*Clink clank. Fwoom!

*clunk clunk clunk, Psssshh!

*Clank clank! Fwoom!

The furnace blasted heat into the room and filled it with the rhythm of hammering, and tempering. The windows of the shop were left wide opened as the rising temperature built within could bake anyone unable to bear the heat.

“Put your back into it! One, two! One two!”

The master of the forge shouted demands at Kihet to flatten the piece of steel and tossing it back into the fire only to repeat the process.

Kihet’s own experience of smithing had never been as intense as the orders the master of the forge demanded. Nonetheless, drenched in his own sweat, he raised the hammer and pounded the steel as instructed.

“Into the fire! After steel’s cooked by the flame, send it back on the anvil and I’ll take care of things. You watch.”

“Isn’t this forge hotter than what it needs to be? We are working on steel, right?”

“Not for this part. Those commercially available brittle steel will wear and get banged up. What we’re making is a super metal. Your face tells me you ain’t getting it, so I’ll explain you after your peg for a leg’s replaced.” The Lycanthrope smirked. “Get ready.”

At the master’s signal, Kihet stuck the tongs into the burning coke and held the steel down onto the anvil. They flipped it many times, formed it, reheated it and lastly quenched it until all parts on the schematic’s checklist were completed.

How long had it been since Kihet’s arm felt they were about to fall off from their own weight? He gasped for air and dragged his bottom onto the closest stool. He cast his eyes downward, ignoring the amount of sweat dripping from his face onto the floor.

Suddenly, a wet towel draped over his hair.

“Tired already? You’re the one who requested this. That aside, you’re quiet adept, Oracle. Ever worked a forge before?”

“No. I was self taught.”

“Not bad. Your skills ain’t on par with experienced ones, but you’re well off to run a decent smithy if you keep at it.” The master poured two mugs of water. “We’ll take three. I’ll teach you how to assemble and do maintenance on your new foot once you’ve rested enough.”

Kihet downed the mug. He exhaled all the air in his lungs and took a new breath of air. He closed his eyes for a quick nap until he heard the chimes to the shop ring.

“It’s boiling in here. Excuse me, is Kihet here?”

“Oracle’s taking a break, lass. Just round the corner.”

“Thanks!”

A reddish horn poked around the corner, then a Majin popped into Kihet’s view. Her face turned beet red upon seeing his exposed top full of old scars.

“Kihe-eeet?!”

“What’s wrong?”

“N-nothing! Umm… were you in the middle of changing?”

“I didn’t want my shirt to be covered in sweat. Anyways, it’s almost finished. I just need to learn how to assemble it.”

“E-en…”

“Lily, are you listening?”

“En! Totally! I get what you mean! En! One hundred percent!” Lily scooped up Kihet’s clothes and thrust them forward. “H-here! I’ll turn around and you can get dressed!”

Kihet noticed she was more bashful than usual, but why? She saw him with his top off before, several times in fact. Each time it never bothered her except now.

“Oracle, you good?”

“Ready.”

The master directed Kihet to assemble his new mechanical foot. As its parts were fitted together, Kihet gradually figured out the mechanism and functions implemented. It was activated by tapping the foot against a hard surface on specific angles to unlock various tools.

By stomping then dragging his heel back, talons clawed into the floor fortifying his foothold. By twisting his foot inwards and performing a sidekick, a retractable stake shot out from his heel. Be it blades, talons, trickery, the master was only able to fit two of Kihet’s requests within the allotted time.

The practice scarecrow dressed in heavy armor and chainmail underneath received a puncture upon being the recipient of the test. The stake punched a hole through layers of steel plating, its point remained sharp.

“Wow! That’s so cool!” Lily screamed.

“Make sure you oil it well every so often, especially if it gets wet. Your new leg may be resistant, but it isn’t waterproof. Especially keep it away from salt water. Also, if you’re not going to fight, don’t stress it and let it rest. It’d keep the longevity of the loading mechanism. Feel free to modify it too.”

