Rise of the Living Forge

“Wait,” Rodrick stammered, taking a step back. “That’s not possible. You can’t be the smith. You were fighting!”

“So I was.”

“You’re better at fighting than I am!”

“Probably.”

“Stronger, too!”

“Most definitely.”

“How?” Rodrick demanded. “A crafter shouldn’t be able to do that!”

Arwin shrugged in response. “Not every class is built the same, and not every person is content with their lot in life.”

“I’ll be damned,” Anna said, shaking her head and letting a smile slip across her lips. “You’ve got a Unique class?”

“I do,” Arwin confirmed. “One that lets me ride the line between crafter and warrior. I made the armor that we’re wearing.”

Rodrick looked down to his scale mail greaves, then back up to Arwin, shaking his head in disbelief. “You know what? I’m jealous. Screw you.”

They all burst into laughter. Anna made her way over to Reya and pressed her hands to the wounds on her chest, sending soft light into the bloodied furrows and sealing them back over. Once she was finished, she helped Reya to her feet.

“So… do we get a discount or something?” Rodrick asked with a sly grin. “We’re friends, right?”

“Friends get the right to buy gear from me in the first place,” Arwin replied without missing a beat. “No discounts.”

“Damn it,” Rodrick said. Anna glared at him and he rubbed the back of his head, giving them a sheepish grin. “It was worth a shot. How much would it run me to get a full set of armor like the stuff you’ve got on your legs?”

Arwin considered his greaves. They’d definitely saved his life more than once during the fight with the Wyrm, and they were still in good shape. His scale mail shirt was in worse condition, and he was pretty sure his entire body was bruised, but he’d avoided any further injury.

“The greaves were quite effective. I haven’t figured out how to make them into a chest piece, helmet, gauntlets, or boots yet,” Arwin admitted. “I’ll give you a more accurate quote for how much it’ll cost you once I have. For the greaves alone, I’d probably ask for around one hundred gold.”

Rodrick let out a whistle. “Makes sense. It gives me something to save up for, then. Does that include cost of materials?”

“Yes. If you bring me all the scales I need, I can probably knock it down to eighty.”

Though, if you stick around the guild and prove to be trustworthy, I’ll probably make something free of cost. Definitely not saying that out loud. I’m not trying to bribe people to stay. That gets the wrong kind of attention.

“Perfect,” Rodrick said with a grin. He rubbed his hands together, then froze when he spotted Anna glaring at him.

“Stop doing business. We’re supposed to be celebrating,” Anna admonished. “Reya just got her class!”

“It doesn’t feel real,” Reya muttered, looking down at her hands before lifting her gaze back up to them. “I’m not dreaming, right?”

“If you were dreaming, I’d hope you could think up better company.” Rodrick let out a cackle and slapped Reya on her back. “Welcome to the life of an adventurer, lass. May it lead us to riches and – well, more riches, hopefully.”

“Perhaps we should head back to town,” Anna suggested. “I think I’ve had more excitement than I’d planned on today. Do you have a guildhall?”

Arwin cleared his throat. “Er… no. Not really.”

“We have a crumbling smithy,” Reya supplied.

“That’s not all,” Arwin protested. “We also have two beds.”

Anna and Rodrick stared at them.

“It’s a work in progress,” Arwin dismissed his armor with [Arsenal] and scratched at his back. “We’ll get there.”

“You know what?” Anna asked. “I believe you. That doesn’t change the fact that I’d be willing to stab someone for a good meal and bed right about now. I’m exhausted. Nearly watching people get killed will do that to you.”

This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

“You’ll get used to it,” Arwin said absently, not thinking much of his words until he noticed the looks on Rodrick and Anna’s faces. “What?”

“You’ve been through some shit, haven’t you?” Rodrick asked, the usual cheer gone from his voice.

Arwin grunted and shook his head. The last thing he needed was their pity. “No matter. Anna was right. We should be celebrating Reya’s new class, and I’ve got some work to do. Let’s head back.”

***

The group returned to town without any further incidents. Rodrick and Anna broke off when they passed by the Gleaming Swordfish – they still had a few days paid for in the tavern, and there was no point wasting them.

Arwin and Reya slipped into Milten’s alleyways, traveling through the darkness until they found themselves back on their street. Before Arwin could make for the smithy, Reya caught his wrist. He turned to her in surprise.

“What is it?”

Reya’s cheeks reddened and she shifted her feet. “Could we go to the tavern? I… kind of want to tell Lillia that I got my class. I’m gonna wait for the right time, though. We can wait until she starts bringing out the food, and then I’ll tell her. The look on her face will be great!”

