function for any other users.
Armor of the Flowing Ocean: This is a set item of [2] pieces. Its stats
will be concealed when the entire set is worn. When the entire set is
worn, a concealed property will be unlocked. When [Unknown]
circumstances have been met, a concealed property will be unlocked.
It possesses [1] upgraded concealed property.
It possesses [1] concealed property.

Arwin’s eye twitched and he let out a laugh. “You’ve got to be shitting
me.”
He’d made the set even better than he’d planned—and still the Mesh hid
the final abilities from him. At least one of them was only a single Lillia
away from being revealed.
“I hope she likes surprises,” Arwin said, scooping the greaves up and
turning to head back for the tavern.
The wait was over.
Lillia had her equipment, and he didn’t have the patience or time to
spare to make anything else.
The Iron Hounds responsible for Zeke’s death had been living on
borrowed time, and Arwin wasn’t willing to lend them a single second
more.

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 75

“G odspit.” Lillia’s voice came from behind Arwin as he examined the

greaves, and he spun. She was frozen just past the doorway, frozen
halfway through bending over to pick up his mug of water. She was
still wearing the upper half of Flowing Ocean Armor. “You did it.”
“Turned out pretty good, I’d say,” Arwin said, holding the greaves out
so Lillia could get a better look at them. “They’re not quite as light as I
would have hoped, but it’s not like I had much to work with. If I’d had a
different metal, then I probably could have done better—but then they
wouldn’t match the other piece of the set.”
Lillia hefted the greaves, her brow furrowing. “Didn’t it say that the
concealed property would be revealed when I put everything on? Why is
there another one on top of that?”
“I got an Achievement for making a set, and the damn thing got
changed,” Arwin said through a huff. “It should be stronger than whatever it
was before. Unfortunately, I’ve got no idea how we’re meant to trigger the
new effect. Just put the dang things on so I can see what the normal
property is.”
Lillia didn’t hesitate to comply. She set the mug down and put the
greaves on, fastening the straps to tighten them around her legs. It only took
her a few minutes to get them situated. She shifted her weight from foot to
foot, then dropped into a fighting stance.
Arwin watched, waiting to see the Mesh update the equipment and
reveal their new abilities—only to find the words vanish, snuffed like the
wick of a candle.
“Goddamn it,” Arwin said. “I forgot full sets conceal themselves from
others. What does the hidden property do?”
“It makes it harder to see me when I’m moving. Is it working?”
She stepped to the side and her body seemed to ripple. He could tell
where she was, but it was like she was hidden in a wavy haze. He blinked
and squinted, trying to push the vision out of his head.
“That’s… really odd,” Arwin said. “It’s definitely working though.”
“These are amazing,” Lillia said, straightening back out and shaking a
leg off. “They’re obviously heavier than just pants, but nowhere near as bad
as I thought they’d be. How are you getting so good at this so quickly? I’m
getting jealous.”
“Are you kidding?” Arwin asked. “Have you tried your own food? And
you helped on the chest piece.”
“That’s hardly comparable. It’s not like my food keeps people alive.”
“If we’re speaking strictly technically, the only person your food
doesn’t keep alive is me.”
Lillia let out a mildly amused huff. “Very funny. Sure, technically. It just
feels like you’re powering ahead with your class. Most of my Hearthkeeper
abilities are still pretty limited. I can’t grind out magical energy like you
can.”
“Because you need more people to visit?”
“Partially,” Lillia said, waggling a hand in the air. “It’s more of a long-
term thing. I basically need people’s average stay quality to be high, and I
get better rewards for longer stays. It’s not something I can do at once, but
it’s more like a mental rating that everyone has of the tavern. It moves
slowly and steadily, not suddenly.”
“Interesting. That’s really different from my class,” Arwin said. “Living
Forge almost forces me to move quickly. I wonder why the Mesh didn’t
give you a faster way to advance.”
“Maybe because it would be too difficult for an inn to expand at the rate
that you do,” Lillia said after a few seconds of thought. “The stronger we
get, the more power we need to sustain ourselves. You can always make
more powerful items to eat, but I can’t force people into my inn.”
“That’s a fair point,” Arwin said. “I can see how it would be frustrating,
though. Once the Iron Hounds and the wyrms have been properly dealt
with, then maybe we can take some time to really focus on rebuilding our
buildings.”
“I think I’d like that, and gods know we need it,” Lillia muttered.
“When I say I’d kill for some time to just live happily, I’m not
exaggerating.”
“That’s good.” Arwin held a hand toward the hearth and the [Soul
Flame] leapt from it, swirling into his palm and sinking into his body.
“Because we might be just about to do that. Do you have any last
modification requests for your armor, or do you need a weapon? Because, if
not, I don’t want to wait any longer.”
“I don’t really need a weapon; I’m more of a caster now than I am a
swordswoman. Are you sure you don’t need to rest first?” Lillia asked. “It’s
been days since you last properly slept.”
Arwin considered her question for a moment. He was pretty sure that he
should have felt tired, but his body and his mind were in disagreement.
There was no way he was going to be getting even the slightest amount of
rest while Tix was still walking around.
“I don’t think that’s an option. Don’t worry—I’m not too tired to fight.
If anything, I think I’m going to get worse the longer I push this off. It’s a
festering wound, and the only way to deal with it is to cut it out.”
“In that case, let’s go tell the others.” Lillia said. “Do you have a plan of
some sort? Or were you planning on barging in and swinging your hammer
until everyone responsible was dead?”
“A mixture of the two. We don’t need to kill the entire guild—in fact,
I’d much rather avoid that. Chances are, most of them are innocent,” Arwin
admitted as he followed her out into the street and back over to the tavern.
“So you plan to question Tix, then?” Lillia guessed, ducking through the
doorway into the darkness of her tavern. All the others were sitting at the
counter, and they turned as Arwin and Lillia entered.
“Yeah,” Arwin replied. “Hopefully, Rodrick’s information is still up-to-
date.”
“It is. I’ve been keeping tabs on her. Discreetly, of course,” Rodrick
said, giving Arwin a nod of greeting. His gaze caught on the armor covering
Lillia’s form and his eyebrows crept upward. “Well, damn. That’s a pretty
set of gear. You might want to cover it if you don’t want the entire city
tracking you down.”
 “I’ll have a cloak,” Lillia said, looking down at the gear. “I just didn’t
want to cover it yet. It almost feels like a shame to have to hide something
so beautiful.”
“It’ll be even more beautiful when it gets put to work doing what it was
made for,” Reya said grimly. “Are you going to kill those bastards now?”
“The ones that deserve it, yes,” Arwin said.
“You don’t need rest?” Reya asked. “It’s been over a week since you
started working.”
Arwin stared at Reya in disbelief. He knew a few days had passed, but a
whole week was far beyond his estimations. “You’re kidding. That long?”
“That long,” Reya confirmed. “It might be dangerous to fight while
you’re exhausted.”
“It’s fine. I’m really not. I should be, but I’m not. I don’t think my body
is going to let me rest until this shit is dealt with.”
“You know what? I can’t blame you,” Reya said. “Just… don’t die.”
“Maybe you can show Arwin some of what you made?” Lillia offered.
“Oh, yeah. Hold on.” Reya slipped off her chair and headed into the
kitchen.
“Made?” Arwin asked, but Reya had already returned with a small mug
in her hands. It was difficult to make much out in the dim light, but it
looked like it was full of a ruddy amber liquid. “What is this?”
“Apple juice. Lillia got mad that I was pacing around the tavern and
disturbing the vibes, so she made me help her cook,” Reya said. “It wasn’t
bad.”
Arwin took a sip from the mug, then downed the rest of it. “Thank you.
That’s pretty good. Maybe you could join Lillia as a cook at some point.”
Reya snorted. “I’d really rather not. It was fun spending time with her,
but I don’t think cooking is my calling.”
“Fair enough,” Arwin said. He set the mug on the counter, then looked
to Rodrick. “You said you were keeping tabs on Tix?”
“Vague ones. I didn’t want to give anything away, and I’m not exactly a
master spy,” Rodrick said with a half-shrug. “I do know a bit about her
location, though. I drew up some information since I figured you and Lillia
would probably be doing this as a duo mission.”
“That may be for the best. If things go poorly, I don’t want anyone else
getting caught up in it,” Arwin said. He didn’t miss the dissatisfaction on
Reya’s face and added, “This is the last time, though. In the future, so long
as we’re in the same guild, we’re doing it together. I just need to make sure
we’re all ready for it.”
“Sometimes I wonder what it is that a wanderer did to get himself ready
for this,” Anna said, her voice soft. “But I think I’m willing to wait for the
answer.”
“And you’ll get it, if you really want to know—and assuming I survive
this. If I don’t, you can ask Reya. I’ve already told her most of it,” Arwin
said with a sigh. “Just make sure you want to know. Some stones are better
off left unturned.”
“We’ll deal with it when the time comes,” Anna said. “For now, I just
want to see the Iron Hounds pay.”
“As do I,” Arwin said. “Rodrick, where can we find Tix right now?”
Rodrick pulled a folded-up square of parchment out of his pocket and
waved for them to follow him. “Outside. It’s too hard to see detail in here.”
Arwin and Lillia tailed after Rodrick, and he opened up the piece of
paper, revealing a roughly drawn map of what Arwin assumed to be the city.
Several buildings were circled and had numbers beside them. Beneath the
map, each number had nearly a paragraph of description.
“This is everything I found out about Tix,” Rodrick said, handing the
map to Lillia. “From what I found in the last week or so, she tends to
frequent a few different places. The restaurant—Brigsby’s Kitchen—is her
favorite. She goes almost every other day. That’s where she’ll be right about
now, but that area is pretty crowded.”
Rodrick traced a street beside the restaurant with his finger, ending at a
large building that he’d circled. “This is the path she takes back to the Iron
Hounds headquarters, which is this building over here. She usually takes
about three hours at the restaurant, and she should have headed over there
about an hour and a half ago.”
He moved his finger over to one of the buildings along the street that
he’d labeled with a small star and tapped on it. “If you wait in the
alleyways, you might be able to run out and tackle her into the building.
This particular part of the street is dark, and it’s already on the later side.
Lillia’s got that shadow magic of hers—that might be enough to snag her
before anyone notices. But, just in case you wanted to try something else,
I’ve got some other plans lined out over here.”
Arwin stared at Rodrick. He claimed to just know a bit about her
location, but it sounded more like he’d stalked her every move for the past
week and written down every single thing he’d learned.
Not a master spy, my ass.
“This is… extensive,” Lillia said. “How’d you manage to get this much
information on Tix?”
“Oh, it was pretty easy. The Iron Hounds are recruiting right now, so I
went to the guild building and pretended to apply. It didn’t take me long to
figure out they like going to Brigsby’s, so I went there and hung around
until Tix showed up. It was pretty easy to time how long she spent there,
and I talked to the waiter, who told me that Tix was a regular. Most of what
I did was just talking to people and sitting around, really.”
“Right,” Arwin said slowly. He looked back down at the map. “You said
we’ve got an hour and a half before she leaves?”
“Roughly. It’s not like I can read her mind. I’d play it safe and make
sure you’ve got at least half an hour of leeway in either direction.”
“So, what, the plan is to shove her into the room and then make her tell
us who she worked with?” Lillia asked.
“Pretty much. Maybe you guard the door to make sure nobody comes
in?” Arwin asked. “How populated is this street, Rodrick?”
“Not particularly, but there are a few other buildings. If you make too
much noise, someone might overhear you. Either way, you’ll have to be
pretty fast.”
“I can do that,” Arwin said. “Especially if Lillia makes sure we don’t
get interrupted. Tix looked like a warrior, but I didn’t get the feeling she
was so strong that I couldn’t handle her.”
“Is the street dark?” Lillia asked.
“At the time you’ll be there? Yeah. There are lanterns lining it, though.”
“I can put those out and shroud the entrance of the house so people
instinctively avoid it,” Lillia said. “Then I’ll wait outside and make sure
nobody comes in. If it sounds like you’re having trouble, I’ll come in and
back you up.”
“That works,” Arwin said, folding the map up. “Thank you, Rodrick.
You put in a lot of work.”
“It really wasn’t that hard. But… one more thing.”
“Yeah?”
“The guild leader, Jessen.” Rodrick’s eyebrows knit together. “You need
to be careful with him. He’s deranged.”
“How so?” Lillia asked. “Just evil to the core or something?”
 “I don’t know if those are the words I’d use,” Rodrick replied with a
pensive frown. “It wasn’t hard to find info on him. He’s pretty well known
around the area for being immensely arrogant and loving games more than
anything else. Jessen likes playing with his prey. He’s killed a lot of people,
but almost exclusively ones that agreed to play along with him. He doesn’t
judge the others as worth his time. He’s apparently traded the lives of his
own men just to win bets. So, if you run into him, I don’t think he should
directly attack you—but be incredibly careful. He might force you to agree
to a really unfavorable deal that ends the same as a knife through your
guts.”
“I’ll keep that in mind. Thank you,” Arwin said. “You’ve done a lot.”
Rodrick pressed his lips thin and shook his head. “If anything, it feels
like it wasn’t enough.”
“It will be,” Arwin said as he put the map into his pocket, his features
grim. “Let’s go have a talk with Tix.”

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F
or once, time seemed to crawl for Arwin. He and Lillia had found the
house that Rodrick indicated on his map without too much difficulty,
but waiting for Tix to actually show up was agony.
He sat inside the house while Lillia lurked in the alleys just beyond it,
watching for Tix. There was no way to know exactly when she would show
up, and Arwin was pretty sure that his face would raise at least a little
suspicion if she spotted him.
If they wanted to properly get the jump on Tix, they needed her inside.
She was a warrior, so Arwin doubted that he’d have long to take her out if
he wanted to make sure she couldn’t call for help.
After some discussion with Lillia, they’d come up with a strategy that
Arwin felt was about as reliable as they were going to get. There was no
way to keep Tix from calling for help—even if he could kill her in a single
blow, there was no point.
Arwin didn’t just need Tix dead. He needed answers, and that meant she
had to be able to speak. And, if she could speak, she’d have a chance to cry
out for help. There was only one way they could realistically think of that
would keep Tix from calling out the moment she came under attack.
She needs to think she’s in control. Tix was definitely a warrior of some
sort. If she’s convinced that I can’t put up a fight or that I’m not strong
enough to defeat her, she’s unlikely to go running for help. Her reputation
would be ruined.
I can’t rely on that for long, but it’ll be enough. It has to be.
 Unfortunately, before any plans could come into fruition, Arwin still
had to wait for Tix to actually show up. The fact that he couldn’t even see
Lillia was making things worse. He knew she was just outside, waiting for
an unsuspecting Tix to pass by, but that didn’t make him any less tense.
Seconds felt like minutes as they ground by. He could have sworn the
hours had passed thrice over already, but still, the house was silent. Arwin’s
hands were clammy—not out of fear, but out of anticipation. The
temptation to summon Verdant Blaze was strong, but he resisted it.
Arwin didn’t call on any of his weapons or armor. He needed to look
exactly the same as Tix had first seen him. Anything else could completely
ruin their plan. If all went well, she’d deduce that Arwin had been the one
with the shadow magic and wouldn’t even know there was a second person
with him.
But, until Lillia ran into Tix, there was absolutely nothing Arwin could
do other than stew in his thoughts and wait. He was pretty sure she should
have passed by now.
Maybe Rodrick’s estimates were a little off, or she swapped something
up today. I’m not sure if⁠—
A startled curse from outside the building was the only warning Arwin
got. He nearly tripped over himself as a woman stumbled through the door,
propelled forward by a tendril of shadow that started to dissipate even as
she spun, a sword flying free of its sheath.
Arwin slammed the door shut, his body moving before his mind had
even processed that their plan had started in true.
“You!” Tix exclaimed, the tip of her blade dipping slightly in surprise.
“What the hell is your problem?”
“You know what my problem is,” Arwin growled. “What the hell did
you do to my smith?”
“Your smith? I don’t know what you’re talking about. I never even met
the guy.”
“That’s a lie,” Arwin said, letting anger enter his voice as his lips pulled
back. It wasn’t difficult to fake the rage, considering almost all of it was
completely genuine. “He told me you met. A few days later, his forge goes
up in a ball of fire—and you’re the only one that met him.”
“Look—what was your name again?”
“Arwin.”
 “Right. Look, Arwin. I never met your smith. It looks like you’re in
grief, so I’ll let you off this once. Get out of my way, or I’m going to cut
you down where you stand.”
Arwin shook his head. “You’re lying. Again. I know the Iron Hounds
are the ones that destroyed the smithy, Tix. If you don’t talk to me here and
now, then I’m going to take the information to someone that will.”
Tix’s eyes narrowed. For several seconds, the two of them stood in
silence. Then Tix heaved a sigh, shaking her head in disappointment as the
tip of her sword raised again.
“Idiot. You had to go and say that, didn’t you? I was trying to give you a
way out, moron. Do you think I like going around murdering people? I
can’t let you leave after that. Jessen would have my head.”
Jessen? One of my targets, perhaps? It sounds like he’s higher up in the
guild than Tix is.
“You’re fooling yourself if you thought I’d let you leave here alive after
killing one of my friends,” Arwin growled. “Tell me why you did it.”
“Idiot. I’m not telling you anything,” Tix said with a scoff. “Gods, I
didn’t think you were such an idiot when we met. I should have known
when you sold me the damn armor for so much less than what it was worth.
That’s on you, kid. Just like your smith friend’s life. I’m just following
orders.”
She lunged forward, her body blurring as she used some form of skill to
accelerate herself. The sword flitted for Arwin’s neck, aiming to dispatch
him in a single blow. Arwin had to admit that Tix was fast.
There was no doubt that the woman was a competent warrior, but she
wasn’t faster than the speed of thought. [Arsenal] activated, and all of
Arwin’s armor slammed onto his body an instant before the sword could
connect. He shifted his stance just enough to make sure the blade would
connect with his shoulder instead of his neck.
A resounding clang rang out and Tix staggered back, her sword
reverberating in her hand. The shoulder guards were one of the most
reinforced sections on Arwin’s armor thanks to the crystals infused into
them, and it was evident that Tix didn’t have nearly enough strength to
break through it.
Tix’s eyes widened as she looked into the carved metal of Arwin’s helm.
Her mouth opened, but Arwin didn’t give her time to speak. He lunged
forward, Verdant Blaze materializing in his grip, and he brought the
hammer down for Tix’s blade.
She shifted despite her shock, dodging the blow instead of trying to
block it. The way she moved was enough to tell Arwin that she’d fought
hammer users before. Trying to block his blows was a great way to get
pulverized.
“Impossible. You’re dead!” Tix hissed, even as she thrust her sword for
a gap in Arwin’s armor. He blocked the blow with the haft of the hammer,
then brought it down for her shoulders. Tix was forced to jump back, and
Arwin positioned himself so that his back was to the door.
Based on the way Tix was fighting, she was probably somewhere at the
high Apprentice level. She knew what she was doing, but she wasn’t at the
point where she should be able to overpower Arwin through either skill or
ability.
Of course, she hadn’t quite figured that out yet.
“Not me,” Arwin said, his knuckles whitening as his grip tightened.
[Soul Flame] ignited at the head of Verdant Blaze, illuminating the darkness
with its hungry light. “Who worked with you, Tix? Who destroyed my
smithy that night?”
“We heard you forging in it,” Tix said, taking a step back. “You can’t be
alive. There’s no way a smith could survive that.”
“The smith didn’t,” Arwin said, advancing on Tix. “You killed him. He
burned to death in that building, Tix. Just like you wanted.”
“Then how are you here?” Tix demanded, lunging at Arwin again in an
attempt to get past his guard. He activated [Scourge] and twisted out of the
way, slamming his hand down on her wrist and breaking it with a snap.
The sword flew from Tix’s hand, clattering against the ground. Arwin’s
other hand slammed over her mouth, muffling the scream before it could
escape her lips. The anger in Arwin’s chest burned brighter with every
passing second.
“Answer the damn question,” Arwin growled, barely even able to form
words. “Who⁠—”
Tix bit down on his palm. Arwin snarled in pain, yanking his hand back
and dropping her. She lunged for her sword, grabbing it with her good hand.
Tix’s bite was a lot stronger than it should have been—an ordinary human’s
bite wouldn’t have been able to get through [Indomitable Bulwark], so she
must have had some body-enhancing buffs active.
 “I don’t care how you came back to life. I’m sending you back to the
grave,” Tix snarled. Ghostly white energy swirled across the edge of her
blade and she lunged, her entire body blurring to the point where Arwin
completely lost track of her.
The only thing that saved him was his instinct born from years of battle.
His hands shot up, protecting his neck, and Tix’s sword carved into the back
of his forearms, splattering blood across the ground.
By the time Arwin lowered his hands, she’d vanished again. Arwin
spun, jumping to the side. A screech rang out as her sword bit into the side
of his armor. Energy poured out of Arwin as the armor activated, sending a
whip of [Soul Flame] streaking through the air.
Arwin didn’t see it connect, but he heard Tix hiss in pain. He didn’t
have any time to gauge how effective the injury had been, though. Another
blow carved across his back, digging deep into his armor but failing to
penetrate it.
“Just die already!” Tix’s voice demanded—and a flicker of ironic
amusement struck Arwin. She was trying to be just as quiet as he was. They
both thought they were the hunter and the other the prey.
There was only one way to find out who was right.
Arwin couldn’t tell where Tix was going to come from, but she’d
already tried attacking him from behind several times. Her buff made her
considerably faster than anything he could hit, so there was only one option
left to him.
He spun, raising his hands once more. As he’d predicted, Tix’s blade
slammed into his forearms deep enough to strike bone—but not enough to
cut through it. And, in the brief instant that Tix was standing still to execute
the strike, Arwin used [Arsenal] to banish his helmet and yanked his hands
up, taking the sword in his forearms with it.
Tix’s grip on the blade was too great to pull the blade free of her hands,
but he caught her by enough surprise to move it up just a few inches and
worsen the wound in his arms. Tix didn’t try to resist, and it wasn’t a
surprise.
When an opponent helped you injure them, there wasn’t a reason to
oppose it. After all, moving the sword even closer to your own throat wasn’t
a move that would benefit anyone—other than Arwin.
With a roar and before Tix could pull the sword back to strike at him
again, Arwin bit down on the blade. There was a brief moment of resistance
as the item desperately tried to hold its form.
It was more resistance than anything else had ever given him, and it was
just long enough for Tix to voice a surprised, “What the fu⁠—”
The blade shattered. Power pumped through Arwin’s body and his fist
shot out, slamming into the side of Tix’s head. She tumbled back, the
fragments of the blade clattering down as she rolled, slamming into the
stone wall with a thud.
Arwin dropped his hands, ignoring the blood that dripped down them
and onto the ground as he closed the distance between them. She tried to
stumble to her feet, but the dazed look in her eyes told Arwin that she’d hit
her head against the wall.
His hand shot out, wrapping around her neck as he activated [Scourge]
and lifted Tix into the air. Pain pumped through his arms from the deep
wounds, but it didn’t even come close to distracting him from the ache in
his heart.
“Who worked with you?” Arwin demanded, his helmet reforming
around his face, Tix now nose-to-nose with the mask. “Tell me their
goddamn names, Tix.”
“How?” Tix wheezed, trying and failing to draw in air. Even if she
wanted to call for help now, Arwin’s tight grip wouldn’t let her. “What are
you? How can you be alive?”
Guess she didn’t put two and two together. Can’t really blame Tix when
she’s getting the life choked out of her.
“Last chance,” Arwin said. “Names, Tix. I don’t care if it’s every person
in your guild or just two of them. I want to know names, and I want to
know why.”
“Gods, I’ll tell you! Just let go of me! I’m going to suffocate. I told you
I was just following orders,” Tix begged, pulling fruitlessly at his blood-
slicked hand. With the power of [Scourge] strengthening his hand and no
blade to cut him with, there was nothing she could do but comply.
Following orders isn’t an excuse. You knew what you were doing.
Coward.
Arwin loosened his hold just enough to let Tix speak.
“Speak.”

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L
illia stood by the door, her shadows wrapped around herself and the
building like a cloak. Just like Rodrick had said, the street wasn’t
particularly populated. It must have been less than a minute since she’d
yanked Tix into the building, but it felt like a century.
After a brief exchange, there had been only silence. If Tix had won,
Lillia was pretty sure the woman would have tried to leave by now, so
logically, Arwin should have been fine. Unfortunately, logic did nothing for
the scenarios that flashed through her mind.
A passerby headed across the street, glancing over his shoulder as he
passed the spot of darkness in the already ill-lit street. He shook his head
and accelerated, quickly turning a corner. There was something built deep
into the human psyche that kept the smart ones from peering too closely
into the dark, and it was working in Lillia’s favor.
What is Arwin doing in there? I can’t even hear anything. If he can’t get
the information from Tix, we’re never really going to be able to take out
everyone that killed Zeke unless we destroy the entirety of the Iron Hounds.
Shit. I should have offered to help interrogate her when she went down.
My imps could have scared the shit out of her until she spoke. I’m not sure
Arwin is going to be able to do anything⁠—
The door creaked, but it didn’t open all the way. Lillia glanced over her
shoulder at the mostly empty street, then back to the building. That was
pretty clearly an invitation to enter, and Tix shouldn’t have known that there
were two of them, so it had to be from Arwin.
 Ah. He probably couldn’t get the information from her after all. That’s
fine. I don’t think many humans can stand their ground if I pull out a few
Lesser Imps and make some shit up about eating them alive for eternity.
Lillia slipped through the door, intensifying the shadows around her
even further to make sure nobody could peer into the building. She then
turned, ready to play her part, and her heart locked in place.
Two charcoal-red eyes burned in the dark, gripping her entire body with
such intensity that it threatened to knock the breath from her lungs. They
illuminated the air around a heavily armored figure, glowing with just
enough intensity to cast shadows through the dark.
Before she could stop herself, Lillia took a step back. Blood ran from
the figure’s arms and down his fingers, dripping to the ground, the rhythm
of a fading heartbeat. It took Lillia a moment to realize that the visage of
death standing before her was Arwin. But, even with that knowledge, the
burning aura pouring off him continued to bind her chest with iron bands.
“Arwin?” Lillia asked. “Are you⁠—”
“Four,” Arwin said. His voice sounded muted and distant from behind
the scowling mask that obscured his face.
“Four?”
“There were four of them,” Arwin said, drawing in a deep breath. His
hands clenched into fists, causing the flow of blood trickling down his arms
to intensify. “Now there are three.”
Lillia looked past Arwin, her eyes decoding the darkness. Evidently,
Arwin hadn’t needed any help getting information from Tix. She lay in a
crumpled heap in the corner of the building, dead.
“Did you…”
“Torture her?” Arwin asked, his voice taut. “No. I will not become a
monster. She died a quick death. It was not a pretty death, but it was a clean
one. Cleaner than the one she gave Zeke.”
Lillia recognized the note in Arwin’s words from the tightness that
never seemed to leave her own chest. Another might have mistaken the
tightness in his words and the syllables he spat as a sign of anger, but they
would have been wrong.
It was loss. Bitter, jagged loss. The kind that could only come from
seeing the people one cared about fall before them, over and over again.
Zeke had been a kind boy, but it wasn’t just his death that rested on their
chests.
 Lillia pushed through the aura rolling off Arwin. As strong as it was,
this wasn’t the first time she’d dealt with this unique flavor of pain. It was
the culmination of every single person who had been ripped from their
grasp prematurely. A wound that had never gotten the chance to heal over;
ripped open once more.
She stepped forward, taking Arwin’s bloodied hands in her own. Blood
slicked her palms, but she was so used to it that she barely even noticed.
“Let go of that skill, Arwin. We got what we needed.”
Arwin didn’t respond, but his hands tightened around hers.
“One step at a time,” Lillia said softly. “Who were the other three?”
“Erik, Jessen, and Yul.”
“Did you find out more?” Lillia asked. “What their roles were? Why
they ordered you killed in the first place?”
The burning coals that were Arwin’s eyes faded into the dark, returning
to normal mask holes and revealing his eyes behind them. The questions
didn’t truly matter—they were just something for Arwin to focus on and
ground himself again. He drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly.
“Jessen is the guild leader. He didn’t directly order the death, but
everything that happened was because of his orders. Jessen is at
Journeyman 3. Erik is the second-in-command. He’s not very strong, but
Jessen trusts him. Tix doesn’t—didn’t—like him. He’s the one that ordered
me killed. Yul is a Journeyman 1 mage. He’s the one that destroyed the
smithy.”
More of Arwin’s normal tone returned with every word until he had
control of himself once more.
“I don’t think we can go for them today,” Lillia said, looking to Arwin’s
arms. “We need to get you to Anna.”
“That may be wise,” Arwin said. “I’ve lost a bit of blood. Tix was
stronger than I thought she was.”
Lillia drew a hand up through the air, pulling her fingers in toward her
palm. The shadows at her feet expanded as two Lesser Imps rose up from
the darkness and hurried over to Tix’s body.
“We don’t need to leave a corpse to notify the others what’s going on,”
Lillia said. “It should be some time before anyone figures out what
happened to her. That’ll be long enough for us to take the others out.”
“Yeah,” Arwin said. His armor vanished, leaving him in his plain
clothes once more. “We might need your shadows to get back home. If
anyone sees me like this, I’m going to look pretty suspicious.”
“I can do that,” Lillia said, guiding Arwin toward the door even as the
muted crunch of bone echoed in the darkness behind them.

