Boom scowled as he quickly strode through a long, dark tunnel. Hiding the orb’s existence had never been a possibility, but hiding its location had been quite the endeavor. As much as he and Sweet trusted most of the residents of Boomtown, the orb’s power was simply too great to entrust anyone else with its location.

So there were only two people who could bear the responsibility to feed the orb the energy it needed to maintain the spatial magic protecting and hiding Boomtown from the rest of the world. Him, and Sweet.

In his stupidity, he’d allowed Sweet to choose the field of battle. And of course, she’d chosen a drinking game.

He groaned, his voice echoing through the tunnel as he recalled his stupidity.

As fortune would have it, he soon spotted light from ahead. He was reaching his destination. Two torches burning with blue flames lit a giant door with countless inscriptions and runes embedded in it.

Boom grumbled to himself and rolled up his sleeves, then dug his feet into the ground and pushed with all his might. Seconds passed, and the doors finally, slowly inched open. Once he’d opened the doors enough to squeeze through, he did just that, gasping and wheezing once through.

“Why’d we make the—” Boom wheezed. “—damn door so heavy?”

The only thing that answered him was silence. That, and a few torches brightening as Boom used his mana to light the torches in the room.

“Yeah, right,” Boom muttered as he lit a cigar and puffed. “You can understand, but can’t respond.”

The shattered remains of a gray orb, with but a wisp of white energy darting about, laid atop the pedestal in the center of the room. Boom reached his hands out toward the orb and concentrated.

The wisp of energy floated towards Boom’s hand, and the thinnest white tendril snaked forward until it met flesh.

A surge of mana buffeted the room as the bright tendril grew and the shattered remains of the orb reformed themselves into their true form. As the tendril continued its feast, the insides of the previously gray orb filled with a haze of white smoke—the tendril itself seemed to be an extension of the gaseous substance within.

After a minute or so of this, Boom tried to shake the feasting tendril off his hand. “Oi, you’ve had enough. Save some for the rest of us, yeah?”

The tendril stayed latched on, however, until Boom puffed out a plume of smoke that covered it. Upon touching the smoke, the tendril recoiled and retreated into the orb. As it did, the orb began to emit a soft glow.

“Yeah, that’s right. Heal up.”

Just as Boom spoke, the glow faded.

“Oi, I gave you more than usual. Heal up! Oi! Lad! You want the gods to punish us, then?”

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

The orb glowed slightly brighter.

Boom inhaled through his cigar until his coat’s buttons screamed for dear life. Then he explosively exhaled, his mustache coming within millimeters of the orb as he screamed at it. “I SAID! HEAL! FASTER!”

The orb immediately glowed the brightest it had in centuries.

“Yeah, that’s what I thought.”

Boom turned away, stepped back through the doors, then began laboriously pulling the two doors shut. “Keep at it, lad. Barrier better be fixed by nightfall or… well, you know.”

He glared at the orb as he slowly shut the doors. The door creaked open again, though, and a single eyeball stared menacingly at the orb before the doors finally slammed shut once and for all.

Several moments passed without change. Then, as the torchlights faded, the gas within the orb began to glow a soft purple.

***

Kandy stepped into the smithy, full of anticipation.

Despite there being all sorts of weapons and armors out on display around the shop, no one seemed to be manning the counter. In fact, the smithy almost looked abandoned.

“Hello? Anyone here?”

No response. Kandy walked up to the counter and saw that upon it was a small bell, hung from a small wooden frame that had the words “Let there be Phire” etched in it. Also hanging from the wooden frame was a small hammer.

With an amused smirk, Kandy lifted the hammer and gave the bell a good whack.

The sound the bell gave was rather disappointing, but it did its job.

A hidden metal door opened and a voice wafted out from beyond it. “Get in here, I don’t got all day!”

Kandy shielded his eyes from the light beyond the door. Whatever was going on back there, it was really bright. He approached the door and descended a short staircase.

“You’re Philo? I’m here to buy a dagger.” Kandy looked around the smithy. He immediately noticed the source of the light — more than a few fire elementals floated around the blacksmith, providing heat—and light— as the blacksmith needed.

As for the man himself, he seemed to be in the midst of attaching a grip and pommel to a newly-forged sword.

The tall, scruffy human barely glanced up from his work before launching into a tirade. “Great, a dagger. Elaborate, you brat. You want an anelace? Baselard? Poignard? Balisong? Katar? Seme? Corvo? Pugio? Desert Eagle?”

“I—uh…” Kandy wasn’t sure how to respond. Instead, he found his attention drawn away by the magnificent armors and weapons adoring the walls and countless weapon racks in the back. By the gods, even the blandest weapon in this room would look absolutely magnificent in the light of day.

In particular, a set of fearsome armor and a massive greatsword caught Kandy’s eye.

There was just something about it that made Kandy want it. Maybe it was the intricate ornaments on the pommel. Perhaps the dragon-shaped sigil on its scabbard? Yeah, definitely the sigil.

With greedy eyes and a mischievous grin plastered on his visage, Kandy slowly raised his arm and pointed at the greatsword. “Can I get that one?”

At that, Philo looked up from his work to glance at the greatsword Kandy was pointing at. He scowled. “Are you just here to waste my time, brat? In what world is that a dagger? Are you a shapeshifter or something? Can you turn into a giant?”

He sighed. “Well, whatever. That greatsword’s not for sale anyway. You got a good eye, but—”

“Hey, brat. Are you listening to me?” Philo huffed as Kandy ignored him and instead walked up to the armor set that’d caught his eye earlier.

“Hey! You can’t touch the… What the HELL ARE YOU DOING?”