“Got it.” Kihet carefully removed the stake. “By the way, what is this super metal you said?”

“My own alloy I discovered, unfortunately unpatented. Found myself a stash of blue looking ores and found out if I combined it with others, I can make them stronger and more durable. I don’t have spares of others I used. Here, I’ll give you a sample of what I have left.”

The master rummaged through his shelf and set a rock on the counter with one face dyed in blue. Its blue hue reminded Kihet of the Nagamaki gifted to him at the beginning of the journey. He wondered if the Nagamaki was forged out of this blue ore.

“Maybe you can find more and make stronger weapons with it. It’s not my problem anymore. S’anyways. How’s it feel?”

“It’ll get some getting used to, but it’s got nice balance and power. It’s also surprisingly lighter than it seems.”

“Good. Now that’s over with, I can retire.”

“You’re retiring?”

“I’m old. You saw how I barely kept up with the pace we needed to get stuff done. Even my hands gone shaking just by holding my hammer.” The master sighed. “Making Rogus’ new arm and your leg was to be my last job. It’s an honor, but this shop hardly has anything to sell anymore, let alone anymore visitors.”

Kihet and Lily turned to the empty shelves and stands. The building was filled with cobwebs and dust. A rusty sword sadly stood alone in its barrel and a pile of spears rotting on the shelves.

“That’s sad. What will you do?” Lily asked.

“Well, I’ll do what others my age do and go sand fishing. First, I need you to clear up the desert so I can enjoy the rest of my life without the damn Tower.” The master bit down a stick of tobacco and lit it. “Think you can do that before I kick the bucket, Oracle?”

“That’s not to say it’ll be easy.”

“Good enough. Now scram and bring this arm to Rogus. Ask where his manners are for not visiting the last day of my shop.”

“Will do. Thanks for the lesson.”

“Yup.” The master took one puff as he watched Kihet hobbled out of the shop with Lily in tow out of the corner of his eye. “Ke. You better win, brats.”

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

Minutes went by, then hours. The master gave the shop a thorough cleaning, discovering nostalgic bobs and trinkets rolled behind or under shelves for who know how long they laid hidden.

He gave them a quick wipe, standing them upright on the displays. After the entire shop had been cleared up, his belongings boxed, he sat behind the counter he grew accustomed to.

“Ah shit. The Oracle forgot to take the oil. Oh well. He’ll come back to pick them up. I’ll write a reminder for myself.”

He rolled another stick of expensive tobacco having been saved until his last day as the owner of his shop.

*Cling!

“Sorry, bud. The forge is dead. I only got those leftovers to sell. Store’s bout to close for good.” The master blew out a smoke ring, lazily rocking back and forth in his chair. “If it’s just to resharpen your blades, I have a grinder over there you lots can use.”

Four cloaked figures did not provide a respond. One of them evidently drew a blade and trekked towards the master while the other three guarded the exit.

“Are you death or somethin? Hello?”

The master came to realize his silent customers were bad news. His eyes tagged the moving individual while he slowly reached for his trusty hammer.

A white flash caught his attention.

----------------------------------------

Rogus squeezed the fingers of his new mechanical arm. Although his sense of touch for the arm was forever lost, he was able to gauge its grip strength by crushing some fruits.

“Not bad. Da old man’s reliable as always.”

“He’s retiring.”

“I know.”

“You can still visit him while he’s still tending his shop.”

“Ha! Da old man’s lonely and didn’t want to admit it.” Rogus laughed. “He’s trying to get me ta lose the bet. I ain’t gonna visit till I become a hero. I’ll have something ta brag about then!”

Rogus adjusted some of the straps and applied oil to the joints. Once his arm moved to his liking, he swung [Rolling Crown].

“Haha! It feels good ta have two hands again!”

“You didn’t add any gimmicks to it?”

“Da more things to remember, da more I’d forget. Hacking my enemies with [Rolling Crown] is good enough.”