“Godspit, what did you do to your arms?” Anna asked, rushing over to
Arwin as soon as he entered the tavern. She pressed her hands to his
wounds, sending gentle golden light pouring out and into him.
Reya and Rodrick stood to the side, watching with concern and
trepidation as they waited to hear the results of the night mission.
Arwin let out a sigh of relief as the wounds shrank, stitching themselves
shut before completely vanishing. Anna kept her hands on him for a few
seconds longer before letting the power fade.
“There. I can’t replenish all the blood you lost, but you’re a pretty big
bastard. You should be fine. Is…”
“Tix is dead,” Arwin said, flexing his fingers and giving Anna a nod.
“And I got the names of everyone else involved. It wasn’t as bad as we
feared. There are three more people that have to die.”
“I’d assume the guild leader is one of them. There were rumors of him
being really obsessed with getting stronger quickly. He basically shot up in
power overnight,” Rodrick said. “The Iron Hounds didn’t even exist a
month ago, but now he’s somehow a Journeyman and considered one of the
better guilds in the city. That kind of meteoric growth and being a nice guy
tend to not go hand in hand.”
“Yeah. He’s one. We don’t know the extent of his involvement yet.”
Arwin’s features thinned. “But he was at least partially responsible. The
person with the most blame is Erik, the second-in-command of the guild.
He’s the one who ordered the smithy to be destroyed.”
“Then the last one was the one that actually destroyed it?” Anna
guessed.
Arwin nodded. “Yes. His name is Yul. Once the three of them are dead,
Zeke can rest. Perhaps we’ll do the rest of the city a favor as well and purge
it of some of the scum running around in it in the process.”
“I’ll look into them,” Rodrick said. “I already know of Jessen and Erik.
I haven’t heard of Yul, but I don’t imagine it should be too difficult to track
him down.”
“Just be careful,” Arwin said. “Now that Tix is dead, it won’t be long
before people start getting suspicious. We have one, maybe two days to take
out the rest of them.”
“On your own?” Reya asked doubtfully. “You barely beat Tix.”
“I had to fight her alone,” Arwin said. “We were focusing on stealth for
this kill because we needed information. That’s no longer the case.”
“What, you’re going to barge into their guild hall?” Reya asked.
“There’s no way that’ll work again.”
“Probably not,” Arwin agreed. “Jessen will come last. Yul and Erik
should be easier. Erik isn’t strong and Yul is a caster. He’s going to be
horrible against anyone that can get up close and personal. We can take
them both out pretty easily.”
“What about Jessen?” Anna asked. “He’s a Journeyman.”
“Anyone who rises through the ranks quickly is either an idiot or
desperate,” Arwin said. “He’s trading his future power for a boost now. The
only logical reason to do that is because you don’t have another choice—
but you’re right that he’s likely too powerful to handle now. That’s why
he’ll come last. I don’t know what’s got him cornered.”
“So what’s the plan? What are we doing?” Reya asked. “You sound like
you’re going to need help this time around.”
“Help… might be smart,” Arwin admitted reluctantly. “I just want you
out of harm’s way. You don’t have the armor or defenses that I do. But if we
could have people all out gathering information tomorrow, it would go a
long way.”
“I’m pretty sneaky. I can do that no problem,” Reya said.
“I am not,” Lillia said. “It’s easy to keep people away from me, but a
patch of darkness strolling around is about as subtle as a war drum.”
“I don’t know if you noticed, but I’m not particularly stealthy myself,”
Arwin said. He leaned against the counter and let his gaze pass over
everyone in the room. “No risks. Lillia and I will handle the fighting. You
all just help with figuring out where everyone is. Is that fine?”
A round of determined nods answered his question, and Arwin gave
them a grim, tight-lipped smile.
“By tomorrow night, we’re crossing Yul and Erik off the list.”

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D
espite his weary body, Arwin didn’t sleep that night. He did his best,
but he once again found himself sitting next to Lillia on her bed,
enveloped in a cloak of darkness as true rest evaded both of them.
“This is turning into a bad habit, don’t you think?” Lillia asked as they
waited for the night to pass.
“Certainly not a healthy one. You’d think I’d be exhausted by now, but
my body just won’t accept it. It just kicks me back into awareness the
moment I even start thinking about sleep.”
“It’s not just about Zeke, you know,” Lillia said. “You’re pinning
everything on the Iron Hounds.”
Arwin let out a muffled bark of laughter, unable to control himself but
still doing his best to avoid waking anyone up. “I know. I never said it was
right. The Adventurers’ Guild is beyond me right now. I’m not strong
enough to handle them yet. But the Iron Hounds—them, I can deal with.”
“And yet, they aren’t the same,” Lillia said. “You can’t treat one wound
by healing another.”
“You think I don’t know that?” Arwin asked. He leaned back against the
wall and craned his head back to stare at the ceiling—or rather, in the
direction of the ceiling. It wasn’t like he could make anything out with the
blanket of night enveloping him. “Nothing I can do can ever bring anyone
back, but doing anything feels better than doing nothing.”
“Certainly not arguing that,” Lillia said. “I didn’t really have a direction
I was heading in, if I’m being honest. I don’t have advice. If I’d been the
one in the room with Tix, she’d have met the exact same fate she met at
your hands. Maybe a worse one.”
“If that would have done anything to bring someone back, I would have
done it,” Arwin said. “But I’ll settle for stopping the Iron Hounds from ever
doing this again. It’s to protect other people.”
At least, that’s what I’m going to tell myself. Even if they never planned
to kill another innocent, I don’t think I’d just let things go. Maybe I was
never suited to be the Hero of Man at all. I’m not nearly forgiving enough.
Arwin and Lillia fell silent. There was nothing left to be said, and they
were both lost in the maze of their own thoughts. The morning would come
when it came, but it probably wouldn’t come anywhere near soon enough.
But, eventually, the night came to pass. And, when the morning did roll
around, everyone was ready. Lillia and Arwin emerged into the tavern to
find the others all waiting for them, determined expressions on their faces.
“I’ve mapped out a plan,” Rodrick said. “One that should utilize all of
us as effectively as possible. We’re all going to split up and focus on
watching a different person.”
“All of us?” Arwin asked, his thoughts drifting back to the overly
complex map that Rodrick had drawn to locate Tix. There was no way the
man was just a failed adventurer. He knew way too much about hunting
people down, and Arwin wasn’t sure if he was glad to have Rodrick on his
side or concerned as to why Rodrick knew all this.
“No.” Rodrick shook his head. “I should correct that. Anna and I will be
watching Yul and Erik, respectively. Reya is going to be the intermediary
because she can’t be seen in public due to all the enemies she seems to
have. She’ll be running around on the rooftops, looking for signs that Anna
and I give her. She’ll then deliver that information to you and Lillia, who
can close in on the targets.”
“Right,” Arwin said. “So what do we do in the meantime?”
“You’ll be lying in wait in an area roughly between Anna and myself,”
Rodrick replied. “We’re going to want to move quickly, but we have to
move at the right time. Not only do we need to kill two different people, but
we also need to do it without people figuring out who did it. That means
they have to go down while they’re close to each other, but not so close that
they can help.”
“And you’re confident that scenario will play out?” Arwin asked
doubtfully. “Why would they be close but not together?”
 “It would happen when they’re heading back to their guild hall,” Anna
answered for Rodrick. “Most people eat meals at roughly the same time, but
unless Yul and Erik are close friends, it’s unlikely they’re eating them
together. As long as the timeframe for their meals isn’t too far off, we
should be able to get them one after the other.”
“That’s a bit of a stretch, but I see where you’re headed with this,”
Arwin said. “How do we keep the rest of the Iron Hounds from seeing this
happen, though? If we do something that close to their guild hall, they’ll
almost certainly have someone that’ll notice the sounds of the commotion.”
“I’ve accounted for that,” Rodrick said, a grim smile passing over his
lips. “But I don’t think you’re going to like it.”

The wind rustled the hood of Reya’s cloak and nipped at her eyes. She
stood at the edge of a roof, looking down at the city below her. It wasn’t
exactly the tallest building in the area, but she wasn’t a huge fan of heights,
so it was the highest she was willing to climb.
Day had already turned to late evening. Reya’s legs were sore from
running around the whole time, relaying information from Rodrick and
Anna to Arwin and Lillia, but her work wasn’t done yet.
Rodrick had been right. Arwin hadn’t liked the idea at all, but he’d
eventually come around. The plan was just too good, and Arwin didn’t have
any good ways to turn it down. They all wanted the same thing, and she was
done sitting around and watching other people do it for her.
I just need to keep myself from getting killed in the process. Just like
Rodrick said, Yul and Erik have pretty close schedules. They’re somewhere
around ten to twenty-five minutes off of each other, which means I need a
distraction that lasts for at least thirty minutes.
It’s a damn good thing that Rodrick helped me come up with some
different potential distractions for different times. He definitely knows what
he’s doing. I wonder if he was a master thief or something before. Maybe he
was the guy that planned the heists, but his whole crew got caught, so now
he’s going around adventuring.
As fun as that thought was to play out, Reya brought it to a halt. She
had more than a job to do tonight. She had a point to prove—and she was in
just the right spot to do it. The Iron Hounds’ guild hall was only about five
minutes to her north, but she couldn’t head over quite yet.
Reya considered dropping from the roof to the ground below. It
probably would have been a pretty intimidating move for anyone that may
have been watching, but she settled for saving her kneecaps and climbing
down normally instead.
Once she got down—in one piece, without any cracked bones from
overeager jumping—she pulled her hood back and strode up to an old door
in the side of a stone building. It wasn’t anything particularly special, but
Reya recalled this particular door.
She’d been at it not all that long ago. And, while she didn’t remember
exactly who was behind it, she was pretty sure they remembered her. Reya
rapped on the wood several times, then took a step back to wait.
A second passed. Reya got impatient and knocked again.
The door swung open, revealing a rat-faced man with thinning brows
and pinched features. “What in the—wait. You!”
“Hullo,” Reya said, slapping the man full across the face before turning
and sprinting in the other direction.
“It’s the damn thief!” the man screamed, recovering from his shock with
remarkable speed and darting out after her. “Nate, get the others and get
your asses out here!”
Reya didn’t wait to see if the other criminals responded to the man’s
calls. She still couldn’t quite recall his name, but it didn’t matter. What did
matter was that she was faster than him.
She took care to avoid getting too far ahead, always giving her pursuer
just enough time to see her back disappearing around a bend. Entirely
unbeknownst to him, she ran him in a full circle, coming back out in the
street just as a dozen other men poured out of the building, half of them
drunk.
Reya blew a kiss to them, then jumped back as the rat-faced man lunged
at her. His hands whistled through the air, catching nothing, and Reya took
off once more.
“Get the little shit!” the man squealed, scrambling back upright and
taking off with his horde at his heels.
Got them.
Reya skidded down an alley, then scrambled up a wall. She sat on top of
it, waiting for the fastest of her pursuers to turn down the alley she’d run
into before dropping on the other side. Curses rang out as the men climbed
the wall behind her. Reya didn’t wait around for them. She was already
almost where she needed to be.
Almost as if on cue, Anna dashed out of the shadows, a cloak over her
head and breathing heavily. She dug through her pockets and thrust a key
on a necklace at Reya.
“Here,” Anna said between pants. “You make running fast look much
easier than it actually is. I got them. If Rodrick didn’t plan the path for me, I
would have been screwed. You sure you can stay ahead of these guys?”
“Me? Easily,” Reya said with a scoff. She took the key and returned it to
her necklace. “I’m not that fast, but these idiots are slow—in the feet and in
the head. Get out of here so they don’t keep thinking you’re me.”
Anna nodded, then ripped the cloak off and bundled it up in her arms as
she strode off. Only a few seconds later, Reya heard the sounds of her
pursuit gaining on her. She waited around a little longer, letting them catch
one more glimpse of her before she was off once more.
It didn’t take her long to run into the other half of the plan. Another
group of men headed down the alley straight in Reya’s direction, their eyes
widening in shock as they spotted her right in front of them.
“There she is!” one of them yelled.
Reya jumped onto the side of the nearest building, climbing onto it and
racing into the night in the direction of the Iron Hounds’ base—two
different groups of thieves hot in pursuit. If she’d been much farther from
the guild house, it would have been nearly impossible to pull off.
Fortunately, Reya had absolutely no shortage of enemies in the city, so it
hadn’t been hard to find two groups in roughly the same area. Reya lowered
herself to the ground on the street right across from the Iron Hounds’ guild
house right as the first of the groups turned the corner.
“No more running,” the rat-faced man snarled, pointing a short sword
that he must have borrowed from one of his colleagues at Reya. “You die
here, you thieving little shit.”
“You’re thieves too!” Reya protested. “I don’t see the problem.”
“You stole from us! That’s the damn problem!”
Reya didn’t get a chance to respond. The other group sprinted out from
the alley behind her, and she turned toward them with a wide, practiced
smile. The men skidded to a stop, spotting the other group behind Reya.
 “Get them!” Reya yelled, not giving either group time to process what
they’d seen. And, on cue, a rock flew from an alleyway, striking one of the
men in the second group in the head. He stumbled, letting out a slew of
curses as blood started to trickle down his scalp.
It didn’t take both groups long to come to the exact same conclusion—
that the opposing group had sided with Reya. If they’d stopped to actually
say anything, the entire plan would have fallen apart in seconds.
Unfortunately for them, the victor of a street brawl was generally the
one that struck first. So, as one, the two groups charged each other, all
seeking the head of the woman who stood in their center.

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 79

R
eya waited until they were upon her before making a mad dash to
escape. She used [Imprison] on the fastest of the bandits, ducking
under his frozen attack and throwing her cloak up behind her to buy
another few seconds.
This wasn’t the first time she’d run from an angry crowd, but it
definitely was the first time she’d run from one that she’d intentionally
made. Reya ducked and dodged to the best of her ability, but even that
wasn’t enough to avoid everything.
A blade cut across her cheek and another scraped along her back,
cutting through her robes and colliding with the armor that Arwin had made
her. The armor shimmered and magical energy poured into it.
Reya squeezed her eyes shut a moment before a brilliant flash lit the
night. Surprised yells rose up, but it was too late. Reya used the distraction
to slip away, sprinting into the alleyway.
It was too late to stop the brawl, though. The fight had started in earnest,
and as long as they didn’t know where Reya was, it would continue for at
least a little while. It wouldn’t be long before the Iron Hounds came looking
to figure out what in the world was going on outside their guild hall.
Reya slipped into the darkness, where Rodrick stepped out of an alley to
meet her, a stone in each of his hands.
“Nice work,” Rodrick said. “You didn’t get hurt too badly, did you?”
“Just a cut on the face,” Reya replied, wiping the blood from her cheek.
The wound was a little deeper than she’d initially thought, but it wasn’t
anything too serious—though it would probably scar if Anna didn’t take
care of it.
“Good,” Rodrick said as the clamor of battle intensified behind them.
“That’s our role, then. Let’s go meet back up with Anna and see if we need
to bail Arwin and Lillia out.”
“I thought the plan was to let them handle things on their own because it
was too dangerous?”
“I made the plan, so I get to change it,” Rodrick replied. “Arwin is a
better fighter than I am, but he’s terrible at relying on people for anything
that’s important. Lillia is the same, even though she’s not as vocal about it.
With any luck, we won’t have to do anything at all. But I’d rather be
overprepared than underprepared.”
“Me too,” Reya said with a nod. “I’ll be right behind you.”
They headed into the night, and Reya hoped that Arwin and Lillia’s side
of the plan had been having just as much success as hers did.

“How are we supposed to know what Yul looks like?” Lillia asked as they
stood in the darkness of the alleyway, listening to the fight start to break out
in the distance. “What if someone else is heading down the path that he
chose?”
“We’ll just have trust that Rodrick’s information is correct,” Arwin
replied. “But we can always ask. Just stick to the plan the moment we
confirm who this is.”
“You’re kidding,” Lillia said, but Arwin didn’t have time to reply.
Hurried steps echoed down the street in their direction. Arwin didn’t have to
step out to meet them. He’d already positioned himself with his back
turned, while Lillia had kept to the shadows to conceal her demonic
appearance.
Arwin craned his neck as if in surprise as a middle-aged, balding man
strode down the alley in the direction of the guild hall, his expression taut.
“Do you have any idea what’s going on?” Arwin asked, lacing his tone
with concern as he studied the man. He really didn’t look like anything
special. His robes were those of a mage who preferred to avoid heavy
armor, and the only weapon he carried was a dagger. Just another
adventurer.
“No, but I’m headed to find out,” the man replied. “Who are you with?
Another new recruit?”
“Me? I was actually heading over to apply when I heard the
commotion,” Arwin said. “I heard you lot were looking for smiths.”
“Oh, right. We are. Good thing I found you before the shitstorm made it
this far,” the bald man said. He snapped his fingers impatiently. “Follow
me. I’ll get you to the guild hall and then go deal with the idiots outside.”
“Sure thing,” Arwin said. “I’m Arwin, by the way.”
“Pleasure. I’m Yul.”
Arwin nodded a greeting, and Yul turned to head back toward the guild
hall.
Arwin’s hammer slammed into his hands, and he swung without an
instant of hesitation. By some sheer stroke of luck, Yul managed to notice
something was awry. He flung himself to the ground, but it wasn’t enough
to completely avoid the blow.
Verdant Blaze shattered his shoulder with a loud crunch, sending him
spinning. Yul let out a pained snarl as he rolled to his feet, right arm
hanging useless at his side. The left arm crackled as flame bloomed
between his fingers, swirling together into a hissing and popping ball.
Explosion magic. If I didn’t know for sure before, I do now. I just wish I
had killed the bastard with the first blow.
“Idiot. Who are you, really? Actually, I don’t care. I’ll let Jessen figure
that out himself,” Yul snarled as he poured power into the spell, holding it
in front of him. It was a clever strategy for a mage with immense
destructive ability. By keeping the spell between himself and Arwin, he
basically ensured that Arwin couldn’t close the gap without getting hit.
But the longer he waited in an attempt to find a hole in Yul’s defenses,
the stronger the spell would grow. Arwin had seen the strategy used before
to devastating success, and the best counter to it was generally someone
else with range. There was one problem, however. Yul didn’t have the
whole strategy prepared. Mages never fought alone.
The shadows snapped forth—not at Yul, but at Arwin. At the same time,
his armor slammed into place. A tendril struck the back of Arwin’s legs with
a loud thud, sending him stumbling forward.
 Kinetic energy poured into Arwin as the greaves, having already been
largely filled with kinetic energy earlier in the alley, were topped up. Awe
activated and Arwin’s body blurred forward as he activated [Scourge],
sending the power into his legs.
He couldn’t even try to control himself at the speed he was moving at.
His head didn’t run as fast or as strong as his legs did, but Arwin didn’t
need to control himself. Mages of nearly any sort were deadly, especially on
the battlefield.
Their magic could control fights more than almost any other class, and
their destructive power was second to none. But almost every single mage
shared a very common weakness—the same weakness that Anna had.
Arwin brought his wrist up, pulling the bracelet off it. The Mesh
shimmered for an instant before him, even as he brought the metal ring to
his mouth.

Metal Bracelet: Average Quality

Happy Feet: This item was forged faster than it should have been,
resulting in some imperfections in an otherwise decent band. It can
provide increased movement speed at the cost of magical energy.
Greedy: This item draws more magical energy than it needs, causing its
wielder to lose strength while its ability is active.

Activating it normally would have given him some of the speed—but he

didn’t want just some of it. He needed all of the power the bracelet had.
And, for that matter, he didn’t want to spend magical energy powering it
when eating was free and gave him the same result, just for a shorter period
of time.
Arwin bit down. The bracelet turned to liquid heat and poured down his
throat. Yul’s hand raised, but power was already thrumming through
Arwin’s body. It poured into his legs, even as he felt his hammer grow
considerably heavier in his hands. It dipped, pulling toward the ground.
Fighting normally with it would have been nearly impossible.
But he had no plans to fight normally. Arwin blurred forward, his speed
magnified by the powers of the bracelet. He slammed into Yul, throwing
him to the ground. The spell that had been forming in the mage’s hands
went wide, hurtling past Arwin and striking a building behind him. A
massive explosion ripped through the air as a ball of fire rolled into the air
behind him, but Arwin barely even took notice of it.
His hammer fell. There was a sickening crunch, and then there was no
more. Arwin’s eyes ignited like molten coal as his helmet activated,
releasing a wave of oppressive aura around him. He lifted his hammer,
staring down at the body at his feet. Yul wasn’t the first mage he’d killed.
They almost always went down in the same way.
“It’s easy to forget just how weak you are when you wield that much
power,” Lillia said as she walked up beside Arwin. “That was… sad,
honestly. I wanted more. A fight. Something. He did so much fucking
damage, and this is it?”
Arwin dismissed his equipment, and the blood that had covered the
hammer’s head splattered to the ground beside Yul’s body. He still felt weak
from the negative effects from the bracelet, but speed was paramount when
fighting a mage. They couldn’t afford to take any risks. The drawbacks
would fade soon enough.
“I suppose it’s apt,” Arwin said. “Disappointing, but a Journeyman
mage is still a mage, even if he doesn’t know what he’s doing. Yul
seemed… worse than he should have been. Even for a mage, standing
around in the face of a threat is arrogant. The strategy he used only works
when you’ve got someone else guarding your flank. That’s the mistake of a
novice who has no clue what they’re doing, not a mage that made it to
Journeyman.”
“I just wish he begged for his life. Something to give me some damn
satisfaction,” Lillia said, clenching her hands. She delivered a powerful kick
into Yul’s body. Arwin put a hand on her shoulder and pulled her back.
“What happened to the speeches you were giving me yesterday?”
“They’re easier to give when you are standing outside and don’t see
anything,” Lillia snapped. “The bastard got off light. He⁠—”
“—is dead,” Arwin finished, his grip tightening on Lillia’s shoulder. A
huge part of him wanted to join her in raining blows down on the dead man,
but she’d been there to keep him stable, and now it was his turn. “And now
there are two. This isn’t for us. It’s for Zeke—and for anyone like him in
the future.”
Lillia ground her teeth, then gave him a jerky nod. “Right. Lead on. Yul
was the tough kill, and he went down like a worthless little worm. Let’s get
rid of Erik and go home. Should I deal with the body?”
 “As much as I’d love to say no so we could let Jessen realize exactly
what’s coming for him, you probably should,” Arwin said. “It’s probably
going to be relatively obvious already, but there’s no need to help our
enemies figure out who we are.”
Lillia clenched a fist, and two Lesser Imps rose up from the darkness,
crowding in around the corpse and starting to devour it.
“They’ll handle it,” Lillia said. “Shall we?”
“Lead the way,” Arwin replied. “I take it you remember the direction
Anna said Erik would be coming from?”
“Yeah,” Lillia said, setting off into the dark with Arwin at her side. “It
should be a little while until Erik makes it since he was farther. We don’t
know anything about him, so hopefully, he isn’t too difficult to spot. The
fight is getting bigger behind us, so the guild may have gotten involved.”
“Good. That’ll buy us all the time we need,” Arwin said, but he couldn’t
shake a building unease in his stomach. Yul was dead—of that, there was no
doubt. Their plan had gone exactly how he’d wanted it to, but the man had
truly been far too shit of a fighter to be a Journeyman. Something was going
on, and Arwin didn’t like not knowing what it was.

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 80

A
rwin and Lillia strode down the alley at a brisk pace. According to
Rodrick’s guess, they should have had around ten or fifteen minutes
before Erik showed up. The fighting behind them had grown a little,
but it was already starting to fade into the distance behind them.
Reya had done a great job creating a distraction. And, judging by the
fact that it was still going, Arwin was pretty sure she’d gotten out of it. That
took a large weight off his chest. He knew she wasn’t a child, but the idea
of her getting killed while they were avenging someone else made him sick.
I can’t protect everyone. Bah. Doesn’t matter how many times I tell
myself that. It doesn’t change shit.
“Don’t you think we should have run into Erik by now?” Lillia asked
from the shadows beside Arwin. “It’s been almost all the time that Rodrick
said it should take him, and we’re getting a little far from the guild.”
“Maybe he ended up staying at the restaurant for longer?” Arwin
guessed. “It’s just across the street, and even though the fight is kind of far,
that explosion was fairly loud. Maybe it spooked him.”
“What, you think he’s hiding in there?” Lillia asked doubtfully. “The
second-in-command of a guild hiding like a complete coward when an
explosion goes off in his own hall? Ridiculous.”
Arwin shrugged. “I don’t have any better ideas. Do you see him?”
“No,” Lillia admitted. “I suppose all we can do is wait here for a little.
Walking into the restaurant would be way too obvious.”
 “Probably. Let’s just sit in the alley and wait for someone who sticks
their head out and looks a little more concerned about the explosion than
anyone else. There’s always the chance that Erik managed to avoid us
through the use of a movement ability or something. He might have
sprinted for the explosion the moment he heard it.”
“Yeah, you could be right. I suppose that, for now, we just wait.”
And that was what they did. Minutes turned to five, and five turned to
ten. Arwin wished the windows of the restaurant were larger, but he had no
such luck. There was no way to get near it without being completely
obvious or sitting down for dinner. And, given the fact that there had just
been an explosion, he doubted that trying to grab a bite to eat would be seen
as very logical behavior.
He was just starting to think that they really had missed Erik when the
door to the restaurant creaked open, and a pudgy man stuck his head out,
squinting into the distance. All the sounds of the fight had finally petered
off, likely contained by the Iron Hounds.
The man glanced around the street, then scurried off in the opposite
direction of the guild. Arwin and Lillia exchanged a glance.
“There’s no way,” Lillia said.
“Who else? It’s the only lead we’ve got,” Arwin muttered, already
setting off in pursuit.
Erik—assuming Arwin’s assumption was correct—was painfully easy to
follow. He was completely unaware of his surroundings, despite his
constant stops to look around and check to see if anyone was on his tail. He
looked so obviously guilty of something that Arwin would have suspected
him of just about any crime in the vicinity.
Arwin and Lillia caught up to him in less than a minute, using her
magically enhanced darkness to walk right up to him along the side of the
street. Erik shifted from checking to see if anyone was following him to
listening intently.
Is he trying to see if the fight is already over? What a damn coward. I
want to just kill him here, but I need to make sure this is actually the right
guy. I’m not going to murder some random paranoid guy because he didn’t
want to get caught up in a fight.
Arwin glanced at Lillia, then nodded to Erik. She shrugged, indicating
that she’d stay back and be ready to support him if a fight started.
 “Hey there,” Arwin said, raising a hand in greeting as he stepped into
the alley. Erik leapt nearly a foot into the air, spinning toward him.
“Who are you?” Erik demanded. “Where did you come from?”
“Running from the fight over there,” Arwin said, nodding in the
direction Erik was heading. “I was heading over to apply to the Iron
Hounds, but a bunch of thieves got into a huge scuffle and a mage started
blowing shit up, so I got out of there before I got my head taken off by
accident.”
Arwin was pretty sure he’d done a fairly convincing job in his speech,
but Erik didn’t even look slightly assured by it.
“Well, you should be on your way,” Erik said, flicking his hand irritably.
“I have business to attend to, and I have no desire to speak to anyone that
approaches me in a dark alley.”
Honestly, probably a pretty good life motto.
“I don’t blame you. I’ll be out of your hair, then. I was just wondering if
you happened to know where the guild leader was—or anyone in power,
really. I got wind that the Iron Hounds were in search of a smith and would
pay well.”
“Well, come back to the guild tomorrow. We’re obviously not going to
be taking applicants while there’s a blasted fight going on right outside it.”
“Oh, you’re part of the guild?” Arwin asked, his eyes lighting up.
“Could you point me in the right direction?”
“No. I’ve got no idea. I’m just a scholar. A recommendation from me
isn’t going to do anything, so don’t even bother asking for it.”
Arwin resisted the urge to blink. He’d been pretty confident that—no.
He studied the man for a second, and the longer he looked at him, the more
confident he became that this wasn’t a scholar.
There were no ink stains on his hands, and his clothes were all far too
neat and well cared for. Arwin hadn’t known many scholars, but they’d
almost always been obsessed with their work—and they definitely didn’t
earn enough to dress like the man before him.
He’s lying. Is that enough for me to completely take a bet with
someone’s life, though? He could just be a scared member of the guild. The
only way I know for sure who this guy is if someone else identifies him or if
he tells me himself—and if he lied about his class, he definitely isn’t going
to tell me his name.
 “I see,” Arwin said. “One last question and then I’ll be out of your hair,
I promise.”
“Gods, you’re persistent. What is it?”
“What does the name Ifrit mean to you?” Arwin asked, watching the
man’s face closely. He might have been willing to lie, but he was a damn
shit liar. And, as soon as the words left Arwin’s lips, he saw the flicker of
recognition pass through the man’s features. “Ah. Hello, Erik.”
Erik’s hand blurred, magic glistening along his fingertips as they trailed
through the air. A coward he may have been, but he was fast. A black
dagger shot through the air, heading for Arwin’s throat. Lillia shot from the
shadows, and the blade rang off her armor, spinning harmlessly to the side.
Three other daggers ripped out from the darkness behind Erik at such
speed that Arwin’s eyes couldn’t properly trace them. They rang off Lillia’s
armor one after the other, all landing at a different spot—and all failing to
penetrate its magical defenses. Lillia tensed, likely from the power the
armor had just pulled from her to sustain itself. She slipped back into the
darkness, not pausing for long enough to let Erik get a good enough look at
her.
Arwin didn’t give Erik time to figure out what had happened. He
lunged, his armor slamming into place around him. His hammer
materialized in his hands, and he brought it down on Erik’s head. The man
let out a terrified scream and raised his hands as if they would somehow
stop a massive hammer from crushing him like an overripe berry—and a
resounding clang echoed through the street.
A powerful force slammed into Arwin’s arms, flinging Verdant Blaze
from his grip. He stumbled backward, dismissing the hammer with
[Arsenal] before it could land on someone by accident.
Standing before Erik was a tall man, a dark beard covering the bottom
half of his face that matched the pitch-black armor covering his body. It
vaguely resembled the carapace of a beetle—glossy and smooth, curling up
to jutting points at his shoulders.
The man lowered his sword, and the Mesh tingled at Arwin’s eyes as he
tried and failed to study it. The weapon was definitely magic, but the man
either chose not to or was unable to completely hide its nature.
Did he use an ability to block me there? Because, if not—holy shit. This
guy is disgustingly strong. He definitely isn’t an Apprentice. The guild
leader, then?
 “Who are you?” the man asked, tilting his head to the side and
narrowing his eyes. “And the woman… Her armor blocked an enchanted
weapon. Fascinating. No mere thieves, I would say. Why are you trying to
kill my second-in-command?”
Arwin held the man’s gaze, not giving away an inch, but he prepared his
legs to activate [Scourge] and sprint in the other direction. He wasn’t stupid
enough to think he could handle a Journeyman that actually knew what they
were doing.
“You’d be Jessen, then,” Arwin said, making no move to answer his
question.
“It seems you have the advantage over me. I still have no idea who you
are.”
And that’s exactly how I want it to stay. If you find out who we are, you
come after the tavern next. What the hell is Jessen doing all the way out
here? It makes no sense. There’s no way he cares this much about some
random coward. Unless he’s pretending to be some honorable figure rather
than the murderer he is?
“I think I’d like to keep it that way,” Arwin said, fighting to keep his
gaze on Jessen. If the man didn’t recognize his mask, then it was very likely
that Erik had been acting on orders but had never passed details along. And,
if that were the case, the only way everyone had a chance to get out of this
alive would be if Erik didn’t.
“Then it seems we have a problem,” Jessen said. His voice shifted,
turning to a syrup-laden drawl. “I can’t let anyone go around trying to
murder my people in cold blood.”
Arwin’s teeth gritted as he fought to keep his anger under control.
Claiming that he was the one going around heartlessly murdering people
when Jessen had been the one to kill Zeke was like grinding nails on
chalkboard in Arwin’s ears.
His mind raced as he tried to find a way that would let him get to Erik
and escape before Jessen stopped him, but nothing came to mind. He’d
already felt how much more power Jessen had than he did. Even with
[Scourge], Arwin would only be able to put up a fight for a few blows
before he lost.
Which means I need to play his game if I want a chance of coming out
on top of this.
 “That’s the angle you’re going to take?” Arwin asked, his features
twisting in disgust as he dismissed his helm. “Your men murdered an
innocent and destroyed my smithy, and you claim that I’m the one that’s
cold-blooded?”
“An innocent?” Jessen tilted his head to the side. “I gave no such
orders.”
“Your idiots destroyed the smithy while a child was in it,” Arwin spat.
“Burned him alive. So go ahead. Give me your cold-hearted speech. Every
word that leaves your lips might as well be poison.”
Jessen’s eyes narrowed in anger. Arwin wasn’t sure if it was directed at
his words or him, and he didn’t particularly care. Jessen hadn’t denied
ordering the destruction of his smithy—and that meant Jessen was
responsible. He, like the others, would die.
“Who?” Jessen asked. “Who did it?”
“What, are you going to punish them?” Arwin asked with a bark of
laughter. “A slap on the wrist, maybe?”
“Who?” Jessen roared, slamming his sword into the wall beside him.
Stone crumbled away, cascading to the ground at his feet.
“Tix.” Arwin held three fingers up, then lowered one of them. “She’s
dead.” He lowered a second finger and nodded toward the direction of the
guild hall. “Yul. Also dead.” Arwin was left with just his middle finger
standing, and he turned his gaze to Erik. “And the coward.”
And you, Jessen. But if you’re going to be pretending to be some
righteous asshole, I’ll play along. Let’s see if you murder your own man for
me.
“Dead?” Jessen’s expression flickered, then turned flat. “I see. A smith
has killed two of my men?”
“My only regret is that I couldn’t kill them a second time,” Arwin said
honestly. “And the fat one is next.”
Jessen pressed his lips together and let a sigh slide out from between
them. “Ah. I can’t let you do that. I’m afraid I have need of Erik.”
Of course you do.
A smug grin passed over Erik’s features.
“Would you settle for his arms and legs?” Jessen asked.
Erik’s smile froze and fell away, and a pit formed in the center of
Arwin’s chest. He recognized the type of man that Jessen was, and he
matched up perfectly with Rodrick’s warning.
 He’s the kind of guy that honestly thinks that he can trade lives like
currency. He genuinely believes that this is a reasonable trade, and he
doesn’t care in the slightest about his subordinate at all.
Making a deal with him is the same as putting your hand in a bear trap
and waiting for it to go off—and I don’t know if I’ve got any other options.

