Rise of the Living Forge - Chapters 421-425 (Patreon)

I somehow managed to delete some of the forge chapters while stubbing things for Book 3. I have reuploaded the chapters here, along with new ones. Just scroll down to the latest one you remember reading! (or CTRL+F if you're on a computer). I wanted to bulk upload to avoid spamming everyone's emails.

Sorry bout that! Enjoy!

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“Soulmancy?” Wallace repeated, his eyes thinning to slits. He squinted at Arwin for nearly a second before he continued. “You have Soulmancy? Why am I somehow unsurprised? I knew you were acting far too normal. A student as irksome as you never would have managed to find a normal path. Did you go and turn yourself into a Lich?”

The dwarf’s words dripped with sarcasm, but there was something sharper beneath them. This wasn’t just a random question made merely for conversation. Wallace was watching very carefully to see what Arwin’s reaction would be. 

“No,” Arwin said firmly. “Nor have I done any of the typical atrocities associated with Soulmancy. The Mesh gave me the skill on its own, when I evolved my class.”

“I believe he has found a new path to utilizing Soulmancy. Perhaps the originally intended one, rather than the brute forced method which Liches use to acquire the ability,” Koyu said.

“And you, then?” Wallace asked. “A Soulmancer? One that’s been hiding since the last of them were purged from this world?”

“No. I never had the desire to learn,” Koyu said. “My eyes grew weary of this world long before the possibility arrived. My only knowledge of Soulmancy is from stories and observing the one who taught me.”

Wallace blew out a sharp sigh. “Well, thank the gods for the small favors. I’ve spent a fair bit of time with your guild in the past days, Arwin. Lillia especially has been working on driving the point into my thick skull that I need to open my mind. And I say, I’ve been trying. But accepting a Soulmancer is more akin to shoving a damn cannonball in there. Give me something to work with, lad. Tell me I wasn’t wrong about you.”

“Depends on what you thought about me,” Arwin replied with a wry smile. “But I have never — and will never — forcibly bent the will of something to become my slave. I believe I unintentionally used Soulmancy to form functional contracts between myself and some of my weapons, but it was nothing like the vision that Koyu showed me of his master utilizing the skill.”

Wallace ran a hand through his hair and sucked on the ends of his moustache for a second before he responded. “Then you have my attention. Tell me more. I get the feeling I’m going to want to know where this is going.”

***

It took a surprisingly short amount of time to fill Wallace in. Arwin had fully expected the conversation to somehow take an hour, but the dwarf just sat silently and nodded along until he had finished telling him about how the visions he got when making some weapons were likely related to Soulmancy. 

Arwin took him through everything that he and Koyu had gone over, including his revelations from watching Shade work and how the crystal infused into his bow was somehow part of an ancient weapon. 

Wallace didn’t say a single word until Arwin had finished. Then the three of them had stood in silence for several long seconds. The dwarf finally broke it with a long, thoughtful hum. 

“One thing is for certain. You never fail to somehow catch me off guard,” Wallace said. “First you go around eating lava—”

“What now?” Koyu asked, blinking.

“It felt like the right idea at the time,” Arwin said. He crossed his arms in front of his chest. “And I still stand by it. It works. Has a good chew to it as well. I’m going to blame the Mesh for that.”

“The Mesh didn’t spoon the lava into your mouth,” Wallace said.

“But it did decide to make me eat magical items. If you give someone the affinity for snacking on magic metal, you can’t be mad when they start trying to eat other weird things too.”

Wallace blinked. “You… eat metal?”

Ah. Did I ever mention that to him? I suppose it wasn’t really pertinent to any of the conversations we had. Whoopsie.

“Magic, actually,” Arwin corrected. “And it’s not a weird hobby. I need to eat it to survive. This is a bit off topic, though.”

“You’re not glossing over this,” Koyu said. “What do you mean, you eat magic?”

“I want to know the answer to that as well. You can’t say something like that and expect me to ignore it!”

Lovely. I’ve managed to get the overly righteous dwarf to side with a Lich within minutes. I almost feel like the Mesh should have given me some sort of achievement for that. But if we’re going to be working together, I’d rather not keep this secret. There’s no point. They might even be able to help me figure out how to master the Hungering Maw before its growth ends up getting to the point where I can’t contain it. 

“It’s a really long story,” Arwin said. “But to condense it, after I lost my Hero class and became a smith, I gained the ability to consume magic. The need to consume magic.”

“Fascinating,” Wallace breathed. “Any magic?”

“Haven’t found one I couldn’t eat yet. Really, this is kind of Necrohammer’s fault. Direct your questions at him. He’s the one that—”

 “Necrohammer?” Wallace exclaimed, his eyes going wide as saucers. “What does he have to do with anything?”

Oh, shit. Didn’t Necrohammer say something about coming to odds with the Dwarven council? The dwarves as a whole probably have a pretty negative view of him. 

“Another long story,” Arwin said, pinching the bridge of his nose. They were going to forget the reason he’d gathered them here at this rate. “He’s an asshole. Was an asshole. Kind of still is. But he’s an enemy of the Adventurer’s Guild and doesn’t approve of the way things have been going. He pulled me and Lillia out from under their thumb and is partially responsible for us getting new classes. But if we get caught on every single surprising bit of my story, we’re never going to make any progress.”

“There are more?” Koyu asked.

Arwin sighed. “If I said no, would you believe me?”

“No,” Koyu and Wallace said at the same time.

“Well, no,” Arwin said. “There aren’t.”

“I don’t believe you,” Wallace said.

“Good,” Arwin replied. “I was lying. Feel free to swing by for drinks after this and I’ll happily bring you up to speed… provided you swear to never breathe a word of it to another soul. Now, we’ve gotten past the preliminary bits.”

“We really haven’t,” Wallace said.

“Anyway, since we’ve gotten past them,” Arwin continued, narrowing his eyes and barging past Wallace’s words without even missing a beat, “I want to get to the reason I asked you to come here. I am planning to study Soulmancy in order to improve my abilities as a smith, but I don’t want to do it the way I’ve done things before.”

“Seems like it’s worked well enough so far,” Koyu said.

“It may have, but I’m fed up running around like a chicken with its head cut off,” Arwin said. “I’m half a smith. Half a warrior. Half a Lich, if you believe some people.”

“That’s three halves,” Wallace pointed out.

