Rise of the Living Forge

Chapter 112: Eager to get started

Everyone was awake and in the common room of the tavern when Arwin got back. Lillia had made breakfast while he was gone and they were already well into eating. She wordlessly handed him a plate piled high with eggs and fried mystery meat.

“Thank you.” Arwin took the plate with a smile and walked over to the edge of the counter to set it down and start eating.

“Did you go to the market?” Reya asked through a mouthful of food.

“Yeah. Sold some more stuff pretty easily. I think word is getting out about my name,” he replied with a pleased grin. “Not to say I’m releasing you from your job. You’re a great saleswoman.”

Reya grinned. “I am, aren’t I?”

“Don’t get too stuck up,” Anna said, flicking her in the back of the head with a laugh. “Now why don’t you tell us what you found out already? You’ve been making me wait until Arwin got back, which I assume means that we’re not in any immediate risk, but my patience is at its limit.”

“It’s like you guessed,” Rodrick said. “We’ve got some time to work with, but I’ve also confirmed that it’s really likely that there are two Wyrms in that forest. We found some adventurers in some other taverns – sorry Lillia – that have been to the forest recently. People were arguing over the markings on its scales. Nobody got up close to it, of course, but the retellings were close enough that I think it’s pretty obvious there are two different Wyrms and not just a bunch of forgetful adventurers. It also sounded like the number of people going missing went up slightly, but not significantly.”

“Were any sigthtings recent?” Lillia asked.

“The most recent one was like a week and a half ago,” Rodrick said.

“When we checked out the forest, we didn’t see too much out of the ordinary either. Nothing like a bunch of little Wyrms running around in the trees, at least,” Reya added. She dabbed at her mouth with a napkin and restrained herself from eating more until she could finish speaking. “We didn’t actually go into the forest, but from what we could find, it looks like not much has changed yet. That probably means the Wyrm hasn’t given birth yet.”

“If it’s been a week, there’s a chance the mother is already preparing to give birth. I don’t know the timeframe in any specific detail from here, but I think we should have at least a week before the optimal time to strike,” Lillia said. “Wrymlings are born able to fight, but their mother will be weakened shortly afterward. If we can strike any time roughly a week after the mother births them, they’ll all be at their weakest state.”

“A week… I think that should work,” Arwin said after a few moments of thought. “It gives us time to hit the dungeon at least once. I should also be able to finish the armor for Rodrick. I’d imagine we can all hit the next level in our Tier by then as well so long as the dungeon run goes well.”

“You’re making me armor?” Rodrick asked, his eyes lighting up.

“Considering what happened to your last set, I feel partially responsible. We can’t have you running out to fight your enemies ass naked, even if that’s likely how you’ll end the fight.”

“He’s got a point. You really do have a penchant for losing your pants in fights,” Anna said, rubbing her chin. “Is there something you aren’t telling me?”

“Oh, bugger off,” Rodrick grumbled. He shoveled eggs into his mouth as they all laughed.

Knowing that they still had at least a week to work with took a lot of weight off all their chests. A week really wasn’t all that much, but at least it meant the horde wasn’t going to show up at the city the next day.

They all finished breakfast in relative silence, then brought their plates to the kitchen. As they were returning to the common room, there was a knock on the door.

“You think that’s the mason?” Reya asked. “I saw him working on the smithy this morning.”

“I just spoke with him,” Arwin said with a shake of his head as he headed over to the door. “Maybe it’s a new customer? I’ve been trying to send people here.”

Or it could be someone considerably less welcome.

It wasn’t likely that anyone from the Iron Hounds would try anything here and Arwin didn’t have any other enemies that would have been able to find him here. That didn’t stop him from preparing to fight.

Arwin was still wearing his greaves, as he couldn’t rebind to them until he reached the next level in his Tier, but the rest of his armor was only a thought a way. He reached for the handle and pulled the door open.

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

It wasn’t a member of the Iron Hounds or Ridley that stood on the other side of the door. It was Olive. Her armor had several scratches running along it and she had small bags under her eyes from lack of sleep. The sword that Arwin had made her rested at her side and she held a leather pouch in her hand.

“You made it back faster than I expected,” Arwin said as he took a step back so she could pass by him. “Did the dungeon go well?”

“Yes. Your work is great, especially for its price. I’ve got the money I owe you here.” Olive stepped into the tavern and held the pouch out.

Arwin took it from her. It felt like it weighed a good bit more than it should have. He used the light from the lantern to peer inside it, but the only thing present was gold.

“Did you count this correctly? It feels heavier than it should.”

“I included an extra 80 gold,” Olive said. She pushed her hair back to reveal a thin scar running along her forehead. It looked fresh. “I was reminded of the importance of a good helmet – and a competent healer.”

