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Chapter 53: Zeke

A tightness had started to form in the pit of his stomach, and it wasn’t going to be long before he ran out of time and needed to eat a magical item. He had pretty high hopes for the new material.

Better stuff to work with means it’s more likely I’ll be able to sate the [Hungering Maw] without having to make a bunch of crap. The best way to test that would be to make a nice bracelet with this instead of some crappy metal.

And that was exactly what Arwin did. As the heat of his [Soul Flame] washed across the smithy, he got to work forming a bracelet out of one of the three ingots. He used Verdant Blaze to hammer it down, flattening the piece into a long strip before starting to work it into a ring.

Instead of just making a basic circle, Arwin took one of the new tools he’d purchased – a small handle with a pointed end and used it to start tracing designs into the steel. He wasn’t sure if it would actually change the quality of the magical item, but it probably couldn’t hurt.

He carved a vine that ran from one end of the circlet to the other, then started putting in leaves. The more he worked, the more the Brightsteel helped him. His design went from sub-average at best to something that he was actually rather proud of, and the steel matched his delight.

Arwin set the tool down away from the flame and held the finished bracelet up. It had been several hours since he’d started working, but that only made the tingle of the Mesh as it raced across his skin all the more delightful.

[Brightsteel Bracelet: Art Quality] has been forged.

Arwin waited for more to appear, but it never did. That was it. He’d never heard of Art quality before, but it wasn’t hard to deduce what it meant.

It was just a beautiful bracelet. It didn’t do anything special, but at the same time, the Mesh recognized it as more than just a mere bracelet. It wasn’t exactly magical, but it wasn’t not magical either.

Arwin examined the design on the bracelet for a few minutes, marveling at the work. It was hard to believe it had come from his hands – but it wasn’t long before curiosity overcame his other thoughts.

He brought the bracelet up to his mouth and carefully nibbled at it. To his relief, the metal melted instantly as it met his mouth. It was still edible. Arwin ate the rest of the bracelet, then waited with bated breath.

The tightness in his stomach faded. A huge grin passed over his lips and he let out a relieved sigh.

“Art Quality seems to be good enough, then. Lucky me,” Arwin said. He glanced over at the other two pieces of Brightsteel. There was still a lot he could do with them, but he wanted to make sure he had an emergency backup in case he needed to eat more magic in the near future.

Probably best to save it for now. Maybe I should get some rest, then go about fixing up the smithy tomorrow. That’ll be nice.

Arwin brushed his hands off and sucked the [Soul Flame] from the hearth, heading for the door. He paused as he reached the exit, putting his mask back on.

Now that I’ve made my debut, I’ll have to be more careful about wearing the mask whenever I enter or leave the smithy. Never know when someone will be waiting around to meet me, even though it’s probably a bit too early for that.

Arwin headed into the street and locked the door behind himself. It was, as usual, completely desolate. Unbothered, Arwin headed off to Lillia’s tavern. There was a lot he wanted to do the next morning, and he was worried he’d start early if he didn’t force himself into bed soon.

Lillia and Reya had already retired by the time Arwin got there. So, after carefully making his way through the darkness of the tavern below, he ascended the stairs and slipped into bed whilst trying to make as little noise as possible.

Sleep took him, but it felt like a fleeting embrace.

Before Arwin knew it, the sun was streaming through the window once again. He was out of bed nearly instantly, his thoughts already on his new smithy repairs. He could practically see the remade building in his mind.

Lillia nodded to Arwin as he stepped off the stairs and into the tavern. “Reya told me yesterday went well.”

“Very well. She’s a good saleswoman,” Arwin said. “I got everything I needed to start some repairs, and I think we might be getting some more attention on the street pretty soon. Is your tavern ready for more customers?”

“Working on it,” Lillia said with a wince. “It’s hard to do much with no funds, but I’m slowly getting there.”

“You don’t have a bath, do you?”

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“Not yet. It’s on the list.”

Arwin counted out fifty gold and set it on the counter. “Here.”

Lillia stared at the pile of money with undisguised desire. “What’s this for?”

“I want a bath. Consider it an investment, not a donation. The more people come to the street, the better. We don’t need anyone looking down on us.”

Lillia looked like she wanted to refuse, but practicality won over ego. She swept the coins into her pocket and gave Arwin an appreciative nod. “Thank you. This is going to go a really long way.”

“I figured it would. Maybe start with a door.” A grin flickered across Arwin’s face. “Doors are nice, you know?”

“What is it with you and doors?” Lillia asked with a laugh.

“It just makes it feel more like a home. If you can just stride in without having to stop and do something, it feels wrong.”

“You know what? That’s fair enough,” Lillia said. “I’ll get a door. And a tub, at the very least. At some point, I’d love to have a whole hot spring. That might cost a bit more than 50 gold, though.”

“You think?” Arwin asked. “I’m sure you’ll get to it soon enough, though. You still have that Lesser Imp acting as a waiter?”

“Yeah. It’s just not out right now. No reason to waste energy when nobody is around.”

“Makes sense. I’m going to go work on repairs, then,” Arwin said. “I’ll try to be back for nightfall, so you don’t get penalized for me not sleeping in the inn.”

