Chapter 155: On the menu

Chapter 155: On the menu

Waves crashed against the shore and washed over Arwin. It was a similar vision. The howling wind and churning ocean held power, but not over him. He sat, unmoving, as the water crashed against him.

“That’s not going to be enough,” Arwin said, uncrossing his legs and rising to his feet. A wave slammed into him, but it didn’t even knock him back. The arrow had a will to it. That much was clear — but its will was nothing compared to some of the items that Arwin had made before.

A six-foot tower of water crashed down on top of Arwin, trying to force him to his knees. He stood his ground once more, letting the water run down his face as he stared out into the stormy sea.

“Not enough,” Arwin repeated. “I know everything that went into you. I may not know it perfectly, but I know what your desires were. The sea that you call on is just a part of the Maristeel, and that is already tame. Your will cannot overcome mine.”

Another wave crashed into him, this one larger than the last. Arwin’s foot dug into the soaked sand, but he refused to let himself budge an inch. The vision didn’t have the advantage of surprise, and it didn’t have the advantage of a stronger will.

No matter how hard the arrow tried to struggle, Arwin gave it no quarter. He held his hands out and rain pelted down on top of him, every droplet stinging like the bite of an irate insect. Water trickled into his eyes and tried to force him to blink it away, but even that was ground that he could not be made to give.

“Accept it,” Arwin said. “Why fight? I’m giving you what you wanted. Purpose. A way to be more than what you were. You can struggle all you want, but you can’t overcome me. Make the choice. I don’t need a rebellious arrow. I’ll take you to the peak or shatter you and make a new arrow. It’s up to you.”

The rain continued to pour down, but the ocean stilled. A small smile crossed Arwin’s face. He’d already won, even if the arrow hadn’t fully acknowledged it yet. He extended a hand.

“Come on. Enough of the tantrum. Let’s get on with this.”

A few last droplets fell before the clouds overhead shifted and broke. Streams of sunlight broke through as the rain finally came to a halt. The vision shattered. It fell like shards of glass, leaving Arwin sitting in his smithy across from his anvil once again.

[Wyrm’s Tooth] has been forged. Forging a magical item has granted you energy.

Arwin stood up and looked at the finished arrow resting on the top of his anvil. Its blue metal shimmered in the light from his [Soul Flame], and the Mesh traced letters through the air as it registered the newly created item.

Wyrm’s Tooth

Wyrm’s Tooth: Rare Quality

[Sharp]: This item is abnormally sharp. Its head will cut through many things – including the hands of whoever is holding it.

[Wyrm’s Flight]: The potential of a hungry Wyrmling rests within this item. Whenever possible, it will make minor adjustments to its course to seek out the weakest spot of its target.

[Overweight]: This arrow is better meant for thrusting than shooting. This item is abnormally heavy for its purpose.

The traits were perfect. Arwin wasn’t surprised in the slightest at the detrimental [Overweight] trait. Making an arrow this size out of solid metal wasn’t going to net him anything else.

Meanwhile, [Sharp] was exactly what he’d wanted and [Wrym’s Flight] was a fantastic addition. He smiled to himself. Making items the ‘proper’ way without the Mesh telling him what to do was definitely the right way to handle things.

There was only one more step left to do.

Arwin summoned his status and turned his attention to the Achievement he’d gotten after making Prism’s Reach.

[Armed and Dangerous] – Awarded for forging a weapon whose rarity was overwritten by its own desires.Effects: You may select an item to join this weapon’s Set, regardless of its quality. This achievement will be consumed upon selecting an item.

“This one,” Arwin said, summoning Prism’s Reach to his right hand and lifting the arrow with his left. “This is the other half of the set.”

[Armed and Dangerous] has been consumed.

A shimmer of green energy leapt from the bow and into the arrow. It wormed its way into the metal, stretching throughout it like dull verdant veins. The words floating above the arrow shimmered as they changed and reformed.

Prism’s Vengeance: Rare Quality

[Sharp]: This item is abnormally sharp. Its head will cut through many things – including the hands of whoever is holding it.

[Wyrm’s Flight]: The potential of a hungry Wyrmling rests within this item. Whenever possible, it will make minor adjustments to its course to seek out the weakest spot of its target.

[Overweight]: This arrow is better meant for thrusting than shooting. This item is abnormally heavy for its purpose.

[Crystal Vessel]: This arrow has been infested with the hunger of the Prism, allowing it to draw in attributes of whatever is applied to it for a short period of time. The stored attribute will be released upon impact.

[The Right Arm]: This is a set item of [2] pieces.