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 81

“H is limbs,” Jessen repeated when Arwin gave no response. “Would

that be sufficient?”
“Why are you even offering that?” Arwin asked, taken aback
despite himself. “I thought you were going to⁠—”
“Protect him?” Jessen’s smile twisted into the sneer of a snake. “I said I
needed him, but I don’t need him moving. You seem like a competent man,
and it would be a shame to kill you when we could work together instead.
After all, if our grievances are settled, there is no reason for us to fight.”
“Guild Leader, I—” Erik started, his face as pale as a sheet.
“Be silent, lest we decide your tongue a more appropriate payment,”
Jessen snapped. “The limbs or not, Smith?”
He said he needed this cowardly asshole. Why would Jessen offer me
his limbs in payment? There’s a trick. Rodrick warned us that Jessen liked
playing with the people he killed, and I know how people like this work. I’ve
seen it before. He’s going to try to use one of his rules to turn this against
me without going against his fake moral code. So what is⁠—
Ah.
“No,” Arwin said with a shake of his head. “I don’t believe it would.”
“I will not let you kill him,” Jessen said flatly, but there was a spark of
acknowledgment in his eyes. “If you seek Erik’s head, then I will be forced
to kill you, no matter how beneficial our future partnership could ever hope
to be.”
 “Not that either,” Arwin said, becoming more confident with every
word that he spoke. “I think an equal trade for the life you stole would be
the lives that remain.”
At least until I get strong enough to kill Jessen—but he’s not making this
offer because he genuinely thinks we could ever be friends. He wants
something from me, and he was hoping to force me to bargain for it. Either
that, or he just wants to chop all my limbs off and use me as an example.
Jessen tilted his head to the side. “Explain.”
“I killed two of your people,” Arwin said. “Except they were worthless,
pathetic excuses for lives who had killed a child. In return for us ceasing
our pursuit of Erik, you will not attempt to retaliate against us or our street
in any way, shape, or form.”
A smile crawled across Jessen’s lips, and a shiver ran down Arwin’s
spine. His guess had been right. Jessen had been planning to do whatever he
did to Erik to at least some of his friends.
“I knew you were interesting,” Jessen said. “Very well. I can recognize
when I meet an interesting opponent. I accept your terms until we next
meet. I do not believe either of us will be able to help ourselves after that.”
“No,” Arwin agreed, barely able to keep the disgust from his voice. “We
won’t.”
All of that said… I’ll be damned if you think I’m letting either you or
Erik live through this. You want to play games? Fine. Let’s play.
“You fancy your guild something powerful, don’t you?” Arwin asked
abruptly. “You’re proud of what you’ve made?”
Jessen tilted his head to the side, surprised by the change of topic. He
recovered quickly and a cocky smile played across his lips. “Yes. I do. I’ve
brought them far. It’s pleasant to meet someone who understands just how
difficult it can be. Perhaps your guild will grow as strong as mine one day.”
False sincerity dripped from every word that came out of Jessen’s
mouth.
“I doubt it,” Arwin said. “We’re far weaker, and I’m okay with that. We
never would have challenged you if one of our own hadn’t been killed.”
“His death will eat at me forever. My sincerest apologies for the terrible
tragedy. I am glad that we have come to an agreement on a resolution.”
Jessen couldn’t have sounded less distraught if he’d tried.
“I’d like to make an offer of my appreciation for your mercy in this
decision,” Arwin said. “An item we procured from a dungeon available only
to us. Even though we’re far weaker than even your worst member, I
believe it may be of interest to you.”
Jessen’s brow furrowed as he tried to figure out what Arwin’s angle
was. Arrogance won out over suspicion and he inclined his head. There
were few things that cocky bastards like him liked more than someone
bowing down to their supposed superiority.
“We accept,” Jessen said.
The cocky grin on Erik’s face grew even wider, and his back
straightened as he found his spine in the strength of his master. It seemed
he’d already forgotten how close he’d been to losing his limbs.
Arwin reached to his side and rested his hand on an ivory-white dagger
in his pouch, not quite pulling it fully out yet. He used [Arsenal],
temporarily bonding himself to the blade. Even though he didn’t reveal it,
he could still recall the words that had drifted through the air when the
Mesh had first revealed the weapon’s abilities to him.

Bone Dagger: Average Quality

[Splintered Wrath] (3 Charges): This item was forged from the flesh of
a living gargoyle, imbuing it with hatred. It leaves a piece of itself
behind with every strike to worm into its victim’s bloodstream and seek
out their heart. After all charges have been consumed, this item’s magic
will be fully depleted, and it will irreparably shatter.

“I hope this is sufficient apology for the trouble I’ve caused,” Arwin
said. “Erik, I don’t believe this item is worthy of your master, so I’ll hand it
to you instead. I hope you accept my sincerest feelings.”
He procured the dagger, moving with measured movements that weren’t
fast enough to be misconstrued as an attack, and flicked the blade without
giving Erik or Jessen time to see the Mesh’s description of the weapon. It
traced through the air in a tight arc. Jessen’s eyes traced the blade, but he
made no move to intercept it.
Habit was a funny thing. In general, humans tended to be creatures of it.
Whenever they could, they slept in the same beds, ate at the same tables,
and shat in the same rooms. And, when someone threw something to them
—even if it was sharp—they tried to catch it.
Erik extended his hands, likely moving before his brain had even
registered, and caught the dagger out of the air. Having been thrown blade-
first, the weapon cut a thin line into his palm, and he fumbled to keep hold
of it.
“Idiot,” Erik snapped. “Why are you throwing it? Are you trying to kill
me?”
“I believe I had already promised to avoid that,” Arwin said. “I’m not
stupid enough to break my promise to Jessen. Your own incompetence, on
the other hand, is an entirely different matter.”
Erik opened his mouth, but his words were replaced with a surprised
hiss. He shook the hand that had gotten cut. His eyes went wide and he let
out a cry of pain, dancing around and shaking the entire arm.
“What the hell is this?” Erik yelled, dropping the dagger and letting it
clatter to the ground. His yelps turned into a pained scream. He ripped at his
shirt, fingers digging at skin like there was a colony of ants burrowing
within.
Jessen watched on, his face flat, as Erik’s cries grew louder. He thrashed
around on the ground and kicked, screaming desperately for help. Neither
Arwin nor Jessen said a word as his screams grew louder.
Erik clutched at his chest one final time, his back arching in agony, and
collapsed.
Even though Jessen’s features were completely controlled, fury bubbled
deep beneath them. Arwin could see it in the stiffness of the man’s stance
and how the veins in his neck bulged with the clenching of his jaw.
What’s bigger? Your ego or your anger? Given how little of a shit you
give about your subordinates, I’m pretty sure it’s the former. I certainly
hope so. If I’m wrong, I’m dead.
“I believed you when you said that your guild was stronger than mine. It
seems that he has brought you shame in failing to prove your words true.”
Arwin locked eyes with Jessen. “His death will eat at me forever. My
sincerest apologies for the terrible tragedy.”
Jessen knelt, picking up the dagger by the handle with two fingers
before rising once more. He didn’t let his gaze drift from Arwin’s the entire
time.
“I have found that I no longer desire this gift,” Jessen said. The smug
cockiness had vanished from his voice and left behind only ice and hatred.
“You may have it back.”
“I refuse,” Arwin said promptly. “A gift given to one who has accepted
it is not one that I would ever be willing to take back. It would bring me too
much shame. I am just sorry that your man was not powerful enough to
handle it properly. One of its charges has been wasted.”
He could have pulled the dagger back to himself with [Arsenal], but that
would have been taking back the gift and could give Jessen an opportunity
to try something against him or his people. Arwin didn’t plan to leave any
such windows open. There was no reason to. The blade was exactly where
he wanted it to be. After what he’d just done to Erik, Arwin was certain that
Jessen wouldn’t settle for killing him with any weapon other than the Bone
Dagger—the very one that was still bound to him with [Arsenal].
Jessen nodded slowly. He put the dagger away and his lips pulled back
in a predatory smile. “Well played, Smith. You have turned my own words
against me. Very well. I look forward to our next meeting. It will not go so
well for you.”
Jessen strode into the darkness, and Arwin made no move to follow
him. Several seconds passed before Lillia stepped out, a concerned frown
on her face.
And the game is on.
“Godspit, Arwin,” Lillia murmured. “That was…”
“Incredibly risky. I took a risk that my read of Jessen was enough to
gamble with. It lined up with what Rodrick said, so I was pretty certain it
would work,” Arwin said as he drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly in
an attempt to calm his adrenaline-shot nerves. “He’s more than just fishy.
Bastard is the whole damn ocean. He’s not going to forget this.”
The only reason that worked is because he doesn’t see us as a proper
threat and his ego is so big that he can’t admit to actually losing a verbal
fight by killing me here and now.
“How strong is he if he managed to knock your hammer out of your
hand?” Lillia asked. “That’s terrifying. Definitely above what a Journeyman
should be doing. He must be close to the Adept tier.”
“I wasn’t using [Scourge] at the time,” Arwin replied, shaking his head.
“But it doesn’t change the fact that he’s powerful. That’s the first real
Journeyman adventurer we’ve run into, and I agree that he’s probably
toward the top of it. If anything, that just makes me wonder why the hell the
rest of his guild is so shit.”
“Something tells me we’ll find out,” Lillia said. “I’m not done with
him.”
 “Neither am I,” Arwin said. “But we got Erik. Now the only one left is
Jessen. I wish we could have gotten him too, but if we drew weapons on
him tonight, we would be dead.”
“Almost certainly. Doesn’t make me happy about it,” Lillia said, “but
I’ll sleep better knowing that Erik is rotting in the bottom of the
Underlands.”
“As will I. Jessen is going to be a dangerous enemy, but his time will
come.”
Lillia let out an explosive breath. “You’re right. I just can’t help but
wonder what Zeke would think.”
“I don’t want to put words in his mouth, but I suspect he’d be happier
that none of us had died than he would be if we avenged him and lost half
the group.”
The last of the tension left Lillia’s body and she slumped. “Yeah. I don’t
think any of us would want anything else. I suppose we did buy ourselves
some time, and I think I’ll always remember the look on that smug bastard’s
face when he picked up the dagger.”
A small grin twisted Arwin’s lips. “Yes. As will I. Let’s go find the
others. I need to tell them about what happened.”

Guards meandered past Arwin as he headed down the street alongside

Lillia, who kept to the shadows alongside him. Even though the guards
were moving toward the Iron Hounds’ guild house, none of them looked all
that concerned. If anything, it seemed like they were dragging their feet to
avoid getting there too soon.
Sad. They’re hoping the guild will handle the fighting for them. The
guards here really are all talk and no show, but I suppose that worked to
our advantage this time around. It’s still pathetic.
Arwin turned a corner, then came to a stop. Rodrick, Reya, and Anna all
stood at the exit of an alley.
“How did things go?” Rodrick asked as Arwin approached them. “You
weren’t in the area where you were supposed to be. Did Erik deviate from
his trip home?”
 “Yeah,” Arwin said. He glanced toward where Lillia hid in the darkness,
but he couldn’t make any of her features out. “It’s… I’ll tell you all when
we get back to the tavern.”
“That doesn’t sound good,” Reya said. She wiped some dirt from her
cheek with the back of a hand. “Where’s Lillia?”
“She’s right over there, in the darkness. She’s just keeping out of sight,”
Arwin said, nodding to the patch of shadows at the edge of the alley. “Don’t
worry. Neither of us were hurt. I assume you’re all fine as well?”
“Nothing but a minor injury,” Reya replied.
They all set off. The city was strangely silent despite all the chaos that
had swallowed it just a few minutes ago. Arwin wasn’t sure if it was
because nobody cared or if it was because they just all assumed the problem
had been handled.
Either way, he appreciated it. He didn’t quite feel like speaking any
more. They arrived at the tavern and headed inside. Lillia emerged from her
patch of darkness, still barely visible, as she made her way over to the
lantern near the counter and lit it.
Everyone other than Lillia lowered themselves into the mismatched
stools lined up before the counter.
“It’s done, then?” Reya asked. “All that’s left is Jessen?”
Arwin wasn’t so sure he knew the answer to that question himself. He
used [Arsenal], summoning his helmet and lifting it off his head. Arwin set
it on the counter, running his thumb along the curling horns jutting out of its
top.
“Yes, but we can’t go after Jessen now. He’s much stronger than I
thought.”
“What?” Reya exclaimed. “How do you know? I thought⁠—”
“Jessen showed up to save Erik. He was powerful. If we’d fought him,
we’d have died. Rodrick’s info on him was right. Jessen was trying to play
games with us,” Lillia said, walking to stand beside Arwin and Reya. “He
tried to bait Arwin into agreeing to let the rest of us get tortured.”
“How’d he know we were going to go after Erik?” Rodrick asked, his
brow furrowing. “Nobody should have been able to figure out what we
were planning. I wasn’t spotted, was I?”
“I don’t think it was you,” Arwin said with a shake of his head. “Relax.
Everyone did their jobs perfectly. We were just up against an opponent we
weren’t prepared to face. I didn’t think Jessen would be as dangerous as he
was.”
“So… what now?” Reya asked, her voice quavering as her hands balled
at her sides. “If you survived, did Jessen figure out who you are? Do we
have to leave the street? And how did you kill Erik if this guy was so
strong?”
“Jessen knows, but he’ll stay away from us,” Arwin said. “And
technically, I didn’t kill Erik. He killed himself. I just threw him a dagger.”
Reya’s brow creased in confusion. Realization set in and her frown
turned to a cold smile. “The Bone Dagger?”
“Only has two charges left, unfortunately,” Arwin confirmed. “It was
gifted to the Iron Hounds. It’s just unfortunate that they lost a man in the
process.”
“What about Jessen, then? When can we kill him? I bet we could take
him if all of us⁠—”
“No. Relax, Reya. There’s something more important than throwing our
lives away in revenge.” Arwin shook his head. “And that’s surviving to see
it through. Zeke was murdered, but do you really think he wants us to
follow him into the afterlife?”
Reya’s face crumpled. “But…”
“I know it’s painful,” Arwin said, softening his voice. “But you need to
remember something. You can’t win every fight the same way. There are
times when your opponent is too powerful to just fling yourself against. A
just cause does not win a battle.”
“How do you know Jessen isn’t lying?” Anna asked. “He has no honor.”
“Because he doesn’t just want to kill us,” Arwin replied, a vision of
Jessen’s hungry eyes flashing through his mind. “He wants to win, and we
can use that against him. He's pissed that we outplayed him, but I don't
think his ego will let him just send someone after us. That's the same as
admitting we actually beat him. He knows we'll come after him, so he'll just
wait.”
“Why?” Reya asked. “That doesn’t make sense. He could just come
after us now and we’d all die, wouldn’t we?”
“He could. But he won’t, because he’s an arrogant bastard,” Arwin
replied. “We’ll use that against him. He doesn’t see us as a real threat, and
we’ll kill him one day because of it. Until then, he’s going to suffer
knowing that he got outplayed by a mere Apprentice.”
 “I understand. It really doesn’t feel fair that he gets to keep living while
Zeke doesn’t, but I understand,” Reya muttered, staring down at her hands.
“The only fairness in life is what our strength allows us to create,”
Arwin said. “We won this round, Reya. Tix, Yul, and Erik are dead. They’re
the ones that had a direct hand in Zeke’s death. And, more importantly,
we’re alive. As long as we’re alive, we can grow stronger. Jessen’s guild is
larger and more powerful than ours, and yet his men lost to us. His
arrogance won’t let that stand. That’s why he didn’t kill us. It would be
cementing his defeat in stone.”
“We can’t leave town to find somewhere safer to train, can we?” Anna
asked. “We could come back to deal with the Hounds later.”
“It would be really difficult for me to do that,” Lillia said. “Not right
now, at least. And, aside from the Hounds, Milten is perfect. We’re far from
the Adventurers’ Guild and all the problems they bring. This area is lawless,
but that’s what lets us act freely.”
Arwin nodded in agreement. “Jessen’s hands are tied by his own twisted
morals right now. I won’t be leaving, but I won’t stop anyone if they want
to.”
Rodrick and Anna both shook their heads.
Reya let out a slow breath and raised her eyes to meet Arwin’s. “We
need to get stronger so we can get around to killing Jessen as soon as we
can.”
“You can count on it. We’re just going to do this the right way. I think
Jessen will avoid us until we come for him again, but if you ever do see him
again, just turn around and leave. Don’t say a word. All he’ll be able to do
is fume and wait until the day comes where he meets justice,” Arwin said
with a grim smile. “It might not be today. It might not be this week or even
this month—but they’ve got an open tab with us, and they’re going to pay it
with interest.”

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 82

F
or the first time in many nights, Arwin slept. The embrace of sleep that
had avoided him for so long finally welcomed him back, though it
didn’t let him return with grace.
Dreams dug into his mind like the fangs of a wyrm. Possibilities of what
could have been intermixed with the truth of what had been. His words to
Reya may have been true, but he wasn’t so sure he believed them himself.
Three of Zeke’s killers were dead. Their deaths had brought no solace.
Jessen still lived, and Arwin still didn’t have a way to kill him. The hunger
in Jessen’s eyes—he wanted to crush it.
His resting mind taunted him with the powers that had once been his to
command. Just a scant few months ago, Arwin could have killed him with
no more difficulty than crushing a Lesser Imp.
And yet, a scant few months ago, Arwin was alone. He would have had
no reason to kill Jessen. He would have had nothing to lose. A guardian
with nothing to protect aside from the distant memory of an ideal that he’d
clutched on to ever since he’d arrived in this world.
The only people that he’d truly desired to save were already dead.
A strand of amusement passed through Arwin’s dreams like a swirl of
paint through water. In losing his powers, he’d finally found a reason to
have them. The haunting dreams started to falter. They shrank before the
growing determination that took hold in his mind.
Revenge would be had, but not at the cost of their lives. Zeke was gone.
More death would not let him rest easier. The only thing that could ever
give his loss meaning was life. Jessen had to be stopped to keep others from
meeting the same fate, but Arwin wasn’t strong enough to protect everyone.
And, for the first time, he was truly fine with that. Arwin didn’t have to
be strong enough to protect everyone. He just had to be strong enough to
protect the people around him.
Only once he could do that would Arwin allow himself to desire more.
His eyes drifted open and the dreams shattered before the light of day.
Sunlight filtered through the dirty window of Arwin’s room and onto his
pillow.
Arwin’s face felt warm. The temptation to lie in bed and let the world
pass him by tried to pull at him, but its call fell on deaf ears. There was too
much to do. He rose and strode out of the room. Stairs creaked beneath his
weight as he headed down to the tavern.
Lillia poked her head out of the kitchen. The light from the lantern just
barely illuminated her form.
“You slept?”
“For once,” Arwin said. “You?”
“For once,” Lillia said, a note of amusement tinging her voice. “What
now? We throw ourselves into finding a way to kill Jessen?”
“It’s tempting,” Arwin admitted. He would have loved to do just that. It
was definitely what Jessen expected. Another vision of Jessen’s eyes passed
through his mind, and a grin pulled at Arwin’s lips. “But no. That’s not what
we’re doing.”
“What? Why not?” Lillia asked.
“Because there’s only one way to beat someone like this,” Arwin
replied. “And it isn’t by playing their game. You got a read on him, didn’t
you? Jessen wants us to try him again. He thinks we’ll come knocking at his
door with some scheme.”
“Is that not what we were going to do?” Lillia wiped her hands off on
her clothes. They left small streaks of flour behind, like the stripes of a
tiger. “You can’t mean we’re just going to ignore him.”
“We try to do anything to undermine Jessen directly, and we lose,”
Arwin said. “He’s too powerful to take in a direct fight. The moment we try
to do anything against him is when he’ll show up with a new game to play.”
“Probably,” Lillia said, crossing her arms and leaning against the
doorframe. “You’re saying we drive him insane by just… forgetting about
him?”
 “By living as if he isn’t even there,” Arwin corrected. “We don’t forget.
But Jessen is going to go insane trying to figure out how we’re planning to
take him out. He wants to crush us for what we did. I’d wager a bet that he’s
also convinced we feel the same toward him.”
“We do.”
“We do.” Arwin nodded. “Which is why he’ll be confident we’re trying
something. He’ll spend resources and energy trying to find out what it is.
The longer it takes, the more confused and worried he’ll get. He won’t
approach us, though. That would be another defeat.”
“You think he’s just going to lose his shit because we do nothing?”
Lillia asked doubtfully.
“I think it’ll make him squirm. And, even if it doesn’t, we’ll still be
stronger. Jessen will be able to do nothing but watch as we become
powerful. He loses the moment he so much as says a word to us.”
A grin crawled across Lillia’s face and she nodded. “I think I see what
you’re getting at. We win either way. He won’t be able to handle the fact
that we’re just ignoring him. While we focus on ourselves, he focuses on
us.”
“Right. Even if he does just ignore us, I’m confident we’ll grow
powerful faster than he will. We’ve already seen the path to take and
learned what steps to avoid. He hasn’t. Both paths lead to victory.”
“If you’re going to go with this, you’ll need to explain it to the others,”
Lillia said. “Reya isn’t going to take it well. She still wants to act.”
“I’ll speak with her,” Arwin said. “It’s not an easy request to make. A
large part of me wants to just sprint at Jessen and rip him apart with my
bare hands, even though I know that’s going to end with getting myself
killed. Reya isn’t stupid. She’ll come around.”
“Then I’ll let Rodrick and Anna know. Are you heading out?”
“Yes. I need to occupy myself. The best way to do that will be trying to
return to normal. I’m going to start rebuilding the smithy.”
“You’re not choosing a new building?”
“No. I’m not going to let Jessen take the smithy from me. That’s the
spot I chose, and that’s the spot I’ll keep.”
“That’s understandable. I don’t think I’d be willing to swap buildings
for the tavern either,” Lillia said. She pushed away from the doorframe and
gave Arwin a small smile. “Just remember you don’t have to bear all the
weight of this on your own.”
 “I know. Thank you, Lillia.”
The woman nodded and turned back to the kitchen. She had her work to
do, and Arwin had his, so he headed out of the tavern. Bright sunlight fell
down on him the instant he stepped out of the door, and it took his eyes a
moment to adjust.
The longer I spend in the dark, the more comfortable I get in it. I
wonder if that speaks more about me or the tavern.
Arwin blinked the brightness away and headed off down the street. He
came to a stop at the edge of the burnt block that had once been his smithy.
A certain sense of irony struck him. Everything was covered in a layer of
ash, black as night. He’d left the darkness of the tavern only to find even
more of it outside in the light.
Even though the wind had carried a lot of the ash away, there were still
small piles against the remains of the walls and strewn across the ground. It
felt like there was no end to it.
I suppose there won’t be until I get started. Can’t get anywhere without
taking the first steps, even if you’re taking them for the second time.
Arwin knelt by the ash and scooped it up. He walked over to the ditch
behind the smithy. To his surprise, he couldn’t see the bodies of the
Brothers Six in it. He tilted his head to the side, the pile of ash in his palms
starting to blow away in the wind.
Eh. Who cares what happened to them. Maybe a large stray animal got
hungry.
He glanced at the ash. There were probably better ways to dispose of it
than dumping it into a hole. Then again, Arwin was pretty sure that ash was
good for the dirt. It was a fertilizer. Maybe they could start a garden for
Lillia.
Arwin let the handful fall. It twisted and swirled through the air on its
way down like it was trying to paint a picture. As to what the picture was,
Arwin was unsure. He got the feeling he’d figure it out in time.

