Rise of the Living Forge

Chapter 23: Ideas

It wasn’t a lizard they found but a large, silver-furred wolf curled up against a tree. Rodrick was the first to spot it, but by the time he’d pointed the resting monster out, Arwin had already located it himself.

There were probably a number of things he could do with a wolf pelt or its claws, but none of them were anything he knew much about yet. Still, it would have been rude to refuse to fight something purely because he didn’t need to.

Besides, maybe I could make a rug out of it or something. Or a bed. Now that I think about it, I could definitely use it.

Rodrick gestured to the wolf, then raised his sword and nodded to Arwin, indicating that he’d attack first and that Arwin could follow up behind him. Arwin inclined his head in agreement, and Rodrick crept forward.

He moved with surprising grace, avoiding most of the dry foliage on the ground as he advanced. Whether by accident or on purpose, they were downwind of the monster, so it wasn’t going to pick up on their smell.

Rodrick’s sword shimmered with light as he lifted it into the air and brought it down with a sharp chop. The monster’s eyes snapped open at the motion, but it was too late. It barely even got a second to react before the blade struck home, carving through its neck and killing it in a single blow.

That was well executed.

“Clean,” Arwin said with an approving nod. “Have you been an adventurer for a long time?”

“Nah,” Rodrick replied with a shake of his head. “My dad was a woodsman. Taught me a bunch of stuff before he retired. I only became an adventurer after I met Anna. It’s just that a lot of the skills overlap.”

“How does a woodsman not know about monster mating seasons?” Arwin asked.

Rodrick’s cheeks reddened and he cleared his throat as he wiped his sword off on the grass. “I wasn’t a woodsman. My dad was. I was, ah, how do you put it? More–”

“More interested in being a flirt,” Anna finished with a smirk. “He only went into the woods to hunt things to show off to me. Can’t say it didn’t work, though.”

“And, more importantly, it looks like Arwin was right,” Rodrick said. He glanced around, then lowered his sword. “No monsters. They’re all off screwing each other.”

“Mating season it is,” Arwin said. “There’s a phenomenon where all monsters start mating at the same time in an area, even though they’re entirely unrelated species that have no compatibility. One group starts, and then the others all follow.”

“Sounds like they’re hor–”

Anna shot Rodrick a sharp look and he cut himself off with a cough.

“Well, shall we continue?” Rodrick asked.

“Sure,” Arwin said. “But first, let me try to get the fur from this wolf. It could make a nice rug. By the way, how was it that you and Anna got surprised if you can hear this well?”

“That would be because I was being lazy,” Rodrick admitted as he rubbed the back of his head and his shoulders slumped. “Having my hearing like this takes a toll on me. Gives me a headache like no tomorrow with all the noise I have to filter through, and we’ve gotten pretty used to this area since we moved to Milten a few months ago. Didn’t think I’d need to be using all my strength out here.”

“Complacency is usually the way people get killed,” Arwin said as he dug his sword into the wolf and started to separate the flesh from the pelt as best he could.

I wish I had a dagger, but I’m not taking back the one that I gave Reya. It’s not all that useful to me, and using it to gut animals would be a huge waste. I should have brought one of the ones I took off the Brothers Six.

“It sounds like you’re speaking from experience,” Anna said softly.

“I am.”

“I’m sorry to hear that. I hope we haven’t offended you.”

Arwin shook his head. “The dead aren’t going to sleep any better if I tiptoe around them. It’s in the past. Just be careful if you don’t want to join them.”

***

After Arwin liberated a rather ragged pelt from the wolf, he and his newfound party trawled the forest for three more hours. Using Rodrick’s advanced senses, they avoided several other large groups of monsters and picked off the lone ones they came across. Between avoiding the groups and the time it took Arwin to remove the pieces from the monsters, they only ended up killing three more – one wolf and two lizards.

Arwin draped the wolves’ pelts over his shoulders and stuffed Rodrick’s bag completely full of scales until it bulged at the seams. Even though they’d only taken out a few more monsters, none of the fights had been anywhere near as dangerous as the first.

When they made their way back out of the forest, Arwin couldn’t deny that he was pleased. It was a far better haul than he could have gotten on his own, and now he had enough materials to really practice with the scales and hopefully find some new ways to put them together.

The trio made their way back to Milten, only coming to a stop when they passed through the gates and entered the city.

“Whereabouts do you live?” Rodrick asked. “I don’t mind dropping your stuff off for you.”

Arwin paused. He hadn’t thought through what he’d do with all the loot after they got back. Nobody other than Reya and Lillia knew where he lived, and he rather liked it that way. Of course, he’d have to reveal it at some point when he started selling his normal weaponry, but the only thing he had to show was a broken-down smithy that definitely didn’t look livable.

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“Not everyone wants to share where they live,” Anna scolded. “Just give him your bag. He can give it back next time.”

There was an unspoken invitation in her words, and it was one that Arwin was surprised to find he wasn’t opposed to.

“What do you think?” Rodrick asked.

“I wouldn’t mind it,” Arwin allowed. “I’m not sure when I’ll next be hunting, though.”

“That’s fine. Just ask for Rodrick or Anna at the Glowing Swordfish,” Rodrick said. “It’s an inn we’ve been hanging out in. Fair warning, though. Place is run by a greedy asshole that’ll try to charge you for breathing. Just ask one of the patrons for us, not the bartender. He completely runs our pockets. I’d kill for a tavern that actually lets people stay without trying to rinse them clean.”

“Stop complaining,” Anna said. “We’re lucky there was an inn that accepted adventurers that weren’t part of the Guild.”

Arwin blinked. “Wait, you aren’t in the Guild?”