“You’re not too short to punt,” Arwin threatened. “I’ll do it. I have no respect for my elders. Especially when they’re half my height.”

“That,” Wallace said, crossing his arms in front of his chest, “was low.”

Could be lower. A whole lot lower. 

“Good. Now are you going to hear me out or not?”

Wallace gestured for Arwin to continue.

“Thank you. I want to do things the right way for once. You both have far more experience than I do in your respective fields. Sure, Koyu isn’t a master of Soulmancy, but I’d wager he knows more about it than most. Between him and you, Wallace, I have a very good base of knowledge to draw from. I want you to teach me everything you can. About the parts of Dwarven Smithing I’m missing. About Soulmancy. About everything. And I want to do it fast.”

Koyu and Wallace exchanged a glance.

“You’re asking for a lot,” Wallace said. “And that goes twice if you want to do this quickly. You were a quick study… but there’s a big difference between teaching for a bit and dedicating weeks or months to it. I have tasks of my own that need to be done. This isn’t just some light favor. It’s a huge commitment. Not to act like a greedy — well, dwarf — but I can’t just spend that much time for no reason. Teaching is hardly my passion.”

Arwin thought for a moment. There were a number of ways he could probably convince Wallace. Access to Lillia’s drinks was foremost among them. But trying to make deals by opening with threats was rarely a wise choice when you wanted your coworkers to like you.

He’d offered Koyu a new body… but Arwin doubted there was anything he could make Wallace that the dwarf would want. Wallace was, after all, a smith. He’d probably be offended more than anything else if Arwin insinuated the reward for helping him would be getting a weapon of some sort.

No, Arwin had something far more appealing in mind. 

“I don’t know how closely you’ve kept up with the Proving Grounds, but my teams performed exceptionally well. We’ve already got more people lining up on the street than we know what to do with,” Arwin said with a sly smile. “And my new policy is that I won’t be making anything for anyone that doesn’t bring me interesting materials to work with.”

“Where are you taking this?” Wallace asked, his eyes narrowing. 

“I think you know,” Arwin replied. “You can’t tell me that there isn’t some material you’ve been dying to get your hands on. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I don’t get the feeling you get out much. You’re quite busy, after all. I’d imagine there might be a material that you’d very much like to have find its way into your pockets. I have the perfect opportunity to put the word out.” 

Wallace was quiet for a moment. 

Then his lips split into a grin.

“Maybe teaching ain’t so bad,” Wallace said, reaching up to clap Arwin on the shoulder. “Always rather liked it. Fostering the new generation and all that. Let’s get to it, shall we? Time’s a’ wasting.”

Chapter 422

“Eat it!” Wallace urged. 

Arwin looked up from the lump of metal sitting on the anvil between him, Wallace, and Koyu. It had been a little more than an hour since their conversation had started. After everyone had gotten on the same page, Arwin had spent the rest of the time up until now demonstrating everything about his abilities that he could think of.

Well, demonstrating what he could. 

It was surprisingly frustrating to realize that a fair amount of his magic wasn’t actually visible to anyone else. Arwin couldn’t show them what magic smelled like to him. They couldn’t see the glow the Mesh gave items to act as a tutorial. 

He couldn’t show them the Visions he got from powerful items or the way he could communicate with materials. But he could walk through and describe everything he felt — which was exactly what he’d done.

It wasn’t a perfect solution by any means, but it did give Koyu and Wallace a better understanding of Arwin’s capabilities, which would hopefully let them get a better idea of how they could help him and where he came up short.

“I think you should eat it,” Koyu agreed.

Arwin suppressed a sigh.

Unfortunately, both of his mentors-to-be had gotten a bit too fixated on the fact that he could eat magical items. They’d been trying to stuff him full of them ever since they’d found out, like a pair of children given access to a trash compactor and a mountain of garbage.

“It’s not magical. I can’t,” Arwin said. “Biting that would just be like biting into a normal piece of metal. Trust me. I’ve tried it before.”

Koyu frowned. “So metal becomes edible because of the magic in it? Does that imply that the Mesh is physically changing the properties of materials that possess magical power?”

Arwin went to respond, then paused. His brow furrowed. Koyu actually brought up an interesting question. He didn’t have the answer to that one. 

“When was the last time you tried it?” Wallace asked. “Maybe you didn’t do it right.”

If there’s anyone who can say what the right way of eating metal is, it’s me. But why would I even bother trying to eat a normal piece? What would the point be? I only get power from the magical stuff. Eating normal metal is just chomping down on materials for the love of the game.

 Wallace caught the look on Arwin’s face immediately. “It’s been a while, hasn’t it?” 

Arwin sighed. Then he grabbed the bar of Brightsteel from the anvil. “Yes. But we have to focus after this. I’m going to need to make some other stuff to keep the crowds happy, so I don’t want to waste time we could be using on research.”

“This is research,” Wallace insisted. “It’s invaluable.”

Arwin gingerly bit down on the metal ingot. He didn’t want to shatter all his teeth — but to his surprise, he found that the metal bent beneath his jaw like a piece of taffy. It didn’t taste like much at all. Really, it was like chewing on something between rubber and a particularly stiff and flavorless steak.

“Ha!” Wallace exclaimed. “You can eat it!”

Well. That’s odd. I couldn’t eat it last time around. What changed?

Arwin swallowed. He looked down at the bar, then back to the dwarf. “I suppose I can. I didn’t expect that. Couldn’t do it before. How did you know it would be different this time around?”

“Oh, I didn’t have the faintest idea,” Wallace replied, a triumphant look on his face. “I just wanted to see you eat metal. But it’s fascinating, don’t you think? You’re literally a forge. The Mesh is having a blast with you. Say, do metal shavings come out your—”

Arwin’s eyes narrowed. Wallace chose not to finish asking that particular question. The dwarf cleared his throat into a closed fist, then shook his head.

“Are all kinds of material equally easy to consume?” Koyu asked.

“I’ve never really felt much of a difference between them,” Arwin replied. 

The Lich grunted. “I see. Interesting. What if you were to try and take a bite out of someone’s weapon while you were fighting them?”

“I’m not immune to getting stabbed. But… I’ve done that. It worked.”

Koyu raised his eyebrows, but he didn’t press the matter farther. “I see. Given the information you’ve given us today, I think I have a good understanding of what should work. You need to practice Soulmancy on some more agreeable materials before you upgrade to making your armor. Your unique take on the skill introduces a problem that normal Soulmancers don’t have.”