“That isn’t not good enough. Even if you aren’t a hero, you need to fight with everything at your disposal.” With a thump in the air, Salith’s colleague stepped onto the training field. “Given enough time, your enemy will adapt and exploit your habits.”

“Dats only if I don’t slaughter em first.”

Ryker smirked at Rogus’ childly response. He drew his axes and gestured the Lycanthrope towards the ring. “I see you got yourself a new shiny arm. Care to see if how well it can hold up against a Giant’s might?”

“Now we’re talking. Lemme have a whirl.”

“One second. I have a message for the Oracle. Salith and the others are waiting for you to split the reward for your defense efforts.”

“Got it.”

After receiving the message, Kihet left the Giant and Lycanthrope to their own device. He could hear the clashing of blades gradually lessen as he hurried to his next destination.

His new leg took some time getting used to, but his speed gradually improved without the aid of support when walking. He moved at the same speed as the group of elderly Scalemen going on their afternoon walks.

“Last one there’s a flat head!”

“Hurry, c’mon!”

“Wait for me!”

A flock of children suddenly barged out from the building. The one leading the group bumped into Kihet’s leg and fell on their rump. Everyone else stopped in their tracks and stiffened from Kihet’s unwelcoming face.

From his scowling face they thought he was in a bad mood. The children heard stories of how demanding the Oracle was during the battle against the Dragonkins. They were often told by warriors of the militia to steer clear of the Oracle since he’d take those who disobey to fight on the frontlines and into the face of the enemy.

“Are you hurt?”

“H-huh?”

“Looks like I broke your toy. Sorry.”

They were confused as to why Kihet didn’t immediately scold them and take them away from their family like the adults said he would. Even so, it was best not to bring it up in case it was all just a façade to get them to lower their guard.

“It’s alright…” The child sulked as he held onto both pieces of the wooden snake.

Kihet noticed every child held onto their own toys carved of different animals and immediately knew it must’ve been Aten’s handiwork. Even here, the Vivirian would make time to watch over the children and ensured they had smiles, or expressions of joy, on their faces.

Kihet quickly snatched the fragments without a word to inspect the damage. He dug into his satchel, revealing a small container with venting holes. He gently pried the lid revealing tiny mushrooms from Vivirus nurtured within it. He plucked a few, dropping it on a plank of wood and crushed it until an adhesive mush was made.

Before the mixture dried, Kihet mended the broken toy. “Let it rest for a bit. It should take about a few minutes then it’d be good as new.”

The children were speechless. The adults made it as though the Oracle was a mean authoritarian, but the person in front of them showered them with kindness.

“Be careful and watch both sides before crossing next time. Got it?”

“I-I will. And… are you going to yell at me?”

“For bumping into me?”

“We were told if we’re bad, you’ll send us to fight monsters alone.”

“I was told you’ll take bad children away and eat them. I-is that true?”

“Who’s saying all these things?” Kihet sighed.

He looked around he saw some Scalemen around the corner silently gesturing to him and outed themselves as the culprits. He wasn’t as dull to recognize the adults made stories to put the children in their place.

“Well then. It may or may not be true. If you continue causing trouble for others, you can be sure a little birdie will let me know. And once I know who the troublemakers are…”

Kihet summoned his [Chain] and had it slither like a snake towards them. Crates, chairs and tables next to them began to hover. Unbeknownst to the children, Kihet muttered under his breath to cast [Quagmire Sphere] for a convincing theatrical display for his act.

“You might just get spirited away like this in the middle of the night.” His smile was anything but friendly.

“WAH!”

“Run away!”

The children quickly raced off, -not before checking for traffic-, and were long gone.

Kihet felt rather contempt from this interaction. He hadn’t had much fun in his interactions aside from his close group of friends. Other people always acted too formal and weary around him. Still, it was very unexpected that parents used him as a subject to instill a bit of fear to keep the children behaving.

It certainly triumphed over the feeling of being worshiped.