Arwin ended up running out of leather before he ran out of Brightsteel. He finally stepped back from the anvil, exhaustion setting into his limbs like heavy chains, as he took a moment to study the fruits of his labor.

Ten sets of chestpieces, helms, and greaves laid before him, the Ifrit logo branded onto each of them. He’d sold the chestpieces and the helms for 180 gold before without any difficulty, so he was pretty sure he could realistically charge somewhere around 250 for the three items together.

That means I’m sitting on around 2500 gold here, assuming I can sell all of it. That much money would be incredible. We could do so many renovations to the basic issues the tavern has and really get everything running, not to mention spiffing up the smithy and getting me more materials to work with.

Arwin nodded to himself. He summoned his [Soul Flame] from the hearth, then headed out of the smithy and locked the doors behind him. Night already held the street in its grasp. Judging by the position of the moon high in the sky above him, he suspect it had been dark for quite some time.

I hope I’m not so late that Lillia went to bed. I promised to wake her up if I did show up after she’s asleep, but I’d still feel pretty bad about it.

He made his way back into the tavern and, after a detour to clean up for the night, headed toward the kitchen. To his relief, the lantern near the entrance to it was still flickering with light. He stepped under it and Lillia glanced over at him from beside the counter. She wiped her hands off on her apron and picked up a covered bowl that sat on the wood before her.

“Look who showed up,” Lillia observed, bringing the bowl over to a metal chest wedged beneath her counter. “Is everything okay?”

“Yeah. Just got caught up crafting,” Arwin replied. “I made ten sets of gear to sell as well as an arrow for my bow. It was a good day. What about you?”

“A good day? Try two.”

Arwin’s eyes widened. “I spent two days in there?”

Now that she mentioned it, it certainly made a lot of sense. He’d made ten sets of armor entirely without the Mesh’s guidance in addition to his arrow. That was quite a bit of work, and he didn’t know how much time he’d lost to the vision either.

“Shit,” Arwin said. “I’m sorry. I didn’t realize.”

“It’s fine. I remember how you were when you just got to the street. It’s just how things go. I’ll live. And, as for what I’ve been up to — I’ve been marinating a bunch of meat,” Lillia said, setting the bowl into the chest and closing the lid over it. “Ten sets does sound like quite a lot.”

“It is,” Arwin said, letting out a relieved sigh when it became clear that Lillia wasn’t angry with him. “If I can sell all of it, I think we can really get this street started in proper. We’ll be able to really start drawing some attention to ourselves.”

“That would be nice. Do you have an actual name for your smithy yet?”

Arwin’s smile faltered and he coughed into a fist. “Ah... not yet.”

Lillia rolled her eyes, though he only just barely managed to pick it up in the dim lighting.

“Figures. You’re really going to need something before you start getting too popular, or people will name it for you. And trust me, that won’t go well.”

“Yeah, you’re right,” Arwin said reluctantly. “I’m just not the best at naming. I’ll try to think something up tomorrow and get a sign made before I head out to the market. I’ll probably drag Reya along with me. Will you have room to handle some people passing through if I do manage to get them?”

Lillia nodded. “Yes. My imps are trained and I’ve been preparing food all day. I’ve got a total of six rooms to rent out as well, assuming you move out of yours. Reya has one, Olive has another, and Rodrick and Anna are sharing a third. That leaves me with three for people passing through.”

“Did you want to try to get more? Three doesn’t seem like a lot.”

“No. If I bring in too many random people, my satisfaction rating might drop really sharply,” Lillia said. “I need to make sure growth is measured or I could end up getting too big and permanently crippling myself — or worse.”

Just like advancing [Awaken], huh?

“Makes sense,” Arwin said. “Sounds like we’re ready for tomorrow.”

“Mostly ready. I haven’t had a chance to make dinner yet,” Lillia said sheepishly. “I’ve been focused on advancing my class by making the most difficult dishes I could. Most of them weren’t edible or are still waiting to be ready tomorrow.”

Arwin tilted his head to the side. “When you say meat...”

“Wyrm is on the menu.”

“Well, I’ll be damned. I’m going to look forward to trying that,” Arwin said with a laugh. “And that’s fine. I don’t need dinner. Getting some rest is more than enough.”

“Good.” Lillia grinned. “I’m exhausted, so I don’t really want to do anything else today. Just give me a second to wash my hands off.”

She slipped past him, making it a point to brush against his chest as she walked. Arwin watched her head out of the kitchen, and it struck him that he wasn’t sure if he was more excited for the night or the day that would come after it.

Both, I think. Both is good.