Judging by the wince Anna made at the sight of the cut, she agreed with the second half of that statement.

“You got scammed,” Anna said. “If you made it out of the dungeon with a wound, it shouldn’t have been so bad as to justify a scar.”

“I know,” Olive said with a sigh. “But I was in the process of bleeding out. In his defense, I had some other wounds as well. He definitely cut corners, though. That’ll teach me to go for the cheapest option. But that’s in the past – I’m more concerned with surviving my next cut. So… is 80 enough?”

Considering I just sold a helm for 60, I’d certainly say so.

“It is, thank you,” Arwin said. “I’m glad you liked my work. Any difficulties with it?”

Olive shook her head. “No. It performed exactly how I wanted it to. That’s more than I can say for most pieces I’ve bought. The sword was especially nice. It swings better than I thought it would.”

Great. I tried to make it lighter so it would be easier to swing with her worsened balance. Glad to hear that worked out.

“That’s good. I can definitely get a helm made for you, but it might take a little bit. I’m a bit low on materials right now, so my team and I were planning on heading into a dungeon as soon as possible,” Arwin said. “Was the one you were going to restricted?”

“No, the guild that owns it lets anyone enter for a fee. It costs ten gold a person,” Olive said. A thoughtful expression passed over her features and she tilted her head to the side. “I didn’t realize you had adventurers here. How many of you can fight?”

“All of us,” Arwin replied.

Olive blinked in surprise. Arwin was impressed that she resisted the urge to say, even you?

“Why do you ask?” Anna asked.

“There’s only so far a solo adventurer can make it in a dungeon,” Olive said. She paused for a second before correcting herself. “Well, most solo adventurers. Unfortunately, I’m not one of the ones that gets to claim anything special. Even having a few more bodies at my side would let me get a lot deeper.”

“How deep have you gone?” Rodrick asked.

“Three rooms are usually my limit. The dungeon isn’t an easy one. It’s Journeyman Tier, and I’m only Apprentice 6.”

Arwin resisted the urge to cough into his fist. Olive was a higher level than any of them – but there was no need to point that out. Rodrick sent him a questioning look, likely trying to figure out if they actually wanted to do the dungeon together with Olive.

More bodies can never hurt as long as we can still fit into the room and avoid pissing the dungeon off. I don’t see why not.

He gave the warrior a slight nod.

“We’ve gone through a Journeyman Tier dungeon in its entirety,” Rodrick said. “And as you said, more people definitely can’t hurt. We can do an even split of anything we earn and figure out how to distribute anything unique when the time comes.”

Olive thought for a moment before nodding. “That would work. I’m more interested in gold than anything else right now, and I highly doubt we’ll stumble into something that works perfectly for me. If we do, I might be more concerned with getting it.”

“If we find something that suits you and none of us, I don’t think we’ll have any objections,” Arwin said, ignoring the narrowed eyed look that Reya was sending at Olive. “How soon are you able to head into the dungeon?”

“If you were planning on going today, I’m sure I could handle it. The only reason the last run took so long is because it took me a fair amount of time to actually find a slot to get into the dungeon. The guild running it prioritizes larger parties, so waiting around to get a spot wasted a lot of time.”

“Couldn’t you have joined another party?” Reya asked.

“Most parties don’t want to let someone they don’t know in together with them.” Olive’s lips pressed thin. “And fewer want to rely on someone that they don’t think can handle themselves. People think I can’t fight because I’m missing an arm. Idiots. As if missing one makes me unable to use the other.”

Arwin bit back a laugh. Anything that Olive might have supposedly lacked in fighting ability, she definitely made up for in spirit. “I don’t think any of us will have much trouble with that. You’ll be entering the dungeon with a smith that doesn’t even have a combat class, so I’d say having one arm is still a step up from that.”

“If you can handle yourself, I don’t care. Classes are only as useful as the person using them. If you can swing a big hammer at a piece of metal, then you can swing a big hammer at a monster’s head. At least, I hope you can. It would be a shame if I found a good smith only for him to get killed doing a dungeon.”

“I reckon I’ll be alright,” Arwin said with a chuckle. “I’ve done one or two dungeons in my lifetime. I have to quickly make one last piece of armor before we can head out. If nobody has any objections, why don’t we get going in about 5 or so hours?”

“That works for me,” Olive said with a shrug. “I’ll be ready.”

“Perfect,” Arwin said. He sent a glance at the others to make sure they all felt the same, then nodded. “Then I’ll get to work and get back as soon as possible. We’ve got a dungeon to clear.”

“Clear? You might be being a bit optimistic,” Olive said.

“We’ll see,” Arwin said noncommittally. “I’ll be back soon. I’m eager to get this started.”