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 83

A
rwin’s world was soot and blackened brick. His fingernails were
packed with dirt, and his fingers ached from working pieces of
broken stone out of the rubble. Power trickled through his body as he
activated [Scourge] and slung a burnt beam over his shoulder.
He walked down a path strewn with small pieces of rubble and specks
of ash. His feet remembered the path back to the ditch better than his mind
did. Arriving at the edge, Arwin threw the piece of wood into a growing pile
at the ditch’s bottom.
It landed vertically, impaling the pile of soot and rock like the sword of
a long-forgotten king that awaited a hero to draw it free. Arwin trudged
back to the site of his smithy and picked up the largest stone he could find.
He brought it back over to the ditch and tossed it. The rock landed on
the brittle piece of protruding wood, shattering it and sending splinters
everywhere. Arwin nodded to himself and turned to return.
The last few hours had been productive. He’d drained most of the power
he had using [Scourge] to lug chunks away from the smithy. The majority
of the ground had been cleared away and all that remained were a few last
stragglers.
Arwin wiped his brow. His hand left behind a black streak of dirt that
mixed with the rivulets of sweat running down his face and stinging his
eyes. Cursing under his breath, Arwin wiped at his face with his shirt. That
only succeeded in smearing everything around and annoying him even
further.
 He gave up and let his hands drop. There were still more rocks to move.
He could clean himself up after he finished his work for the day. If he’d had
more energy, it would have only taken another hour at most. He wasn’t so
lucky.
Even though Arwin had been rationing his energy, there was only so
much power in his body. [Scourge] was a power-hungry ability that didn’t
lend itself well to usage over long periods of time. He’d been using it to
break up all the damaged stone into manageable chunks and carry them for
hours. Now there was nothing but his own dwindling strength left.
Arwin crouched beside a stone that had fallen at an angle and wedged
itself into the ground. He dug his fingers into the dirt beside it. It pressed
against the beds of his fingernails, and the sharp rock dug into his palms as
he heaved.
Dirt shifted and he pulled the stone free with a groan. Arwin pulled it
against his chest and gritted his teeth. The rock didn’t seem happy with its
relocation. It fought to slip free of his grasp with every ponderous step he
took. Arwin finally reached the ditch and let his weary hands relax. The
stone thudded down the side and collided with another rock at the bottom,
shattering into a dozen pieces.
Heaving a sigh, Arwin headed back to the smithy. He picked out his
next target—half of a large slab that he suspected had once been part of his
former hearth—and mentally prepared himself to pick up another piece.
As he went to pick it up, he caught a flicker of movement out of the
corner of his eye. Arwin raised his gaze. Standing across the street from him
was a figure made blurry by the sweat and dirt nipping at Arwin’s eyes.
He wiped his face with the inside of his shirt and stood up. It didn’t
make sense for Jessen to have broken his word already. Arwin had been
confident he’d gotten a good read on the man.
His attempts to wipe his eyes were largely ineffective, but they still did
enough to let him make out more detail. The man across from him wore the
clothes of a beggar. Dirt and grime stained his entire body and had worked
its way so deeply into his white beard that it almost looked brown. He held
a ratty old mug in one hand and supported himself with the other.
“Can I help you?” Arwin asked.
The other man swayed in place. His eyes shifted from Arwin to the mug
in his hand and then back again. He seemingly lost an internal battle and
lifted the mug to his lips to take a long drink from it.
 Belching, the man lowered the mug and wiped his mouth with the back
of a sleeve. A second of silence passed before he spoke with the sheer
confidence that only a fool or a drunkard could muster. “No.”
“This isn’t a show. Feel free to move on,” Arwin said. He wasn’t all too
keen on letting someone stand around behind him. Appearances could be
deceiving—and even a drunkard could run him through if he wasn’t paying
attention.
“What, do you own the street?” The man hiccupped and took another
sip from his mug. “I ain’t doing anything. No need to be prickly. You and I
don’t seem so different from how I see it.”
Arwin looked down at his hands. It was hard to argue with the
drunkard’s observation. His palms told the story of a man who still hadn’t
figured out that bathing was an activity that was meant to be done more
than once a year.
“I suppose I can’t argue too much with that,” Arwin admitted. He
picked out a large rock with a flat top and sat down on it. A point the man
may have had, but Arwin didn’t want to find a different point going through
his back. “If you’re going to stand around, you may as well sit. I assume
you want something.”
The drunkard chuckled. He stumbled over to Arwin. Several times, he
tripped over his feet and took several stumbling steps forward. By some
miracle, he managed to make it over to another large stone without tripping
and breaking his neck.
“Why you digging through the ash?” the man asked as he sat. His
momentum took him just a little too far. All his efforts in arriving to the
stone safely were wasted as he pitched back. His legs flew up as he slid off
the stone and landed on the ground back-first with a loud thump. For a
second, the man’s legs remained pointed straight into the air. Then they
flopped down over the rock, and he lifted his mug. He’d managed to avoid
spilling it on the way down.
“You okay?” Arwin asked, trying to keep the amusement from his tone.
“Was just sittin’. There’s nothing in the ruins worth taking. You’re just
wasting your time.”
“I’m not looking to take anything.”
“Then what are you bothering with?” The man gestured vaguely with
his mug. “There are other buildings here.”
“There are,” Arwin agreed. “But I like this one.”
 “How? There’s nothing left to like.” The man chuckled to himself and
raised the mug over his head, pouring the last of his drink out like the
world’s most pathetic waterfall. The majority of it missed his mouth and
landed on his face. He let out a slew of waterlogged curses.
“It’s not about how much is left. It’s about what you do with it,” Arwin
said. He braced his arms against his knees and leaned forward to rest. “It’ll
be worth it once everything is rebuilt. It’ll be my smithy, not just a building
I confiscated.”
“Until someone blows it up again.”
Arwin ran a hand through the thin layer of soot remaining on the ground
and rubbed it between his fingers. It wasn’t like he could get any more
stained.
“It’s an interesting thought, isn’t it?”
“What is?”
“Is it better to have had something and lose it or to never have had it at
all?”
“Can’t get hurt if you don’t have anything to lose.”
“Can’t live if you don’t have anything to live for,” Arwin countered.
“Sure. Keep telling yourself that as you pick through the remains of
your life,” the drunkard said with a chuckle. He pushed himself upright and
teetered unsteadily on the top of his rock. “Care for any more ash with that
ash?”
Arwin didn’t take the bait. It was obvious the man was trying to goad
him into a fight. It wasn’t going to work. He stood in the remains of his old
smithy and the dreams of his next. There was nothing he could do to take
back the past. That didn’t mean he was going to let it destroy his future.
“Can you really say that if you don’t even have anything to lose?”
Arwin asked.
Amber light poked into Arwin’s eyes as the sun started to dip behind
Milten’s skyline. It cast the city in burnt oranges and yellows. Light
shimmered off the cracks in the stones that were unmarred by soot,
reminding Arwin that he still had more to do before the day was done.
He braced his hands against his knees and rose to his feet. Some of his
energy had returned. It wasn’t much, but it would be enough to finish what
he’d started.
“I’ve got all I need,” the drunkard said. He shook his empty tankard at
Arwin, then paused and glanced inside it.
 “If you’re sure,” Arwin said noncommittally. “I’m not going to tell you
how to live your life. I might suggest you get another refill from Lillia,
though.”
“What makes you think I get my drinks anywhere here?”
“She mentioned a raggedy bloke that got drinks from her. It wasn’t hard
to make the connection.” Arwin crouched beside a rock, still facing the
nameless drunkard, and activated [Scourge]. He lifted it into the air and
trudged over to the ditch to dispose of it. The drunkard made no move to
follow Arwin, but he was still there when he returned.
“Aren’t you worried that you’ll lose more?”
“Perhaps I will, but I’ll do everything in my power to protect it. I can’t
predict the future, gestured and I can’t change the past. All I can do is live
in a way that hopefully does right by everyone—both living and dead.”
Arwin picked up another rock and set off to the ditch.
When he got back, the drunkard was gone. Arwin only paused for long
enough to make sure the man wasn’t hiding somewhere and waiting to stab
him. The man had seemed far more curious than aggressive, but that wasn’t
a reason to skip out on precautions.
It looked like he had well and truly left. Arwin considered heading to
Lillia’s tavern to look for him but dismissed the idea. The conversation had
ended. Arwin hadn’t even gotten the man’s name.
Ah, well. I imagine I’ll see him around again. I’m pretty sure that’s the
only other person on this street. He’s probably filling back up on booze with
Lillia right now. With how sloshed he already was, it probably won’t be long
until he’s passed out in an alleyway somewhere.
Arwin turned his attention back to the smithy. The grace of the sun was
fading fast. Orange had turned to a vibrant gossamer pink intertwined with
streaks of red in the final show of daylight before the night could claim the
sky.
I’m finishing this before I go to bed tonight.

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A
rwin’s labor concluded well into the night. It had taken longer than
he’d thought. That didn’t bother him at all. The final piece of debris
rolled down the ditch and thudded into the pile at its bottom.
Its arrival was the only sound in the deep cloak of the night around
Arwin. The street was far away enough from the rest of the city that there
had been no noise on the street aside from his work.
Soot had worked itself into every spot that it could have. His clothes
were stained pitch black and ruined. But, as Arwin looked back at the now-
clear plot of land, he was satisfied. It was with slight irony that Arwin found
the night had turned everything just as black as it had been when it had been
covered by soot.
He wasn’t going to be able to appreciate the fruits of his labors until the
sun rose in the morning and banished the night to whence it came. A cool
breeze rolled across Arwin’s tired shoulders like a caress. Goosebumps
raced down his spine and he shivered.
The smithy stood on the precipice between life and death. What it had
once been was gone, and it would never be recovered. And yet, even though
none of the brick remained, the dream still stood.
It wasn’t quite tangible. It wasn’t something that Arwin could have
described through words or a pen stroke. It wasn’t even something that he
was certain he could feel. The now-empty plot of land was a breath of held
air in the lungs of a city that didn’t care.
 The only people who knew of what had happened were the ones on this
street and the ones that had made it this way—but that would change.
Arwin swore it to himself. There would be a time when this street would be
known to all, and the Iron Hounds would have become nothing but a
passing memory burning away in the fire that they had started.
I won’t let this happen again. I’m sorry I can’t do more for you, Zeke. I
wish I could. I wish I could have saved everyone. I wish I could have been
the one that was in the smithy when the Iron Hounds destroyed it.
I wasn’t. I can’t change any of that. All I can do is remember the people
that got me here. I will push on for all of them.
Rest well, Zeke.
The past was what the future was built upon. It could not be forgotten,
but dwelling upon it would do nothing for the future. Arwin turned from the
smithy.
He wanted to head back to the tavern, but he didn’t quite feel ready for
it yet. His body didn’t quite feel ready to try and settle in. Arwin headed
across the street to the rickety house that was serving as his temporary
workshop and stepped inside.
[Soul Flame] ignited in his hand, and he tossed it into the hearth. He
picked up a scrap of metal from the ground and studied it. It was
Brightsteel, marred and blackened by intense heat.
A bracelet will do.
Arwin brought the Brightsteel to the fire. He let it heat, then worked it
together with just his hands. Verdant Blaze could have made it faster, but he
just wanted to let his body work for a little longer.
He used [Scourge] to press the metal into shape and form it into a
bracelet. The result wasn’t quite as smooth as it would have been if he’d
worked the metal properly, but it had its own charm to it. Not something
that would have held up in a fight—but it was a bracelet, not a sword.
A shimmer of the Mesh wrapped around the bracelet as he finished it.

[Metal Bracelet: Average Quality] has been forged.

Metal Bracelet: Average Quality
Roughshod: This item was forged by strong, weary hands that longed
for escape. It can direct all the power in its wielder’s body into a single
strike at a significant cost of magical energy.
 Weary: This item is imbued with the feelings of a man who seeks rest
and freedom. Using its ability will cause its wielder to feel exhausted
and slow their movements for a duration based on the amount of
magical power [Roughshod] consumed.

Another good bracelet, practically the opposite of the one he’d used to
kill Yul. Arwin slipped it onto his wrist. He had no doubt it would be useful
in due time, and its main goal had been accomplished. Rest didn’t seem
quite so impossible anymore. His footsteps accompanied him through the
night on the way back to the tavern.
Lillia was still awake when he arrived. She took one look at Arwin
before jerking her thumb over her shoulder toward the small bathroom.
“You look like you went swimming in the pits of the Ninth Underland.
I’ve already got some water drawn up for you. Don’t even think about
heading upstairs like that.”
“Thank you,” Arwin said. He didn’t need to be told twice. A bath, even
if it was in ice-cold water, sounded like the most heavenly thing in the
world.
He retreated to the bathroom to wash off. The dirt had been set so
deeply into his skin that it took him nearly an hour before he even started to
feel clean again. He’d stained the water in the tub pitch black by the time he
was done.
His clothes, unfortunately, were done. There would be no washing them
out. Lillia had been kind enough to lay out an extra set of clothes and a rag
on a small peg beside the tub. Arwin dried himself off and pulled everything
on before stepping back into the common room.
Lillia sat at the counter with a loaf of bread on a plate before her. She
nudged the stool beside her out with a foot, and Arwin took the unspoken
invitation to sit down.
“Finished clearing out the smithy?”
“Yeah. Your other customer swung by as well.”
Lillia broke a piece of the bread off and handed it to Arwin. She slid
over a small bowl of liquid. He squinted through the darkness as he tried to
make out what it was. It was fruitless—the only way he could even tell
something was in it was by the sound the bowl made when she moved it.
“Which one?” Lillia asked.
“You don’t have that many, do you? The one that drinks.”
 “Oh, him. He never says much. Didn’t think he was the talkative type.
What did he want?” Lillia broke off a piece of her loaf and dipped it into the
bowl before taking a bite. “Nothing bad, I hope.”
“I’m not sure he wanted anything. We just talked for a little and then he
left.” Arwin copied Lillia. He had no idea what the liquid was, but it
certainly tasted fantastic along with the bread. “Did you make this?”
“The bread, yes. Reya bought the oil. I don’t know how to make it yet.”
“It’s good.”
“Thanks.”
They ate quietly until they’d polished off the rest of the loaf and wiped
the bowl clean. Even then, neither of them spoke. There was something
comfortable about sitting in the dark and enjoying the silence. Words
weren’t always needed to speak.
Eventually, Lillia picked the bowl up and rose to her feet. “Are we
going back to the dungeon soon? I’m running low on supplies—and
money.”
“Yeah. I need money to repair the smithy,” Arwin said. “And I’m going
to go back to the market soon enough to sell my gear. I think tomorrow
should be fine. We’ll have to ask Anna and Rodrick to see if they’ve got
anything else planned.”
“They don’t. They want to head back in as well.”
Arwin wasn’t surprised. He wanted to get stronger just as much as the
others did. The wyrm still had to be dealt with, and the dungeon was the
best way to handle most of their problems at once.
“Then tomorrow it is,” Arwin confirmed. He rose from his chair and
pushed it back over to the counter. For the second time, silence set in.
This time, it wasn’t quite as comfortable as the last. Arwin found
himself at a loss for words. He coughed softly into his fist.
“I’ll see you tomorrow, then.”
“Yeah,” Lillia said. “Tomorrow.”
He headed up the stairs and to his room. All the work he’d put into
tearing apart the remains of the smithy had completely drained him. Letting
out a heavy sigh, Arwin flopped into bed. The grip of sleep wrapped around
his chest and drew him in the moment his head hit the pillow.
Arwin awoke to something clammy and sharp digging into his wrist. His
eyes snapped open and he bolted upright. Whatever had been holding on to
him had let go. It was still pitch black outside and his room was no better.
Did I imagine it? I could have sworn⁠—
Two orbs glittered in the dark at the foot of Arwin’s bed. He nearly
called Verdant Blaze to his hands before the clouds shifted behind him and
let a tiny sliver of moonlight through. A Lesser Imp stood before Arwin.
There would have been a time where Arwin’s next move would have
been to paste the monster where it stood. He probably would have then
gone to find whoever was responsible for the area’s security and given them
a thorough scolding for letting a monster breach their defenses so easily.
Instead, Arwin rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand. Even if he’d
been in a particularly jumpy mood, he wasn’t going to attack this particular
imp. It was hard for anyone to look intimidating when they were wearing a
frilly maid outfit.
“Is something wrong?”
The imp didn’t respond. It struck Arwin that he’d never actually seen
one of them speak. Perhaps all the jagged teeth made it impossible to do so
without accidentally biting their tongue off.
Arwin was pretty sure that the imp hadn’t just come to socialize—and
he certainly hoped that it wasn’t just watching him sleep. He may not have
hated them like he once had, but that didn’t mean he wanted them staring
him down.
The imp reached out and grabbed at Arwin’s wrist again to give it a
small tug. It was trying to lead him somewhere. His brow furrowed and
Arwin slipped out of bed. He was pretty sure the monster would have been
acting much more urgently if something serious was wrong.
You know, I’ve never actually seen Lillia let them roam around on their
own before.
Arwin let the imp guide him out of the room and into the hall. He
prepared to activate [Arsenal] at a moment’s notice if he needed to. The imp
continued toward the stairs, and Arwin slowed his gait to match the
monster. It didn’t look or sound like anything was out of place.
He followed it down and stepped into the common room of the tavern.
Nothing felt off here either. Arwin squinted at the doorway in case someone
was lurking around outside.
 The imp pulled Arwin away from the door. With that theory nixed, he
could do nothing but follow it into the kitchen and down the hall. The
darkness grew thicker the closer they got, and it wasn’t long before Arwin
was completely blind. He would have been completely lost if it weren’t for
the imp guiding him.
It led him into what Arwin recalled to have been Lillia’s room and came
to a stop a few steps later. Then it let go of his hand. He opened his mouth
to ask what it was doing and caught himself at the last second.
Lillia was probably asleep. They’d had enough difficulty getting rest in
recent nights. The last thing he wanted to do was interrupt hers.
And I’m not all that thrilled about mine being interrupted either. What
the hell was that imp doing?
It wasn’t like Lillia could be missing or in danger. The thick darkness
surrounding everything told him that she was somewhere in the room
beside him. He went to leave the room when a muted mumble stopped him.
For a second, he thought that Lillia had said something to him. Then, a
moment later, he realized that she was speaking in her sleep. Arwin did his
best to avoid listening to anything she said. It would have been a breach of
privacy—but he couldn’t avoid hearing the pain in her words. Hay crinkled
as Lillia rolled over in her bed.
She rolled again a second later. The imp tugged at Arwin’s hand again,
taking him by such surprise that he nearly jumped a foot into the air. He
caught himself before he could make any noise and squinted. It was
pointless. Making anything out in the dark was impossible. Lillia let out a
distressed groan. The imp pulled at Arwin’s hand once more.
It brought me here because it’s worried about her.
“Lillia?” Arwin whispered.
There was no response. She was so deep in her dreams that she couldn’t
hear him. She muttered something under her breath again. This time,
despite his attempts not to, Arwin caught it.
The word wasn’t one he knew. It was in a different language, but Arwin
had heard enough yells in the fights he’d had against Lillia’s armies to
recognize certain intonations of the language. She was saying a name.
Lillia rolled over in her bed again and muttered more names to herself.
Arwin didn’t recognize any of them, but it wasn’t hard to guess who they
were. They were the people that she’d lost in the war.
 Losing Zeke hit her just as hard as it hit me. I thought she was
recovering as fast as I was, but she’s been the one supporting me this whole
time. It’s hard to heal when you’re thinking about someone else.
Arwin edged forward until his foot touched the edge of Lillia’s bed. He
sat down beside it.
“Lillia?” he whispered.
The hay rustled as she rolled over again and groaned. Arwin reached out
carefully, trying to find her arm. His hand brushed against her shoulder.
Before he could gently shake her awake, her pained breathing started to
relax.
Pained whispers dropped to a murmur. Lillia shifted once more, moving
closer to Arwin until his arm was draped across her back. Then there was
silence broken only by soft breaths. Arwin relaxed and settled into a more
comfortable position to wait out the night by her side.
She’d been there to support him when his mind had refused to let him
rest.
Now it was his turn.

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A
rwin was unsure as to how much time had passed. It was impossible
to get a good feel for the night’s passing in Lillia’s room. It could
have been minutes, it could have been hours, or he could have been
there for days.
He wasn’t quite sleeping, but he was far from awake. It was a state of
suspended animation that was just a step away from meditation and a step
ahead of sitting around and staring at the ceiling as he waited for the sun to
rise.
The warmth of Lillia’s body pressed against his side and back. She
hadn’t made a single noise beyond gentle breath since he’d arrived. The
only thing that accompanied him in the darkness other than her presence
were his own thoughts.
Those, however, felt like they would never end. The last time Arwin had
been in Lillia’s room, she’d been awake beside him. Knowing that she was
present had been enough to keep his mind from drifting too far.
But now Lillia slept. Even though she was beside him, there was
nothing to keep him focused on the present. Visions flew unbidden past his
eyes and played out in the darkness beyond sight.
They meshed together into a chaotic tapestry. The canvas of broken
battlefields, painted red with the brush of the dead and dying—the Brothers
Six, reduced to one—the last fight with Lillia, where the men and women
that had fought by his side died nameless and faceless.
 Over and over, the visions came. Memories that had been buried since
his late teens and scenes from just days ago came as one. They flitted and
danced past his mind before he could properly grasp them. There seemed to
be no sense to their order or purpose to their arrival, but they always
seemed to end with Lillia. Arwin shoved them back and tried to turn his
mind to other directions. But still, she lingered on in his thoughts.
It was ironic. The Adventurers’ Guild would have likely achieved their
goals if he and Lillia hadn’t both managed to arrive at Milten. Without
Reya, Arwin suspected he would have died.
Lillia would have been unlikely to find anyone to get food from her
tavern and would have met a similar fate. And, even if they’d both survived
the initial days, neither of them ever would have had proof of the guild’s
actions.
I’d likely have returned to them at some point in the future to determine
what had happened. There would have been no proof that the conspiracy
ran so deep that the entire guild was a sham.
I still don’t know what caused that explosion. I don’t know what Sunset
is or how I got it, and I don’t know how Lillia and I both managed to end up
at Milten. That’s too much of a coincidence for me to believe it to be one.
There’s just no way to trace Sunset or get a lead on that black gem.
Unless something else comes up, that will just have to be a problem saved
for when I’m strong enough to deal with it.
Arwin squinted into the darkness. It was pointless. There was no
amount of adjusting that normal human eyes could do to see in the pitch
black that surrounded him. He hadn’t seen or felt the imp since it had
brought him here. Part of him wondered if it was just standing in the
darkness and staring at him with its wide, watery eyes and glistening fangs.
The bigger part just didn’t care.
Lillia stirred before Arwin’s thoughts could carry him onto their next
wave. The pattern of her breathing changed over the course of a few
seconds, but she didn’t fully shift from her spot.
“Arwin? How long were you here?” Lillia’s voice was a muted whisper
that carved through the pitch black, notes of drowsiness mixing with
confusion upon her words.
“I’m not sure,” Arwin admitted honestly. “You were troubled. One of
your imps brought me.”
 “They did?” Lillia asked. The weariness pulled back from her tone, and
Arwin felt her move beside him. He couldn’t tell what she was doing, but
based on her tone, he suspected she was probably wiping her eyes or
covering a yawn. “Did… you hear anything?”
“Names,” Arwin replied. “But not ones that meant anything to me. I
suspect the same is not true for you.”
“I think it was nightmares. They’ve already started to fade. I can barely
remember what they were about,” Lillia said. She made no move to rise
from her spot, and Arwin left his arm where it was. “It’s been some time
since I last had one. I’d thought I was over it.”
“I’m not sure over it is ever a set of words that will be used to describe
us,” Arwin said with a quiet laugh. “Come to peace, perhaps. But over it?
Never.”
“Is that what you’ve done? Come to peace?”
Arwin considered Lillia’s question for a second. He wasn’t so sure he
knew the answer. The past couldn’t be changed no matter how much he
wanted to change it. No matter how much he wanted to set it alight, the
flames would only burn the future.
“I’m getting there,” Arwin said. “Are you still feeling up to enter the
dungeon today? We all need to be at our best if we’re going to be fighting.”
Lillia remained silent. Any answer given quickly to a question such as
that was liable to be impulsive, and she was too experienced to make a
mistake like that. Several seconds passed before she moved to sit up. She
leaned against him as she rose, keeping her side pressed against his for
support.
“I’ll be fine,” Lillia said. “Somehow, I think I actually got a pretty
decent night of rest. I don’t feel nearly as tired as I think I should. I figure
you’re to thank for that.” Her voice trailed away for a second. Before Arwin
could say anything, she spoke again. “Just so you know, that’s more than a
little embarrassing to admit.”
“Even if you were doing your best tomato impression, it’s not like I’d
be able to see. I wouldn’t have known if you didn’t tell me.”
“I know. I just wanted to make sure you knew that I had to suffer to say
that.”
Arwin let out a snort of laughter before he could stop himself. “In that
case, I guess I have to thank you for your sacrifice.”
“Exactly.” Arwin felt her nod. “As you should.”
 They didn’t speak again for a few seconds, but it wasn’t for a lack of
want. There were a lot of things that Arwin wanted to say. None of them
seemed able to manifest themselves beyond a flitting thought that died
before it could reach his lips.
“Arwin?”
“Yeah?”
“I don’t want to lose anyone else.” Lillia swallowed and her shoulders
stiffened as she forced the next sentence through her lips, spitting the words
out before they could find anywhere to hide. “I’m scared. I was so resigned
to trading everything for living. I didn’t have anything else left to give, so I
had nothing to fear. Then things changed. There’s so much I care about
now, and I don’t want to lose any more of it.”
Arwin wished he had something to say that was more than just mere
words. He wished he’d been gifted with a silver tongue or blessed by a
stroke of inspiration that would let him comfort Lillia.
There wasn’t a single thing that he could say that would properly
encapsulate his own feelings. No combination of words, no matter how well
spoken, felt like it could ever even come close to scratching the surface. His
arm drifted up of its own accord and wrapped around Lillia’s shoulders. She
leaned against his chest, and he pulled her into an embrace.
“I know,” Arwin said.
There was nothing else to be said. The dark swallowed the world until
all that remained were the two of them. He let his head lower until it rested
against Lillia’s. Her heartbeat was just faint enough for him to pick up
against his skin, and her hair tickled his nose.
A sense of strange comfort enveloped Arwin. His brow crinkled as he
tried to place the emotion. It was akin to walking down the road to peace if
it were paved with bricks made of desire. A dull sense of loss gnawed at his
stomach, even as his face warmed.
He searched deeper within himself in pursuit of what the emotion was, a
growing sense of concern welling within his chest. Entering any form of
battle without knowing oneself was a direct path to the doors of the
afterlife.
And yet, the harder he searched, the less he could understand. Nothing
quite lined up where it should have. None of the emotions swirling within
him felt like they should have been connected with each other.
 He opened his mouth to voice his concerns, but the words stubbornly
lined up at the back of his throat, digging their heels in and refusing to step
foot outside his mouth.
The back of Arwin’s neck tingled and his heart clenched as the dam that
he’d been picking away at finally cracked. Realization poured through the
gap, shattering what remained of the crumbling dam in an enormous,
crashing wave as he finally realized why his thoughts had been drifting
back to one particular person so frequently.
I think I’m falling for Lillia.

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E
ven if Arwin wanted to take back his realization, it was too late to
avoid noticing Lillia’s body pressed against his and the faint scent of
honey and freshly baked bread that lingered in her hair.
This isn’t right. I need to put a stop to it. I can’t allow myself to feel
anything like this for the Demon⁠—
Arwin’s mind couldn’t even finish the thought that it had started to
form. He wasn’t sure when it had happened, but he couldn’t see the woman
in his arms as the Demon Queen anymore. She was just Lillia. The only
person who could ever even come close to understanding his pain. The one
that had been there to help him through it.
Shit.
The right thing to do was to pull away. He should have gently bid Lillia
goodnight—or good day, whichever it happened to be—and been on his
way. He should have returned to his room, centered himself, and crushed
these feelings until nothing remained but the vague memory of the mistake
he could have made.
The right thing to do was to leave her there, devoid of support, when
she had given it to him.
Is that really the right thing to do?
Arwin wasn’t sure. And, as it so turned out, he didn’t particularly care.
There was nothing to be done about his feelings. They weren’t going to go
anywhere today. They didn’t need to. A feeling understood was a feeling
controlled.
 Either way, it didn’t matter what he felt. The world could have been
crashing down around him, and it would have changed nothing. Lillia
needed him right now. Arwin refused to move a muscle until that was no
longer the case. Everything else could be dealt with later.
He didn’t know how long the two of them sat there, side by side, but the
sound of the stairs creaking in the distance finally broke the silence as
somebody headed down into the common room of the tavern.
Lillia’s shoulders tensed. She hesitated for a second before she released
Arwin and pulled away. Part of him cursed the sound, and another part felt
like it couldn’t have come soon enough. He let his arm fall away from her
shoulders as she stood.
“Thank you,” Lillia said softly. “I’m sorry for unloading on you like
that. I guess I wasn’t nearly as in control of my emotions as I thought I
was.”
“It’s nothing to be ashamed of. I suspect I would have done the same if
you hadn’t been there to help me through it.”
“Probably,” Lillia said, a note of amusement flickering through her
voice. “Come on. Let’s go out and meet the others.”
Her hand found his in the darkness, and she led him into the kitchen.
The faint orange glow of candlelight from the lanterns illuminated the
outline of her body before him. Even though Arwin could already see where
he was going, Lillia made no move to release his hand. She paused as they
drew up to the doorway leading out of the kitchen and into the common
room.
“Lillia?”
“It’s nothing. Forget about it,” Lillia said with a shake of her head. Her
hand tightened around his for a moment before she let go. “I’m ready to
handle the dungeon as long as you are.”
Arwin thought for a second. If he hadn’t managed to untangle his
thoughts, it might have been a risk. That wasn’t the case any longer. He
knew what the problem was, even if he wished that he didn’t.
But as long as he knew, it could be handled. It could be controlled.
Emotion was only a danger when it was an unknown. Anything that he
already knew about could be accounted for and dealt with.
“I’m ready as well,” Arwin said.
The two of them stepped into the common room. Anna and Rodrick
were both sitting at the counter, speaking in hushed tones. Rodrick was clad
in his armor, and the way that he and Anna were swinging their feet
impatiently told Arwin that they were eager to set out as well. Reya didn’t
seem like she’d woken up quite yet, but that was just fine.
“Morning,” Rodrick said. “We setting out soon? I really want to stick
my sword in something.”
Anna arched an eyebrow at Rodrick. He reddened and turned away,
pointedly ignoring her.
“Yeah, whenever Reya is ready. I’m going to check on the smithy first
to see what it looks like in the daylight so I can remind myself what I’m
working toward.”
That’ll give me a little bit of time to gather my thoughts while I’m alone.
I think Rodrick is right, though. I thought I was done with all this shit,
but I really want to hit something with my hammer.
In the back of his mind, a twinge of approval sputtered to life like a
candle being lit. Somewhere, hidden within wherever [Arsenal] put his
equipment when he wasn’t using it, Verdant Blaze reached out to him. It
didn’t care if it was striking metal or flesh. It was all the same. Until
something gave way beneath it, the weapon would hunger.
That must be [Awoken] starting to build up enough energy to actually
have an effect. It must be something of a sliding scale rather than either
alive or inanimate. Though… I’m not sure if I’d consider Verdant Blaze
alive. It more feels like it’s taken on a strong desire to be used, much like
most materials I’ve interacted with.
“You doing okay?” Rodrick asked.
He looked over his shoulder, realizing that he’d been standing in the
doorway without moving for several seconds. “Yeah. I’m fine. My thoughts
were just drifting. Nothing to worry about.”
Rodrick shrugged and Arwin headed out of the doorway to make his
way toward the spot where the smithy had once stood. He was rewarded
with the sight of a day’s work well done. While there was still a thin layer
of soot on the ground, almost all of it had been removed. No stones
remained to stall any construction. The plot of land lay in wait for a new
smithy to be made upon it.
Arwin stood up, his arms crossed behind his back, and looked upon his
work. He’d always known that every building on the street would probably
eventually have to be repaired if they wanted to bring any large amount of
foot traffic to the area. Nobody wanted to go into an alley where it looked
like they’d get run through.
He just hadn’t thought it would be happening this soon. Arwin made to
turn back to the tavern, but something lying in a tiny pile of dirt flashed as
the sunlight caught it. A frown crossed Arwin’s face.
A piece of metal I missed?
Arwin headed over to the shimmer on the ground and knelt beside it. A
thin circular disk rested on the dirt, covered with a thin layer of soot. The
sun had caught on a tiny, exposed part of it.
He wiped the soot away with a thumb, revealing a glistening green color
underneath. It was the scale that he’d taken from the wyrm. Arwin tilted his
head to the side. He could have sworn that the scale hadn’t been there when
he’d been working yesterday, but there was always a chance he hadn’t seen
it because of how dark it had been.
After a moment longer of studying it, Arwin tucked the scale into a
pocket. It was nice to know that it hadn’t been lost in the flame. Wyrm
scales definitely weren’t just ordinary material. He had no idea what he’d
use it for yet, but he suspected it would turn out to be useful when the time
came around.
He walked back to the tavern. If he spent any longer standing around
the smithy, he’d want to start building something. That wasn’t something he
could do until he had money to fund said building—and the one way he was
going to get that money was waiting for him on a key hanging from Reya’s
neck.
Everyone had convened in the common room by the time Arwin
returned. Reya and Lillia were both clad in their armor. Rodrick had a cloak
wrapped around himself to stop anyone from seeing the magical properties
of his gear. Arwin didn’t even bother asking if everyone was ready. Their
appearances told the story so their mouths didn’t have to.
“Let’s go,” Arwin said.
They piled in behind him and the group set out for the dungeon. The trip
out of the city went smoothly. Now that they were all clad in relatively
respectable gear, they just looked like any other group of adventurers and
the guards didn’t so much as glance at them twice.
They didn’t have any trouble on their way over to the dungeon either. It
was a warm, sunny day and there wasn’t a single cloud to interrupt the
endless expanse of clear blue sky above them.
 That luck came to a close when they drew up to the valley that the
dungeon rested at. Three cloaked men stood at the entrance of the dungeon,
kneeling around it. One of them was positioned so that Arwin could make
out his features.
And, to Arwin’s displeasure, he recognized the man’s face.
It was Jin, one of the members of the Thieves’ Guild that had been after
Reya. His eyes narrowed. The men hadn’t noticed them yet, but it would
only be a moment before⁠—
Jin glanced up. His eyes widened as he spotted the group standing
above him, and he hissed a warning to his compatriots. The three of them
rose as one, all turning to face the newcomers.
“You,” Jin said, his voice riding the line between shock and accusation.
“Who are these buggers?” Rodrick asked as he rested a hand on his
sword. “Nobody up to any good strolls around wearing a cloak like that.”
“You’re wearing a cloak like that,” Anna pointed out.
“Thieves’ Guild,” Arwin said brusquely “Not friends.”
“What are you doing here?” Jin demanded. “How are you⁠—”
He cut himself off, but it was too late. Arwin’s eyes narrowed. “How am
I what? I believe there was an agreement between our guilds, Jin. You lot
stay away from my street, and I stay away from yours. Why are you
snooping around the entrance of a dungeon that won’t work for you?”
“You were supposed to be dead,” one of the other men said, taking a
step back. “I knew it. That damn street is haunted, Jin. He’s a ghost, and
he’s back for revenge.”
“He’s not a damn ghost. He’s casting a shadow, idiot,” Jin said. He spat
on the ground and shook his head. “Forget it. We were just leaving.”
“Hold on,” Arwin said, his voice growing cold. “Why is it that you
thought I was dead?”
“It was hard to miss your smithy going up like a ball of flame,” Jin
replied. His answer came a little too quickly for Arwin’s tastes.
“Was it?” Arwin asked. “Because if someone’s place blows up, I usually
try to figure out what happened before I assume they got cooked inside it. I
think you’re lying to me, Jin. Are you lying to me?”
“Of course not. Why would I—” Jin whipped his hand toward Arwin
mid-sentence. Arwin activated [Arsenal] and his armor slammed into place
around him. Metal rang against metal as a thick needle struck him near the
temple, but it failed to penetrate his helm and spun off to the side
harmlessly before thunking into the ground at his feet.
“Gods-damn it,” Jin cursed.
“Well, that answers that question.” Verdant Blaze took form in Arwin’s
hands. “And now you’re definitely not leaving.”