Arwin nodded. He knew what Koyu was getting at before the Lich had finished. “It’s because I’m basically making a deal with the materials, right? The more powerful pieces I’ve got, the more parties I’ll have to ensure are happy.”

Wallace joined in on the nodding. “You should take some commissions. Find adventurers deserving of your work, but don’t tell them what you’re making. They won’t know the difference if nobody says it. This can just be a very unique form of Dwarven Smithing. In the meantime, I’m going to compile a list of some things I want you to work on.”

“As will I,” Koyu said. “I believe I can think of some suggestions after I see you at work. Watching you handle some commissions should be a good way to do that. It will also give time for more people to bring materials to us.”

“And then we can slowly figure out what materials work best together and start piecing together how we can make the armor for the Infernal Armory,” Arwin said with a nod, a smile spreading across his lips. Things were finally coming together. “I’ve actually got a few things I should wrap up now. Unless either of you are busy…”

“If we stick around, will Lillia make room for us at the tavern?” Wallace asked.

“I can probably arrange for that.”

“Then I’m planting my ass here,” Wallace said. “And the Lich is dead. Not like he’s got anything better to do.”

“I would take offense to that if you were not correct,” Koyu said. “Let’s see what you’re capable of, Arwin.”

***

Arwin got to work. It had been a while since he’d last felt quite so… vulnerable while crafting. He wasn’t used to having people watching him while he worked. That was doubly true for people that actually knew anything about what he was doing.

It wasn’t long before Wallace started calling out suggestions. Many of them were fairly minor; shifts to his stance to let him swing Caldera more effectively, adjustments to his grip and tips on hearing the songs of multiple different materials at once. 

Koyu joined in as well. His thoughts were far more directed at the management of Arwin’s magic. He could somehow sense all the excess magic that leaked out of Arwin while he worked. And, as it turned out, there was a lot of it.

The Lich provided Arwin with mental techniques to keep his magic from being wasted and methods to establish soul connections with materials easier. Some of what he said drew surprise from even Wallace — and Arwin actually found that the two of them were taken aback by some of his own observations.

Not every single suggestion that rose was a useful one. Arwin’s path wasn’t the same as Koyu or Wallace’s. All three of them had followed a strikingly different way. But their ways overlapped. 

And, between the three of them all sharing their thoughts and knowledge, it wasn’t long before excitement had started to burn just as hot as the flames of the forge. 

Arwin created several swords and pieces of armor throughout the day. The Infernal Armory still had more than enough scrap and relatively inexpensive materials for him to work with. Nothing was powerful enough to justify a Vision, but that suited them all just fine.

He focused on creating more basic boons, combining everything he knew from smithing to Soulmancy in his pursuit of them. While Arwin made sure the weapons didn’t have any ridiculous properties that would garner unwanted attention or make them impossible to sell to random adventurers, he did make a point to try and make those basic properties as good as possible.

The swords might not have been calling lightning down from the heavens with every strike, but they would stay sharper for longer than their wielders lived. They might not have been flashy, but they were so magically enforced that even going to town on an anvil would be unlikely to chip them.

And Arwin improved. It would have been hard not to. Wallace and Koyu were as invaluable as he had hoped. By the end of the day, he could already see significant improvements in his work from where they had caught him making mistakes that had come with being largely self-taught.

  And this is just the start. Now that everyone has a good understanding of what I can do at a basic level, we can accelerate. The more new materials I get to work with, the more I can try and the closer we all get to our goals.

Not one of them left the core room of the smithy throughout that day. The only other person who even entered the smithy was Reya, who confirmed the items they’d made were for sale before liberating them and heading back out to the adventurers filling the street. 

Only when night had completely taken Milten into its arms did their work stop. Arwin was even more delighted to find that, despite the intensive work of the day, he was only a normal amount of tired.

He’d also managed to garner enough magical energy to advance in level to Adept 2. His body grew stronger — tougher. Magical power infused itself into his muscles, but the advancement didn’t come with a new skill or upgrade. That didn’t surprise him much after the enormous boost he’d gotten at Adept 1.

Chances are, my next advancement in that department will be at Adept 3, followed by a larger one at Adept 5.

He was just fine with that. It gave him time to avoid worrying about farming Achievements and focus on improving his skills. 

“This is incredible. I’m normally about to pass out right about now,” Arwin said as the three of them prepared to head back to the Tavern. 

“It is a common issue with mages that have access to magic beyond what they are used to dealing with,” Koyu said with a knowing nod. “I was there myself. I’ve always thought of casting magic as pouring water from a lake into a bucket. Sure, you can fill the bucket by splashing water in its direction, but it’s much more efficient to dip the bucket into the lake.”

“I still have no idea what that’s meant to mean,” Wallace grumbled. “Smithing shouldn’t need fancy magic. It’s just a song.”

“That is magic,” Arwin pointed out. “I think I’ve still got room to improve, but it’s about letting the goal you want take the power it needs, rather than grabbing a bunch of power and trying to shove it into the goal. It’s a mental thing, but so is magic.”

“Good,” Koyu said. “It takes many mages a long time to understand that. They — we — are a part of the Mesh. There is no reason to force your will over things when you can simply allow them to flow and achieve the same result.”

“That’s all fine and dandy, but you know what I’d really like to know myself?” Wallace asked as they stepped out of the back of the armory and into its main room. “I’ve gotten bits and pieces of Arwin’s story, but never the whole thing. I shouldn’t be more curious about him than I am a Lich — but here I am.”

Arwin blew out a small breath. “It’s a long one.”

“I find myself curious as well. How is it you ended up on my street?” Koyu asked. “I never really did press too deep.”

“I’m a dwarf,” Wallace said. He jerked a finger at Koyu. “He’s a Lich. We’re used to things taking long.”

I suppose now’s as good a time as any, isn’t it? Not just for them, but for the Menagerie as a whole.

“Let’s go to the Devil’s Den. Lillia should be wrapping up serving customers for the night,” Arwin said. “You aren’t the only ones that might be interested in hearing this, and if I’m going to start from the beginning, then I’m only going to do it once. Just make sure you’re ready for it.”

“Ready for it? Are you implying there’s even more important information that you haven’t revealed about yourself?” Wallace asked, aghast. “How is that even possible?”

