I’d made a nail. So logically, I should be able to make more nails. Same process, same results. Life decided to throw me a few curveballs instead. In fairness, I bear some of the blame. I didn’t want to do exactly the same thing again; I wanted to do it better and faster. It took until the third time a nail got stuck in the nail header and I had to hammer it out, ruining the point, before I realised the nails were cooling too much as I worked on them. I’d gotten around it the first time by reheating it partway through, but that would add a lot of time to the process. Not wanting to wait, I added another rod so I could work on one while the other was in the fire.
I got into a rhythm as I worked, hammer rising and falling in one hand pounding out a steady percussion, and tongs or nail header in the other, adjusting the metal beneath the beat. The heat was fierce, but I noticed it less and less as the process became smoother, less wasted movement, even my breathing syncing up with the pealing. Nails started to pile up. The length of the shafts and the thickness of the heads fluctuated, but they were all functional. As each one was added to the pile my hands moved just a little faster. I drew a rod from the fire and the end was a dull yellow. Not hot enough. I added another two rods to the flames. With more heating at a time, the rods began coming out hotter. I tried forging without a reheat. One time in ten the nail got stuck in the header. Then one in twenty. I added another rod. Nails weren’t getting stuck anymore. I was in a trance of roaring flame, clanging blows and clinking as another nail fell on the ever-growing pile. When did it get so big? Where did the rest of the rods go?
“WOAH! Did you make all those today, Mr Vaul?”
Broken from my nail making trance by the boyish voice, I looked up to see one of Eimer’s children peering through the doorway. Judging by his panting he must have run here. Now that I thought about it, the only occasion I'd seen him walking anywhere was after his mother explicitly commanded such (and even that hadn't lasted long). His clothes were good quality, but the mix of tucked and untucked and his wind strewn mop of brown hair with sandy highlights gave him a distinctly ruffled appearance.
“Hi, you want to watch for a bit?”
“Nah, I mean yeah, but I can’t. Mum says you need to come have lunch.”
I was about to say I’d be there in a bit when I caught the angle of the sun through the window, if anything this was a late lunch. Also, when did the pile of nails get that high?
“Just let me bank the forge and clean up a little, and I’ll be right over.”
“I’ll let ‘em know.” Like that he was off. A clattering down the hall suggesting his trajectory was more exuberant than accurate.
***
As it turned out, there was a staff lunch once a week. Ushered into a private room by Eimer as she fussed over her son, muttering that he looked like he’d been dragged through a bush backwards, I found Kete, the guildmaster and Sarala waiting for us around a lacquered wooden table bedecked with tantalising dishes. I hadn’t felt hungry before, but the sight and scent made me ravenous.
Kete chuckled, “Have a seat lad, we’ll dig in now everyone’s here.”
“Oh, sorry, I hadn’t meant to keep everyone waiting-”
“Peace Vaul,” the guildmaster interjected. “The fault is mine. I failed to inform you that we usually meet for lunch at the end of each week to discuss any problems, plans or notable occurrences. But let’s not let the food Bartan and Eimer have so graciously prepared grow cold, eat.”
What followed was pleasantly free of ceremony as everyone dug in. Where Sarada sampled several dishes, eating delicately, Kete clearly knew his favourites and made them disappear quickly. His posture was so laid back I half suspected he’d tried to put his feet on the table before I got there. The guildmaster clearly had etiquette training but still consumed voraciously and widely, at a measured but constant pace. While she was well built, I had no idea how anyone could eat so much. Eimer on the other hand seemed to spend as much time making sure everyone else was enjoying their meal and passing dishes for people to try, as actually eating herself. Over all of this, the goings on at the guild were discussed in a casual fashion, like this was some family dinner and the members of the guild were our troublesome relatives.
It wasn’t idle gossip however; Kete mentioned a group was intending to make a serious run at finding the dungeon’s second floor. They were assuming the entrance to be in one of the ruins and that would open up all manner of new materials, though it would be an inconsistent route given the ruins’ shifting nature. The party was just waiting on a few more supplies that had been delayed before they made their move. Eimer was able to chip in at that point, apparently there'd been a lot of grumbling about one of the blacksmiths in town falling behind on some of their recent orders. This lined up with what I'd heard about the short supply of steel and what Sarala had seen with a lot of the shorter-term jobs being snapped up unusually quickly. All in all, a problem worth keeping an eye on but one that would probably sort itself as the backlog got cleared or people sought their goods elsewhere rather than wait. We were all rather bemused that the key item they were waiting on was a flaming greatsword for the party's frontline fighter, an odd choice for fighting in a desert, but apparently she'd always wanted one. It was nice to hear she'd been successful enough to afford it, and given the potential issues with that enchantment, it was better a little delayed than rushed. At least there wouldn't be any issues with accidentally setting her surroundings ablaze in the dungeon.
Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.
The adventurer who got put in stocks after drawing his weapon on us got a mention, and I spotted the guildmaster’s expression stiffen for a moment. Kete had mentioned the guy got off lightly, his actions deemed more obviously stupid than a true threat, but it was nice to see the guildmaster took such things seriously. That lead to Eimer mentioning that some drunk adventurer tried to bother her husband in the kitchen last night and was currently recovering from his injuries with Argat. One of the few rules of the guild that had been hammered into me was that no one other than those working in the kitchen entered it uninvited. Bartan apparently took it very seriously, and given the quality of his cooking, nobody wanted to upset him. On the bright side, Eimer informed me that the heavy crossbow I’d apparently tuned for her worked a treat. The guildmaster however was not so enthused.
“I’ve been giving it some thought, but two threats in the one week, however minor the actual danger, is an indication behaviour may be starting to slide. I’ll have a word with the adventurers in question once the military and Argat are finished with them. We’re giving out a lot of membership tokens, reminding people we can also revoke them is important. Finally, as a reminder, if you do feel in danger, make noise or contact one of Kete’s companions if you can. Vaul, when you got your visitor this week you did exactly the right thing, and had I not known her character already I would have intervened. And of course, one of Kete’s companions did investigate and he could have alerted the rest of us had there been an issue.”
“What did our budding assassin want anyway?” Kete asked, “She’s gotta know that sneaking into your room looks pretty sketchy.”
Feeling heat in my cheeks I muttered, “A new outfit. Armour.”
“Yeah, the sneaky ones sometimes don’t have much difference between the two.” said Kete.
Sarala spoke next, “So is that your project for the incoming week? While adventurers have certainly appreciated the repairs you’ve made, particularly under the circumstances, there would have been negligible loss of standing to delay most of them. There are however a few staple items we should plan on restocking from further afield if you need time to either recover or for this project.”
I shook my head, “Not immediately, I need to relearn some basics first and I’ve warned Ha-Na it will take some time. I made some nails this morning and was planning to try alchemy this afternoon.”
“Working on antivenoms?” Kete asked, having heard the request as frequently as I when conducting the appraisals.
“Antivenoms are tricky and narrow in application,” Sarala cut in. “If your goal is to relearn the basics, start with your basic health and mana potions and qi pills. Sustenance pills are unlikely to be relevant, but general poison and heat resistance potions would be a good next step. Our members might be worried about poisons when they step out of the dungeon, but a few hours later they are begging for aloe. Everyone seems to have to learn the hard way that being in the dungeon midday is best avoided.” Shaking her head.
There were rueful chuckles round the table, but I was taken aback by her casual confidence regarding alchemy. I knew she knew magic and I should speak to her about enchanting, but alchemy too?
“Aye, I wasn’t thinkin’ about what would be easiest.” Kete conceded. “We can do without the specific stuff for a while yet.”
I shrugged, “Works for me, thanks for the advice. I know we have a recipe for those at least. If I run into problems, would you mind if I ask you for a few pointers?”
Sarala smiled, “I’m happy to help if I can, but I’m no expert on the subject.”
Kete rolled his eyes while Eimer unfazed passed a platter of gyoza around. The guildmaster deftly procured a few with her chopsticks before adding,
“Sometimes even a second opinion can be helpful. You’re managing remarkably well under the circumstances Vaul, but remember we can order things in if needed. Focusing on projects that restore your foundation seems sensible, but each of us here have our own specialities and have seen plenty besides, so if you need a second opinion or some advice, ask.”
“Thanks. Actually, the foreman saved me a bunch of time this morning with some advice. I think once I put my mind to something I get laser focused on it, which isn’t always a good thing.”
“I’ve been trying te tell you that!” Kete grumbled, “No awareness of your surroundings once ye get stuck into one of yer projects.”
Eimer paused, hand about to slip below the table, “It could be a skill.”
Everyone needed to take a moment to process that, though the guildmaster was the fastest, “It’s worth looking into. It’s certainly not uncommon for skills to have downsides, hyperfocus would be a trade-off I could envision you being at least subconsciously open to Vaul." I could only give a half shrug half nod to that. "However, if it is a skill, it may be extreme enough to raise some potential safety concerns. Explore it with Argat. Let us know if you need any support.”
Taffy’s head suddenly appeared from beneath the table, consuming the morsel from Eimer’s hand. I hadn’t even realised she was in the room. Like that the tension was broken with a round of chuckles and our pleasant but informative meal continued.