Chapter 35: Changes at the Abbey III

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[THE SILVER SEAT - Lamplight Dormitories]

“Whew!” sighed Muse as she basked in her victory. “Nice one! I see you were doing some new things there.”

Cain was on the ground, defeated but unwinded. She, on the other hand, had spent most of her energy beating him down. If one were to look at their relative states, nine out of ten bystanders would’ve declared him the winner instead. But it was what it was.

Muse grinned as she took Cain’s hand and pulled him to his feet. It had been a week since the Manslayer incident, and she had started joining him in his morning training. Sparring was something they frequently did at the end, and although he had beat her at the beginning she had now thoroughly come out ahead.

“Hmmmm,” said Cain, pondering. “I just can’t seem to beat you. I don’t understand. I had you on the ropes for the first few sessions, but since then it’s been like chasing smoke.”

Of course, just as Cain’s Player powers were fair game, so was Muse’s godcasting. It was good for both of them - Cain could get more comfortable facing off against magic in battle, and she could learn how different it was fighting Players.

And different it was, indeed!

She had written off fighting a Player as similar to fighting regular until the first time Cain had swung at her with the wooden practice sword. It was a blow far heavier than his arms had indicated they could hold, and within seconds she had been defeated and on the ground.

Once she had stopped underestimating his power outright, she had started noticing just how hard it was to stop him. A Player’s strange constitution meant that even if they traded blows, she lost. She would be bruised, whereas he was completely fine except for losing his dumb numbers.

That, on top of the thing he called Control Scheme, was patently unfair. It felt like he was throwing techniques he had perfected after fifty years spent training in the mountains alone at her, but that was the thing.

The techniques were polished beyond belief, but his battle tactics were not. He never feinted, and often went for the most obvious of attacks. It was not as if he didn’t try, but the moment he swung it was as if he was obligated to complete it. A technique of his could not be modified, rather the motion had to complete from start to finish.

It worked well even against somebody with experience, like the Manslayer, but now that she had crossed swords with him several times...

Well, Muse could see how limited his attacks actually were.

“You really have to vary things up more,” said Muse, crossing her arms. “I feel like you’ve got... maybe twenty different swings or so. They’re all perfect, but there’s really nothing beyond that. So once I get used to those twenty swings, I can see them all coming.”

Cain nodded. It looked as if he understood.

Muse thought back to the battle against the Manslayer, and his onslaught when he was in the weapon shop. The way that he had strung all those different attacks from different weapons together. There had been far more than a mere twenty swings there.

“Haa... What a waste,” said Muse. “If only you could carry ten different weapons around with you, then that wouldn’t be a weakness for you at all.”

Cain looked like he was reflecting on her words.

Muse sighed. It was a pipe dream, she supposed. Although he was certainly strong enough that the weight of carrying multiple weapons around wasn’t a problem, it would still affect his agility and flexibility which were his greatest attributes.

It seemed as if there were no easy answers in this particular situation. Oh well! She’d enjoy her string of continued victories in that case, then.

Although... He was already so powerful, even as a beginner Player. In a fight where they met for the first time, without any prior knowledge of his abilities, she would’ve lost in an instant.

There was something deeply unsatisfying about that. Not just because she didn’t like losing, but also... What about the other Players they’d possibly meet in the future? Ones that might be hostile, who wouldn’t have been handicapped in their growth like Nameen had been up ‘til now.

The star of Beelzebub was the newest one. The Avatar of Beelzebub, Cain, had only been here for a short period of time.

The other stars had been here for years, some even decades. Sure, there must be those who didn’t engage in hunting for the sake of gaining power, but what about those that did? Fights seemed to happen every time she came into contact with a Player.

Muse Aberra was a Black Lamp knight now, and she wanted to do her part. There had to be something she could do to make their future endeavors easier.

They still had two months.

Well, speaking of weapons...

“You know,” said Muse. “Since they are working for us Lampknights now... We should go talk to Vandamme and Nameen about getting weapons and armour!”

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“Armed up?”

“Think about it!” Muse said, wagging her finger. “Either way, we’re going to be going to the Dungeon in two months, right? It’s not going to be easy. People say it’s filled with dangerous magical beasts of all kinds, as well as traps and who knows what else.”

Muse grinned.

“The first thing we should do is get some gear!”

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[THE SILVER SEAT - Lamplight Dormitories]

“That should be about it, then,” said Vandamme as he stepped back to admire their handiwork.

It had taken quite a lot of elbow grease, but they had done it. The place was spic and span, and contained all the of the necessary things needed to function as a workshop. Many of the old dwarf’s similarly old tools had survived the destruction of the shop. That which had needed replacing had been funded by the order itself.

Construction hadn’t taken long, as it didn’t need to be very big. Not yet, anyway. The dormitories were there to serve as their own homes, so all the workshop needed was to be a workshop. Simple. Not even a storefront for customers.

Nameen smiled as he looked at the building. Vandamme hadn’t been the best with decor, so Nameen had volunteered to step up, personally painting the place. It was at times like these that he was glad he didn’t get tired.