Arwin paused. He didn’t have a good excuse to avoid the Demon Queen. It didn’t look like either of them were going to blow the other’s cover, but it was still stressful. Still, she hadn’t done anything to justify his reluctance.

Beyond that, there were some things he needed to ask someone who understood Monsters – and Lillia probably understood them better than anyone else. Arwin sighed and nodded. “I suppose so.”

“Yes!” Reya cheered, pumping a hand in the air. “Let’s go!”

She darted down the street and over to the tavern. Arwin shook his head and followed after her at a much more leisurely pace, arriving several seconds after Reya had already entered the building.

The heavy darkness that followed the Demon Queen remained exactly as it had been before, cloaking the tavern before Arwin had even gotten a chance to step through the door. He squinted as he ducked through the doorway, but to his surprise, there was actually some light within it.

Several faint spots of orange flickered on the walls, cast by candles within old lanterns. Their glow barely made it a few feet out, but it was just enough to see by – at least, if one was close enough to the light.

Lillia had also managed to procure several new mismatched chairs by her counter. One was far too short for its purpose, but chairs were still chairs. Reya had already taken one for herself.

Walking up beside her, Arwin tested one of the other chairs before lowering his weight into it. The piles of dust and rubble that had covered the floor of the tavern had been removed as well – Lillia had been hard at work. It still didn’t look anything like a proper tavern, but it was several steps in the right direction.

A shadow stretched out in the dim light as Lillia stepped out from the kitchen, a pan in her hands. She smiled as she saw Reya, then paused as she spotted Arwin behind her. Her eyes flicked down to the pan and her cheeks reddened.

“One moment,” Lillia said, darting back into the kitchen.

“Oooh,” Reya whispered, leaning closer to Arwin. “She likes it. She took your advice about the monster theme as well! She’s trying to make the tavern look like a dungeon.”

“I – yeah. I suppose so,” Arwin said, looking around again. Lillia really did look like she’d liked the pan. She must have, if she was using it.

Arwin still had a small frown on his lips when Lillia came back out from the kitchen, wiping her hands off on her apron. “What can I get for you two?”

“I got my class!” Reya exclaimed, unable to control herself any longer.

“I thought you were going to wait until the food came,” Arwin said.

“I got impatient.”

“You got your class?” Lillia repeated, her eyes lighting up. “That’s incredible! Congratulations! What class did you get?”

Ah, wait. Maybe we shouldn’t be telling the Demon Queen–

“A unique one called Warden,” Reya said without a second of hesitation. Arwin repressed a grimace, watching Lillia’s expression closely to study how she reacted.

To his surprise, the only thing he found in it was shared joy. Lillia was genuinely happy for Reya. It didn’t look like she had any ulterior motives in the slightest.

Perhaps I’m more caught up in the past than she is. We already called a truce, but some part of me never thought that the Demon Queen would be able to just… start a normal life. Care about people like she cares about monsters.

Could I do that if I were in her shoes? I’m not sure.

“I’ve never heard of Warden,” Lillia said. “That’s incredible. Great job, Reya. You have to be really proud of yourself.”

“I had a lot of help,” Reya said with a grin, looking back to Arwin. “Also, my armor got completely destroyed.”

“So I see,” Lillia said with a wince. “You look like you got healed, though. What hit you?”

“A Wyrm.”

Lillia’s eyes bulged out of her head. “A Wyrm? You survived a Wyrm at your Tier?”

“Yeah. If it wasn’t for Arwin, I wouldn’t have. It was terrifying,” Reya admitted. “But we lived. That’s what matters, right?”

“I – yeah. It is,” Lillia said. “Well, what can I get for you? It’s on the house in celebration of your new class.”

“Oh, really? Could I have cake?”

Lillia cleared her throat. “I should amend my offer. I only have ingredients to make a steak right now.”

“I’ll take a steak, then.”

“Coming right up,” Lillia said, flashing Reya a grin before darting back into the kitchen. It didn’t take long before the sizzle of cooking meat filled the air. Arwin glanced around the tavern while they waited.

Lillia really had put a lot of effort into improving it. It was clear just how much she wanted everything to work out, and Arwin felt a pang of sympathy at the lack of people in the tavern.

I’m sure they’ll start coming soon enough once word gets out.

Minutes slipped by, and Lillia finally emerged from the back with a steak on a plate of metal. It didn’t have anything accompanying it, but as far as steaks went, it actually looked pretty good.

She set it down before Reya, then turned to Arwin. “What about you? Want something?”

“I already ate today,” Arwin said, a small smile flickering across his face before falling away. “But, if you don’t mind, I’d like to talk. Privately.”