Arwin’s eyes fluttered open to find even more darkness waiting for him. A soft, familiar material was pressed into his back. He grimaced, phantom pain working its way through his limbs before they realized that they no longer actually ached. A grunt slipped from his lips as he pushed himself upright in Lillia’s bed.
“That didn’t go as planned,” Arwin muttered, rubbing at his head. The majority of his exhaustion was gone and he could feel magical energy churning within him again. Some time had definitely passed since he’d finished his work. He could still remember putting the final touches onto the shield — falling — and then… nothing.
“You really need to stop doing this.” Lillia’s voice cut through the darkness, underlaid with a slight tone of irritation. “Are you okay, Arwin?”
“I’m fine,” Arwin said with an embarrassed laugh. “Sorry. I pushed a little too far again. I was working on something a little different from my previous projects. I wanted to make sure it turned out as good as it possibly could. How did it—”
“I’ve got no idea. The shield’s stats are completely hidden from me. I’m not even sure if it’s magic. It just looks like a really fancy looking piece of metal.” The bed creaked as Lillia sat down beside him. “And before you ask, it’s only been a few hours. You woke up faster than normal.”
“Really?” Arwin blinked in surprise. “That really is fast. I should have been out for at least twice that with the amount of magical energy I feel.”
“I slipped you something to drink and imbued it with some magical energy. I figured you weren’t keen on being out for a few days straight.” Lillia prodded him in the stomach. “It’s unfair when I’ve got to sit around and watch you sleep instead of getting to do the same, you know. I’m going to get jealous if you keep this up.”
Arwin chuckled. “Maybe you should knock yourself out cooking more.”
“Brilliant suggestion,” Lillia said dryly.
She stood up and Arwin swung his legs out of bed. He found her arm as he rose and pulled her close, giving her a kiss the forehead and eliciting a small yelp of surprise from her.
“Thanks for the help. Was it you that caught me as well?” Arwin asked.
“Who else do you think would be stupid enough to try to catch a big oaf like you?”
“Oi. Don’t start taking slang from Wallace. The absolute last thing I need is for you to start speaking like a dwarf. I’m not sure I’d be able to live with myself,” Arwin said with a shake of his head.
Lillia snickered. She took him by the hand and led him from the room, out into the kitchen and the light. Her pan sat beside the stove and several ingredients were laid out on cutting boards, forgotten.
“I came to bring you some food about 30 minutes before you knocked yourself out,” Lillia said. “Your building let me in and told me not to interfere.”
“That’s… convenient,” Arwin said. “Also slightly creepy. The building, that is. Not you.”
“Thank you, Arwin. I definitely didn’t know which one you were referring to.” Lillia’s tail poked Arwin in the back. “And yes, it is slightly creepy.”
Arwin started to nod, then paused. His eyes narrowed and he turned to look at Lillia. “What were you doing for the 30 minutes before I collapsed?”
Lillia cleared her throat and stepped over to her counter, her tail flicking before hiding itself within her pants. She adjusted her shirt and picked up a knife, starting to chop away at a carrot. “I was just watching. That’s all.”
“For half an hour?”
“Don’t push your luck,” Lillia grumbled. Her knife thunked into the counter and she pointed her other hand at him. “Get out of here, already. I’m trying to work and I’m going to get distracted if you stick around much longer.”
“How distracted?” Arwin asked, a grin creeping across his face.
“Out!” Lillia’s cheeks reddened. She glared at him and he wisely chose to escape the kitchen before she decided to cut something other than vegetables with her knife. He couldn’t help but notice that she still had the same old knife as before — it hadn’t been replaced.
Looks like my initial goal of making her a new kitchen knife is still safe. Good. I need to go take a look at that shield and make sure it’s safe. If it is, I can get to work on her gift soon. I don’t think it should be anywhere near as hard as making a shield.
“Good luck,” Arwin said, pausing at the edge of the doorway. “I’ll see you at dinner.”
“You too,” Lillia said, turning her back to him. Her tail poked out of a pant leg of its own volition, wagging for a moment before she grabbed it and yanked it back into cover. Arwin fought to hide his laugh as he headed out.
He was momentarily surprised to find Ridley in the common room of the inn, standing at the base of the stairs with his arms crossed in front of his chest and a thoughtful frown on his face. The mason glanced over at Arwin and inclined his head.
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“Pleasure seeing you again.”
“Ridley,” Arwin said, suddenly remembering that Lillia had been planning to seek the mason out so he could expand the inn. “How are things going? Good to see you too.”
“Better. You and your guild have been my only customers in recent days, but I can’t complain,” Ridley replied with a one-shouldered shrug. “Work is work, and I appreciate the opportunity. You’ve always got the most interesting projects. Is there a reason why, ah…”
Ridley nodded vaguely over Arwin’s shoulder in the direction of the kitchen.
“Oh. She just really likes demons. It’s a theme.”
“I meant why she wanted me to keep the inn like this. I don’t care what she dresses like,” Ridely said. He gestured around them. “This building is a strong breeze from collapsing. Building upon it without breaking it down and starting again is a big risk as things are right now.”
Arwin coughed into a fist, but his embarrassment at missing the question quickly faded in face of Ridley’s words. If the inn collapsed… “Can you not do something about that?”
