Kyrie looked at the house in front of her. Well calling it a house would be underselling it. The house started as a house and melted into the mountain, just like the palace. It was inside the second mountain of Karzasham. A stone fence surrounded the exterior of the house and a gate was present about ten feet from the front door with a sign hung on it which said, ‘No Trespassing’. Kyrie wondered who would trespass on the property and was there even sufficient property to trespass on?

Kyrie looked at Oril who had accompanied her and said, “So, this is the house of Goros Metaltouch. The blacksmith.”

Oril looked at her and said, “Yes. I told you I was going to bring you to his house and introduce you. Were you gorking doubting my words?”

“No, but this looks so normal for a famous blacksmith. If he is a famous blacksmith, would he not be rich?”

“He has a house extending into the mountain. He is rich.”

Kyrie did not debate that statement. She did not know much about dwarven culture. She wished that Marcus was around. He would know. He was definitely a treasure trove of information.

“Should we ring the bell? Knock on the door? What do we do now?” asked Kyrie.

Oril opened the fence gate, walked up to the door of the house and knocked the door with a knocker which Kyrie had somehow missed completely. She muttered a small ‘oh’ and waited for Goros to open the door. It took some time but the door opened finally.

The dwarf who opened the door seemed to be as tall as Oril but old. He had silver white hair and his beard was not as large as other dwarven beards that Kyrie had seen. Instead it looked trimmed and well groomed. The dwarf had a suspicious look on his face when he opened the door but then he saw Oril and cheered up.

“Oril, you gorking beard trimmer. How are ya?” asked the dwarf who had opened the door.

“It is good to see you Goros gorking Metaltouch”, said Oril clasping Goros’ hand, “You look gorking well.”

“I am well.”

“Then why the gork is your shop closed!”

“Ah! Come on in. Come on in. But wait, who might you be?”

Goros had finally spotted Kyrie. Oril introduced Kyrie and they both stepped inside Goros’ house. The house looked larger to Kyrie as compared to outside. The front door led to the living room which led to a door through which Kyrie presumed was the rest of the house as Kyrie could only see the living room. Goros gestured for them to sit on the sofas and they did, albeit Kyrie had to keep her legs extended a bit so as to be comfortable on dwarven sofas.

“What brings you here?” said Goros while bringing some refreshments for Kyrie and Oril.

“Your shop was closed. I recommended Kyrie to your shop. Hence we are here.”

Goros looked at Kyrie and then at Oril. Then he looked back at Kyrie and said, “You are a water nymph from the looks of you. You are in need of my services?”

“I am also an adventurer”, said Kyrie.

Goros rubbed his chin thoughtfully and said, “Well I’ll be gorked. An adventuring water nymph. Never knew I would see such a sight. Not that there is nothing wrong with water nymphs adventuring.”

Kyrie laughed and said, “You don’t have to worry. You are not wrong. Water nymphs do not become adventurers. I am simply different.”

“That’s one way to put it”, muttered Oril.

“What was that?” asked Kyrie sweetly.

“Nothing. Nothing. You adventurer versus adventurer nut.”

Kyrie and Oril laughed at that but Goros looked confused. Kyrie knew why.

Oril said, “She needs armor that she can wear Goros. I know she is a nymph and they do not wear armor. Her current clothes are made specially for her by NAIF and they charged her gorking hell for it. Her defence is shit. She needs your expertise.”

Goros looked thoughtfully at Kyrie, especially the dress she was wearing. Kyrie waited with a polite smile on her face.

Goros finally said, “I think I can help her. I had closed shop because of this gorking tournament of yours. I was pretty sure I would be swamped with orders and I did not want that.”

Kyrie was confused at that statement. Was this not a great time for blacksmiths to be in business?

Oril whispered to her, “Blacksmithing is his hobby. He does not need the money. He is quite well off. He does not need to work anymore.”

Goros said, “What was that? Gorking forget it. I will help you, Kyrie. But only you. I do not want any other gorking distractions Oril. You will ensure that.”

“Me?”

“Not you specifically but someone from the palace should help. Keep some guards or something. Because as soon as I fire up the forge, I am going to be swamped with adventurers and non-adventurers. I gorking do not want that. Guarantee that and I will help Kyrie.”

Kyrie looked at Oril who nodded, “Deal.”

They shook hands. First Oril and Goros grabbed their hands and then Goros gave Kyrie a polite handshake.

“Come tomorrow”, said Goros dismissing the two of them, “We shall start working on a comfortable armor for you.”

“The tournament’s starting in three days, Goros”, said Oril.

“Kyrie will come back tomorrow”, repeated Goros, “And you will make arrangements till that time to ensure that we are not gorking disturbed.”

Oril and Kyrie left after that. Oril went back to the palace after escorting Kyrie back to her inn. Kyrie had a free day for now. She wondered what tomorrow would bring.