Arwin just smiled.

Chapter 423

It struck Arwin that gathering the entire Menagerie, not to mention Wallace and Koyu, just to tell them all his life story was surprisingly nerve-wracking. The only person that wasn’t here was Esmerelda — and that was mostly because nobody could quite figure out where she was. Many of them knew large portions of it, but nobody had heard the entire thing other than Lillia. 

Arwin really didn’t love the idea of thinking back that far. There were too many things that he didn’t want to remember. Too many things that could have been avoided if they’d just all been a bit more aware. A bit smarter.

But his guild had stood with him long enough. They’d spent time together, fought together. And it was becoming increasingly apparent that Arwin hadn’t just been summoned for no reason. 

It had been to feed the Mesh. But the Mesh had given him a class with traits that were eerily similar to the symptoms that the world itself was suffering. No matter how Arwin looked at it, his past was almost certainly going to be relevant to events that would affect them all.

He couldn’t avoid addressing it if that was the case. Keeping his own guild in the dark when he was going to be taking them into danger and fighting the Adventurer’s Guild was not the move of a leader. 

And so he told them.

As they all sat around the tables in the now-empty Devil’s Den, Arwin told them everything he could remember. He started from when he had been taken from Earth, leaving out nothing. 

Arwin tried not to pay too much attention to anyone’s reactions. He didn’t need or want the pity. As much as he cared about everyone in the guild, there was only one person that truly understood what it felt like to be formed into a weapon within its ranks — and it was Lillia.

 Pity would change nothing. Right now, the only thing he was interested in was making sure they were prepared for whatever could come their way. Whether it was making sure Rodrick knew what signs to look for when investigating something in the future or explanations so Wallace knew why they hated the guild so much, it didn’t matter. 

He just told them everything.

It took several hours for him to get through everything. By the time he had finished, everyone’s drinks had been finished. Nobody had so much as touched their mugs in an hour. Lillia had joined in on her own story, filling in much of the other side to what he had seen. 

Everyone had heard at least parts of it, but this was the first time that they had laid out every single piece of the puzzle on the same table. 

But they weren’t the only ones that spoke that night. No sooner than Arwin and Lillia had finished did Rodrick and Anna lay their own cards on the table. Most of the Menagerie had already heard their story, but it was new to Koyu, Wallace, Monica, and Kein. All of them had varying pieces of information about Arwin, much less Rodrick and Anna’s history with the Secret Eye. 

Even Art and Vix hadn’t known the full extent of everything.

And now it was all on the table. Koyu laid his own past out once the others had finished. Elias and Mave joined him in revealing their own histories, as did Madiv. The vampire’s past and identity were potentially met with the least surprise of the entire night. 

Not a single person was surprised to find he was a Vampire. Not even Wallace, who hadn’t had many dealings with him, batted so much as an eye. The only person that actually did seem surprised during that reveal was Madiv himself, who seemed to have thought he’d had everyone who didn’t know otherwise fooled.

But that was that.

Among the Menagerie, there were no secrets left. 

The conversation ran late into the night. When it finally ended and there was nothing left to be said, they were all silent for quite some time. Nobody could have said just how long it was. The air in the Devil’s Den felt still enough that even time itself couldn’t quite move properly. 

It was Koyu who finally spoke. 

“I am pleased that I did not strangle all of you for moving onto my street and disrupting my peace,” the Lich said. “It would have been a great loss.”

“I still can’t believe that you’re the fucking ghost,” Reya grumbled. “Do you have any idea how many rumors there are about you?”

“A Lich, an undead, a Siren, and a Vampire, and an Orc all in the same guild,” Monica said, shaking her head and scratching at the back of her neck. “Along with the former Hero of Lian and the Demon Queen herself. If the Adventurer’s Guild knew we existed, they’d have an aneurism.”

“Good riddance to them,” Wallace said. His gaze darted around the table like he was staring at a pile full of gold. “I was convinced that I couldn’t be surprised anymore after Arwin. It seems I was entirely wrong. Necrohammer’s decisions are starting to make more sense. I don’t understand how such a group managed to come together.”

“I think like-minded people tend to be drawn together,” Olive said. She flexed her wooden fingers, then splayed her hands out on the table as she rose to her feet. “I’m sure the Mesh had something to do with it. The world has been stagnant for a long time. With the way the Adventurer’s Guild has everything stuck in an endless loop for this war… there’s no real challenge anymore. It’s hoping we shake things up.”

“I’d say you’ve already been doing that,” Wallace said. He stroked at his beard. The dwarf’s eyes were a little distant, as if he were still trying and failing to process everything that he’d heard tonight. He squinted at Rodrick for a moment. “I’m still finding it hard to believe you’re a Fallen Paladin.”

“That’s what you got hung up over?” Rodrick asked. “Not even Anna?”

“The nice ones are always the ones you have to be the wariest of. Takes a lot to make them snap,” Wallace replied. “I knew you were good at sniffing around, but there’s a difference between being good and being an ex-Secret Eye operative. There are a few things I’d love an answer to.”

“My services are available to those who ally with the Menagerie. At a discount, of course,” Rodrick said, his eyes glinting. “Feel free to place an order. I’ll cut you a good deal.”

Wallace scrunched his nose. “Should have seen that coming. Fair enough. I’ll be in contact. And I’ve got some questions for the rest of you as well. Monica in particular.”

“Me?” Monica blinked. “I’m really nothing special. They just gave me a job as a bouncer so I can live in my own form without having to hide. How are you more interested in me than literally anyone else here?”

“Is it true orcs have a unique form of metal that they use entirely for making equipment for shamans?” Wallace asked.

“I — what?” Monica paused, clearly not having expected the direction of the question. “Yes. It is. It’s been a long time since I was last with my tribe, though. I’ve been with Raen for many years.”

“That’s fine,” Wallace said with a wave of his hand. An excited twinkle lit in his eyes. “But I trust you can still speak orcish?”

“I can. Why?”

“I’ll get back to you on that,” Wallace said. He rose to his feet. “There’s a lot I need to think about. But you can rest assured that I’ll hold to my promise. Not a word of what I heard tonight will ever leave my lips. We will speak soon, and I will make it worth your while.”