“I can. It’ll just take more time and money. I’ll have to put in some extra reinforcements and go over what’s been built to make sure nothing is about to fall over. Would be cheaper to just start over. Just saying.”
“That’s fine. Just do what Lillia asked you to,” Arwin said with a relieved sigh. He headed over to the door and paused to glance back at the mason. “And don’t break anything down that she doesn’t want you to. Price is not the paramount of our concerns.”
“So she said. I just wanted to make sure with her before I got anything started in true,” Ridley said as he stopped by the kitchen entrance. “Be seeing you, then.”
Arwin nodded in response, and the two stepped through their respective doorways to continue their work. The street was largely empty, though Arwin did spot Rodrick and Anna standing beside several adventurers at the end of the road.
Disappointment was scrawled over the adventurers’ features. Before Arwin could even consider if his presence was needed, the group turned and headed off. Rodrick waved to them as they left. That was probably a good sign.
I guess Lillia had to temporarily close the inn if Ridley is doing any work on the ground floor. Makes sense. Hopefully he can get it done quickly. I don’t know how long the Mesh is going to let her sit around without customers, but I’m sure the Menagerie eating at her table will be enough for a few days.
At least, he hoped it would be. The [Hungering Maw] had continued to need more and more as he grew stronger. Eating Lillia’s cooking every day had kept it sated, but there was no equivalent for her inn. She was going to have to keep expanding if she wanted to keep ahead of the Mesh’s limitations.
There was only one thing Arwin could truly do to help her — and that was make anything and everything he could to outfit the inn and make her job easier. He just had to fit that in with making normal items to sell, outfitting the rest of the guild, and dealing with anything else that cropped up along the way.
Arwin arrived at the entrance of the Infernal Armory. He reached out to push the door — and it swung open entirely on its own. His eye twitched and he stepped inside.
That really is creepy.
He slipped into the back room and both doors closed themselves behind him. Arwin ground to a stop. The breath caught in his chest and his eyes widened. Sitting in the center of the room, propped up on an armor stand, was a brilliant blue shield.
The maw of a snarling Wyrm seemed to have been frozen within the Maristeel. Teeth glistened in afternoon light shining in from a suspiciously well-positioned hole in the ceiling. Horns curled up, decorated with thin, hairline fractures that matched the monster’s appearance perfectly.
It was the best cross between a sculpture and a shield that Arwin ever could have imagined. He could have been convinced that the Wyrm itself had actually been trapped inside his smithy and was only moments away from biting down on him.
He approached the shield until he stood directly before it, then swallowed heavily. It was beautiful — but no stats appeared to identify it. The Mesh was silent.
“So that’s how this is going to be, huh?” Arwin asked, his voice little more than a reverent whisper. He lifted his hand. Caution stayed him for a moment, but he eventually reached out and lifted the shield from the rack.
It was as light as a feather. Arwin turned it over in his hands, then stared at the handles on its back. There was only one thing left to do.
He slipped his hand into the shield.
Energy thrummed. Ice prickled against his forearm and raced up his arm. Pain burned into his body and he let out an alarmed curse, trying to drop the shield. It didn’t budge. Frosty air gathered around his arm and his hairs started to stiffen. His fingers numbed at an alarming speed.
Still cursing and trying to shake the shield free, Arwin activated [Soul Flame], wreathing his arm in a sheet of burning fire. The frost faltered. For a moment, it held strong. Then it gave way to the heat. Warmth returned to Arwin’s hand and the pain faded, though his skin still stung.
And, in the air before him, glistening red letters finally took form.
The Wyrm’s Revenge [Cursed]
[Wyrm Soul]: This item has been imbued with the emotions, desires, and power of a Wyrm who was denied its ascension. In death, its will has passed on to empower its maker.
[Revenging Strike]: The Wyrm’s Revenge may be a shield, but it seeks death more than protection. Sending power into this item briefly intensifies the connection between it and its wielder. If a physical attack is blocked during this short duration, the Wyrm will strike out together with its wielder. However, if no attack is blocked within the span of activation, the Wyrm will strike its wielder instead. The strength of this ability is magnified when The Wyrm’s Revenge is used to block a blow that would have otherwise hit one of the wielder’s allies.
“Well, now,” Arwin breathed, turning the shield over and extending a mental tendril to bind it with [Arsenal]. The shield lived up to its name. It was certainly cursed. Getting attacked when he missed a block was already a nasty side effect. But Arwin had seen how powerful the shield was when he did use it correctly.
A tradeoff, huh? So that’s what Cursed items really are. Educated gambling. The Band Three has two chances for a bad item and one for a good one. The Wyrm’s Revenge lets me get a really powerful attack off, but if I screw up, it hits me instead.
No power came without risk. The Mesh had made that abundantly clear. And, as Arwin looked down at the shield in his hands, a slow smile spread over his features.
“Yeah,” Arwin said, nodding to himself. “I think I can work with this. Cursed Smithing was absolutely the right choice. This is the advantage we needed.”
The shield vanished as he dismissed it. Arwin cracked his neck. A swirl of red mist danced across the floor as the Infernal Armory activated around him.
“You sought me.” The Armory wasn’t asking a question. It was a statement.
“Yeah.” Arwin re-summoned his shield, getting used to the feeling of it appearing on his arm, then looked to the mist swirling before his feet. “I need to test this out. Care to help?”