***

The next day Kyrie reached Goros’ workshop early in the morning. Goros had messaged her to just come in and she did so. As she opened the door to the workshop, she felt something shift in the air. Was that a spell?

The front of the workshop was a shop. There was a counter at the opposite end from the entrance and a door leading to the back. Various weapons, shields and armor were displayed along the walls and behind the counter.

A voice said, “Come in the back. I am here.”

Goros was shouting and Kyrie made her way through the shop and the door behind the counter. At once she was hit with the heat. This was the true workshop of Goros. Kyrie had expected some sort of storage space but she could see blacksmith’s hearth to her right with Goros working something on it.

The workshop was open and various blacksmithing equipment and tools lay organized across the workshop. It felt quite neat, clean and organized to Kyrie. Somehow that surprised her. Weren’t the workspaces of geniuses chaotic in nature? Or was she leaning too much into stereotypes?

If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

Kyrie made her way towards Goros, ignoring the heat and greeted him. Goros stopped what he was doing and welcomed Kyrie.

“Welcome to my humble workshop”, said Goros, “Please, take a stool.”

Goros extended a stool and Kyrie sat on it. Goros fetched another stool and sat in front of her.

“I know why you are here. We discussed it yesterday when you came to my house with Oril. However, today, I want to hear it in your own words. What is the problem with your current armour and what exactly do you want from me?”

Kyrie took a deep breath and a moment to collect her thoughts. She said slowly, “My current armor consists of a tank top, shorts and a circlet. The circlet was given to me by a high priest of the water nymphs. It is the only thing which gives me physical and magical armor which is twice my adventurer level. My tank top and shorts are made up of some arachnid silk. That is at least what NAIF told me. They are enchanted to keep my skin moist so that it would not feel that I am wearing something. They have physical and magical armor of one point each. That is it.”

Goros remained thoughtful for some time and then said, “What about your weapon? What weapon do you use?”

In response, Kyrie brought out her The Bow of Lament from her inventory. Goros requested the bow from Kyrie and Kyrie handed it to him. It had been quite some time since she had examined the bow herself. As Goros quietly examined the bow, Kyrie herself examined its stats.

The Bow of Lament

Physical Attack: Base (level/2) + Strength * 1 + Dexterity * 5

Magical Attack: 0

Block: 10%

Critical Attack Chance: 5%

Critical Attack Damage: 20%

Requirements: 5 Strength, 10 Dexterity

Description: Inheritance of Kyrie Shiningstar, the longbow scales up with her levelling. Equipped with two spell slots, the bow is indeed a shining legacy for the water nymph.

Interesting. The description of physical stat had changed. Initially, it gave a final amount of the physical attack of the weapon. Now it was showing scaling parameters. Kyrie wondered when this change had occurred. And why? Once again her thoughts went to Marcus. She was sure that he would have some theory regarding this considering how much he read everything.

“This bow is interesting”, said Goros once he finished examining it. Kyrie waited for him to continue and he did, “The outer layer is made of wood. There is no denying it. Although what kind of wood, I do not know.”

“It is made up of wood from a tree of my home world”, said Kyrie, “Do you want to know the name of the tree?”

Goros waved his hand and said, “The wood is not important. It is what is inside the wood that is important.”

Kyrie felt a bit confused by that statement. She asked, “What do you mean?”

“Your bow is made up of a material which can be seen if you take off the outer wooden layer. I doubt you would want to do that. However, I can detect a hint of it. It is no material I am aware of. It is light and strong and magical in nature. Why is it hidden under a layer of wood, that I do not know. Are you more comfortable with wood against your skin? Is that why your bow is wooden from the outside?”

“We can hold things as water nymphs. And I am half water nymph. I have always been comfortable holding various solid items. However, clothing or armor has always been an issue. I have gotten used to this tank top and shorts. If possible, I would not wear them.”

“What about the circlet?”

“It is made up of enchanted water.”

“Can I see it?”

Kyrie gave Goros her circlet. Goros examined it. In his hands Kyrie could see the circlet moving as if the enchantment was trying very hard to retain its shape. It was as if the circle wanted to dissolve into a puddle of water. Goros hurriedly gave it back to Kyrie who placed it upon her head. There its shape stabilized and looked normal.

“Hmmm”, said Goros, “It is indeed enchanted water it seems. And it would not work for anyone else. If anyone else took your circlet, they would find the enchantment vanishing and water in their hand where there should be a circlet. An interesting enchantment. I, however, am not an enchanter and cannot make you an armor like this circlet. Hmmm. Let me think. What to do? What to do?”

Goros dissolved into muttering to himself by the end of his speech. He got up from the stool and went to one of the corners where there was a table with a bookshelf. Still muttering, Goros picked a book and started parsing through the pages. Then suddenly he gave a start and turned towards Kyrie.

“You said you were half water nymph. What is the other half?”

Kyrie shrugged her shoulders and said, “I don’t know.”