“And until that time, I suggest we get some sleep,” Lillia said through a yawn. She raised a hand to cover her mouth, then shook her head to try and clear it. “I’m exhausted, and I think we’ve all got long days coming tomorrow. No need to stay awake for any longer than any of us need to. Tomorrow will come whether we’re ready for it or not.”

The others all nodded. 

Then they dispersed for the night, minds somehow both burdened by new knowledge and lightened by the sharing of it. 

***

The next week passed in a blur. 

Arwin spent almost all the time he had in the Infernal Armory along with Koyu and Wallace. The three of them tested out different strategies and made a slew of items that Reya then took to sell. 

Every hour they spent working was one Arwin felt himself improving. Having the combined knowledge of two old experts was beyond invaluable… but it wasn’t cheap. Wallace had already composed a list of materials he wanted procured and handed it to Reya, who then passed it to Rodrick to put feelers out for potential clients.

The Secret Eye swung by as well. Selen arrived early one morning, staying just long enough to inform them that their new Guild Rank was 301. Then she’d left once more. 

They’d gone up nearly two hundred ranks from the tournament, which meant they were probably now the highest ranked guild for their relative strength. Everyone above them would have competed in brackets of the Proving Grounds above Adept Tier. The Menagerie was officially on the map, and so was Milten.

They all took no small amount of pride in that fact. 

More attention was on their street than ever before. 

The random smith that had apparently set up shop on the Menagerie’s street continued to show up every day. Arwin had still yet to see her — he went to work before she arrived and headed back well after she’d left.

 She was definitely persistent. But Arwin had bigger things on his mind, so dealing with her wasn’t exactly at the top of his priority list. Reya said she wasn’t even taking anything from his own sales. Everything he made was quickly bought up by people waiting to get into the Devil’s Den, which Lillia had expanded to accommodate even more people at once more with the help of Riker. 

The smith wasn’t causing him any problems yet. Until she did, he saw no reason to waste time interfering with her work and accidentally bringing her fame at the cost of his own growing name. Paying the smith no mind was still the best strategy they had to getting rid of her.

Arwin was more than happy to continue as things were. Right now, the only thing he was really waiting on was a list of potential customers that he could make equipment for. Reya had been collecting names while Rodrick investigated all of them to make sure he wouldn’t mistakenly create something for someone that would abuse it. They’d promised that it would be done soon — and then Arwin could take things from there.

He was certain that at least some of the people coming to hire him would both have the rare materials he needed and not be a terrible person.

Arwin was just starting to settle into his routine when Melissa caught him on the way over to the Infernal Armory one morning.

 The young woman looked far better than the last time she’d met — though he supposed not having assassins breathing down her neck went a long way in accomplishing that.

“Arwin!” Melissa exclaimed, her eyes lighting up as she stepped out from the vaguely suspicious alley she’d been waiting in.

“Melissa. You’re early,” Arwin said, blinking in surprise. “I thought you were working with Raen. What brings you here so early?”

“That, actually,” Melissa replied. “I wanted to catch you before you got to work. Raen and I have been expanding the coalition we’ve formed, and we’ve had a lot of success with it. Our foothold in Milten is getting a lot stronger. And as a result, we’ve got a job that neither of us can handle right now. I think it could be beneficial for all of us. We have a chance to steal one of the biggest clients the Kererus Colition. It would be a brutal blow… but we can’t do it on our own. We’d like to request the Menagerie’s help. It’ll be more than worth your time, I promise.”

Arwin tilted his head to the side. Melissa sounded more excited than he’d ever heard her. 

“I’m listening.”

“It comes with full access to a newly formed dungeon,” Melissa replied, her eyes twinkling. “An Expert Tier one.”

Arwin’s eyes widened. 

The majority of the Menagerie were Adepts but, between his equipment and their skills, they punched well above their weight class. Access to an entirely new Expert Tier dungeon promised not just a perfect place to train, but also a location where they could potentially get access to good new materials. 

“Okay,” Arwin said. “You have my attention. What’s the job?”

Chapter 424

“That’s the bit,” Melissa said with a grimace. “It’s… not one that I would normally be pushing your way. I think it might be a bit below the Menagerie’s standards, per say. I don’t want to insult you or—”

“Just tell me the job,” Arwin said through a laugh. “I really don’t care what it is. If I don’t want to do it, I won’t do it. I’m not going to get pissed at you for being the messenger. Especially when you’re only doing this to try and help us out.”

Melissa coughed into her fist and gave him an embarrassed nod. “Right. Well, it’s an escort job. Kid that fancies himself an adventurer. You know the type. A boy from a poor family sets out to make a fortune and dig himself out of the slums. He pulls it off. Gets a whole boatload of gold and fame to his name, then grows older. His kids get comfortable and used to the rich life. They sit on the cash and have kids of their own… but the grandkid isn’t satisfied. He’s grown up in wealth and wants a purpose in life. But he’s grown up hearing stories about grandpappy. This kid isn’t going to settle for anything less than the best.”

“So he decides he’s going to be an adventurer even better than his grandfather,” Arwin finished. He didn’t exactly know the type, but it looked like Melissa was speaking from experience. She came from a wealthy family of her own. Something told Arwin that she might have related to whoever this grandkid in question was. “I see where you’re going with this. And what does this have to do with an Expert Tier dungeon? How rich is this family?”

“Rich,” Melissa replied. “And in good connection. They’re nobility. The actual court structure was abolished a long time ago of course, but they’re about as close to it as you can get.”

“Family name?” Arwin asked. “Would I know them?”

“Blacktongue.”

Arwin squinted at Melissa. “Seriously? What are they, supervillains?”

“What’s a supervillain?”

Arwin shook his head. “Nevermind. That name doesn’t exactly inspire confidence, though. They seem kind of… evil. Why dealings did they have with the Kererus Coalition, and why is it that you’re now in contact with them? I just want to make sure I understand what is being asked of us.”

“It’s the kid’s parents,” Melissa said through a sigh. “They want to make sure he’s safe on his first trip. They were in talks with the Kererus Coalition, but after your team completely trounced them in the Proving Grounds, I managed to worm my way in through an internal contact. I want access to their crystal mines.”

Crystal Mines? What kind of crystal? And damn, Melissa. Already moving in on the Kererus Coalition… looks like they were right to be worried about you. 

“Care to enlighten me on these mines?” Arwin asked. “Crystal is kind of a generic term. I assume there’s a reason you want in.”

