Chapter 124: Back to the town

Chapter 124: Back to the town

“That’s... a really nice sword,” Olive said, swallowing heavily.

“Yeah, it’s nice,” Arwin agreed noncommittally, watching her carefully. There was a very, very small chance that she would be stupid enough to try and take someone captive to claim the sword for herself. It wasn’t one he suspected she would take, but it never hurt to be prepared.

“If Rodrick doesn’t want that... would you be willing to sell it?” Olive asked.

Arwin blinked. “What?”

“I know I can’t afford it now,” Olive said hurriedly. “But an elemental weapon... that would let me fight so much more effectively. If it’s less than a thousand gold, I’d give you all the money I earn from the dungeons until I pay it off. If nobody else wants it, that is.”

Arwin tilted his head to the side. There was some significant desperation in Olive’s tone. She wanted it for more than just because it was a fancy sword.

Are magical items actually that ridiculously rare? A thousand gold? That’s...

“I know a thousand is cheap. I could maybe try for higher,” Olive offered weakly.

“We’ll discuss loot later, once we’ve seen the rest of it,” Arwin said – half just to see how she would handle the rejection.

Olive bit the insides of her cheeks and nodded. “Okay.”

She wants it, but she’s handling it pretty respectably. Not too pushy. Good sign for her possibly joining the group in the long run.

Arwin set the sword down by his side and pulled the bag open to peer inside it. He was expecting gold or another weapon but got neither. Instead, he found a sheath for the blade at his feet, a bundle of black herbs, and a small stone vial covered with craggy orange lines that glowed with faint light.

The Mesh activated once more – not for the sheath, but for the dry plants and the vial.Ne/w novel chapters are published at novelhall.comolderweed] – A magic-infused herb that grows exclusively within volcanos. Considered a delicacy by many earth dwelling races, this plant requires immense temperatures to ignite. But, when it does, it burns hotter than most can handle.

[Portable Molt] – A vial stuffed full of magma and sealed with magic... but not very well.

Something told Arwin that the Mesh’s idea of burning may have been more than just spicy. As for the vial – that sounded like something he wasn’t going to touch until he was absolutely sure he wanted to.

Having a way to get some lava sounded like it could be pretty useful for his [Molten Novice] skill.

Great stuff. Now all I need to do is lug some of this metal back and I’ll be the happiest bloke alive.

He left the plant and the vial in the bag as he pulled the sheath of the sword out and slid it over the blade. As soon as it was covered, the information about it vanished.

The herbs go to Lillia. I’m sure she can do something fun with them. I might keep one or two for myself in case there’s any use for them in forging. I’m keeping the vial myself. As for the sword... well, let’s see.

“Okay,” Arwin said with a grin. “Now we can talk about loot. I don’t personally use a sword, so I don’t need this. It’s between Rodrick, Reya, Lillia, and Olive.”

“You use a sword?” Olive asked, looking at Lillia in surprise.

Olive tore her gaze away from the sword as a suspicious frown crossed her lips. “What? No gold? Even shares? What are you aiming for here? Those terms don’t make sense at all.”

If I’m actually going to recruit Olive into our guild at some point, I can’t scam her out of a thousand gold when I’ll be making weapons for the others for either free or the cost of materials. I don’t exactly have much choice without giving away more than I want to.

“Those are the terms. Take them or leave them.”

“What kind of things would you be making me do?”

“Nothing that a normal adventurer wouldn’t,” Arwin said with a dry laugh. “There isn’t anything hidden in the deal. We’re not going to try to turn you into an indentured servant or some shit like that. I won’t say it’ll be safe, but it’s going to be more of what we were doing today. Just... probably bigger enemies.”

That proved too much for Olive to resist. She reached out and took the sword from Arwin. Her thumb ran along the plain sheath and she stared at it for a second before shaking herself out of the stupor and attaching the sheath to her belt just above the other one.

“Done,” Olive said. “Looking forward to working with you. That might have been the cheapest magical weapon ever sold. Now that I’m trapped, was there really no trick? Was the sword damaged or something in a way that only a smith could see?”

“Trapped?” Arwin raised an eyebrow. “Not that I disagree, but nobody’s forcing you to carry through the deal. It isn’t magically enforced.”

“I gave my word. As long as you act according to what you promised, then I’ll do the same.”

Arwin inclined his head in respect. It was looking more and more like he’d made the right choice in looking to recruit her. “There’s nothing wrong with the sword as far as I can tell.”

“Then why...” The befuddlement on Olive’s face was so thick that Arwin couldn’t help but laugh.

“Does it matter? Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth.” Arwin jerked his chin over his shoulder. “Now, let’s get going. I have things to craft, and I’ve been sitting around in this dungeon for long enough. And Olive, needless to say, keep that sword sheathed.”

“Logically,” Olive said with a nod.

“Great. Then let’s get out of here.”

Between his bow, learning how to make gauntlets and boots, and figuring out the secrets of [Molten Novice], he had a lot ahead of him – and he wanted to get as much of it as possible done in the next few days.

The chunks of metal in the forge were far too large for Arwin to actually try and bring back, though it wasn’t for lack of trying. They felt like they’d been welded into the ground and they stubbornly resisted any attempt to break chunks off them.

After working at it for a few minutes, Arwin was forced to give up and follow on his earlier promise to head out.

They took the armor off the large man as well, though it was a little too bulky to actually carry out without looking incredibly suspicious. Arwin spent a few moments studying it. The metal seemed decent, so he didn’t want to waste it.

At the same time, he had some materials to work with already and their bags were pretty full. Striding out with someone else’s armor just held in his hands would be pretty suspicious — so he chose a different path. Arwin stashed the man’s gear in the chest that they’d taken the loot from before closing it.

He doubted that anyone else would be making it to this location anytime soon. The key to it was still in the door, and it was unlikely that there was more than one.

With everything secured, they headed out and back into the dungeon proper. Arwin closed the huge doors behind the group once they’d left the strange workshop, pulling the key out from where it rested and tucking it into his pocket.

As long as he had the key, he’d have a way to get back into the room. It looked far too out of place in the dungeon to not have been artificially made. The room would almost certainly still be around the next time they returned – even if the way back was slightly different.