Rise of the Living Forge

Arwin 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 onto 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 took him the last time they’d gone to hunt.

Some time 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 onto 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 to hurt it entirely.

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 been to 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.

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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 re-connect. 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 it and jump back to keep himself from getting crushed.

He wasn’t quite fast enough to completely dodge out of the way and the monster’s tail snapped out, catching him in the leg and shattering 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 sunk 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, finally using 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 the man’s 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. “They’re 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 one tavern, but I'm not so sure it's ready for customers 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 you might like to temporarily join our party?”