Melissa nodded. She reached into a pocket and pulled out what looked to be a small blue shard of glass. Faint white energy shimmered within it. She held it out to Arwin, who took it from her palm and examined it.

There was power within the stone. Arwin was certain of that. But the power wasn’t the power he feared. It didn’t have anything to do with the Devouring Prism. This stone seemed more like a natural store of energy than anything nearly as powerful as the Prism had been. 

“These things are instrumental for potion making. They infuse ingredients with a magical preservative that allows potions to maintain their efficacy over long periods of time. Basically everyone who makes potions uses them,” Melissa said, excitement entering her voice as she spoke. “Individually, they aren’t too pricy. But there’s huge demand and scale for them. It would be easy for us to expand if we started distributing them.”

“I see,” Arwin said. He tried not to laugh at the eager expression on Melissa’s face. “I don’t know much about potions, but I can tell you’re confident in this. But there’s one thing I’m not sure I follow. Has this kid we’re meant to escort ever gone into a dungeon?”

“No,” Melissa said. She deflated like a balloon and blew out a weary sigh. “I know where you’re going with this, and I agree. It’s absolutely moronic. But the parents are adamant. They want his first dungeon to be Expert Tier so he has the best chance of getting a really good class.”

Arwin’s brow furrowed. “That’s not how it works.”

“Trust me, I’ve tried to tell them. It didn’t work.” Melissa pinched the bridge of her nose between two fingers as memories slipped behind her eyes. “They’re dead set on this. Their little brat has to go through a Tier Four dungeon and emerge victorious. That, of course, means with all his limbs intact.”

That certainly complicated things. 

“Can—”

“You bundle him in a bag and keep him strapped to your back the whole time?” Melissa guessed. “No. He’s got to deal the finishing blow to at least one of the monsters. End of story, he needs to get a class in the dungeon.”

“Lovely,” Arwin said. “And do his parents realize that nobody is guaranteed a class from fighting? It’s easy for people to delude themselves into thinking they want something that they don’t truly desire. If this kid is only following his grandfather’s steps and has no other reason to become an adventurer, there’s a good chance that the Mesh won’t give him a class.”

Melissa nodded. “Yeah. I think you can see the problem. You’d basically be doing glorified babysitting for a noble kid, but you have to take the brat through an entire Expert tier dungeon rather than just sitting at home with him. It’s demeaning.”

“It’s not how I would normally choose to spend my time,” Arwin allowed. “But you’re confident that this deal would be of significant importance?”

“If it works out, yes. We could practically double our income overnight. I’m in a pretty good bargaining position right now because no adventuring team over Adept would take a job like this — and the Menagerie is probably the most famous one within the Adept tier after that tournament. You’re all the rage right now. It’s practically perfect.”

“And the Menagerie will be getting some of that income as thanks for our work?” Arwin asked, arching an eyebrow.

Melissa cleared her throat. “Er… yeah. Of course. I was thinking we could supply you with some of the Crystals.”

“You’ll take it up with Rodrick,” Arwin said. “I’m sure he can come to some form of agreement that’s mutually beneficial for us. I don’t know how much demand we’ve got for crystals, but maybe Esmerelda wants some. But money… never going to say no to that.”

“So that means you’ll do it?” Melissa asked eagerly. “You don’t mind?”

“Well, I need a few more answers first. How big is the dungeon? Do we know anything about it?”

“The Blacktongues haven’t had their forces delve too deep into it yet. They don’t have adventurers skilled enough to take an Expert Rank dungeon and they don’t want to outsource to just anyone. They’re too worried good adventurers will loot the place.”

Arwin’s eyes narrowed. “What does that make us?”

“Famous,” Melissa said through a snort. “And I’m pretty sure they’re planning on you only clearing a small portion of the dungeon. They figure you can clear the early bits easy enough and get their kid the class, but you won’t be able to make it all the way to the end.”

Understanding bloomed within Arwin.

“Ah. I see. So they’re using the access to the dungeon as the bait to get us to agree, expecting that we’ll call things early before we get to the good stuff. And, in the process, their kid gets to acquire his supposedly more powerful class and has bragging rights that he did an Expert Ranked dungeon as an Apprentice.”

Melissa nodded. “Yup. That’s it in a nutshell. So… interested? Because we’ll have to do this pretty quickly if you are. I need to strike while the iron is hot, so to speak.”

“How quickly?”

“Today.”

Arwin’s eyes widened. “Today? That’s not much prep time. This isn’t just a random weak dungeon. It’s Expert tier. Are you sure the parents don’t want their kid getting killed?”

Melissa just shook her head. “I don’t know. Really, I don’t. It’s a mystery. But if we don’t take them up on this, then they’ll replace us. You’re the best option they have. That doesn’t make you the only one.”

“Right, but why are they moving on such a tight timeline? It seems odd,” Arwin said.

“Some noble shit,” Melissa said with an exhausted sigh. “It’s all about posturing. There’s a big party coming up, and I think they want their brat ready to show off by the time it arrives.”

“Do they realize that their kid could die? This is a dungeon, not a playground. Nobody can guarantee safety inside a dungeon, and that goes doubly so when we’re rushed.”

“Trust me, Arwin. If I could have beat any sense into their heads, I would have. I’m not saying I think this is smart on their end. I don’t want to be the reason a kid dies. But if you’re confident we can pull this off, then it would be huge for all of us.”

Arwin chewed his lower lip. The demands were pretty intense, but he’d been working with Wallace and Koyu nonstop for several days now. The list of potential clients still wasn’t quite done yet, as Rodrick was still vetting them. 

It had been a long time since he’d gone out and stretched his abilities — and he still hadn’t truly had a chance to put Caldera to use. An Expert Tier dungeon wasn’t going to be a cakewalk. But they didn’t have to clear it. They just had to go as far as they could. 

“If everything goes to plan, do we get continued access to the dungeon?” Arwin asked. 

Melissa nodded. “That’s not hashed out in the deal yet, but I’m confident I could arrange for that. I don’t think they have much confidence that anyone will clear it soon. Especially not an Adept Tier team.”

Another part of the reason they want to hire us, I take it. We’re strong enough to hypothetically get the kid his class, but not clear out their precious dungeon. That is somehow both clever and stupid at the same time. Impressive. 