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T
he thief on Jin’s left—a tall, thin man with a pair of daggers at his side
—clapped his hands together. Glistening blue light gathered around
his fingertips and pooled at his palms. It swirled into a vortex, starting
to form into a jagged bolt.
Arwin didn’t wait for him to finish casting the spell. He sprinted toward
the mage, his steps thundering against the ground as he propelled himself
forward. He leapt into the air with a roar. The thieves would be less likely to
direct attacks toward the others as long as their attention was on him.
The mage’s eyes widened and he flung his spell at Arwin while trying to
scramble to safety. He was a decent shot, but it was hard to aim while
retreating. The bolt of ice scraped past Arwin’s shoulder. The gem in the
center of his armor let out a dim hum and turned a faint icy blue, and a
resonant hum rose up from it.
Arwin slammed down on the ground before Jin and swung Verdant
Blaze. He aimed the weapon at the man’s shoulder. He needed answers, not
corpses. Not yet, at least.
Jin dropped to the ground to avoid the attack and whipped his leg out in
an attempt to sweep Arwin off his feet. [Scourge] pumped through Arwin’s
legs a moment before the blow connected. The thief let out a grunt of pain
as his leg failed to so much as budge his target.
The third thief ran for Arwin, but his whole body shimmered blue mid-
step. He locked in place and a rock flew through the air. It arced perfectly
down before striking him square between the eyes.
 Frosty air bit at Arwin’s skin. He jumped to the side instinctively as a
rain of jagged ice plummeted from a dull blue sphere of energy that had
formed in the air above him. The ice pounded into the ground where he’d
been standing. A few shards scraped against his armor, and one cut a thin
furrow down his arm, but none managed to inflict significant damage. More
energy shimmered in the gem at the center of his chest plate, and a second
note joined the first.
The mage’s face paled as Arwin’s gaze snapped over to him. Jin tried to
lunge at Arwin, but Arwin thrust a foot forward, planting it square in the
center of his chest and throwing the thief back across the ground.
With the same move, Arwin reared back, activated [Scourge], and
hurled his hammer. Verdant Blaze was far from an aerodynamic weapon. It
really wasn’t meant for throwing. Unfortunately for the mage,
aerodynamics weren’t all that relevant when someone was only just a little
bit out of striking distance.
Verdant Blaze screamed through the air and slammed into the man.
Dozens of loud cracks merged together into a single sound as the man’s
body was crushed. He ragdolled across the ground, dead before he hit it.
Energy ignited around Arwin’s head, and the eyes of his helm lit with a
whoomp as it activated from the kill. A wave of energy rolled off his body
and made his hair stand on end.
“Only an idiot throws their weapon,” Jin snarled. He leapt at Arwin and
drove a spike toward an unarmored spot near his armpit.
Arwin didn’t grace him with a response. Verdant Blaze did the speaking
for him. The weapon reformed in his hands, and Jin practically threw
himself straight into it. It drove into his stomach, knocking the air from his
lungs in a pained cough.
He turned to meet the other thief, but there was no need. The man lay
dead at Rodrick’s and Lillia’s feet in a growing pool of blood spreading
from a large sword wound across his chest.
Jin drew several metal needles and held them in a loose grip. His eyes
darted from Arwin to the others and he swallowed heavily. Even an idiot
could have seen that the fight was hopeless.
“What are you hiding?” Arwin asked. His words warped as they left the
helm, twisted by the vibrating energy pouring off it. “I have absolutely no
reservations about killing all of you right here, Jin. Answer my damn
question.”
 “Why should I?” Jin demanded. His teeth gritted as he looked back to
the body of his dead comrade. “You’ve already killed Yegin.”
“I assume that was the mage—but to be honest, I don’t care. You
attacked first. And something tells me that you aren’t doing it at random.
Give me the information I want or I’ll get it from someone else.”
“Fuck you,” Jin spat. His hand blurred—and the wave of blue energy
slammed down on top of him, locking him in place before the needle could
fly from his fingertips. It wasn’t directed at Arwin but at someone behind
him.
Arwin didn’t wait to see who. He stepped forward, his hammer blurring
even as Jin shot back into motion. His needle rang off Arwin’s shoulder
plate harmlessly. Jin’s eyes only had an instant to widen in shock before
Verdant Blaze slammed into him.
Jin’s limbs flailed as his body tumbled across the ground. He skidded to
a stop and lay still in a growing pool of blood as Arwin’s eyes flared with
even more energy. Verdant Blaze hummed in his hands, sending a deep
hunger worming into his head. It wanted more. Arwin wasn’t so sure that
was a good thing.
He released the weapon, letting the hammer dissipate and spilling the
gore covering its head to the ground at his feet. The only people left were
his own. He hadn’t seen any other thieves in the area, so he was quite
certain there weren’t any witnesses. Arwin let his armor fade away.
“Wouldn’t it have been best if we could have kept one to question?”
Anna asked. She approached Jin’s body and grimaced. “I can’t heal this.
There needs to be enough left to put back together.”
“It would have been nice,” Arwin said. He walked up beside Anna and
knelt to root through Jin’s pockets. “But mercy is for the strong. I’ve been
reminded more than enough that I can’t afford it. I’m not going to risk one
of you getting injured just to make things easier. Any questioning we did
probably wouldn’t have been all that enlightening.”
“Why not?” Reya asked.
“Because it’s unlikely the Thieves’ Guild had anything to do with the
attack. Not directly, at least,” Lillia said. “They would have tried something
before. They probably sold our location to Tix or her guild. That would
explain why Jin thought Arwin should be dead.”
“I bet they thought Reya’s key was destroyed in the explosion,” Rodrick
said. “Dungeons want people to enter them, so they were probably checking
to see if a new way in had appeared.”
“Maybe we should pay them another visit,” Arwin mused. “Even if they
didn’t do anything directly, they might know more. At the very least, I want
to keep them off our street. If they think I’m dead, they might try something
again.”
“Are you going to show them… well, this?” Anna nodded vaguely to
the scene around them. “It might start a huge fight. I doubt any guild is
going to overlook us killing three of their men.”
“Us?” Arwin blinked at Anna in wide-eyed disbelief. “I have no idea
what you’re talking about, Anna. I’m just a smith accompanied by an
innkeeper with no patrons, a weak thief, a healer, and a warrior who seems
to be better at spying than fighting. How could we have possibly dealt with
three trained members of a guild?”
“You can’t seriously be planning to play that card,” Rodrick said. “Wait,
did you say I sucked at fighting?”
“No, just that you’re better at spying. You said the sucking part
yourself,” Arwin replied with a snort. He failed to find anything of interest
on Jin’s body other than a pouch of twenty gold coins. He tucked it into his
pocket and stood up. “We’ll deal with the thieves later. I agree with Lillia. I
don’t think they acted directly against us. We’ll need to confirm, of course,
but I don’t want to overplay our hands again.”
“The dungeon, then?” Reya raised a hand to her neck and ran her thumb
along the key that hung suspended from it. “It’s not like those guys put up
that much of a fight.”
“I think it might be more that Arwin put up too much of a fight,” Anna
said under her breath. “Apprentice tier, my ass. I don’t understand how
you’re supposed to have a crafting class when you hit harder than a
runaway horse.”
“Turns out, when you’ve got good gear, you can start punching a bit
above your weight class,” Arwin said. He sent a nod to Reya. “And it helps
to have someone that can freeze people so they can’t dodge my attacks.”
“Just remember that it isn’t going to work as well on anyone stronger,”
Reya warned. “There’s only so much I can do until I get stronger.”
“Then we’re fortunate to be doing just that,” Arwin said. “We’ve got a
very convenient disposal system for these corpses, though. Dungeons are
always hungry. Let’s just move them quickly so nobody shows up while
we’re dragging bodies around.”
 “I highly doubt the Thieves’ Guild will send anyone looking for them
too soon anyway,” Rodrick said as he knelt to grab one of the thieves by
their ankles. “Any big guild is usually remarkably slow at acting on missing
people—especially ones that aren’t all that important. We should be fine.”
“None of them were important, were they?” Lillia asked, picking up
another one.
Reya shook her head. “Jin was an enforcer, and I don’t recognize the
others. Enforcers are maybe halfway up the guild in standing from what I
recall. He was basically just a guard that got paid extra to handle things
discreetly.”
“Good. Then we’ve got more than enough time to head into the
dungeon and get out before anyone even thinks to come looking for us.”
Arwin picked up Jin and walked over to the entrance of the dungeon,
dragging the thief’s body along the ground behind him.
“Do you think we’ll be able to get all the way to the bottom this time
around?” Rodrick asked.
Arwin let out a bark of laughter. “I think that might be a little bit
optimistic. It’s still a Journeyman dungeon. We’re a group of Apprentices. I
think we can get pretty deep in. Maybe halfway, maybe more. I don’t think
we should think about it as trying to get as deep as possible. It should be
how far we can get without getting killed in the process. We want a
challenge, not to get killed.”
“Fair enough,” Rodrick said. “Let’s do it, then.”
Reya sent a questioning look to Arwin. His armor shimmered back on
around his body, and he gave her a curt nod.
“Take us in, Reya.”

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J
in and the other unfortunate thieves were left in a pile in the first room
of the dungeon for something to come along and snack on. The first few
rooms of the dungeon were so inconsequential that Arwin’s group barely
even stopped on their way through them. Several more goblins and a
strange blob of jelly that got splattered to paste by Verdant Blaze before it
could even try attacking all fell before them.
Even the orc, which had once been a significant threat, barely even
managed to put up a fight. Reya froze the monster in place as it noticed
their arrival into its room and Rodrick dispatched it a second later,
delivering an empowered blow to the monster’s throat.
None of the monsters had been carrying anything that Arwin could use
to work with, and Lillia wasn’t keen on cooking with humanoid flesh after
finding out that nobody was willing to eat it.
Even though they’d yet to get anything worthwhile, the progress from
their first few dungeon runs was stark. They’d barely spent any energy
getting this deep. Rodrick had mentioned trying to go all the way to the end
when they’d entered. At the time, Arwin hadn’t thought it even worth
worrying about.
But now, as they continued on, Arwin was starting to wonder if that was
actually as far-reaching as he’d initially thought. He hadn’t so much as had
to use a single ability or scrap of energy so far.
He pushed those thoughts to the back of his head and forced himself to
follow his own advice. Worrying about what would happen in the future
was just going to put the present at risk. The end of the dungeon would
come if it came.
“Everyone ready?” Arwin asked, stopping at the end of the hallway that
led out of the third room and the entrance to the fourth. Two flickering orbs
of purple torchlight guarded the door before him.
“Big bugger,” Rodrick said. He spun his sword at his side. “I’m ready to
let you do all the work and then take the kill for myself.”
Arwin rolled his eyes. “You don’t have to sound so excited about it.”
“I like free stuff,” Rodrick said. “I’ve got your back, though.”
Reya held her hands before her, ready to call on her powers at a
moment’s notice. Lillia stood beside her. Shadows coiled at her feet in
anticipation. Arwin didn’t bother asking if they were ready. He didn’t need
to.
He pushed the door open. The dungeon had changed the room once
again—but not as much as some others. Translucent green crystals jutted
out of the walls and protruded from the ceiling, sharpened to jagged points.
A hunched creature sat in the corner of the room. The back of its spine
pressed against taut gray skin. It was vaguely humanoid, and its clawed
hands were full of gems that had been ripped up from the ground around it.
Cracks and grinding crunches came from the monster’s mouth as its jaws
worked.
It turned as Arwin stepped into the room, revealing sunken gray eyes
and large, floppy ears. A flat nose flared on its face as it sniffed the air and
rose to its feet. Staggering, it let out a high-pitched growl, gems falling
from its mouth and tinkling against the floor.

[Chiropire Screecher – Journeyman 5]

Even though Arwin had never seen this particular monster, it only took
one look at its large ears and its name to determine exactly what it was the
monster did. The Chiropire drew in a deep breath and its stomach
ballooned.
Arwin dashed forward, dismissing Verdant Blaze so he could close the
distance sooner. He wasn’t fast enough. The Chiropire’s ears folded in on
themselves, and a deafening screech ripped through the room.
His eardrums burst. Arwin staggered and lost his balance mid-step. He
managed to catch himself before he fell to the ground by planting his feet
and skidding to a stop, but the world swirled and danced around him
unsteadily.
The only thing he could hear was a deafening echo of silence. Warm
blood dripped down the sides of his face. Twisting and dancing in his
vision, the Chiropire turned toward Arwin and bared a mouth full of large,
heavy molars. Two fangs snapped out of its top lip as it darted toward him.
Arwin tried to brace himself enough that he could bring Verdant Blaze
to bear and meet the monster’s charge, but his body was too unstable. He
wasn’t going to be able to swing the hammer and keep his balance.
Instead, he threw his weight forward. The Chiropire twisted and tried to
avoid the unexpected attack, but it was moving too quickly. Arwin’s
shoulder slammed into the monster and he drove it to the ground, pinning it
beneath his weight.
Its claws scraped against his armor and searched for purchase. Arwin
delivered a [Scourge]-empowered headbutt to the monster’s chest. Bone
cracked beneath his helm and the horns dug deep through gray flesh. The
Chiropire’s claws finally found a gap near the bottom of Arwin’s plate and
dug into his hips.
[Indomitable Bulwark] kept his leg from being severed on the spot, but
hot blood coursed out of his body in a deluge. The Chiropire desperately
tried to deepen the wound, but Arwin slammed his fist into the monster’s
shoulder.
He’d been aiming for its head, but with the world spinning as it was, he
was lucky to have hit it at all. More bone shattered beneath him, and the
Chiropire screamed in pain. It tried to draw in a breath to screech again, but
the cracked bones in its sternum ripped into its skin and proved to be too
much to overcome.
A wave of blue energy slammed into the monster and it locked in place.
Rodrick’s sword carved through the air and connected with the middle of
the Chiropire’s head. The glowing energy surrounding the weapon carved
straight through it and the monster went limp beneath Arwin. His helmet
hummed with energy as its aura activated.
Someone shook Arwin’s shoulder. He turned to see Anna yelling
something, her brow furrowed in intense concentration. He couldn’t make
out any of the words she was saying. She gave the horns on his helm a
frustrated tug and Arwin dismissed it.
 Warm energy washed over Arwin’s body, and, with two gentle pops, his
hearing returned. The damage to his hip knitted itself shut before Anna
lifted her hand.
“Thanks.” Arwin rose from the corpse at his feet. Rodrick leaned
against Anna, two streaks of blood running down his own head as he
swayed in place. Anna sent golden energy flowing into him.
“I could barely use my magic with that helmet’s aura screwing with
me,” said Anna, speaking much louder than normal. She shuddered. “If you
ever have it active and need healing, make sure to turn it off.”
“Is it really that effective?” Arwin raised his voice so Anna could hear
him, but it still took her a second to try and read the words from his lips
before she nodded.
“It’s nasty,” Anna confirmed. “I could have brute-forced it, but it would
have been really difficult and taken a lot more energy than it normally
should. It felt like my bones were vibrating and the ground was trying to
swallow me. It’s hard to describe, but it isn’t a fun feeling to push through.”
“Noted,” Arwin said.
“That was a loud-ass monster,” Rodrick said as he sheathed his sword.
“Thank whatever god was watching over me. If I’d had my enhanced
hearing active, I think my head would have popped. Is everyone else
okay?”
“Just a little deaf for the moment,” Anna said. “I think I was far back
enough that I avoided the worst of the attack.”
“Did you at least manage to get some good energy from healing us?”
Arwin asked.
“Yeah. I might have gotten more if I ran in earlier, but I can’t heal my
own wounds yet, and I didn’t want to get ripped in half.”
“A wise decision. I prefer you alive,” Arwin said. “Reya, Lillia? You
both okay?”
“We’re both fine,” Lillia said. “I would have tried to attack with my
shadows, but I was worried I’d hit you in the process. I didn’t want to make
things worse.”
“It’s fine. It turned out okay.” Arwin wiped the blood from his face
before summoning his helm back, inert. The aura seemed to disappear
whenever he sent it back to wherever it was that [Arsenal] kept his
equipment. “Anyone get anything good?”
 “I went up a tier and got an Achievement that got consumed at the same
time to upgrade one of my skill choices,” Reya said absently as her eyes
flitted through the air before her. “I’m Apprentice 2 now, and I got an
upgraded skill called Shackle Break. It lets me shatter any magic that is
negatively affecting myself or an ally, but it’s got the typical drawback of
having more trouble breaking moves from people at higher tiers.”
“An ability that removes oppression? Those are normally just for
healers or self-buffs,” Anna said, blinking in surprise. “That’s quite the odd
class you got there.”
“It falls in the realm of battlefield supports,” Rodrick said before Arwin
could answer. “That’s my suspicion, at least. Probably an aggressive one.
That’s why Reya got it from a combination of sparing the first lizard and
trying to kill herself on the wyrm. Mix of anti-combat and suppression
techniques that aid your allies.”
That’s pretty close to what I was going to say. I thought Rodrick didn’t
know that much about this kind of thing. He seemed like a bit of a goofy,
well-meaning idiot when we first met. That doesn’t really match up with the
intelligence he’s shown in recent days.
Something tells me Rodrick and Anna left the Adventurers’ Guild for
more reasons than what they said.
“It sounds like a good choice,” Arwin said. He studied the body of the
monster at his feet. There wasn’t much use he was going to get out of it, but
the crystals were another story. He headed around the room, collecting
them. Lillia procured a large tarp bag for him to store his findings in, then
slung it over her shoulder.
“Do we go deeper?” Anna asked.
“I’d say so,” Arwin said, studying himself for a second. The Chiropire
hadn’t damaged his armor, and while he’d lost some blood, he still had a lot
of magical energy to work with. If it hadn’t been for the monster’s screech,
it probably wouldn’t have landed a blow on him at all.
And besides—the crystals weren’t enough. They were a decent reward
and he could work with them, but he wanted more if he could get away with
it. Returning to the surface now felt too early.
“Just be careful. We’re definitely over halfway into the dungeon by
now,” Lillia warned. “The things from here on out will be strong.”
“Good,” Rodrick said. “We need the experience fighting. I think I’m
probably not too far from reaching the next level in my tier as well. Maybe
one or two more fights like that. Hopefully, I can get another Achievement
on the way.”
Nobody else voiced any concerns, so Arwin nodded and gestured to a
thin hall leading into the dark, sandwiched between large growths of jutting
crystals. “Let’s go deeper, then. Keep your eyes and ears peeled. I don’t
know what we’ve got ahead of us, but considering that’s the second time
we’ve seen crystals in this dungeon, it’s likely we’re going to see more
rooms like this one.”
“Dungeons stop changing the deeper you get in them?” Reya asked.
“Generally, yes,” Arwin said. “It’s easy to modify the outer layers, but
from what I understand, the deeper you get, the more set in stone dungeons
become. They’re not exactly living creatures, but they’re not inanimate
either. It’s easier to cut your fingernails than it is to swap out an organ.”
“Makes sense,” Reya said. “So that means the monsters down here are
going to be ones that probably like crystals?”
“Most likely,” Arwin said as he squeezed through the gap between the
crystals and started into the hallway, the others following behind him.
“And, with any luck, they’ll also be made out of something that I can forge
with.”

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T
he hallway leading to the next room greeted them with the scent of the
sea and stale breath. Familiar green crystals ran along the path at their
feet, jutting out and seemingly doing their best to stick themselves
right in front of their ankles whenever they took a step.
Water dripped from the ceiling in a rhythmic pattern and plinked against
pools of water around them. Moisture covered the walls and gave life to
moss that hid in the cracks and corners of the stone.
The hall grew until there was just barely enough room for two people to
walk side by side. Nonetheless, they remained in a single-file line. Standing
shoulder to shoulder would have forced them to squeeze, and the crystals
likely would have poked them every few steps. The scent of fish and salt
intensified the deeper they went.
“If the smell gets any worse, I think I might throw up,” Reya said
nasally, pinching her nose shut and grimacing. “Where are we headed, the
ocean’s ass crack?”
“You’ve been near the ocean?” Arwin asked, glancing back at Reya in
surprise. “Is Milten near a large body of water?”
“Yeah,” Rodrick said. “It’s at the edge of the continent, at the farthest
reaches of Lian. Honestly, it’s only part of the kingdom by name. Have you
seen the governor’s mansion? Judging by its size, I’d reckon he hasn’t paid
taxes to Lian in quite some time. Milten is just too far out and small to
bother giving a shit about.”
 Well, I guess that means my assumption of where Milten was happened
to be pretty accurate. Did that explosion really throw me this far? How in
the world did I survive the landing?
More questions, and still no answers. Arwin shook his head and
dismissed his thoughts. There wasn’t any room for that inside a dungeon.
He could deal with his worries when there weren’t monsters waiting to rip
his heart out through his chest.
His nose scrunched in distaste as he drew in a breath. Reya was right—
it smelled horrendous. A stain of rot had marred the already disgusting fishy
scent, somehow making it even worse than it had been before.
When the hallway finally turned a corner and stopped at the opening of
a large room, Arwin wasn’t sure if he was relieved or disgusted. The scent
was definitely coming from within. Glowing green moss reflected off a pool
of murky water at the back of the domed cave and illuminated the sparse
crystals jutting out of the walls and shimmering beneath the small lake’s
surface.
“What are the chances we’re up against some slippery piece of shit
that’s waiting underwater?” Rodrick whispered.
“Depends. Are you a betting man?” Arwin asked.
Rodrick grunted. “I’ll take that as 100 percent. Nobody offers up a bet
they don’t think they’re going to win.”
“Good choice,” Arwin said. “Everyone ready?”
“As ready as we’re going to get,” Anna said. “I’m standing back here. I
don’t fancy the idea of tentacles.”
“What makes you think there will be tentacles?” Arwin asked.
“It smells like shit and there’s water. It’s going to be tentacles.”
Arwin shrugged. He stepped into the room, keeping Verdant Blaze
ready at his side, and prepared to activate [Scourge] at a moment’s notice.
The steady drip of water rang in his ears as he walked closer to the lake.
Both his armor and greaves still had energy stored within them. The
gem in the center of his chest piece had stopped humming, but dim blue
magic still sparkled within. His greaves hummed with energy from the fight
with the Chiropire, but he’d need to tank another strong hit or two before
they activated.
The room was still silent. An outline in the wall at the edge of the lake
marked what Arwin suspected to be a closed passageway. That was
unfortunate. They’d probably have to find a way to open it. There wouldn’t
be any way to sneak past the room.
That’s fine. Not a good idea to leave enemies behind you anyway. I just
wish whatever is in this room would just come out already. I really don’t
want to get any closer to the water and get pulled in.
Arwin coughed into his fist. It echoed through the room, bouncing off
the walls, and faded away. The only response the room gave him was
silence. Evidently, the monster here wasn’t planning on giving up its
advantage.
“Lillia?” Arwin called.
“Yeah?”
“Think you could start stabbing the water? I’m not walking up to it.”
“Can you do that?” Reya asked, peering into the room but not taking a
step past the entrance.
“I don’t see why not.” Lillia walked past Reya. The shadows rose at her
feet and stretched across the room, crawling across the walls, and
approached the lake.
“It just seems… I don’t know. Cheap is the wrong word. I never really
thought about it, I guess. Some part of me felt like dungeon monsters
wouldn’t just sit around and let you stab them.”
Rodrick entered the room and stood a few feet behind Arwin. He
glanced around the walls and ceiling. When he found nothing that Arwin
had missed, he turned his attention and sword to the lake.
“I highly doubt it’ll sit around if I manage to stab it,” Lillia said. The
shadows rose up over the water, sharpening into points and looming above
it like several large snakes. “Are you ready?”
“Yeah,” Arwin replied. “Just get to safety if you manage to hit it. Even
if you miss, I figure it’s going to pop out pretty pissed that we’ve messed
with its house.”
The others all nodded. After waiting one more second to make sure that
nobody had any last-second things to say, Lillia brought her hand down.
The ropey shadows dropped, slicing into the dark water.
The lake bubbled. A furious roar burst forth from within, and Lillia beat
a hasty retreat to the back of the room as a dome formed in the water. It rose
up into a pillar before bursting. Water sloughed away from a lumbering
body.
 If the smell in the room had been foul before, now it was indescribable
—and the water hadn’t even completely revealed the monster yet.
Metal clanged against stone as a foot clad in rusted, barnacle-covered
greaves slammed onto the ground. The monster wore a matching chest
piece. A huge hole in the center of its chest where the metal had splintered
and shattered marked a defeat in a battle ages past.
Scraps of flesh hung from the monster’s rotting, ten-foot-tall form. It
was humanoid—it could have even been human if it wasn’t for its imposing
size. Translucent green crystals jutted out of its body from random spots
like cancerous growths. Arwin was grateful that a helm covered its face to
keep what he could already tell to be horrid breath from wafting across the
room.

[Rot Giantling – Journeyman 5]

A loud, scraping shriek carved through the air as the monster dragged
itself fully out of the water and its sword caught on the ground, carving a
thin furrow through the stone. The weapon was nearly as tall as Arwin. It
looked far too big to be swung around by something as decayed as the Rot
Giantling, but it seemed that nobody had informed the monster yet.
“It’s an undead,” Arwin warned. “Forget going for killing blows. We
want to cripple it until we figure out how to make it stay down. I don’t
suppose anyone has any blessed attacks?”
Nobody responded. If any of them did, it probably would have been
Anna, but healers generally didn’t get offensive options like that until their
later tiers. The Rot Giantling let out a teeth-rattling roar, and two dim green
lights erupted behind the eyes of its helmet.
“How in the Nine Underlands do I cripple something like that?”
Rodrick asked, his voice wavering slightly.
“Just follow my lead,” Arwin replied. The Rot Giantling took a
lumbering step toward him and raised its arm, bringing the huge sword
screaming through the air toward Arwin. He darted out of the way, then
closed the distance between them and brought his hammer hurtling for the
monster’s knee.
It struck the giantling’s greave dead on with a resounding clang. Arwin
staggered back as a vibration raced down the haft of his hammer, leaving
nothing but a dent in the armor. The giantling swung its hand at Arwin,
forcing him to use [Scourge] to empower his jump back to safety.
No point using [Soul Flame] in my attacks right now. I need all my
magical energy for [Scourge], and I don’t think fire is going to do very
much damage to something like this. Soul-empowered or not, I just need
brute force right now.
Large or not, the giantling was fast—or perhaps it could just cover a lot
of ground quickly because of its size. That said, it was still a little bit slower
than Arwin moving under his own powers, much less with the aid of
[Scourge].
“Just stay away from its arms,” Arwin called. The giantling stepped
toward him again and twisted its body, swinging the sword like a bat in an
attempt to cut Arwin in half.
He ducked the attack. Wind screamed above his head and he
straightened, taking a step forward and swinging Verdant Blaze once more.
It struck the same spot on the giantling’s knee. Energy swirled within the
hammer and coursed into the giantling as [Shieldbreaker] triggered.
A surprised roar escaped the giantling’s mouth and it kicked at Arwin.
He dodged out of the way and scrambled back as the giant brought its foot
down where he’d been standing, shaking the room with a resounding crash.
Rodrick darted forward as the giantling swung at Arwin again. His
sword ignited with glowing yellow energy, and he thrust it at a gap in the
monster’s armor. It scraped against a plate of old armor, its approach
slowed, but still bit into the flesh beneath.
The giantling’s attack missed as Arwin dodged to the side, but it didn’t
so much as slow its momentum. In an insane feat of strength, it yanked
back on the blade and redirected its path toward Rodrick.
“Godspit,” Rodrick swore, stealing Lillia’s favorite insult as he dropped
to the ground. The sword scraped past his head, and Arwin used [Scourge]
to launch himself forward. The Rot Giantling’s free hand reached for him,
and a shimmer of blue passed over it, passing so quickly that it may as well
not have ever been there.
Bands of shadow slipped out of the ground and reached up for its hand.
They wrapped around it and tightened, restraining the monster for just long
enough to buy Arwin time to land another blow on its knee.
This time, he was rewarded with not a clang but a crunch. The metal
dented beneath Verdant Blaze, the crystals at its head ripping into the
rotting flesh beyond. A furious scream ripped out of the giantling’s mouth
and it lunged for Arwin.
The shadows snapped and fell away. Another flash of blue passed over
it and failed to take purchase as it reached out, hand extending to crush
Arwin’s head like a grape. [Scourge] coursed through his legs and he leapt
back, just barely avoiding huge, bony fingers as they slammed shut on the
air.
A shudder shook the ground as the giantling crashed to the ground. It
was joined by a loud, scraping screech of armor grinding against stone.
Rodrick darted forward and thrust his blade toward one of its large eye
holes.
The giantling lowered its head and Rodrick’s sword rang harmlessly off
its helm. Rodrick jumped over the monster’s hand as it swung at him, then
darted out of the way of its sword as it clambered back to its feet.
“Do it again!” Arwin yelled to Lillia. He ran forward, not waiting to see
if she’d heard him. Arwin dropped to the ground, skidding across the stone
on his knees to avoid the blade that carved the air above him apart, then
drove himself upward and swung Verdant Blaze with all the power
[Scourge] would impart into him.
Shadows erupted from the ground, binding around the giantling’s other
leg and pulling at its free hand. It ripped itself free, but not fast enough to
avoid the hurtling hammer. It slammed home and metal crumpled beneath
it.
Verdant Blaze roared in Arwin’s mind as it ripped through flesh and
bone, emerging from the giantling’s leg in a spray of viscera. The blow had
separated knee from leg entirely. A scream of pain filled the room as the
giantling pitched back and crashed to the ground.
“Yes!” Rodrick yelled. “Nice! Let’s finish it off!”
“Hold on.” Arwin held a hand out to stop Rodrick from advancing, and
the other man froze in place.
The Rot Giantling rolled itself over and slammed its sword into the
ground, using it as a crutch to raise itself back up. A deep growl emerged
from within its chest, rancid air washing over them like a filthy blanket.
Chitinous legs pushed their way out of the hole in the monster’s chest,
and a bulbous gray spider clambered out from within. More legs sprouted
from the severed leg and its stump, hissing and popping as they crawled
free.
 [Corpse Burrower – Apprentice 4]

“Oh, that is just vile,” Rodrick muttered.

