Rise of the Living Forge

Arwin studied his new skill options for several minutes, re-reading 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 whilst 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 would 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 farther 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 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 in 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 Hungering Maw’s beneficial ability 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 summoining 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.

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

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 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 was 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 don’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 forgot 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 whist 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.”