Melissa said the dungeon was only stabilized enough for a 4 person party. The Mesh would probably start throwing too much at anything bigger. That means I can bring three. Me, Olive, Anna. That would probably be the best combination. I’ll have to ask them if they’re willing to do it. 

If not, Anna could be substituted for Esmerelda — assuming I can find her. Rodrick or Kien could take Olive’s spot. We have options, and this is a big opportunity. They’re vastly underestimating just how much we can do, Adept Tier or not. 

Arwin thought for another few seconds. He didn’t love the idea of putting a kid at risk, but if his idiot parents were going to go ahead with it regardless…

I might at least be able to put the kid in some armor that’ll keep him alive and have him sit back for the whole fight. I might be the best chance he has at not dying. 

“We’ll do it,” Arwin said finally.

Melissa’s eyes lit up. “Thank you! Then I’ll introduce you now. He’s waiting. Figure you should get to talk to him before you head out tonight.”

“You brought him?” Arwin asked, aghast. 

“Well, the Blacktongues did. They sent a mage with me to get me here faster, and the kid insisted on coming. I had them wait in an inn across town. Figured it was wise to keep things separate until you confirmed you were interested.” Melissa turned on her heel and started down the road. “I would brace yourself.”

“For what?” Arwin started after her, shaking off his surprise. 

“The kid,” Melissa replied after a moment of pause. “He’s a little… odd.”

Chapter 425

Arwin didn’t have to wait long to find out exactly what Melissa meant. He saw no reason to turn her down on meeting his charge for the day now — at the very least, it would let him know what to prepare for in the dungeon. 

A quick chat should give me an idea of what I’m working with, and then I’ll have the rest of the day to work before we head out. Melissa said the kid was odd, but there are a lot of different ways that could go. 

But Arwin was pretty sure he already knew what was coming. Melissa’s story had been pretty telling. It didn’t take much creativity to finish painting the picture that she had outlined for him.

A noble who grew up with a silver spoon lodged permanently in his mouth and with parents that will insist on him getting the best class possible — which isn’t a thing — by sending him into an Expert Tier dungeon with adventurers that they think are famous enough to protect him but not strong enough to clear out the whole dungeon…

Yeah. He’s going to be a huge brat.

If it was only for a day, Arwin could deal with that. If the worst came to the worst, then he could just stuff a rag into the kid’s mouth the moment after they went into the dungeon. No part of the deal that Melissa had outlined included the kid being able to speak.

All they had to do was make sure he managed to participate in one fight and got a chance to get his class from the Mesh. And if he didn’t — well, Arwin couldn’t do anything about that. Nobody could control the Mesh. 

Anyone normal would have just sent their kid out with a few guards and let them fight a random monster. If he really wants to be an adventurer, then that’ll be enough to awaken his class. It would actually be better than this. 

Being able to actually fight back against the monster is what shows the Mesh the kind of person you are and the abilities you want. If the monster is so strong that the only part you can participate is dealing the finishing blow, you aren’t going to get much of a good class at all. Ironic. In trying to literally buy their kid’s class from the Mesh, these nobles going to ruin it instead. 

That, fortunately, was not Arwin’s concern. Melissa had made it clear just how important this business deal was… and he wanted access to the Expert Tier dungeon. This was a win-win situation for everyone. Hell, even the Blacktongue family won. They got to claim that the Menagerie had worked for them. That would probably go over great at whatever fancy parties they went to. 

It was great for every party involved. 

Well, everyone other than the kid.

“We’re here,” Melissa said, pulling Arwin from his thoughts. 

The two of them had already made it across town and headed into a nondescript inn near the city center. They stood in a hallway at the top of a stairwell, before a heavy-looking wooden door. 

A polished metal plaque on the front that bore the room number spoke to the inn’s cost. Even though there wasn’t anything particularly fancy about any of the materials the building had been made with, there was clear quality in its make and upkeep. The wooden hall was equally well taken care of and had been dusted recently. 

This place isn’t cheap. 

“Let’s get this on with, then,” Arwin said in a low tone. He gathered himself and put on his best poker face. Political posturing had never been his strong suit. While he had absolutely no plans of bowing and scraping to some noble brat, he figured it was probably a good idea to at least pretend to be professional. 

Melissa nodded. She rapped her knuckles against the door several times in a pattern, then repeated it. Arwin didn’t miss the fact that the spacing in her knocks was clearly measured. It wasn’t just a random knock she was doing. 

Practiced. That’s to show it’s her, then. I’d assume this is preventative measures for assassins and the like. Suppose that’s just part of life for nobles.

 I do wonder what kind he’ll be. The prim and proper prick that thinks he’s better than everyone else? I’ve met more than enough of those in the Adventurer’s Guild. Always had positions higher than what they deserved. 

Or maybe he’ll be the kind that tries to curry favor by being an insufferable cling-on and fawning over everything I do until he gets what he wants and abandons my guild by the roadside. The Guild had that kind too… but they always ended up dying. 

A flicker of dark humor prickled at the back of Arwin’s mind and the corner of his lips twitched. 

Then again, pretty much everyone did. Suppose that was more of a feature than a bug.

Melissa knocked a third time. She was starting to look worried. It was definitely taking the boy a whole lot longer than it should have for him to open—

 The door flew open with a loud bang that echoed through the inn like rolling thunder. Arwin nearly jumped into a fighting position at the abrupt movement, expecting someone to come flying out to attack them.

But no assassin burst forth. Instead, Arwin and Melissa found themselves standing across from a brown-haired teenager with bright blue eyes. He looked to be a few years shy of 20 and wore polished leather armor with a faint purple tint to it. A pair of short swords hung from his waist, rubies embedded in their pommels. 

That equipment is expensive. Very expensive. It looks more like a collection of art than something I’d see someone use in battle, though. 

“You’re back! Does that mean he accepted?” the boy exclaimed, his voice cracking in excitement. Then his eyes landed on Arwin. Somehow, he’d completely managed to miss the large smith standing in the doorway right in front of him. The boy’s cheeks instantly flushed and he hurriedly took a step back as he coughed into a fist. “Oh. I — oh.”

Arwin sniffed the air subtly. He could pick up faint hints of caramel and fresh grass, along with a few other scents that he couldn’t quite place at this distance. There was magic within the room. The boy’s equipment was enchanted. But there was more than that. The scent came from more than just him. There was—

“Not here,” Melissa said, grabbing Arwin by the arm and pulling him into the room while pushing the boy out of the way in the same motion. She closed the door behind them and locked it. “I’d like to introduce you to Ifrit, guild master of the Menagerie.”