Lillia gave him a grateful nod and he headed off, whistling to himself as he pulled his mask on. It struck him that, despite everything that had happened, he was happier now than he ever had been as the Hero of Man.

Before his supposed death, Arwin’s life had consisted of war, killing, and training to kill. The best moments had been the ones when he’d had a few seconds to breath and relax with his friends – back when they’d still lived.

It had felt like he was living underwater, slowly drowning a little more every day. But now, the only things he had to do were make more armor, upgrade the smithy, and make sure they were ready to handle a small horde of Wyrms.

It was far from a completely carefree life, but it finally felt like a worthwhile one.

“Wish you were here with me, Blake,” Arwin muttered to himself, a pang of guilt shooting through him as he strode down the street. He’d always dreamed of leaving the war behind after it was over and settling down, but the desire to become a crafter hadn’t actually been his.

It had been Blake’s dream. The man had talked Arwin’s ear off for hours on end about all the things he’d make once the demon queen had fallen, to the point where he’d started paying more attention to his own armor and weapons purely because of how much he’d inadvertently learned about smithing.

I’ll live it for the two of us, Blake. I can’t help but feel as if you had some hand in me ending up as a smith. I bet you’d have gotten a huge kick out of it.

A faint smile formed on Arwin’s lips. He reached the smithy and lifted the key to the door, going to turn the handle – and froze. It was already unlocked. Arwin’s grin fell away and his eyes narrowed.

The thieves’s guild? Did those idiots come back?

He threw the door open, striding in and preparing to activate [Arsenal] at the first sign of an ambush or an attack.

But, instead of armed men, Arwin found the only person in his smithy to be a young teenager, probably around fourteen or fifteen years old. The boy was holding a brick of Brightsteel.

He spun as he heard Arwin enter, dropping the ingot and lunging to grab it before it could hit the ground. The boy backed up, setting the brick on the anvil and swallowing as he held his hands out defensively. “I didn’t realize someone moved in here, mister. I don’t mean any harm.”

Arwin let his hands lower. “What are you doing here?”

“I used to use this place as my hideout. Thought it was weird when someone put a door on it, so I picked the lock to come in,” the boy said hurriedly. He turned the pockets of his pants inside out. “I didn’t take anything, I swear. I was just looking around.”

Arwin studied the boy for a moment, but it looked like he was telling the truth. He was as thin as a rail, and Arwin strongly suspected he didn’t have a class by how little threat he felt from him. “What were you doing with my ingots?”

“I dunno. They were shiny,” the boy said sheepishly. “Looked expensive.”

“They are,” Arwin said. “I didn’t realize this was your hideout. I apologize.”

“It’s fine. There’s lots of other places on the street,” the boy said with a shrug. “I’ll find a different one. I just liked this one because my dad was a smith. Made me feel like I was with him.”

Arwin coughed into his fist. It wasn’t like anyone owned the smithy when he’d moved in, but he still felt a pang of guilt – though not nearly enough to offer up the smithy. There were other perfectly useable buildings around them.

“You hiding from something?” Arwin asked.

“What? No. Nothing like that, sir.”

“You can just call me Ifrit,” Arwin said, shaking his head. “And you said this was your hideout, so I figured you were hiding.”

“Oh, no. The thieves’ guild just expanded and took over the area I was camping out in before, so I came back to this one. It’s a bit farther from the markets, but…” he shrugged. “It’s fine. Not too busy, aside from you.”

“And the tavern down the street,” Arwin said. “I can’t recommend trying to rob either me or the tavern, though.”

“I ain’t no robber!”

Arwin raised an eyebrow.

“I’m a re-allocator of goods.” The boy gave him a gap-toothed grin. “Sounds better that way.”

Arwin couldn’t help himself from laughing. The kid had a certain upbeat air to him that made it difficult to stay uptight. “What’s your name? If you’re moving in next door, I might as well get to know you.”

“Zeke. You aren’t mad about me breakin’ in then?”

“Not as long as you don’t do it again or try to take anything,” Arwin said. “I’ve got bigger problems than people checking out my forge.”

Zeke’s stomach rumbled loudly. His face went bright red and he scampered to the side, making to loop around Arwin so he could leave.

“I’ll be off, then. Sorry ‘bout the bother.”

“Hold on,” Arwin said. “You want to earn some coin? Actually earn, not steal.”

Zeke paused. “How?”

“I’m doing some repairs, if you couldn’t tell,” Arwin said, nodding at the wall with all his neatly-stacked supplies. “There’s probably going to be a good bit of labor. Dragging crap out, putting crap in. That kind of thing. I’ll pay you five gold if you help me shuffle everything around today.”

Zeke’s eyes went as wide as saucers. “Five gold? I’m your man, Mister Ifrit!”

“Just Ifirit,” Arwin corrected, grateful that he’d worn his mask.

I better get that habit out of him before he and Reya meet, or I’ll never hear my actual name again.

“Yessi – uh, Ifrit. I’ll call you King if it gets me that gold.”

Arwin rolled his eyes. “Come on, then. Let’s get started by taking out all the debris and cracked stones in the walls. We’ve got a lot of work ahead of us.”