----------------------------------------

Upon his arrival, Kihet spotted those who participated in the defense surround a pile of equipment laying atop of a table.

“Am I the last one?”

“En! We were all waiting for you.” Lily said as her attention snapped back at the item she had been eyeing. “How are we splitting these?”

“Everyone will take what they want first. We’ll sell what’s not taken and split the coin. How’s that?”

“Sounds good.” Salith answered.

“That’s f-fine with me.” Ainig agreed.

Aten provided his response in form of a large nod.

“Is it truly alright for me to participate as well, Oracle?” Yizdra asked.

“You provided the toxins we needed to capture the attackers. You did more than Tama.”

“I am honored.”

*Ahem! “I am here, you kynow?” Tama reminded.

“Have you appraised everything here?”

“Yup, yup. All done. I’ll explain what each one does when someone chooses them.”

“In that case, I want to go first!” Lily eagerly raised her hand. Kihet saw her target reflect off her eyes and before he said anything, she snatched a box containing a pair of extravagant earpiece.

She was disappointed they weren’t earrings, and both earpieces were made for the same ear. Regardless, she tried one on and looked to Kihet for his opinion. Instead, she found his outstretched hand, his eyes trained on the one in its box.

“Lily, pass me the other one.” After Kihet secured it over his ear and stepped to the other side of the room, Lily heard a voice from her earpiece. “If this is what I think it is… can you hear me?”

“I can hear your voice!”

“I knew it. The crystal is the same one as a crystal ball. It also means everything here has magical properties if my ears aren’t lying.”

Was this reward also the advanced pay from Vike’s request to slay Dalva Loheka? Just how in the world had Vike been able to amass this many, if not more, magic equipment? None of the armory and smithy at the city showcased any magical equipment in their shops.

As for the earpieces, he was given only a set. However, the ability to convey commands from afar in itself was invaluable since he no longer needed to solely rely on wordless signals.

“We’ll go clockwise. I’ll be taking these. Lily, choose something else.”

“Then I’ll take these boots. These match really nice with my outfit.”

Following the order, Aten silently plucked an enchanted spears with runic writings on its shaft and blade. While he inspected his newly acquired magic weapon, a bracelet flew across the table when the spear was removed and clung on its shaft.

Aten pried apart the bracelet and the spear and inspected the magic at work. He discovered the set had matching characters engraved on them. Now Aten could reliably throw a magical weapon that could return to its user on its own.

As impressive as it sounded, his mandibles only produced a click.

“Is that a named weapon?” Salith asked.

“It’s an unfinished named weapon.” Tama answered. “Unlike Rogus’ [Rolling Crown] and Tomoe’s [Coiling Dragon], that bracelet only inscribed with basic enchantments to recall the spear. It isn’t enough to give the weapon an identity.”

“How does a weapon get an identity?”

“I’m nyot sure myself. Rumors say a skilled craftsman entwinned complex characters into the existing engravings, mixed all enchantments together, and form it into a skill. In that case, the nyame of the weapon.”

For a while Kihet wondered if the Nagamaki he was once given had been a named weapon. It appeared to be missing the link needed to become one which formed another question. Had the creator of the weapon not bothered completing it or was it a failed product?

Nowadays magic weapons themselves are rare. Named weapons are rarer. The art of producing magic and named weapons was a dying craft since mastering it was extremely difficult.

“Grumpy one, you wouldn’t happened to know the method to convert magic equipment into named equipment, would you?”

“Not me.”

The only person who had the skills to create magical weapons was Elius before the apocalypse hit the world. If anyone in the world had a chance to recreate named weapons, it would be Elius if his body hadn’t been possessed by another soul.

“That aside, let’s continue.”

“I’ll have to pass. I don’t think I can use anything on here.” Salith sighed.

“Ainig?”

“Umm… I’ll take the shoulder guards, but I think it needs longer straps.”

“I’ll fix that later.” Kihet looked at the stash. “There’s still enough for everyone to take another item. Any takers?”