Arwin barely even paid Melissa’s words any mind. His eyes had landed on the bed in the corner of the room he’d now stepped into, where an average-looking man with long, black hair stood in wait. A wooden staff leaned against his side and his expression was unreadable. There were several rings on his fingers that instantly caught Arwin’s eyes. 

That’s the mage. He’s got some powerful shit. I can smell it from all the way over here.

The mage noticed Arwin’s attention instantly. Their gazes bore into each other for a second. Then the other man inclined his head in recognition.

Arwin blinked, then returned the gesture. 

Melissa’s elbow dug gently into Arwin’s side and she cleared her throat.

“Sorry, what was that?” Arwin asked as he looked back to her. “I was distracted.”

“I was saying, this is Thane Blacktongue,” Melissa said. “The boy I told you about. And Thane, this is Ifrit. Guild leader of the Menagerie.”

Right. Can’t let myself get distracted.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” Arwin said. 

Thane’s eyes bored into him. There were several long seconds of uncomfortable silence as the boy said nothing at all. It was like he was trying to look straight through Arwin’s head. Then he grabbed Arwin’s hand and shook furiously.

“I can’t believe you’re actually here!” Thane exclaimed. “You’re Ifrit! I saw you at the Proving Grounds! You — your team — they were awesome! And when you jumped down from the stands to threaten the guy from the Adventurer’s Guild… that was so fucking badass. Can you do it again? Can I see Caldera? Wait. No, don’t show me yet. I want to see it in action. Oh, does Caldera have a gender? Can anyone use it? Can I? Or do you have to prove yourself worthy first? How do I do that?”

The questions came so fast that Arwin barely had time to process one before the next hit him. Melissa sent him a sympathetic glance as she slowly edged toward the corner of her room. She’d known this was coming. 

And, in that moment, it struck Arwin that he’d been set up.

“Whoa there,” Arwin said, raising his hands before him defensively. “Relax, bud. I only have one mouth. Can’t answer everything at once. You’ll see Caldera when we go into the dungeon. And no, you can’t use it. The only reason Olive could was because I created special armor for her… and Caldera is very picky.”

“Oh. Okay,” Thane said without missing a beat. “Sounds good. Don’t worry. I have other things I want to know.”

Oh, boy.

“I don’t have too long,” Arwin warned. “I’ve got to get ready for…”

He trailed off as Thane reached into his pocket and pulled out a scroll of parchment. The boy hurriedly unfurled it. The scroll slipped from his fingers in his haste and it fell to the ground, rolling out to reveal line after line of questions.

“Don’t worry! I’ve trimmed my questions down already to save on time,” Thane said, entirely unbothered. “I want to know about Olive. I’m really interested in her, actually. Will she be one of the ones coming on the trip?”

Alarm bells went off in Arwin’s head.

“I’m—”

“Her arm is awesome,” Thane continued, not even giving Arwin a chance to respond. “The magic that must have gone into that is incredible! I was doing some researching into it. You made it, right? Is it cursed? I think it’s cursed. I went through our records on magical weaponry, and it was definitely acting with intelligence. It tugged her around a few times during the fight, and I think it was intentionally going for killing blows.”

He's sharp. A lot sharper than I expected.  

“I wouldn’t want to go around spilling Olive’s secrets without her permission,” Arwin said. “The arm is hers. Information on it belongs to her as well.”

“Oh yeah, makes sense.” Thane nodded, then started to roll his scroll up. “I’ll save these for her, then. It’s no problem. I’ve got more enough for you. Like my equipment!”

“Your equipment?” Arwin asked against his better judgement. He found himself surprisingly off guard. Thane was nothing like what he’d been expecting.

“Yeah,” Thane said. He poked at the leather covering him. “It’s not very good, is it?”

I’m far from in touch with the value of money, but I would be willing to bet that your equipment costs more than the average adventurer makes in a year. I can smell the magic from here. 

“I’m far from an expert on leather equipment,” Arwin said diplomatically. “But the quality—”

“Oh, no. Not that.” Thane shook his head. “I meant for me. Leather armor is great for people going for stealthy tactics or someone who is really fast. But I’ve got no real experience fighting. I interviewed every Classed guard on our estate and all the adventurers that would speak to me on the way over here, and I compiled the results here.”

Thane reached down to his pocket, then frowned. He glanced around the room in search of something. The mage at the bedside hooked his staff into the loop of a leather bag and moved it over to the boy’s side.

“It’s here.”

“Thank you!” Thane’s eyes lit up and he took the bag from the mage before rifling through its contents. Arwin caught a glimpse within it. The bag was completely stuffed full of scrolls. Thane grabbed one of the scrolls and pulled it out of the bag, unfurling it. “Here it is. So I found that the average adventurer using specialized gear was actually worse off unless they knew exactly what they wanted to be. It can influence your class a bit and make you get something that doesn’t quite fit you, and I don’t know if I want to be a stealth or speed focused adventurer. So don’t you think it might be a bad idea for me to use this?”

“I’m sorry, I’m still caught up on the first thing you said,” Arwin said slowly. “You interviewed all the people with classes you met on the way over here?”

“Well, I tried to,” Thane said with a nod. “I also recorded the percentage of them that actually spoke to me. It was less than twenty. I think that might make some of my data a little unreliable, but gotta work with what you have.”

“Maybe I should turn the question around, then,” Arwin said. “This is your class, not mine. What do you think would be right?”   

“Ah. Yeah. That’s the thing,” Thane said. He chewed his lip as if in deep thought. “I tried a lot of hypothetical scenarios for how this can play out depending on who I go into the dungeon with and what equipment I bring.”

“And?” Arwin asked. He was actually interested now. Thane had clearly put a whole lot more thought into this than his parents had, and that was a good sign. He didn’t seem belligerent or idiotic. There was a good chance the kid would actually listen to what he had to say in the dungeon… assuming he didn’t talk them all to death on the way over. “Which path did you decide was the best?”

“Well, they all kind of end the same way,” Thane said with a furrowed brow. “No matter how I prepare or what I bring with me to the dungeon, I’m completely confident that I don’t live to see tomorrow.”