A little rusted-red, open-air building in the middle of the sky. Their own little place on Lamplight Island.

Vandamme had wanted to call it the House of Sharp Wax in honour of the now-defunct House of Blades as well as their new employers, but Nameen had vetoed that with a vengeance. Unlike his aesthetic sense for blades and other objects of artifice, the old dwarf really had no sense for naming things.

Still, the idea of naming the place after the order hadn’t been a bad one...

“The Tallow Ironworks is now open for business!” said Nameen cheerfully, looking at the little signboard that he had painted.

An icon of an upside down sword, but where the handle usually was, there was instead a candle lit with a small blue flame. Underneath it was emblazoned the name of the new workshop.

“Hey!”

They heard the voice directed at them, and turned around. There, standing in front of them, were the knightly pair that made up Beelzebub Cell. Cain and Muse. The half-orc was waving gleefully at them as they made their way from the courtyard where they had been training.

Nameen cheerfully waved back.

“G-Good morning, Miss Muse!”

“Morning, Nameen!” she said as she ruffled the boy’s head, before turning to look back at the workshop. “Wow, you two really worked miracles on this place, huh. I didn’t think a workshop would only take a week and change to have up and running already.”

“Do not underestimate a craftsman’s spirit, lass,” said Vandamme with his arms crossed in front of him. Still, there was pride there. “What else were we to do? Simply lie back and sit on our hands? Nay. As long as there is work to be done, we’ll be doing it. Take that to heart!”

Nameen nodded. Vandamme had started giving him little tidbits of information, even as they were putting the place together. Tips on how to align things correctly, as well as what the things they were making were for.

A master passing knowledge onto his apprentice. Nameen smiled at that. Slowly, bit by bit, he was carving a new life out for himself. There was a place for him here on Lamplight Island.

“I wish you two accepted my help,” said Cain wisftully, also looking at the building. “I’m sure it would’ve been easier.”

“We were in no hurry,” said Vandamme gruffly. “So there was no reason. Best to have the place completely made by the ones that will be using it in the future. Worry not, Nameen did a fine job.”

Cain smiled and nodded to Nameen. The boy Player returned the smile and rubbed his hair in embarrassment. He still wasn’t used to words of encouragement, but he was slowly getting there.

“That said, what brings you two over here?” asked Vandamme. “Not just giving your congratulations, I assume.”

Muse stuck out a tongue.

“Heh,” she grinned. “You got us. I was wondering if we could ask you about getting some new weapons and armour? The Grandmaster told us that there’s going to be a Dungeon opening here in Goethia in two months, and we’re going to be checking it out.”

Nameen saw his master’s eyes widen.

“...A Dungeon,” he breathed. “Another one.”

“That’s right,” Cain chimed in. “It sounds like it might be a little dangerous.”

“Dangerous isn’t the half of it,” said Vandamme. Nameen saw the way that his eyes drifted toward the sky. It was the look that his master had in his eye whenever he was remembering. “The last Dungeon that had opened up on this continent... Yes, it was about thirty years ago to the west. I remember our workshop had been the ones tasked with outfitting those of the orders who were sent to explore.”

The dwarf shook his head.

“Of the thirty or so knights we sent, about half of them returned whole,” said Vandamme softly. “The rest were fine, only two true casualties, but many soon quit the order. Said they no longer were interested in lives of conflict. Their weapons and armour were all mangled as well.”

Cain and Muse looked at each other. Nameen felt his heart tighten. What kind of a place was this Dungeon that they were talking about going to explore?

“They were outfitted with my finest,” said Vandamme. “And yet they still couldn’t return truly whole. I’ve heard the ones that do the best in places like those are those who have Divine treasures.”

“Divine treasures?” asked Nameen.

“Indeed,” said Vandamme. “Dungeons are places of challenge by the Divinities, and they put in equal rewards to the risk. Since time immemorial mysterious and magical items have been whisked out of the place. Some of them have been passed down as heirlooms, or sold. I’ve heard it is best to challenge a Dungeon with the rewards of a previous Dungeon.”

Then, something bittersweet flashed across his face. It was as though he was looking at a distant memory. When he next spoke, it was as if he was speaking from the past, from when he was a different person.

“...Even I had something I wanted from it,” said Vandamme. “I’ve heard tales of the metal orichalcum that can only be found within Dungeons. That was the only request I had made in return for arming the knights free of charge. Alas, our party did not manage to return with any.”

Muse looked as if she struggled to believe it.

“A party of thirty knights couldn’t do anything, even armed with weapons and armour from your own personal workshop?” asked Muse. Her face was aghast. “Just how tough is a dungeon?”

“Tough indeed,” answered Vandamme. “But words are not enough. You’ll hear the same words no matter who says them. However, just because those knights failed doesn’t mean that you two will.”

The wizened old dwarf turned to look at Nameen, who all of a sudden felt very naked indeed. Cain and Muse as well followed his gaze with stares of their very own.

Nameen gulped.

Oh boy, it was time to hopefully live up to some expectations.