“No,” Rodrick said. He pulled the pack off his shoulder and held it out to Arwin. “Didn’t make the cut when I tested for them a year ago. I reckon I could make it now, but haven’t bothered. Anna was part of them, but she left when I couldn’t get in.”

“You aren’t missing out,” Arwin said. He took the pack from Rodrick with a nod. “Thanks for this. Did you want to take anything out before you gave it to me? I’ll give it all back, of course. It just might be a day or two.”

“We’ll be fine,” Anna said with a smile. “Looking forward to working with you again.”

“Likewise,” Rodrick said. He raised a hand in farewell and set off with Anna at his side. Arwin turned and left in the other direction, making for the dark alleyway at the back of the city that he called home.

I can’t wait to see what I can make with all this extra material.

***

“You look more energetic than normal today,” Lillia said as she stepped out of her kitchen with a plate of what she was fairly sure were pancakes. She’d learned the recipe by spying through the window of another tavern the previous night and had memorized the majority of the ingredients that went into them.

Getting her hands on the ingredients had been considerably harder, but she’d managed to scrounge up enough coin from what Reya had been paying her to splurge. She set the pancakes on the table and Reya’s eyes widened.

“New dish?”

“Yeah. What do you think?” Lillia asked, taking a step back.

“Well, it’s kind of hard to see in the darkness,” Reya hedged. “I do see a stack of stuff, though. That’s probably a good thing.”

Damn it. I really need to do something about the environment if I ever want to get more customers.

“It’s fine!” Reya said hurriedly. “I’m sure it tastes great! I can’t wait to eat!”

Lillia stepped to the side and Reya shifted. A small frown flitted across Lillia’s face. “What are you doing?”

“Doing? What do you mean?”

“You’re hiding something.”

“What? How’d you know?” Reya demanded, glaring in Lillia’s direction. She missed by a few inches, but she was just a human, so Lillia didn’t blame her.

Damn darkness.

“I know a lot of things. What do you have? Ingredients?”

“Something better,” Reya said. She lifted her hands, setting a package on the table. It had been wrapped in discarded brown paper and had an odd, oblong shape. “It’s for you.”

Lillia pulled the papers apart, her nose picking up the faint scent of blood. She was pretty sure Reya had found the paper discarded at the butchery, but the package didn’t smell nearly enough of meat to be –

Her eyes widened. Before her eyes, which were adapted perfectly to see in the dark, was a beautifully made pan. She ran her hands over its surface, feeling the individual hammer strokes that had molded the metal.

“Where’d you find this?” Lillia asked in awe. “It’s incredible. Did you steal it?”

“Nope! Arwin made it for you! I did steal the paper, though. You should probably wash the pan before you use it. The paper was lying crumpled out back of a butchery when I found it, and I think a few people might have stepped on it. Still, some wrapping is better than none.”

“Arwin made this?” Lillia asked, tearing her gaze away from the pan and looking to Reya.

“Yeah. Last night. He said he’d try to get some utensils as well at some point.”

I didn’t think he’d actually make me anything. Is he expecting pay? I barely have enough money to keep cooking right now. Or is this a trick? It’s not magical is it?

Lillia squinted at the pan, but it appeared to just be a normal pan. There was always the chance it was Unique and could hide its properties, but that felt like a little too much to do. Besides, they had called a truce.

“I – oh. That was… kind of him,” Lillia said, the words feeling strange in her mouth. “Was there something he wanted in return?”

“It’s a gift, as far as I know,” Reya said. “He just said to give it to you.”

Why didn’t he bring it himself then?

“Oh!” Reya exclaimed, cutting off Lillia’s thoughts. “We also talked about your tavern.”

“You did?”

“Yeah! Arwin thinks you should make it scarier.”

Lillia stared at Reya. “He thinks I should make my already inhospitable tavern… worse? Is he trying to make sure I never get a customer?”

Reya shook her head hurriedly, holding up a hand as her brow creased in thought. “Wait, I got too excited and ended up misspeaking. Not just scarier. He thinks you should lean into the stuff about you more, and I think he’s right. It’s really hard to change yourself into something you think will attract people, so you should focus on the things that you already do and make those better instead.”

“I’m not sure I follow,” Lillia said. “You’re saying I should make it even darker in here?”

“Not darker. Scarier. Make it more like the lair of a monster, and then sell it as a monster inn or something. The rest of the alley already fits that motif anyway. I was thinking you could dress up as the Demon Queen! It would be hilarious. People would love the atmosphere because of how ridiculous it was.”

Lillia choked, coughing as her saliva went down the wrong pipe. She pounded a fist against her chest and cleared her throat, staring at Reya through squinted eyes. The girl looked completely sincere.

What in the Nine Underlands, Arwin? I thought we had a bloody unspoken agreement!

“That was Arwin’s suggestion?” Lillia asked in disbelief.

“No, I came up with that myself. He just said you should dress yourself and the other waiters – when you get them – like monsters. Don’t you think that would be pretty unique?”

Lillia tilted her head to the side. It was tempting to laugh in Reya’s face, but she was so genuine that she had to take a moment to actually consider the idea. And, to her surprise, it wasn’t as horrible as she thought.

Things were often easiest to hide when in plain sight. Going so far as to pretend to be the thing that she quite literally was – that was so ludicrous that it was unlikely anyone would ever see through it.

“Hmm,” Lillia said, mulling over the sound as she rolled it around in her mouth. “I can’t believe I’m admitting this, but that actually sounds like it might have some potential.”

“We could start bringing some bodies to hang from the walls,” Reya offered.

Lillia grimaced, but it slipped off her face as excitement started to take root. “Let’s hold off on that and stick to small things for a bit longer, shall we? I’m going to need to get some money if I want to do anything, but I think you might have given me some ideas as to how.”

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