“How could you not know?”

“My mother never knew what kind of nymph my father was. She thought he was a wood nymph but he was not a wood nymph. He disappeared from her life a few days after he met her. Soon after my mother discovered that she was pregnant with me.”

“I am sorry.”

“It’s not your fault. Even for asking. It was a long time ago and I never felt bad that he was not there. I had a family. My mother, my sisters, my brothers, my friends, my water nymph community. They were all there for me. I did not require anything else. Except maybe a desire for adventure. Which is what led me to Una and to become an adventurer.”

“And the bow?”

“A gift from my father when I turned 30. It just turned up with a note. I would have thrown it away had I not fallen in love with it the moment I laid my eyes on it.”

Goros did not say anything but then continued to go through the book he had gotten from the bookshelf. There were two pages he noted according to Kyrie. After some time he came back to the stool that he had vacated earlier and sat on it.

“Now”, said Goros in a voice which was quite serious, “I have two options for you. First is Steelwood Bark. It is exactly as it sounds. Steelwood is a tree which grows just beyond the mountain ranges in which Karzasham is present. The wood of the tree is not that strong, but its bark. Oh, the bark! It is a very strong bark and it is not easy to break it off the tree or you know break in general.”

Goros took a deep breath and continued, “I can make you armor out of the bark. You, however, need to be comfortable with it.”

Goros shifted in his stool and said, “The second option is Never Melting Ice. It is ice formed off an enchanted lake which is found on the mountain which houses the third part of Karzasham. It is a long and a difficult journey as the lake is found considerably high up and the ice does not have much utility except for keeping things cool. We have a spell for that which is cheaper than the Never Melting Ice and as a result, the ice is not much in demand. However, some quantities can still be found in Karzasham and I can mold it into an armor for you. You need to pick. Which would be better for you, the bark or the ice?”

“Is the ice as strong as the bark?”

“The ice is stronger. The waters of the lake have healing properties and ice formed off of it becomes hard and never melting as a result. It would give you decent physical and magical resistance. However, I cannot enchant any of them like what they did at NAIF. And we are not trying to do so.”

“We are not?”

“No Kyrie. That would defeat the purpose of good armor. Good armor should protect you even without enchantment. Enchantment is not cheap. Armor is considerably cheaper.”

Kyrie suddenly had a bit of panic. She asked, “How much would both cost me?”

Goros looked at her, surprise etched on his face.

“Did Oril not tell you?”, he said hesitantly, “Your armor would be charged directly to the royal family. Well, Orik to be precise. You don’t have to pay anything.”

Kyrie did not like that. It would have been better if Oril, Orim, Orik or Orin would have told her about this. She took a deep breath and calmed herself. It was a gift and it would help her fight in the tournament. She should not be ungrateful but she did hope that she was at least informed.

“It’s alright”, said Kyrie more to herself rather than Goros, “I think Never Melting Ice would be better than the bark. I am not sure whether bark would feel comfortable against my skin for a long time but ice is okay. I do not get comfortable with ice.”

“Then it's decided”, said Goros clapping his hands together, “I will get the materials and make you this armor set in about… hmmm… It would take me at least five days to make this armor for you, even if I push it. When is the tournament going to start?”

“It will start in two days.”

“Hmmm… not good. I do need five days. One week would be best. Let me talk to Oril. Maybe he can postpone your fight for later.”

“It is alright. Take your time. I was initially going to enter the tournament with my current armor. If you can make an armor that I can wear, then I need to be able to wear it long term. Not short term. If it takes time. It takes time. I will talk with one of the Ori brothers. You make me the best armor that you can.”

“You are gorking good Kyrie. Don’t you worry. I shall make you the best armor ever. Now we do need to talk about enchantments.”

“I thought good armor should protect you without enchantments.”

“Ha! But some enchantments would be good. I am going to make good armor and I did say we do not need enchantments to make good armor, but we do need enchantments so that we can enhance the armor. So, what would you like?”

They spent some time discussing what enchantments should go on Kyrie’s new armor. Considering the armor was going to be made up of ice, Never Melting Ice, but still ice, there was a limit to enchantments that could be put on it.

Goros was going to make armor, greaves for leg armor and bracers which would help protect Kyrie while not hindering her shooting ability. They had also decided on enchantments which would further enhance her adventuring experience. All in all, the final product did look good on books. Kyrie wondered how it would look practically.

After they were done, Kyrie said goodbye to Goros and went to the palace to inform the Ori brothers that the armor would at least take a week with all the enchantments and to give them an earful about paying for her. She was not poor anymore considering her debt to NAIF was finally paid. She had some money. Although, she was pretty sure it would not be sufficient to avail Goros’ services. Maybe she would not berate the Ori brothers much.

Kyrie went to bed that night brimming with excitement. She was finally going to get decent armor and was going to take part in an adventurer versus adventurer tournament in two days. It was all going good for her.