“Focus on killing them. Don’t let them touch you for obvious reasons,”
Arwin said. “Something tells me that they don’t care if the bodies they
infest are alive or not when they start.”
“Trust me, I’m not letting those creepy little shits anywhere near me,”
Rodrick muttered, taking a step back as the spiders started toward them.
The Rot Giantling grabbed its severed leg and jammed it onto the
stump. Flesh squelched as it drove a bone back into rotted muscle. The leg
was mutilated and a little shorter than the other one, but the giantling was
able to stand once more.
“Oh, that is bullshit,” Rodrick said. “That’s not how legs work.”
“Just keep the spiders off our backline.” Arwin hoisted Verdant Blaze.
“I’ll handle the big bastard.”

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A
rwin didn’t give the Rot Giantling time to finish its roar of defiance
before he charged again. Reconstructing its leg was great and all that,
but it was still the exact same target he’d struck before.
And if it was the same target, then so long as the next thing Arwin hit
was that very spot, the giantling was going to have a very bad time. The
monster seemed to realize that because it kicked at Arwin with its good leg
as he sprinted for it.
Bounding into the air with aid from [Scourge], Arwin cleared the
monster’s leg. He dropped to the ground, slipping past the giantling’s free
hand, and landed on the ground behind it. He spun and swung his hammer
with a roar.
Strands of shadow wrapped around the giantling’s body and pierced
through the holes in its armor to stab at the flesh beneath. Verdant Blaze
struck the giant’s leg. Metal warped and caved beneath the blow, and the
hammer carried straight through it.
A spider leapt from the giantling’s body as it pitched back, its legs going
wide as it attempted to latch onto Arwin’s face. He grabbed it out of the air
and pelted it into the ground. The impact did little to hurt it, but Verdant
Blaze crashing down transformed the Corpse Burrower into a pile of ill-
mannered paste on the ground.
[Shieldbreaker]’s effects ended with the change of targets, but Arwin
wasn’t aiming for that leg anymore. He opened his mouth to call to Lillia,
but she was already ahead of him. A shadow shot out and wrapped around
the leg, launching it into the pool of water.
It hit the surface with a splash and vanished into the murky depths.
Watching its disappearance nearly cost Arwin his head. Reya called out a
warning and he jerked back. The giantling’s sword ripped past his face,
passing so close that its tip scraped against his helm, traces of blue magic
flying off it.
If it hadn’t been for the brief instant that Reya had bought him, the
strike might have done serious damage.
“Thanks!” Arwin called, approaching the downed giantling. It didn’t
have nearly as much reach now that it was on the floor, but it was also
harder to get closer to it without getting in the reach of its large hands.
If he’d been fighting the monster alone, it may have been difficult to
find a way to strike at it. Fortunately, he wasn’t. Rodrick dashed around to
the giantling’s back. He kept far enough from its hands to keep it from
catching him as he circled it, then sent Arwin a glance and nodded.
They had the giantling flanked. The moment it tried to attack one of
them, the other would attack. A second passed before the monster blurred
into action. Perhaps it didn’t have the intelligence to determine the threat of
its position, or perhaps it just wanted to kill the person that had done the
most damage to it. Regardless of reason, it dug its fingers into the ground
and hurled its body toward Arwin.
[Scourge] ignited in Arwin’s legs, and he dismissed Verdant Blaze,
hurling himself to the side. He hit the ground in a roll and rose to his feet
just as the giantling landed, sliding across the stone and slamming into a
wall with a resounding crash.
Some of the crystals jutting from it impaled the monster with several
loud squelches. The giantling ripped itself free with a snarl, more spiders
pouring out of its body and onto the ground. Rodrick was forced to
reposition to keep the attention of the small monsters on himself. The
giantling pushed itself up and lunged for Arwin again.
This time, Arwin didn’t dodge. He swung his arms, Verdant Blaze
taking shape within them, and the hammer connected with the giantling’s
shoulder with a loud crack. The metal chest piece absorbed the brunt of the
damage, but the strike still knocked it askew. A hand flailed past Arwin’s
chest, and he jumped out of the way to avoid the pommel of the sword as it
whipped over his head.
 He pressed his advantage, bringing Verdant Blaze down on the same
shoulder as the giantling tried to right itself. Metal crumpled and the
monster screamed. A strand of shadow wrapped around Arwin’s chest and
pulled him out of the way as the giantling’s hand passed through the space
he’d been standing in and crashed into the ground.
Rodrick raced past Arwin, jumping over a sword swing and bringing his
glowing blade down on a small crack that Arwin had formed in the
monster’s armor. Metal shattered as it finally fell under their assault.
Rodrick twisted his sword before yanking it free and running back to safety.
A Corpse Burrower pushed its way out of the wound. It only made it a
step onto the ground before a shadow wrapped around its abdomen and
pelted it into a wall. Even as the spider fell, another shadow grabbed it and
shoved it underwater.
Not to be outdone, the giantling swung its sword. Even from its spot on
the ground, the blade’s reach was enormous, and Rodrick was too close to
dodge it in time. Arwin shoved him back and braced the haft of his hammer
to block the strike. He pumped his body full of power with [Scourge] a
moment before the blow connected.
A ringing clang echoed out, and a vibration ran down the hammer and
through Arwin’s body. It felt like he’d been rung like a bell. The sword in
the giantling’s hands vibrated as it was repelled, buying him an instant to
strike.
Between all the power that [Scourge] and [Shieldbreaker] had drawn,
Arwin didn’t have much energy left to work with for this fight. He burst
into motion. The giantling’s free hand reached out to grab him, and he
twisted out of the way.
Shadows pulled at the monster’s fingers and gave him time to slip past
without having to waste energy on [Scourge]. Arriving at the monster’s
head, he raised Verdant Blaze and brought it down with all his might.
A hammer blow rang off the metal helm, severely denting it. Arwin
activated [Scourge], not to deliver a harder blow but to raise the weapon
faster, and brought it down again. A second strike slammed down. This one
left a deep dent in the helm that probably would have killed a normal man
had his head been inside it.
The giantling was, unfortunately, not a normal man. It let out a garbled
scream and brought its arms inward in an attempt to crush Arwin against
itself. Bands of shadow wrapped around the monster, and blue light washed
over it.
Lillia and Reya’s efforts didn’t buy Arwin any more than a second. That
was fine. A second was all he needed. The hammer lifted and fell once
again. Every last scrap of magical power Arwin had left to spare went into
the blow.
It drove into the already-dented helm with a resounding crash. The
rusted metal gave way. Bone cracked and flesh splattered as Verdant Blaze
tore through it. Sickly brown blood and gore sprayed across the ground, and
the Rot Giantling’s thrashing arms collapsed behind Arwin, finally falling
still.

Achievement: [You Can’t Do That] has been earned.

[You Can’t Do That] – Awarded for doing damage equal to or greater
than the amount that an opponent just healed. Effects: One skill in
your next Skill Selection has been upgraded. This achievement will be
consumed upon choosing your next skill.

A squelch marked the death of the last Corpse Burrower at the blade of
Rodrick’s sword. Arwin turned to the others and let Verdant Blaze fade
from his grip, dismissing his helm to stop the aura from activating. The
bodies of dead Corpse Burrowers littered the ground around Rodrick. It
didn’t look like anyone had gotten hurt.
“Everyone okay?” Arwin asked.
“Yeah. That was one nasty monster,” Rodrick said. He flicked the blood
from his sword and sheathed it at his side. “I didn’t think smashing the shit
out of its head was the way to do it.”
“It wasn’t a true undead,” Arwin said. “Probably a monster on the way
to becoming undead, but one that hadn’t fully shed its mortal ties. If it had
been, we would have been in a lot more trouble.”
“Did anyone else get an Achievement?” Reya asked, coughing into her
fist as her cheeks reddened.
“I did,” Arwin said. “Why are you embarrassed about it?”
“Because mine is called Pathetic, and I got it for casting a spell that did
so little that my target didn’t even realize I’d done something.”
Lillia burst into laughter and nudged Reya with her shoulder. “That’s
nothing to complain about. An Achievement is still an Achievement. Trust
me, there are much worse things you can be given. The Mesh isn’t always
nice.”
“What did the Achievement give you?” Arwin asked.
“A skill upgrade. I went with [Imprison] to give it a guaranteed half a
second against anyone that’s no more than two entire tiers above me, as
long as they don’t have any form of special resistances to magical control,”
Reya said.
“Pretty solid. Guaranteed control is always useful,” Arwin said.
“Do you think I can cook this?” Lillia asked, walking up beside Arwin
and looking down at the corpse of the giant.
Arwin raised an eyebrow. “Did your nose fall off at some point in the
fight?”
“It might taste better than it smells.”
“And I might grow wings and fly away.”
Lillia scrunched her nose. She thought for a second, then knelt and
ripped a small strip of flesh away. Arwin resisted the urge to gag as Lillia
stood back up beside him and studied it through squinted eyes.
“It could make a decent steak.”
“That’s cannibalism at best. It was humanoid.”
“It wasn’t human, though,” Lillia pointed out. “Look at all this flesh.
Think of how much food this would be if it didn’t literally taste like death.”
“Do you have any idea how much weight that ‘if’ is lifting?” Arwin
asked. “Because I think it might be stronger than the rest of us combined.”
“Oh, come on. It could be edible. You don’t know unless you try. Will
you try some if I do?” Lillia asked. “We don’t want to waste resources.”
Her eyes enlarged as she stared into Arwin’s. He gritted his teeth and
averted his gaze. He’d dealt with far greater threats than a pair of puppy-
dog eyes. He definitely wasn’t going to⁠—
“If you can take a bite and avoid turning your stomach inside-out, then
I’ll consider it.”
Goddamn it.
“The hardest part is getting over the mental block,” Lillia said sagely.
She lifted the piece of meat—if it could even be called that—to her mouth
and took a small bite. They all stared at her expectantly. Lillia chewed once.
Then she chewed again.
Doubling over, Lillia spat the chunk onto the ground. She retched and
coughed, clawing at her tongue as she tried to get the taste off. Still
hacking, Lillia straightened up and wiped her mouth with the back of her
hand.
“I was very wrong,” Lillia said, still scraping at her tongue. “Don’t eat
that.”
“Are you really surprised?” Anna asked. “And do you need healing? I
feel like that might have poisoned you. Just so you know, I can’t heal the
shits. It’s not a wound.”
“Understood,” Lillia grumbled miserably. Her eyes glazed over for a
second, and her cheeks went bright red.
“You just got an Achievement, didn’t you?” Arwin asked.
“Well, I guess I did just tell Reya that there could always be worse
things than a slightly snippy Achievement.”
“What did you get?” Reya asked.
“A Title called Hungry Idiot,” Lillia said sheepishly. “It lets me taste the
best flavors in anything edible so I can figure out if it’ll taste good. The
Mesh really ripped into me for eating that. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a
Title that’s just a straight-up insult.”
“That’s actually pretty impressive,” Arwin said. “Well? Does the flesh
have any redeeming qualities about it?”
Lillia sent a critical gaze at the strip of meat on the ground, next to
where she’d spat up the first bite she’d taken. “I don’t think I want to find
out. I’ll try it on something the Mesh won’t smite me on the spot for
tasting.”
“Does it really care?” Reya asked. “It’s not alive, is it?”
Arwin grunted. “I wouldn’t be so sure. I don’t know what the Mesh is,
but saying it’s not alive might not be entirely accurate. It’s… aware. Not in
the way you or I are, but it’s still aware.”
“More importantly, we’re still in the dungeon,” Rodrick said. He looked
around the room. “Do we press deeper? I’ve had conversations about the
Mesh before, and they always go way longer than I’d planned on. We
should figure out our next steps before getting distracted.”
“I think I’d be willing to try and push a little further as long as I can
have some time to rest,” Arwin said after a moment of thought. “I think we
can take at least one more room. We’ll have to find a way past this one
anyway. There’s probably a way to open the door somewhere. Besides, I
also need to see if any of the metal on this monster is salvageable.”
 Nobody objected, and so their course was set. They would press deeper
—but first, Arwin had a rotted corpse to rip apart.

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A
rwin did his best to avoid touching the dead Rot Giantling too much
as he worked the crumpled helmet off its pulped head. It was largely a
fruitless effort, and even washing the helmet off in the lake didn’t
manage to completely remove the vile stench engrained within.
Time and the water had taken a heavy toll on the metal. It was covered
with a thick layer of rust, and the barnacles felt like they’d welded
themselves on. Arwin had to use a little bit of energy from [Scourge] just to
pry one off, revealing even more rusted scrap.
He wasn’t so easily deterred. The metal had withstood several hits from
his [Scourge]-empowered swings, and even [Shieldbreaker] had needed
several blows to properly destroy it. There had to be some redeeming
properties to the metal, even if it was completely rusted over.
“You think this is magical and just has hidden properties?” Arwin asked
Lillia, who stood beside him peering into the lake.
“I think it smells almost as bad as the corpse behind us. That should
count as a magical property in and of itself. Psychological damage to
anyone you fight when they realize you’ve been walking around with that
awful thing on you.”
“You literally tried to eat it,” Arwin pointed out.
“That was experimentation. I wasn’t planning on sticking it on my head
and strolling around with it.” Lillia scrunched her nose in distaste, then
shrugged. “But if there is magic, it’s probably covered up by all the buildup
of shit.”
 “Probably,” Arwin agreed. He looked back at the corpse. In the past few
minutes, he’d managed to work off the one remaining intact leg of the
giantling’s greaves and a chunk of the chest piece. He broke several other
pieces off, removing plates of everything that he could until he had a small
pile. The rest of the armor was so deeply embedded and fused with the
monster’s body that even Arwin couldn’t be bothered to try and remove it.
There were some things that even the world’s strongest bath could never fix
—and the metal looked warped beyond use by the giantling’s body.
“I see that look in your eyes,” Lillia said. “You’re about to ask me if I’m
willing to carry some of this crap, aren’t you?”
“You were willing to take the flesh back.”
Lillia heaved a sigh. “Fine. Just… try to wash it a little more, please.”
Arwin did just that. He wasn’t eager to smell the awful armor for much
longer either. While he scrubbed away at it in the lake, the others scoured
the room for a way to open the door to the next level down.
It was nearly thirty minutes before he decided that he couldn’t possibly
clean the armor any further with just water. He broke it into pieces and
stuffed it into Lillia’s bag. He slung the bag over his shoulder and headed
over to rejoin the others.
They were huddled at the edge of the lake the farthest from where he’d
been working. Lillia sat beside it, her eyes screwed shut and lips pursed
with concentration. There was a large pile of rubble and garbage stacked up
beside her, consisting of everything from fish bones to moss-covered rocks.
“Any luck finding a way down?” Arwin asked, setting the bag at his
feet.
“I think so. We’re working on it right now. There’s something at the
bottom of the water that we think might be a key.” Reya nodded past Lillia
into the murky depths. It was like staring into a bowl of thick stew. If there
was anything down there, Arwin certainly couldn’t see it. “But it’s really
down there, and Rodrick only saw a flash of it.”
“I was about to ask,” Arwin said dryly. “I’d rather it be somewhere
underwater than on the Rot Giantling’s body. At least it might be a bit pre-
washed.”
“I wouldn’t get too optimistic,” Anna said nasally, her nose pinched shut
between two fingers. “I have no idea how Rodrick saw anything through
that murk, much less how Lillia is going to actually manage to find it again
if it is down there.”
 “Hold on. I think I have something.” Lillia’s tongue protruded from her
mouth and she pulled her hands up. A net made of shadow rose up from the
water, pulled shut at the top. It flopped onto the ground and melted into a
pool of darkness, leaving behind an assortment of bones, rocks, and sludge.
“Nice,” Rodrick said.
Lillia pulled a small tendril of shadow out of the ground and poked at
her winnings. She pushed some of the trash over to the larger pile with the
tendril. The dull green light coming off the moss covering the walls
glimmered off a speck of silver buried beneath a pile of algae.
A shadowy tendril looped around the piece and pulled it free. It wiped
the sludge away, revealing the body of an old key. Lillia grinned. “You
spoke too soon. I got it.”
“So I did,” Rodrick admitted. “All the power to you. Figured we were
just going to be heading back.”
“I still can’t believe you saw anything down there,” Lillia said. She
stood and took the key from her tendril, shaking the last drops of dirt off it.
“The light was reflecting off it. I think I just got lucky,” Rodrick said
with a shrug. “It wouldn’t have done me any good on my own. There’s no
world where I was going to dive into that lake and get fourteen diseases
named after me.”
“Are you recovered enough to keep going?” Anna asked Arwin. “You’re
the one that spent the most energy in that fight.”
“Yeah. I should be fine. It’s been a good bit since the last fight.”
Lillia headed over to the outline of the passageway in the wall and
studied it for a few seconds. She used a tendril of shadow to wipe some of
the grime away to reveal a small keyhole beside the doorway.
“I’m going to open this,” Lillia warned, putting the key into its slot.
Arwin walked to stand beside her, summoning Verdant Blaze to his hands
and ensuring he was between anything that might have come from the
passageway and the others.
The key clicked as Lillia twisted it, and the door slid across wet stone in
a smooth motion. Beyond it was a short hallway that led to a set of
grandiose wooden doors flanked by two familiar-looking purple torches.
More green crystals ran along the ground and jutted from the ceiling. The
light coming from the moss mixed with that of the torches. It refracted
through the crystals and shimmered and danced in a silent play across the
walls, their shadows the puppet masters.
 “Big bugger ahead.” Rodrick’s voice dropped to a whisper. “Isn’t it a bit
soon?”
“Not if we’re at the end of the dungeon.” Arwin squinted into the
darkness. “It could be on the smaller side.”
“Can we handle the last room?” Anna asked, her staff tapping against
the ground as she walked to join him in staring into the hall. “It’s probably a
good bit stronger than the giantling. That could be a little rough.”
“The strongest monster in a Journeyman dungeon might be difficult,”
Lillia agreed. “We won’t be able to let Arwin handle the majority of the
fight again. It won’t be safe.”
“Getting strong never is,” Rodrick said. “I vote we go. There’s no power
without risk. That’s how the Mesh works.”
Rodrick’s words weren’t wrong. If they wanted to get strong enough to
challenge a powerful guild, they couldn’t play things safe—but no amount
of power was worth losing another friend.
“I think we can handle it,” Lillia said. “I’m in support.”
“I am too,” Reya put in. “I know I can’t do too much yet, but I can
distract and support you from the backline. I think we should be able to beat
anything that Arwin can hit, so as long as he’s not held down, we should be
fine.”
“That’s hardly true. I’ve been able to handle the monsters so far, but
there can be a big disparity between monsters, even in similar tiers. Don’t
forget the wyrm is only Journeyman 8,” Arwin reminded Reya. “The
difference is that it likely has Titles and Achievements that have boosted its
growth, while most of these monsters haven’t.”
“Do you think that’s likely in this situation?” Anna asked.
Arwin shook his head. “I don’t know. There’s no way anything here
would be as strong as the wyrm. If it were, it would have sought a stronger
area. The wyrm we fought could easily hold its own against something a
whole tier above it.”
“You think it’s as strong as an Adept-tier monster?” Anna swallowed.
“And we want to kill it?”
“That’ll come when it comes. For now, we focus on us,” Arwin said. He
nodded to the door. “I’m willing to push ahead. I think we can handle it.”
“Then it’s settled.” Lillia rolled her neck and stepped to the side so
Arwin could get past her. “Take the lead?”
 “How gracious of you,” Arwin said dryly. He stepped past her,
dismissing Verdant Blaze as he walked. The hall was too thin to swing the
weapon properly, and it would be nothing but a hindrance. Everyone fell in
behind him as he arrived at the large doors and pressed his hands against
their surface.
They ground open. Arwin blinked as bright orange light spilled out from
the room and into the hallway. Beyond them was a massive stone cavern.
Metal braziers full of dancing flame that burned on nothing but air lined the
walls.
On the far side of the room was a large hole that dropped into the
darkness. It was pitch black despite all the light filling the room. Above the
hole was a ledge that led to an unlit passageway.
“Gee, I wonder where the monster is hiding,” Reya muttered as she
stepped into the room behind Arwin. “Definitely not in the giant cavern.
Maybe it’s going to drop from above.”
Arwin’s eyes flicked up. He could just barely make out the domed
ceiling in the distance—it didn’t look like anything was there. Even though
he was pretty sure he agreed with Reya’s implied guess that the monster
was in the hole, there was no way he wasn’t going to double-check after a
fate-tempting quip like that.
“Don’t make too much fun of the Mesh or it’ll screw with you,”
Rodrick warned.
“There’s no way it’s actually listening.”
“Probably not, but that doesn’t stop everything from going wrong when
you tempt fate,” Anna said. She adjusted her grip on her staff and looked
around the room. “That’s a pretty big hole, though.”
“So it is,” Arwin agreed. “Let’s go see what it’s got hiding in it, shall
we?”
“You first,” Lillia said, only half-joking. “I’ve got your back.”
He summoned Verdant Blaze back to his hands and headed out. Every
step echoed through the room and reflected back at him. He crossed the
middle of the room and drew closer to the hole, slowing as he approached.
This thing had better pop up soon. I really don’t want to make Lillia go
fishing again.
A distant rumble shook the ground beneath Arwin’s feet. He froze in
place as the tremors grew stronger and small stones rained from the ceiling,
shattering as they struck the ground. Purple torches ignited from where
they’d been hidden in the darkness all around the room.
Arwin lowered into a fighting stance. The second purple room in a
dungeon—and almost certainly the last one. This was the strongest monster
in the dungeon.
He didn’t have to wait long. A massive boney hand rose up from the
hole. It had to have been larger than ten men stacked on top of each other. It
slammed into the ground, jagged fingers digging furrows into the stone. A
second hand followed after it.
The tremors intensified as the upper torso of an enormous, skeletal giant
pulled itself up from within the darkness. Old metal armor adorned its
chest. Any designs that had once been present on it had long since worn
away. Its yellowed ivory teeth, each one as large as a small boulder, were
frozen in the permanent leer of death.
Huge chunks of crystal jutted out from the skeleton and grew across its
body, veins of translucent green running throughout it, working so deeply
into the bone that it was hard to tell where it started and where gem began.
The monster’s mouth ground open to reveal rows upon rows of jagged
crystal running down its gullet and deep into its chest.
It brought its hands down on the stone, shaking the ground so violently
that Arwin was bucked a foot into the air. He landed on the stone with a
grunt, the Mesh swirling before him as it identified the enormous creature
even as chills ran down his spine. And, as the huge creature let out a roar
and its eyes ignited with brilliant green light, the Mesh told Arwin what
they were up against.

[Crystalline Bonehemoth, Hand of the Prism – Journeyman 7]

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“I changed my mind,” Reya yelled over the cacophony. “Can we leave?”

Bit too late for that, I think.
The bonehemoth reached out toward Arwin, massive fingers
casting a shadow through the room as they passed over him. He activated
[Scourge] and leapt out of the way as the hand crashed down and slammed
into the stone with enough force to generate a small earthquake.
Arwin landed, stumbling from the tremors, but managed to keep his
footing as he brought Verdant Blaze crashing down on the side of the
monster’s arm. It struck the bone with a loud crack, sending fragments
flying everywhere, but it did little more damage than the bite from an
aggressive rat would have done to him.
This thing has to be pumped full of magic. Does that mean I can eat it?
There was only one way to find out. He lunged forward and bit down on
the skeleton’s massive arm—or at least, he did his best to. Arwin’s teeth hit
the bone, and he felt energy swirling within, but it was like trying to bite
through a block of steel… and not the magical kind.
He pulled his head away with a curse, grateful he hadn’t broken any
teeth in the attempt. The skeleton was either not magical enough to eat or it
had too much magic for him to handle at the moment. Either way, it didn’t
look like treating it like a buffet was going to be the angle.
Darkness passed over Arwin as another arm rose above him. The
bonehemoth was far from fast, but it was so big that it almost didn’t matter.
He cursed and activated [Scourge] again to fling himself to safety.
 Tremors raced through the stone, bouncing Arwin like a child’s toy as
he hit the ground in a roll. His teeth rattled in his skull as he skidded to a
stop and pushed himself to his feet.
“We’re going to need a plan for this!” Arwin yelled. “I can’t do enough
damage to it on my own with it swinging at me!”
“I don’t think I can slow it down much,” Reya called back. “I think I
could outrun it if I was at the far ends of its reach, though.”
The bonehemoth reached out toward Arwin, forcing him to run to the
side. He didn’t fancy his chances if the monster got him in its grip. Given
how hard it had just hit the ground, he was pretty sure he was completely
outclassed in strength. The only saving grace was that the monster was
considerably slower than he was, even without [Scourge].
Shadows whipped out and tried to restrain the huge creature, but they
snapped without so much as slowing it.
“The light is too bright to get shadows strong enough to hold it down,”
Lillia said with a curse. “And even if it was dimmer, I don’t think I’m
anywhere near strong enough to restrain something like this. It’s too damn
big.”
“Just focus on distracting it for Arwin,” Rodrick yelled. “I’ll help.”
His sword ignited with burning light and he sprinted forward, passing
Arwin and waving the blade with a yell. His efforts were immediately
rewarded as the bonehemoth brought a hand hurtling down toward him.
Rodrick’s legs pumped as he sprinted to the side as hard as he could. He
threw himself forward into a dive as bone crashed down behind him. The
ground bucked beneath Arwin again, nearly tossing him to the floor.
For a moment, he had no idea if Rodrick had escaped the blow. His
chest clenched, but a relieved breath slipped out of his mouth as the warrior
ran out from behind the monster’s hand, waving his glowing sword and
screaming obscenities.
That’s one way to get its attention, I suppose. I just have to figure out
what the hell I’m meant to do against something like this. If I could hit it
with [Shieldbreaker] enough times in the same spot, I could probably take it
out. There’s no way I can get to its head, though.
“I can make platforms out of the shadows,” Lillia called to Arwin, as if
she could read his thoughts. “That can get you up to its head while it’s
focused on Rodrick.”
“Are you sure?” Arwin asked. “That’s quite a distance.”
 “Yeah. It gets darker the farther out it is, and I’ll follow you. Trust me.”
Another rumble shook the earth. Rodrick skidded out of a cloud of dust,
his sword a glowing beacon at his side. The bonehemoth was definitely
focused on him. There was only so long he’d be able to outrun the monster.
He was keeping at the edges of its reach to buy himself a little more time,
but his luck or stamina would eventually run out.
“Let’s do it,” Arwin said. He dismissed Verdant Blaze and sprinted
toward the bonehemoth as it extended both of its hands for Rodrick. Lillia
ran beside him, the shadows at her back coiling and forming into dark
wings.
“Jump!” Lillia yelled.
He leapt into the air, and the shadows beneath him stretched up. They
formed into a platform beneath his foot. Arwin took the next step without a
second of hesitation. Strands of darkness leapt from the first platform and
onto a second.
The bonehemoth’s glowing eyes snapped to Arwin as he approached. It
lifted a hand and started to turn toward him. A shimmer of blue light passed
over its body and vanished an instant later, without so much as even making
it hesitate.
Before it could reach out, a pained roar ripped out of its lips. Rodrick
had driven his glowing sword into the monster’s other palm. He raised the
sword and drove it home twice more before leaping to safety as the boney
hand closed over the space where he’d been.
Arwin’s mad dash toward the monster brought him up to its head. It
finally reached up toward him, undistracted by Rodrick, and extended a
hand to smack him out of the air. The next step Arwin took found nothing
but air and he plummeted down.
His heart leapt into his chest. The hand passed above him and his foot
landed on a platform. He nearly buckled from the force of the fall, but he
managed to maintain his sprint back up toward the monster’s head.
Lillia leapt into the air, her dark wings flapping once and propelling her
into the sky. She thrust her hands forward and shadows stretched out of the
wall to wrap around its head as the bonehemoth extended its arms toward
her. The shadows were stretched thin, clearly drawing more power than
Lillia had to spare.
For a second, the monster’s face was blocked off. Arwin’s makeshift
stairwell brought him up to the creature’s head just as its vision was cut. He
leapt forward, Verdant Blaze manifesting in his hands, and brought it down
on the center of Bonehemoth’s temple with all the force that [Scourge]
could muster.
A loud crack split the air and chunks of bone rained down. The shadows
caught Arwin before he could fall, but before he could swing again, a
massive roar ripped through the cavern. Lines of electricity ripped through
Arwin’s body as his limbs stiffened against his will. A loud hum rose up in
his ears, but he couldn’t so much as wonder what it was.
The shadows that had been holding him aloft vanished. He plummeted
downward, unable to so much as twitch a muscle. Lillia fell to his side. Her
wings evaporated as they tumbled toward the unforgiving ground below.
Fragments of blue light fell away from Lillia with the sound resembling
shattering glass. She spun, tucking her arms in close to her chest as the
darkness swirled back at her, reforming her wings.
They snapped open and she pulled up, shooting over to Arwin and
grabbing him out of the air. The shadows coming off her body wound
around him like ropes, holding him against her body as she pulled up and
flew higher into the air.
What felt like a river of freezing water poured over Arwin. He drew in a
sharp breath as blue light broke and swirled around him. Control returned to
his body.
“I’m good!” Arwin yelled.
The shadows holding him to Lillia snapped and reformed beneath his
feet. Arwin hit them in a run, sprinting back toward the behemoth. It
reached out to him again, and he dove forward, dropping through the air
and letting the huge hands pass overhead.
He hit a carpet of darkness in a roll as it formed beneath him, then
ascended the stairwell that gathered at his feet. The bonehemoth’s hands
slammed into the ground behind him with a massive crash.
It let out another furious cry, and a flash of light flickered through the
room as Rodrick’s sword carved into it again. Whatever the energy in his
attack was, it was doing a lot of damage to the huge monster.
Arwin didn’t have time to wonder why. Lillia had brought him back to
the bonehemoth’s head, and the only thing on his mind was playing the
world’s largest game of whack-a-mole. He leapt off the shadows and
shoved his foot into a crack in the monster’s skull.
 He pulled out every stop, letting his [Soul Flame] course through the
weapon and into its head. He didn’t know how much damage flame was
going to do to bone, but it certainly couldn’t hurt.
[Scourge] ripped through his veins and Verdant Blaze crashed down.
Bone shattered like a bomb had gone off, and the hammer ripped into the
monster’s skull. Arwin stiffened, bracing himself for what he suspected was
to come, but there was no preparing for it.
A scream tore through the air, and his body locked up like a wooden
board as rivers of electricity tore through him. Arwin started to pitch back,
but the foot he’d stuck into the monster’s skull had just enough leverage to
keep him teetering in place. The benefit of being functionally frozen solid
was that none of his body would move. The loud hum that had been
building in his ears reached a crescendo.
All he could do was wait for⁠—
Shimmering motes of blue fell away from Arwin with a tinkling crash.
Control returned to his muscles once more. Brilliant blue and gray light
burned at the center of Arwin’s chest, emanating from the gem in his armor.
The roars were magical. That must have counted for the magic stored in
the crystal.
He called out to it and the power responded. The [Soul Flame] burning
around Verdant Blaze’s head turned a blueish gray, and he brought the
hammer down once more. It struck the same spot he’d hit twice before with
a loud crash.
Bone shattered. Power ripped out from Verdant Blaze, coursing out in
tongues of flaming gray that wormed into the bonehemoth’s skull. For an
instant, the enormous monster locked in place as its own magic was turned
against it. Faint particles of frost gathered at the site that Arwin had struck,
remnants of the Ice Mage’s power finally released from their prison.
Arwin didn’t sit around to see the results of his strike. He raised his
arms and brought them down once more. [Scourge] coursed through his
veins as he drove his hammer into the large dent he’d formed.
A brilliant crack split the air. Fragments flew up all around Arwin, and
the spell that had been pinning the bonehemoth in place shattered. It
thrashed, launching him from its head. He tucked his arms and legs in and
shadows swirled around him, forming into a ramp.
He hit it in a roll that took him all the way back down to the ground. A
rush of air roared overhead as an unseen hand hurtled through the air where
he’d been moments before. Arwin felt himself hit the rough stone and
pushed himself up to his feet.
Another roar ripped through the room, and his body ground to a halt,
breath catching in his chest. The effects of the magic weren’t anywhere near
as bad down on the ground as they had been next to the bonehemoth’s head,
but Lillia had still been in the air.
Reya, who had positioned herself near the exit to reduce as much of the
magic’s power as possible, recovered from the yell and thrust her hands
toward Lillia. Even as the magic freed her, the sky above Arwin darkened.
One of the bonehemoth’s hands hurtled down toward Arwin. He tried to
pull himself free, but the effects of the roar still had him in their grip. Reya
spun toward him, the firelight illuminating the panic in her eyes.
Judging from the last times she’d freed Arwin, it took her a second or
two to recover between casts.
She wasn’t going to be fast enough.
A flash of burning yellow light ignited to Arwin’s side. Out of the
corner of his eye, he spotted Rodrick sprinting toward him, his entire body
clad in a burning yellow and white flame. He’d broken through the
bonehemoth’s roar with some sort of self-buff. Despite his situation, Arwin
couldn’t keep an idle thought from flashing through his head.
That doesn’t look like a normal Warrior skill.
Wind from the descending hand pressed down upon him. Autonomy
started to return to his body, but not nearly fast enough.
Rodrick dove forward in a tackle. He shoved Arwin back and away
from the hand’s path—and traded his own momentum away in the process.
The enormous hand slammed to the ground with a resounding cash. Arwin
rolled across the ground right at its edge, dodging by a hair’s breadth. His
body finally threw off the effects of the magic and he scrambled to his feet.
“Rodrick!” Arwin yelled, his words swallowed by the cloud of dust
rising up all around him. “Rodrick! Are you there?”
There was no response.

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A
rwin ripped his gaze away from the cloud of dust. Lillia was fighting
to keep the bonehemoth’s attention, and letting his emotions get in the
way of killing the monster would only result in the situation
degrading even further.
He raced forward, his skull pounding in a furious haze, and leapt onto
the monster’s massive arm bone as it raised to swat at Lillia. He dismissed
Verdant Blaze and ascended the craggy surface, climbing it like a spider.
Lillia’s shadows stabbed at the monster’s eyes and it roared in anger.
Arwin clung on to its arm for dear life as it swung at Lillia. Her wings
tucked in close to her back and she dropped, shooting past the hand and
gliding up behind the monster to send more shadows stabbing at it.
Beneath them, Arwin could just barely make out Anna sprinting away
from the relative safety at the edge of the room toward where Rodrick had
last been seen. His heart clenched and he ripped his eyes away, continuing
his climb.
If the bonehemoth turned its attention away from Lillia, Anna would
likely be its next target. He scaled as quickly as he dared and then some,
using small bursts of power from [Scourge] to jump from bone to bone.
The surface of the monster’s body was somehow simultaneously
slippery and jagged. His feet only found purchase on the jagged cracks
running throughout it, and keeping his balance when the whole world was
moving around him was immensely difficult.
 Lillia was forced to dive out of the way once more, and the bonehemoth
screamed. Arwin’s body locked up—and a wave of blue slammed into him,
freeing him after no more than half a second. Lillia plummeted in the corner
of his vision, but all Arwin could do was hope that Reya would save her in
time.
The bonehemoth’s glowing eyes turned as the shadows finally stopped
assaulting its head—and their gaze went right past Arwin, locking onto the
easy target kneeling in the fading dust cloud.
Arwin gritted his teeth, pushing his body to the max. He leapt farther
with every jump, using almost all of the energy he had remaining. The
bonehemoth’s arm lifted. Arwin swirled his hands, desperately trying to
keep his balance, but it was impossible.
He fell—and landed on a platform of shadows. Throwing himself to his
feet, Arwin raced up toward its head. An eye flicked toward him, and a hand
started to move, realizing the source of its pain was approaching once more,
but it was too late.
Arwin leapt from the shadows and ripped the bracelet off his wrist. If
this strike didn’t end the fight, then it was over for them anyway.

Metal Bracelet: Average Quality

Roughshod: This item was forged by strong, weary hands that longed
for escape. It can direct all the power in its wielder’s body into a single
strike at a significant cost of magical energy.
Weary: This item is imbued with the feelings of a man who seeks rest
and freedom. Using its ability will cause its wielder to feel exhausted
and slow their movements for a duration based on the amount of
magical power [Roughshod] consumed.

Arwin shoved the bracelet into his mouth and bit down. Energy coursed
through his body. Verdant Blaze materialized in his grip. He let out a
furious scream as he brought it crashing down. The movement felt heavy
and sluggish, like he was traveling through sludge.
Verdant Blaze struck the large wound in the bonehemoth’s skull with a
brilliant explosion of [Soul Flame] and enough force to send vibrations
down Arwin’s entire body.
Bone shattered and caved in. Cracks raced out in a spreading spiderweb
that enveloped the bonehemoth’s entire skull. Its mouth yawned open—but
no roar emerged. The cracking grew louder, a smattering of pops and breaks
amid a dull undertone of grinding crunches. A huge plate of bone on its
temple pitched forward and fell to the ground, where it shattered with a
crash.
The whole monster slumped, sliding back into the hole that it had
clambered out of. Arwin threw himself back, hitting a dark slide that
formed beneath him. It carried him down to the ground and sent him rolling
across the dirt until he struck a large rock and came to a stop with a pained
grunt.
A deep rumble shook the cavern as the bonehemoth crashed against the
walls of the hole on its way down. The last thing Arwin saw of it was a limp
hand vanishing into the black. He barely even cared.
Shoving his aching body up, Arwin dismissed his armor and weapon as
he staggered across the room toward where Rodrick had fallen. Exhaustion
weighed down on his back and shoulders, trying to press him into the
ground. His stomach twisted and churned into knots. He couldn’t bear the
idea of losing another person. Not for something as worthless as a mere
dungeon.
Anna knelt with her back to him, her neck as pale as sheet. Arwin
stumbled as he ran up to her.
“Anna! Is Rodrick⁠—”
The words caught in his throat. Rodrick’s head rested on Anna’s lap.
The bottom half of his armor was completely gone, and he was naked from
the waist down—but somehow in one piece. Shimmering white light poured
from Anna’s exertion-ridden hands and into him.
“Alive,” Anna rasped, her hands dropping at her sides. “The bottom half
of his body was crushed. He went unconscious from shock, but I hadn’t
used any energy yet, so I had enough to heal him. I—” She paused to draw
in a deep breath and refill her lungs with air. “I thought I lost him. Godspit.
What was that huge fucker doing down here?”
Arwin dropped by her side, leaning back onto his arms as a relieved,
hysterical laugh built in his throat. It grew in intensity until tears streamed
down his cheeks, and he had to drop back onto the cold stone to compose
himself.
He could feel the Mesh swirling at the back of his mind, but it seemed
that it was going to wait until he was actually in a state of mind to process
its words before giving him any information.
 “Thank God.” Arwin’s throat was so tight that he could barely even
breathe properly. “I don’t know what I would have done if he’d died. I’m
sorry. I should have better prepared us. It was stupid to⁠—”
“Oh, cork it,” Anna snapped. “We aren’t children, Arwin. We knew the
risks of advancing and all agreed to do it. Nobody died. And, even if he had,
it wouldn’t have been your fault.”
Arwin couldn’t do anything but nod. Lillia and Reya were both on the
other side of the room and approaching them, the relief on their faces clear
when they saw that Rodrick wasn’t a mushed splatter on the ground.
“He’s alive?” Lillia asked as they arrived.
“Yeah. It would have been really bad if I was a second or two slower,
but he’ll make it,” Anna said. “There’s no need for anyone to take
responsibility for anything other than a new pair of pants. There’s a lot of
him that I’m willing to share, but this isn’t one of them.”
Arwin let out a choked mixture between a laugh and a cough. He didn’t
have a pair of pants to spare on him, but he pulled his shirt off and draped it
over Rodrick’s midsection. Even that felt like an arduous task, but the
effects of the detrimental trait in the bracelet he’d eaten were already
starting to wear off. It didn’t seem like the magical effects of items he ate
lasted for more than thirty seconds or a minute at most.
“I can’t believe we won that fight,” Reya muttered. “I’ve never seen a
monster so big.”
“I can’t believe we killed it,” Anna said. “If I saw correctly… Arwin,
did you manage to somehow use its own magic against it?”
“Yes. It was a feature of my armor,” Arwin said. “It gathers magic that’s
cast around it and can eventually let me empower an attack with it.”
“Damn.” Anna shook her head and let out a whistle. “That’s a really
impressive piece of gear. A warrior going around and casting magic without
having a class based on it… terrifying.”
“And badass,” Reya put in. She glanced back at the hole and shuddered.
“Thank whatever god is listening you had that, though. If you didn’t get
those extra hits, I don’t know if we would have made it through this. That
monster could have destroyed an entire town if it were outside. How did it
get down here?”
“It probably wasn’t that big when it came down here,” Arwin said
wearily. “Something in the dungeon gave it enough power to evolve, and it
definitely had a number of Titles and Achievements. I suspect the Mesh will
let us know some of that soon enough.”
“Is it just sitting around and waiting for you as well?” Reya asked.
“Yeah. I owe it thanks for that. I think anything I read right now would
pass right through my eyeballs without even registering,” Arwin said. “Is
everyone else okay?”
“Yeah. I’m fine,” Lillia said. “I don’t think we would have been if it
weren’t for Reya, though.”
“We’d all be dead,” Arwin said with a nod and a grimace. He’d known
how useful Reya’s ability was, but he hadn’t expected it to save their lives
this quickly. “You did fantastic, Reya.”
“I should have broken the control on you before Lillia,” Reya said with
a shake of her head. “My screw-up almost got Rodrick killed.”
“Everyone screws up inevitably,” Arwin said. “Also, Lillia was in
imminent danger while I was not. You did the right thing. There’s nothing to
blame yourself for, especially when nobody actually died.”
Reya flopped down across from Anna and nodded mutely. It didn’t look
like she’d be able to muster any more words anytime soon, and he didn’t
blame her. Distant eyes spoke volumes. Reya had gotten something from
the Mesh for her participation in the fight. Lillia walked over to sit next to
Arwin, making a small semi-circle around Rodrick’s body as his chest rose
and fell in slow breaths.
Arwin’s heart still slammed in his chest like a runaway freight train.
Now that the adrenaline was leaving his body, all that remained was a
heavy blanket of weariness that wrapped around his shoulders and weighed
down on his back. They’d won—but now that the fight had ended, his mind
had nothing left to distract it.
Does Rodrick have some form of Unique class or ability? I can’t claim
to know every single warrior ability in existence—I don’t think anyone can
—but there’s no way that glowing light was a normal warrior. His attacks
were also doing more damage to the bonehemoth than I feel like normal
blows, empowered or not, should have been.
He could tell by the look in Anna’s eyes that she knew what he was
thinking. Her features tightened and she shook her head, a silent request to
hold off on mentioning anything. Arwin wasn’t in any rush to press for
more information—he had secrets of his own that he suspected wouldn’t be
lasting through the night.
 Golden light shimmered before Arwin’s eyes. The Mesh finally decided
that it had let him rest for long enough. It would be denied no longer.
Golden lines shimmered through the air as if drawn by a dancing butterfly,
light blooming from them and turning into words.

Achievement: [Savior of the Bonehemoth] has been earned.

[Savior of the Bonehemoth] – Awarded for aiding in the destruction of
the Crystalline Bonehemoth and granting it peace from its agony. Effects:
Your party has received access to the bonehemoth’s hoard. This
achievement has been consumed.
[Giantsbane] – Awarded for slaying a monster over ten times your height.
Effects: One skill in your next Skill Selection has been upgraded. This
achievement will be consumed upon choosing your next skill.

Holy shit. Two Achievements? The Mesh is really raining the rewards
down on us. I suppose it makes sense. That might be one of the roughest
fights I’ve ever had, and we actually managed to win it.
A delicate chime rang through the air. Arwin looked up as a shimmer of
green energy lit in the air directly above Rodrick’s head. A loop of metal the
size of a small dog emerged from it. It was followed by a thick, rusted bar
and, after that, the rest of a key. Arwin’s hands shot out to grab it before the
heavy metal could land on the resting warrior.
“Did everyone else just get that Achievement?” Arwin asked, holding
the key out before him. It was comically huge in his hands, but when
compared to the bonehemoth, it was the opposite.
“I got two Achievements,” Reya said. “A skill upgrade and the Savior
one.”
“Two here as well,” Lillia put in.
“Same for me,” Anna said. “Along with other things. I went up to
Apprentice 4 and got a ranged healing spell. But… did the Mesh make a
mistake? I don’t think what we did could be considered saving in any sense
of the word.”
“It didn’t seem particularly intelligent either,” Lillia said. “Or, if it was,
it was far too malicious for it to matter. That thing was doing its absolute
best to kill all of us.”
“You think the hoard is on that platform above the hole?” Reya asked as
she squinted across the room.
 “Where else would it be? That’s prime treasure-hiding estate, Reya.”
They all looked down as Rodrick spoke. His voice was weaker than
normal, but the cheeky grin on his lips told them that he was alright.
“Rodrick!” Anna exclaimed, pulling him up into a tight embrace and
pressing her lips to his. She said something muffled, then pulled back and
cleared her throat. “Are you okay?”
“Thanks to you, yes,” Rodrick said. “I knew you’d save my ass. You
always do.”
“Idiot,” Anna said. “What if you’d gotten crushed? If the hand was just
a little higher up…”
“It wasn’t. That’s all that matters. I took the risk. If I hadn’t, I suspect
Arwin would be a pancake. It didn’t seem like he had any way to throw off
the paralysis, and Reya’s ability has a limit to how fast she can use it.”
“Rodrick’s right. He saved my life,” Arwin said. “I owe you one.”
“Hey, we’re a guild, right? That’s what mates are for. Also, I got two
Achievements. If all I have to do for that is nearly die, I think I’m going to
do it a whole lot more.”
“Don’t even joke about that,” Anna snapped.
“Sorry, sorry.” Rodrick pushed himself into a seated position with a
grunt. “Damn, why is it so cold?”
He looked down at his legs, then pulled the shirt back. “Ah.” Rodrick
hurriedly returned the shirt to its spot. “That would explain it. What do you
think the chances are that the treasure waiting for us has any pants in it?”
“I think we’ll find out,” Arwin replied, hoisting the key and slinging it
over his shoulder. “And, with any luck, maybe it’ll have some clues as to
what the hell happened here as well. Shall we go see what it left us?”
“Hold on,” Anna said, swallowing and setting her jaw. “I think there’s
something we need to speak about first. Rodrick and I have been hiding
something.”

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A
rwin lowered the key and let it rest against his side. “You don’t have
to say anything. Things are secret for a reason.”
A small laugh slipped from Anna’s mouth and she shook her head.
“That’s sweet of you, but there’s no need. I think our lots are thrown
together at this point. There’s no reason to hide this any longer. I won’t
claim that we’re revealing all our secrets, but I think we can tell you this
much.”
“What are you talking about?” Reya looked from Arwin to Anna in
confusion. “Hiding what?”
“Rodrick isn’t a warrior,” Arwin said.
Anna nodded. “Was it that obvious?”
“Not initially. I only just figured it out. An empowered attack isn’t that
uncommon for a warrior, though the energy probably should have given it
away. A glowing control break was what woke me up. Rodrick looked more
like he was blessed rather than drawing on his own power.”
“Hey, you hear that?” Rodrick asked. “I honestly thought you’d figured
it out a bit ago. That makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside—although that
might actually just be the remnants of Anna’s magic.”
“If you’re not a warrior, what are you?” Lillia asked. “A paladin of
some sort?”
Rodrick’s smile slipped away. “I used to be. Paladin of Light,
specifically. I didn’t make it all that far down the good path.”
 “Why would you hide that?” Reya asked with a frown. “It’s just a class,
isn’t it? Is the Paladin class really rare or something?”
“Not particularly,” Anna answered. “The problem is that Rodrick is no
longer a paladin. Paladins have tenets that they’re required to follow. Those
are what give them a large portion of their powers. Rodrick broke his
tenets.”
“Which is a really roundabout way to say I’m a Fallen Paladin,”
Rodrick said. “And nobody wants to work together with an oathbreaker.
Anna came up with the idea to just pretend to be a warrior if we ran into
anyone else. It wasn’t half bad. A Fallen Paladin really isn’t all that much
better than a random warrior. I don’t have access to any magic. All I’ve got
are the abilities I got at Apprentice 1 and 2. Any new ones I get are basically
just normal warrior stuff.”
“Why did you break—” Reya started, but Arwin set his hand on her
shoulder, and she bit off her words. “What?”
“I don’t think that’s our concern,” Arwin said. “If they wanted to share
it, they would have.”
It’s a good question, though. Rodrick doesn’t strike me as the kind of
man that would break his tenets.
“It was nothing good,” Rodrick said with a heavy sigh. “And it’s
nothing I care to pollute today with. It isn’t something that will crop up—I
can assure you of that.”
Reya shrugged. “So you’re basically just a warrior now?”
“Functionally,” Rodrick said with a nod. “I just can’t get any more
Paladin abilities. Once I reach Journeyman, I’ll hopefully get a class
upgrade that lets me leave this all behind.”
“I feel like we can do that,” Reya said hesitantly. She sent a look at
Arwin, then frowned. “I don’t know if I see why this is such a big deal. Is
being a Fallen Paladin that bad?”
“Yes,” Anna said. “The most common defectors to the Horde are Fallen
Paladins. You don’t ‘fall’ because you made a tiny mistake. It’s really
serious—and Rodrick’s life would be in serious danger if anyone ever
found out the truth. People might think he is a spy.”
“I’ll never breathe a word of it,” Reya promised, pressing a hand over
her heart. “I don’t think most people like thieves anyway. Even though it
isn’t my class, I don’t think anyone in Milten thinks of me as anything but.”
“Thank you,” Anna said simply.
 “Are you really just a normal healer, then?” Arwin asked.
“My class isn’t anything special. We met in the Adventurers’ Guild,”
Anna replied carefully. “My class is nothing more than a plain Healer. I’m
lucky for it. If I’d had anything more, the guild likely would have put a lot
more attention on me and it would have been far harder to slip away.”
“Well, if we’re on the topic of secrets…” Lillia sent a glance at Arwin.
He shrugged in response. Rodrick and Anna had to find out about their past
at some point, and now was as good a time as any.
“You’ve got a really unique class,” Anna said. “It was kind of obvious.
I’ve never seen magic that lets you fly around on wings of darkness and
control the shadows like that. You must have an immense amount of
magical power as well.”
“I do have a powerful Unique class, but that’s not really what I was
going to bring up,” Lillia said. She mulled over her words for a second, then
seemingly gave up on trying to find a better way to string them together and
sighed. “We actually knew each other long before this guild came into
being.”
“I knew it!” Reya exclaimed.
“Did you work together before leaving the Adventurers’ Guild?”
Rodrick guessed. “It wasn’t hard to tell Arwin wasn’t a big fan of them
from the way he spoke. It’s half the reason we figured throwing our lot in
together with you would be safe.”
“Not exactly,” Arwin said. Every word that came out of his mouth
suddenly felt awkward. There didn’t seem to be any good way to actually
say what he wanted to say without sounding ridiculous. “Lillia was on the
other side of the war.”
“She defected from the Horde?” Anna’s eyes widened. “That makes a
lot of sense, actually. You aren’t just a big fan of monsters at all. You’re a
literal demon.”
“No way,” Reya breathed. She stared at Lillia in disbelief. “Are you
really? That wasn’t just makeup?”
Lillia nodded. A flicker of worry passed over her features and she
swallowed. “I am. But⁠—”
“Then your tail is real?” Reya asked. “Can I see it?”
“I—What?” Lillia blinked in confusion.
“Oh, is that disrespectful? I don’t know demon customs or anything.
Sorry. I didn’t mean to be rude.”
 “No, it’s not disrespectful,” Lillia said. She looked around at the others,
but aside from some mild amusement, neither Rodrick nor Anna looked all
that put out by her revelation. “I… didn’t think any of you would take it that
well.”
“The Adventurers’ Guild already thinks I’m working with the Horde,”
Rodrick said with a shrug, “and I know you. Don’t particularly care if
you’ve got a tail or not—though I think Anna would have my head if I went
around asking to see it.”
“Damn right,” Anna said. “Feel free to show me, though.”
“Hey, that’s not fair,” Rodrick protested. “If she’s going around showing
her tail⁠—”
“I, ah, think I’ll probably keep that for a later time,” Lillia suggested
lamely. She sent a desperate glance at Arwin. The wind had been
completely taken from her sails. He suppressed a laugh.
“Lillia wasn’t just a random demon,” Arwin said, raising a hand to get
everyone’s attention before the conversation could derail so badly that it
would be irrecoverable. “And I wasn’t just a random member of the Guild.”
Realization finally dawned upon Reya. Her lips pulled open into an o
and she looked from Arwin to Lillia.
“No way.”
“What? What is it?” Rodrick asked.
“I was the Hero of Lian,” Arwin said, “and Lillia was the Demon
Queen.”
Rodrick chuckled. “Ah, of course. I should have guessed.”
“Rodrick?” Anna said quietly.
“Yeah?”
“He isn’t joking…”
Rodrick looked back at Arwin. The smile on his face slowly melted.
Arwin could practically see him thinking through the fights they’d been in
together and putting the inconsistencies together.
“Nine Underlands,” Rodrick muttered. Something passed through his
eyes, and his expression darkened for an instant before he brought it back
under control. “What in the world happened? The Hero can’t be out here.
He’s—wait. You aren’t the current Hero, are you? You’re the one that died
before him.”
“I am,” Arwin said.
 “What are you doing here? And how did you possibly come to start a
guild with the—what, former Demon Queen? Shouldn’t you both be King-
tier or something like that? Why are you pretending to be Apprentice tiers?”
Arwin read the unspoken question on his lips.
Why did you let Zeke die?
“Because we aren’t who we used to be. The Guild was playing us,”
Arwin said. “They control both sides of the war. Lillia and I were both
betrayed—or saved. We don’t know which. And, in the process, we both
lost our classes. All we do know is that the Adventurers’ Guild and the
Horde are intentionally keeping the war running.”
“Slow down,” Rodrick said, his brow furrowed. He rubbed the bridge of
his nose and blinked furiously. “You’re telling me that… what, everything
is just a giant conspiracy? And that you and the Demon Queen faked your
deaths, losing all your strength in the process, to start a guild in the middle
of nowhere?”
“Not exactly. We didn’t have a choice in the matter,” Arwin said. “And I
never planned to start a guild. Do you recall how the papers said we both
died?”
“A massive magical explosion, wasn’t it?” Anna asked.
Arwin nodded. “It was. The thing is, it didn’t kill us. It just threw us
across the kingdom, and we both somehow landed here. All the magic
ended up warping my class and replacing it with the smithing one I have
now. Lillia⁠—”
“I became an innkeeper,” Lillia finished.
“That’s awful,” Anna said. “If people found out⁠—”
“We’d just be killed.” Arwin shook his head. “And I’ll be honest; I’ve
been fighting my entire life. There will be a time when a reckoning comes
to the Guild, but I’m not throwing my second chance at life away
completely for revenge before I’m ready for it. I’m just a smith now.”
“Do you miss them?” Rodrick asked, and there was something more to
his words than just mere curiosity. “Your powers. I mean—damn. You were
at the peak. The strongest warrior we had. And now…”
“Not for a second,” Arwin said. “I’d trade them all away a thousand
times over. This is everything I’ve ever wanted. And I don’t think Lillia and
I were actually as strong as we were said to be. The guild intentionally kept
us weak. We were figureheads. Actors, not true warriors.”
Rodrick fell silent, a contemplative look passing over his features.
 “It feels like someone had to have done this intentionally,” Anna said.
“The chances of you and Lillia both showing up in the same city seem
impossibly low.”
“They are,” Lillia agreed. “That’s why we think it’s possible someone
saved us. Unfortunately, we have no idea who. Or why. To be honest, we’ve
got more pressing problems to deal with.”
“I understand how difficult that probably was to share,” Anna said,
bowing her head in appreciation. “Forgive me if I steal your promise, Reya,
but not a word of it will ever leave my mouth. I swear it.”
“As do I,” Rodrick said. “You know what? As far as heroes go, you’re a
good enough sort. And if you’re actually the Hero, I’m pretty sure my
loyalty is meant to be to you anyway. I never got good enough to get pulled
into the army, but I’m sure that was somewhere in the contract. I didn’t read
it.”
His words cut the tension and Arwin let out a burst of laughter.
“Somehow, that doesn’t surprise me.”
Despite Arwin’s amusement, he hadn’t missed Rodrick’s reactions
throughout the conversation. He’d been surprised by the reveal… but not in
the way that Arwin had expected. Rodrick had been wary.
More than just a mere paladin, I’d say. I get the feeling he was a little
higher up in some order than he cares to admit—but I don’t think that’s any
of my business. I trust him and Anna, and they clearly trust us if they’re
giving us this much information. I’m not going to push for more unless
Rodrick reveals it himself.
“I can’t really believe I’m sitting here next to the bleeding Hero and his
greatest enemy,” Rodrick said. He let out a whistle. “Did you realize you
were betrayed before you met again?”
“No,” Lillia said. “We had no idea.”
“So when you saw each other again, did you start going at it with your
crafter classes?” Rodrick asked as he covered a laugh. “I wish I could have
been a fly on the wall for that.”
“Surprisingly, no. I think we were both fed up with fighting to the point
where we didn’t care anymore,” Arwin said.
And I don’t think I could even try to fight Lillia anymore, even if I
wanted to.
He shook his head to clear it and coughed into a fist. “Anyway. We
shouldn’t sit around here forever. Now you know.”
 “Are we really supposed to just… go back to doing dungeon stuff
now?” Rodrick demanded. “I want an autograph!”
“No,” Arwin said.
“No,” Lillia said.
Reya, who looked like she’d been about to ask for the same thing,
cleared her throat. “Can I at least see your tail?”
Arwin rolled his eyes. In spite of his best efforts, he couldn’t keep a grin
from his lips. This was what a guild was meant to be. He’d just dropped a
piece of information that could have shattered people’s worlds, and nobody
had been tripped up for more than a few seconds. It didn’t matter who they
were or where they’d come from. A Fallen Paladin and a healer on the run,
a thief with more enemies than there were seconds in the day, the Demon
Queen and the Hero of Lian—none of it mattered.
They were a guild.
“Come on,” Arwin said, jerking his chin toward the ledge. It had been a
bit since the fight, and he’d recovered enough energy to move around
normally. “Let’s go see what that hoard has waiting for us. If we’re at all
lucky, maybe it’ll have some pants.”

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L
illia’s shadows came to use once more as they formed into a stairwell
leading up to the ledge above the seemingly bottomless pit. The group
ascended up them and came to a stop at the tight passageway leading
into the wall.
“What do you think the chances are that we get attacked on the way to
our loot?” Rodrick asked. He had Arwin’s shirt tied precariously around his
waist, and Arwin was pretty sure that the biggest threat to anyone in the
immediate vicinity was a light breeze.
“It’s possible, but I doubt that huge thing would have tolerated much
hanging out around its hoard,” Lillia said as they pressed into the dark. “It
didn’t seem like a hospitable neighbor.”
Arwin nodded, then remembered that it was too dark for anyone other
than Lillia to tell what he was doing. “I don’t think we’re going to have any
more enemies. Not in this room, at least. I’m fairly certain this is the end of
the dungeon.”
“There’s no way there’s something more powerful than that thing
waiting for us deeper down.” Reya’s voice cracked with worry and she
cleared her throat. “Right?”
Before Arwin could answer, he bumped into Lillia’s back. She’d
stopped walking.
“Sorry,” Lillia said. “This is the end of the passage. Can you see the
door in front of us?”
 Arwin squeezed past her and squinted. The only things he could see
were vague outlines and shapes in the dark, but after feeling along the wall
for a moment, his fingers found a cold metal handle.
“Found it,” Arwin said. “On the off chance that there are enemies here,
can we count on you to hold them off until we can get to somewhere with
light?” Arwin asked Lillia.
“Yeah. My shadows couldn’t do too much to something as big as the
bonehemoth, but I’ve got enough energy left over to handle something
small.”
That was enough for him. He pushed the door open a crack. Dull green
light spilled out into the hall and illuminated the stone with its faint glow.
There were no signs of motion from beyond, so Arwin opened the door the
rest of the way.
A cavern stretched out before them. Huge, jagged crystals jutted out on
the walls and ceiling, blankets of rippling quartz covering everything but a
thin passageway that wound up to an altar made up of purple gemstones.
The altar was about two times Arwin’s height and six times his width. It
seemed to be made from stone, but the crystals covering its surface made it
impossible to tell anything for sure. Any designs that may have been on it in
the past had long since been swallowed.
“Whoa,” Reya breathed from behind Arwin. “It’s beautiful.”
“And slightly ominous,” Rodrick muttered. “These are the same crystals
that were on the last two monsters we fought.”
“Make sure not to touch anything,” Arwin said. He stepped onto the
tight passageway and started down it. His head turned on a swivel, gaze
scouring the room in search of something that may have been lying in wait.
They found nothing but crystal. The passageway led him along its twists
and turns until he stood at the glistening altar—the only patch of color in
the entire room that wasn’t green. Across from him was what could only be
described as a solid wall of crystal.
Beyond it, Arwin could barely make out a large hole. It had been
completely sealed over by the green gems, but it looked similar enough to
the one that had been in the room behind them that it didn’t take a genius to
tell what it had been for.
The bonehemoth used to be able to access this area from there. But why
would it care at all about an altar like this? It’s big, sure, but nowhere near
big enough for it. How would such a massive monster store a hoard here?
 The crystal held no answers. Arwin scanned the room one last time, but
there really didn’t seem to be anything other than the huge altar before him.
He chewed his lower lip in thought. There was no way that the Mesh would
have considered a mere block of stone a hoard.
“I’m not seeing our loot,” Rodrick said as he and the others walked up
behind Arwin. “Where’s the hole to stick the key?”
“I think we might have to do some digging,” Arwin said. He set the key
down and hoisted Verdant Blaze. “I suggest you head back to the entrance
of the room. I’m about to start swinging heavy objects at disturbing
speeds.”
He repressed a laugh at the annoyed grumbles that went up as everyone
headed back to the safety of the hall leading into the room. Once they were
all out of range, Arwin summoned his full armor around himself to limit the
number of spots that stray fragments could catch.
Then he reared back and swung Verdant Blaze. The hammer slammed
into the crystal covering the altar with a loud crack. Nothing happened.
Arwin wasn’t too bothered. There were a lot of things that he couldn’t
handle in this world, but anything that sat around and let him whale on it
wasn’t one of them.
He swung the hammer again. And again. And again. Arwin didn’t even
bother using [Scourge]. Verdant Blaze struck harder with every blow. The
crystals in its head vibrated in a keening song, sending feelings of delight
and hunger through its connection with Arwin.
His hammer struck.
Hairline fractures formed in the crystal.
His hammer struck.
Small shards of glistening purple rained down by his feet.
His hammer struck.
Loud cracks split the air and huge chunks of crystal rained down. Arwin
went to swing Verdant Blaze again but paused on the backswing. The stone
surface of the altar sat before him, a small portion of it dug out from the
shimmering substance covering it. Faded designs covered its surface, but it
was impossible to make anything out yet.
Arwin wedged the hammer into the hole he’d made and pulled back,
ripping away chunks of crystal and sending them ringing to the floor to
unveil more of the stone. With every move, he unveiled more of the altar.
 All the designs ran toward its center, where a raised piece of circular
stone jutted out of its surface. It seemed to be held in place by a pin that had
once allowed it to spin but had been long since wedged shut by crystal.
He brought Verdant Blaze down on the pin, shattering it. The stone plate
crashed to the ground and shattered into fragments, revealing a large
keyhole. Arwin lowered the hammer and wiped the sweat from his brow as
he turned to the others.
“Found the hole.”
“You know what? I’m not even going to take the low-hanging fruit,”
Anna said as they all worked their way past the crystals and down the path
to rejoin him. “It’s so easy that it wouldn’t even be funny.”
“Put the key in already,” Lillia said, coughing to cover a laugh. “I want
to see what we got from all this shit. Two Achievements is already great,
but I’m hoping for a bit more considering that the hoard was important
enough to warrant the Mesh’s attention.”
Arwin felt the same way. He dismissed Verdant Blaze and lifted the key,
sliding it into the lock. It slotted into place with a loud click, and he twisted
the handle. It was like trying to pry apart the jaws of a crocodile.
He gritted his teeth and activated [Scourge]. Power pumped through his
arms, and the key turned silently. It made a full rotation before a loud pop
rang out and a shudder shook the stone altar.
Arwin released the key and took a step back as the purple crystals
started to crack apart. They split and tinkled to the ground like a rain of
shimmering glass, sloughing off the stone in a wave.
A mechanism cranked to life within the altar. Rhythmic thuds filled the
air. They all looked around the room as the ground started to rumble
beneath them. The top of the altar shifted.
With every click, it rose another notch. And, finally, Arwin realized
what he was looking at. It wasn’t an altar. It was a huge chest. Tick by tick,
the stone lid at its top ground back until it was finally raised to a ninety-
degree angle. The mechanism rumbled to a halt, and the room fell silent
once more.
Arwin stuck a foot into the loop at the head of the key and stepped off
it. He grabbed on to the lip of the chest and pulled himself up to peer over
the edge of the chest, summoning his headgear in the process. Half of him
expected to find a monster lying in wait for something juicy to bite at.
 Instead, he found himself staring at a hole roughly forty or fifty feet
deep. It led into a well-lit room below. The floor was made up of beautiful
tiles arranged into a mural. Most of it was blocked from his vision, so
Arwin couldn’t tell what it depicted.
He waited for a few seconds to see if anything would show its head. His
only reward was silence.
“Well, this seems needlessly complicated,” Arwin muttered.
“What is it? What’s in there?” Rodrick asked.
“A hole that leads into another room,” Arwin replied. “I’m going in.
Everyone else wait up here in case something goes wrong.”
“Hold on.” Lillia raised a hand to forestall him. “You aren’t disposable.
I’ll go with you.”
“You’re the only one that can make a way out.” Arwin shook his head.
“I need you up here so you can make me a way out if things go wrong. You
could get caught up in a fight if you’re down there, and it doesn’t look like
there’s much room to maneuver. It’s okay. I can handle myself.”
Lillia pressed her lips together. Shadows gathered at her back and she
jumped, wings propelling her into the air. She landed on the edge of the
chest beside Arwin.
“Fine. I’ll watch from up here.” She formed a rope of shadow and cast it
down. “Here.”
Arwin grabbed onto the rope.
“Be careful,” Reya called up.
“I will,” Arwin promised. Then, holding onto the rope, he slid down to
see what reward lay in wait for them.

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 96

A
rwin slid down the rope until the ground was close enough to safely
drop the rest of the way. He readied himself as he fell, but the room
was just as empty as it had appeared.
It was, however, far larger than he’d initially thought. The room was
likely three or four times bigger than the one above it. Massive murals
covered the ground and ran up the walls and ceiling, all made out of lines
drawn into the stone with powdered green and purple crystal. Arwin’s
shadows seemed to duplicate and dance across the ground with every move.
The hole that he’d seen covered by crystal in the room above ran
through its far end, spikes of crystal frozen in their slow crawl around its
edges. In the center of the room, just a short distance away from Arwin, was
a chest made from bone and covered with more of the purple crystal.
Arwin turned in a circle, his eyes widening in disbelief. There was no
doubt that their rewards waited for him in the chest, but the rest of the room
was like nothing he’d ever seen. They weren’t just art. It was a story.
The mural on the wall nearest to the chest depicted a skeleton clad in
beautiful metal armor setting out from a village. The next showed the
skeleton arriving at a cave with green crystals lining its entrance.
It entered the cave, killing the monsters within with a blade made of
purple energy. Trails of shimmering blue traced across the murals, and the
skeleton followed after them, its hands outstretched in desire.
That must be the magical call of the dungeon that brings monsters to it.
 Arwin walked along the mural, heading down the side of the room to
continue viewing it.
The skeleton continued deeper, delving into the depths of the dungeon.
It ripped apart a coven of Chiropires with its purple magic and devoured
their largest one. And still, the swirls of blue called the skeleton deeper.
It traveled into the depths of the dungeon, following the energy, and
finally found what it was searching for. An enormous cavern full of green
crystal, power gathered within them and waiting to be claimed.
The skeleton tore into the crystals, shoveling them into its mouth. It
devoured them, and the magical energy gathered around it. Even though the
skeleton had no facial features, Arwin could see the delight etched into its
form on the mural.
It didn’t stop there. The blue lines were back, and they led up a familiar-
looking passageway in a now-empty room. In pursuit, the skeleton
ascended the wall and entered the passage. Beyond was a room with a plain
stone chest nearly twice the skeleton’s height. The lines all led up to a
single, beautifully carved crystal resting within the chest.
That crystal went right into the skeleton’s jaws. It threw its head back,
seemingly roaring in victory as lines of blue power raced into its body.
The story wasn’t over, though. Arwin’s eyes were drawn to the floor.
Instead of entering the skeleton, all the energy poured into the crystal still
lodged in its chest. Its body warped, parts of it nearly doubling in size while
others lagged behind. Green crystal jutted out of it at random spots.
The skeleton ripped the crystals off itself, but it was pointless. With
every mural that followed, the crystals grew—and so did the skeleton.
Digging into the earth beneath the empty chest, the skeleton worked to
hollow it out.
It carved out a room even as its body grew and warped. The very same
room, Arwin realized, that he was standing in right now. And then it sat
down. Almost a dozen murals followed of the skeleton sitting in place.
The crystals on its chest slowly turned from green to purple. All the
uneven growth evened out. For a while, it seemed as if it had gotten the
crystal growth under control. Then the skeleton’s eyes flickered, sparks of
green lighting within them.
But the peace was temporary. The purple crystal cracked and fell away.
In the center of the skeleton’s body, the beautifully carved crystal rested, as
green and untouched as ever.
 Lines of blue continued to swirl around the monster, but they weren’t
entering its body. They were entering the crystal in its center. It seemed like
the purple crystal had stalled the crystal’s growth, but not enough to
completely stop it. Slowly, the green started its return—and the skeleton
grew once more. It barely even fit in the room anymore and had to crawl on
all fours to move around.
The skeleton thrust a hand into its chest and wrapped its hand around
the glowing crystal. Its mouth split open in a roar of pain as it ripped it free.
The fragments of its body rained down, turning into green crystal as soon as
they hit the ground. Those crystals then reached out, growing toward the
skeleton and climbing back up its body.
It tore itself free, still holding the carved gemstone. Desperate hunger
shone in its eyes as lines of purple energy left its body and started to bind
around the carved gemstone. Nothing stopped the advance of the green
plague. It continued to climb up the monster’s body and force it to grow
even larger.
The lines of purple energy finally faded. They’d bound the crystal
completely—and yet, the crystal growth didn’t stop. The skeleton looked
down at itself. Gem had worked itself into its bones so deeply that it could
never be removed—and it was still growing.
It had removed the source, but it was too late to halt its effects. The
skeleton snapped a piece of bone off one finger and set it down. The bone
formed into a chest in its fingers, and it set it on the ground, placing the
crystal within. It ripped the pieces of purple gem that still remained on its
body off and placed them on top of the chest. They grew, spreading slowly
to cover the whole chest and the area around it.
The green crystal stopped as it grew closer to its purple counterpart—
but it was too late for the skeleton. Its growth continued. The monster
grabbed pieces of crystal, grinding them to dust in its hands as it turned to
the walls of the room and started to draw.
It was making the murals that Arwin was now reading. The final panel
was of the charged green crystal, swirls of blue light pouring into it, and the
bands of purple that the skeleton had put in blocking them from entering.
After that, there was nothing. He stood by the huge hole that the
bonehemoth had emerged from. The same one that it had dug to escape
from the room it had built itself.
 Arwin swallowed. He didn’t know exactly what the strange gemstones
were or how they worked, but he’d used them himself. He knew they
absorbed magical energy—but it was clear they absorbed more than that.
The monster he’d come against was far larger than the one in the murals,
and it showed none of the intelligence that would have been needed to make
something like this.
They’re some form of magical parasite.
A parasite that had worked into the skeleton and transformed it into a
hulking beast devoid of any intelligence… and the very same parasite that
resided in Arwin’s armor and hammer.
He swallowed.
No reason to panic. It seems like they’re somehow inert. The skeleton
managed to suppress the main crystal with that purple energy it had, but I
think they’d grown so much inside its own body that it couldn’t resist them
any longer. From the look of things, the crystals were stealing magical
energy and using the monster’s body as a host.
“Arwin!” Lillia yelled down, her voice echoing through the darkness.
“Are you okay? What’s down there?”
“A bunch of murals,” Arwin called back. “Whatever you do, don’t touch
the crystals up there. They’re dangerous. I think they seek out and consume
magic, but they’re inert right now. Probably.”
“Probably?” Lillia asked. “What’s down there? Are you sure?”
“Not yet, but nothing has happened so far. I think it’s safe to come down
here, but make sure one person stays back to watch the exit.”
A few seconds later, Reya slid down the shadowy rope. Anna followed
after her and Lillia took up the rear. Any words they may have said died on
their lips as they took in the room around them. Arwin looked toward the
bone chest as the others examined the murals.
I can see how the Mesh registered that kill as saving the bonehemoth
rather than slaying it. It was being tortured. It’s likely that its last sentient
act was sealing the crystal and stuffing it into this box.
Did the skeleton actually manage to completely seal it? If it did… that
would be a powerful crafting material. A really, really powerful crafting
material.
But, if it didn’t, that could be a magical time bomb just waiting to go off
and consume everything in the area. What in the world was something like
this doing in a Journeyman dungeon?
 Arwin’s eyes went wide.
“Shit,” he breathed.
“What is it?” Lillia asked, her eyes snapping away from the mural to
look at him.
“The dungeon. I don’t think it was a Journeyman dungeon at all. Not
originally, at least,” Arwin said. “The rating got downgraded after the
skeleton ate all the magic in it and then modified the core crystal. The only
strong monster left was the skeleton itself, and it looks like the crystal
degraded it and stole so much of its power that it probably grew weaker
even as it grew larger.”
“That would explain a lot,” Lillia said, her gaze returning to the murals.
“Have you ever heard of something like this? If something like this
managed to get out of the dungeon…”
“I don’t think it can,” Arwin said. “I’ve worked with this crystal. It’s in
most of my gear. If it were still as strong as it used to be, it would have
absorbed magic from me and grown, not just sat there. I think whatever this
parasite was is long dead. The skeleton killed it and locked its corpse away,
and all that’s left are the equivalent of its fingernail clippings.”
“So the skeleton died to lock it away?” Reya asked. “That’s kind of
depressing. I thought it was just trying to kill us.”
“At the time we saw it, it was,” Lillia said. “There was no intelligence
left in that monster. That’s why the Mesh said we saved it.”
“It’s still sad,” Reya said. “I wonder what would have happened if it
hadn’t sealed the crystal. That’s the purple stuff, right?”
“Seems to be,” Arwin confirmed. “And I don’t know. The crystal was
already leaving the cave at the time the skeleton arrived, but that was all
gone when we got here. It may have overrun the region, or something
stronger might have stopped it. I think the bottom level of this dungeon is
basically a battlefield and a graveyard.”
“Which leaves us with a bit of a problem.” Lillia turned to the chest
beside them. “What in the Nine Underlands are we going to do about that?
If the murals are right, the heart of the parasite is right here. Even if it’s
long dead, it could be a powerful item.”
“Or we could release a magic plague,” Anna said, walking up to stand
beside them. “We don’t know for sure it’s dead.”
“Would the Mesh really give us something like that as a reward?” Reya
asked.
 Arwin shrugged. “It’s impossible to tell. It does love its challenges.”
“But the only things that makes challenge worthwhile are rewards, and
we’ve already done the challenge,” Lillia pointed out. “The crystal didn’t
do anything until the skeleton ate it.”
“If it’s still alive, it may have changed.” Arwin chewed the insides of his
cheeks, then let out a huff. “I just don’t know if we’re in a spot where we
can pass up on more power. The wyrm issue still needs to be dealt with, not
to mention Jessen. This was the final reward in the dungeon. It won’t be
trivial.”
“Open it,” Lillia said. “I don’t think the crystal is still alive. Like you
said, it was all inert above us. We’ve already put in the work. Think of what
you could make with something that powerful.”
“I’ll go with what you all decide,” Anna said.
They all looked to Reya.
“Don’t look at me. I’ve got sticky fingers.” Reya held her hands up. “I
take everything that isn’t nailed down. I think Lillia is right.”
Arwin nodded. He turned back to the chest and set his hands on it. The
purple crystal crumbled away at his touch, and his hands met the lid. He
drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly, adrenaline coursing through his
veins.
Then he opened the chest.

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 97

A
crystal carved with intricate patterns rested on the plain stone. It was
dim and lifeless, faint lines of purple crossing over its surface and
winding beneath the glistening crystal. There was no doubt that this
crystal was the one depicted in the murals.
Arwin stood with bated breath, waiting to see if opening the chest
would cause something to change—but the room remained silent and
empty. Rodrick hadn’t said anything from above them where he stood
watch, so it didn’t seem likely that the crystals had all suddenly come alive.
The Mesh glittered before him as it swirled to life. It danced in lazy
patterns, as if mildly peeved to have been called back so suddenly after its
last message, then took form into its usual letters.

Heart of the Devouring Prism: Epic Quality

Dead: This item was once a piece of a greater being, but no longer. It
lies dead, though some of its former power still simmers beneath the
faceted surface of its heart.
Suppressed: Bands of life have been woven around this item, binding
its powers permanently.
Magical Hunger: The Heart of the Devouring Prism requires a
continuous flow of magical energy to keep beating. Any sources of
magic that come into contact with it will slowly be drained of their
energy. Suppressed: [Magical Hunger] cannot drain more energy than
the Heart of the Devouring Prism can contain.
Spreading Corruption: The Heart of the Devouring Prism will infest its
host, modifying it in its image. Suppressed: [Spreading Corruption]
cannot spread beyond the confines of its host.
Crystalline Plague: The Heart of the Devouring Prism can convert
magical energy it has absorbed over a period of time into pure crystal
that can absorb energy that and send it back to the Heart of the
Devouring Prism. Suppressed: New crystals formed by [Crystalline
Plague] can no longer store energy and have a limited range of operation.

“Godspit,” Lillia muttered from beside Arwin. “It’s been dead for years,
got suppressed so badly that its abilities are mere shadows of what they
once were, and its heart is still Epic-tier? I don’t even want to think about
how difficult of an opponent this would have been when it had been alive.
We would have needed an army if it got so much as a foothold anywhere.”
“I wonder how powerful the skeleton that bound it was,” Arwin said, his
brow heavily furrowed. “Doesn’t it seem a bit… odd?”
“More like terrifying,” Anna said. “What do you mean by odd?”
“Well, Lillia and I—we were the strongest soldiers in our respective
armies,” Arwin said. “That was the whole point. But… I don’t think I could
have handled something like this on my own. Not if it had spread as far as
the murals showed that it had.”
“Neither could I,” Lillia said. “I knew we weren’t as strong as we’d
been led to believe, but the skeleton singlehandedly took this creature out.
An enemy that should have been enough to stand up to our entire army,
dead to a single enemy. One that wasn’t even strong enough to make any
legends or records that I’ve ever seen.”
Anna looked from Lillia to Arwin. “Are you implying that you were
actually far weaker than you actually thought?”
“No,” Arwin said. “I don’t think it’s that we were all that weak. Sure,
we missed out on countless Achievements and Titles that would have made
us far stronger, but we were still powerful warriors. I don’t think it was us. I
think it was everyone else. I don’t think the peak of power is anywhere near
where we thought it was. If creatures like this were just… wandering
around, then the true peak is far, far higher.”
“It would make sense,” Lillia said. “If we were literally just puppets in a
play for the populace, then there’s no reason to tell us that we were actually
only halfway to the top—or however far we actually were from it. I don’t
even know anymore.”
“How many tiers were you told existed?” Anna asked, a worried frown
crossing her lips.
“Ten,” Lillia said. “Apprentice, Journeyman, Adept, Expert, Master,
Grandmaster, Archon, King, Emperor, and Legend.”
She looked to Arwin for confirmation and he nodded. “That’s what I
know of as well.”
“Same as what I know of,” Anna said. “What tier were both of you?”
“King,” Arwin and Lillia said at nearly the exact same time.
“And you don’t think you could have handled the crystal thing?”
“Almost certainly not,” Arwin said, “but if I’m being honest, my
strength now compared to my strength when I was an Apprentice as the
Hero isn’t even comparable. I’m considerably stronger—but a lot of that is
because of my Titles. Without them, I’d say I’m roughly equal as long as I
can count my equipment.”
“Do you know much about the Emperor tier?” Reya asked. “Maybe it’s
way stronger than we thought.”
“If it was, there’s no way two random monsters that duked it out and
killed each other wouldn’t have been at least known if they were both
literally at the peak of power,” Arwin said. “This place is out of the way, but
if a guild as small as the Thieves’ Guild had a key to its entrance, it’s
unlikely that it was some insanely ancient crypt that we just happened to
stumble upon.”
“Meaning it’s really likely that the tiers go a lot higher than we all
thought,” Lillia said. She ran her hands through her hair and blew a breath
out through her mouth. “Godspit. That’s terrifying. How much information
was hidden from us?”
“Might be easier to figure out what wasn’t hidden,” Arwin grumbled.
“If your theory is right, then you two weren’t the only ones being
deceived,” Anna said. She swallowed heavily. “It’s everyone. And that isn’t
all—whoever is doing the hiding is probably going to be strong enough to
protect it. So the person or people orchestrating the war…”
“Are probably stronger than the Emperor tier,” Arwin concluded. “Holy
shit. I’m gladder than ever I didn’t go trying to storm the Adventurers’
Guild full of righteous fury and start demanding answers.”
 “It leads me to wonder why information about this hasn’t come out,
though,” Lillia said, crossing her arms in front of her chest and tilting her
head to the side. “I mean, this was just a Journeyman dungeon. Surely
another adventuring team has cleared a dungeon with information similar to
this. You can’t keep a secret of this magnitude if there are hints like this just
lying around.”
“Yeah, it’s certainly odd,” Anna said. She chewed her lower lip in
thought. “Is it possible that other people have figured this out? I’ve heard
ridiculous rumors of impossibly powerful items or adventurers before.
They’ve always just sounded like stupid legends with no bearings, but what
if they’re real?”
“People could also get silenced if they start pushing the information too
hard,” Arwin mused. “We don’t have any way to know right now, but it’s
something worth carefully looking into once we’re back.”
“For now, I think we have a more pressing matter,” Lillia said. She
nodded to the crystal in the chest. “That’s dead. Do you think it’s going to
stay dead?”
“Seems like it,” Arwin said. “The description certainly implies that it
will. I might be getting a bit blinded by greed right now, though. That looks
like something that could be made into a really powerful magical item.”
“It does say it’s permanently bound,” Anna mused. “Even if it isn’t
dead, it looks like it isn’t a threat anymore. I think that, as long as we’re
careful with it, it should be fine to take. Just… maybe don’t stick it into
your heart or anything stupid like that.”
“Trust me, I have no plans to do it,” Arwin said. He turned his gaze
back to the crystal, a contemplative frown crossing his features. He didn’t
have any plans of putting the crystal into his heart, but there was certainly a
degree of similarity that it had to him that he couldn’t ignore.
The effects of [Magical Hunger] and [The Hungering Maw] weren’t
dissimilar. In fact, they were strikingly close.
Could there be some form of relation between my class and the class of
whatever this thing used to be? And, if there is, can I somehow use it to
curb [The Hungering Maw’s] ramping requirements for energy?
Arwin reached down. He paused before he touched the crystal’s surface,
fingers hovering just an inch above it. Nobody stopped him. He picked the
crystal up. It was heavier than he’d expected but felt just like a normal
glossy stone.
 Light refracted through it, twisted by the carvings and purple lines
running through the Heart, and danced across Arwin’s face. A faint tingle of
energy tickled the back of his head, and he felt the Mesh wake.
He dropped the crystal, jerking his hands back, but it was too late.
Golden lines erupted before his eyes and curled into letters.

Challenge: [Curb the Hunger] has been initiated.

[Curb the Hunger] – You’ve unveiled a hidden aspect of your class. All
that lives must consume to persist, but some hunger more than others.
Unfortunately for you, your hunger is far greater than what your body
can sustain. Find a way to bring it under control before you consume
yourself. Rewards: Based on completion. Failure to complete a sufficient
amount of the Challenge will result in your death.
Milestone 1: Discover your lack of knowledge and initiate the Challenge.
Reward 1: [The Hungering Maw] will have an extra variant to choose
from upon your next Class Specialization. This achievement will be
consumed upon your next Class Specialization.
Milestone 2: ?
Reward 2: Unknown Item
Milestone 3: ?
Reward 3: Unknown Title

“What the hell?” Arwin breathed, staring at the words before him as if
they were in a different language.
Lillia grabbed his shoulders and shook him violently, snapping him out
of his daze.
“Arwin! Are you okay?” Lillia demanded, her hand raised as if to slap
life back into him. He blinked and raised his hands to forestall her.
“I’m fine, I’m fine.” Arwin blinked heavily and shook his head.
“Nothing is wrong.”
“You looked like you saw a ghost. What happened when you picked up
the crystal?” Anna asked. “You’re sure you’re okay?”
“Yes, I’m definitely fine. I just got an unexpected message from the
Mesh,” Arwin said slowly, his eyes still running back over the golden letters
even as they faded from view.
“What was it? Don’t make me shake it out of you.”
 “A reward for figuring something out about how my class works,”
Arwin muttered. His eyes finally lifted from the glowing words and turned
to meet Lillia’s. “But… what in the world is a Challenge?”

Rise of the Living Forge continues in Book Two!

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Some men are born heroes. Others have heroism thrust upon
them… Sorry... Really? Thrust? Anyway, Danny Kendrick was a
down-on-his luck performer who always struggled to find his place.
He certainly never wanted to be a hero. He just hoped to earn a living
doing what he loved. That all changes when he pisses off the wrong
guy and gets sucked into a fantasy realm straight out of a Renaissance
Fair. Getting used to a new world is tough. It’s even tougher when
you’re surrounded by axe-wielding barbarians, super hot elf assassins,
strange magic, and a System AI that seems as interested in causing
trouble as helping... or maybe just wasn't interested in being assigned
yet another companion in the first place. Danny must adapt fast, turn
on the charm, and learn to emrace his given Class if he hopes to master
it and survive this dangerous new place. But he has a knack for finding
trouble. Gifted what seems like an innocent ancient lute after making a
questionable deal with a Hag, Danny becomes the target of mysterious
factions who seek to claim its power. It's up to him, Screenie, and his
new barbaric friend, Curr, to uncover the truth and become the heroes
nobody knew they needed. And maybe, just maybe, Danny will finally
find a place where he belongs. Perhaps, even where he'll thrive. Jump
into this fantasy isekai LitRPG Adventure filled with unforgettable
characters, loveable companions, unlikely heroes, slow-build
power progression, and plenty of comedy. It's perfect for fans of
Dungeon Crawler Carl, Scott Meyer's Off to be the Wizard, and
This Trilogy is Broken! Come for the Adventure, stay for the Laughs!

Get An Unexpected Hero Now!

The Apocalypse is here. Monsters roam the Earth. To survive, he
must master the System. Giant fireblasts tear across the earth as the
Gates of Hell are ripped open. In an instant, billions are killed. Human
technology becomes utterly worthless in the face of the end of the
world. Fortunately for Jaco, he barely survives the opening act of the
Apocalypse. Unfortunately for him, he has to live through what comes
next. Those who died in the initial blast are reincarnated as undead
monsters. Massive fiery pits swallow up the center of every major city
across the world. Demonic creatures make all realms of Earth their
home. But all hope is not lost. The Angels left a parting gift before
their defeat. A System that bestows Humanity the power to fight back.
With it, Jaco shall master his Druid Class and do whatever it takes to
not only survive the end of the world, but to thrive. Don't miss the
start of this new Apocalyptic System LitRPG by V.A. Lewis,
bestselling author of Salvos and Amelia The Level Zero Hero,
writing together with D. Pidge. Featuring loads of action, a
detailed system, power progression, Druid abilities, and so much
more! It's perfect for fans of System Apocalypse, Apocalypse Redux,
and Primal Hunter!
Get Advent of the Apocalypse Now!
Roll over and die, or become so strong nothing can stop him. Cast
into a brutal military camp by his once loving master, Mateo feels like
the last six wonderful years of his life have been a lie. With the
mysteries surrounding him growing, Mateo knows that his only option
is becoming one of the supernaturally powerful Duelists and growing
in power until he can take his fate into his own hands. That plan is
thwarted from the beginning when he gets stuck with the lowest
ranked Root Card against his will, ensuring that his growth as a
Duelist will always be excruciatingly slow. To make matters worse, the
camp he has been thrown into is completely cutthroat and survival
isn’t guaranteed by a long shot. Saddled with two other kids that he
has never met before and a crow spirit bound to him by an ethereal
chain, Mateo will need every ounce of courage, resilience, and mental
acuity he can muster if he wants to make it out of the training camp
alive. Don't miss the start of the next great Fantasy LitRPG Series
by Seth Ring, author of the best selling Battle Mage Farmer and
Nova Terra. Grab your copy today and join Mateo as he ascends
through the flames of war. About the Series: Following a weak-to-
strong protagonist, this series mixes epic fantasy action, mystery,
cultivation, and a world with endless depth where little is as it first
appears. This LitRPG/GameLit series is perfect for readers who enjoy
exploring rich worlds and complex characters.

Get Chain of Feathers Now!

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