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Chapter 123: Pre-application test

It was definitely active. He could feel bands of heat running through his body as well as a deep urge to plunge his hands into the molten death before him. It wasn’t magical compulsion or even guidance as much as a stray desire that had been magnified.

“Arwin?” Rodrick asked. “Did you figure something out?”

Arwin knelt by the pool, taking care not to accidentally stick a foot into one of the many rivers of lava running past him. He wasn’t going to be taking a swim in the molten rock. All he wanted was to get a closer look.

“No,” Arwin replied. “But I’m looking at something.”

“If you dropped anything into the lava, it’s gone, man,” Rodrick said. “Maybe back away from the big bubbling pit, eh?”

“I’ll be fine,” Arwin replied. He held a hand out over the lava to test the heat and immediately felt like an idiot. It was hot.

It’s fucking lava. Of course it’s hot. What did I expect? A chill breeze?

Every single scrap of logic that Arwin could muster told him that the lava was the absolute worst thing he could stick any part of his body into. Nothing seemed to imply that he’d survive taking a dip in it.

[Molten Novice] didn’t say anything about fire resistance. As far as he could tell, there wasn’t anything that he had that would protect him from the heat. None of that held any weight to the powerful desire urging him to plunge a hand into pool of glowing orange.

“Arwin?” Lillia asked, edging closer to him. Concern tinged her tone. “I’m not so sure that look on your face is good. Maybe the hammer solution you had earlier is better. I’m not loving the idea of whatever it is you’re thinking.”

“It should be fine. I’ve got an ability that’s kind of pulling me toward the lava,” Arwin said. He caught the worry intensifying on Lillia’s face and quickly amended himself. “Not physically, mind you. Just… a thought.”

“That’s called being suicidal. There are healers that can help you with that,” Anna said.

“No, I’m not going to kill myself,” Arwin said irritably. “I have an ability that relies a lot on fire. Apparently, getting near lava is resonating with it somehow.”

“Are you sure it’s not just really enjoying the view?” Reya asked. “I suggest leaving it as a view.”

Arwin looked back to the lava. He was certain that [Molten Novice] was telling him he had to touch the lava. He was equally certain that touching the lava would result in him having one less hand.

There was no way the ability would just encourage him to burn himself alive. There had to be a way he could do what it wanted. If he had a glove that could resist the fire, perhaps that would have counted.

Unfortunately, he had no such thing. He also had no idea when the next time he’d find a pool of lava sitting around for him would be. Arwin bit at his inner cheek. It was too much potential to risk passing up. If he got badly burned, Anna could heal him.

He reached toward the lava slowly. A bubble popped and a tiny spec of it brushed across his hand. Pain ripped into his palm and he yanked it back, hissing and cursing as he shook it off. A wave of gentle warmth rolled over him and the pain faded.

“Thank you,” Arwin said through gritted teeth, giving Anna a nod. She returned it.

“Can you get away from that now?” Lillia asked.

Arwin looked back to the lava. He was missing something. The opportunity was right there. As to what the opportunity was, he hadn’t quite determined. It was there, though.

A thought struck him. He glanced down at his hand, then summoned his [Soul Flame]. The orb of crackling fire materialized in his palm. Arwin willed it to stretch out and spread across his fingers.

The flames rolled across his hand and molded to his skin, covering it completely up to his elbow before it refused to spread any farther. He flexed his fingers, then looked back at the lava. Anna sighed.

Ignoring her, Arwin reached back toward the lava. He moved as slowly as he had the last time. His hand drew closer to the heat rising up from the molten rock, but there was no burning. Spots of lava popped and brushed against his hand, but once more, nothing happened.

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He reached a little farther down, brushing his fingers across the surface of the lava. It was surprisingly hard and not nearly as squishy as it looked. But, even more surprisingly, his hand didn’t burn.

Arwin pushed deeper. The lava bent around his fingers, then flowed over them. He squeezed his hand around it, pushing through the molten rock. It felt like really, really dense dough.

A thrill of delight ran through him. Something about playing with lava just struck a chord he’d never thought he’d had. Arwin scooped a tiny amount of the lava up and held it up, his grin growing even wider.

“Look at this!”

“Holy shit,” Reya said, her eyes wide with shock and delight. “Don’t throw that.”

“Why would I throw it?” Arwin asked, letting the lava slough off his hand. It fell into the pool with a plop. “I’m not an idiot.”

“I totally would have thrown it to see what would happen,” Rodrick said. Anna glared at him and he cleared his throat. “Not at anyone, mind you. Just… in general.”

“Is that what your ability was trying to show you?”

“I don’t know,” Arwin said with a frown. The ability seemed to be pulling back now. It had gotten what it wanted. Evidently, the dwarves had used lava to some degree in their forging process.

I would absolutely love to see a dwarven forge. I bet it would be incredible. Or imagine… an actual dwarven smith. If this ability is just the start of what they do, I can’t even begin to imagine what I’d be cable of doing with their talent. I’ll have to seek one out as soon as the Wyrm business is done.

“You know, is it maybe worth Arwin just… bringing some of the lava over to the chest?” Reya asked. “All the grooves that should have lava in them run over to the same point at its base. If you just stick some lava on that, do you think it might open?”

Nobody had a reason as to why Arwin shouldn’t try that, so he shrugged and scooped up another handful of lava. Everyone moved to give him space as he rose. He walked carefully, keeping the lava as far away from his body as possible. The [Soul Flame] didn’t extend far enough to protect him if he dropped something on his leg.

He made his way over to the chest and knelt by the circular groove right at its base. With a tilt of his hand, Arwin let the lava slide off onto the stone. He let the [Soul Flame] that had been protecting him fade as he stood back up.

They were all silent for a few seconds. Reya’s idea had been a long shot, but the puzzle was probably slightly more complex than –

A loud click echoed through the room. It was followed by a clunk and a deep whoosh. The lava in the pool at the center of the room started to drain away. Within just a few seconds, it had completely sunk away to reveal a dense metal base where it had once been.

Thick holes ran along the metal, presumably just opened by Arwin’s lava-delivery. The glow of the lava shone beneath them as it sank deeper into the earth. Embossed in the pool, in the gaps between the holes, was a sword, a shield, and a full set of armor.

A few seconds later, one last click echoed out. Stone ground as the top of the chest cracked open.

They all turned to look at Reya.

“What?” She asked. “It was a good guess!”

“A really good one,” Arwin said. He nodded to the drawings on the ground in the pool where the lava had been. “Looks like we know where they lost the other guys belongings as well. I think the lava might have been the second part of the puzzle, not the first.”

“The first was to… stick stuff at the bottom of the pool to get melted?” Reya asked doubtfully.

Arwin shrugged in response. “I don’t know. We seem to have missed the puzzle, but it’s also solved now. Lucky us.”

“I’m certainly not going to complain,” Lillia said. “My shadows aren’t strong enough to pull that lid open, though. You’ll have to do it. Just be careful.”

He nodded and approached the chest. It was large, but not as big as the one in the last dungeon. Its lip was only at his shoulder level and it didn’t seem too heavy. Arwin walked in a circle around it to make sure that there weren’t any obvious traps waiting before wedging Verdant Blaze’s hilt into the gap and using it to lever the chest open.

The lid rocked back before clicking into place and staying still. Arwin waited for a second, then crept forward and peered into the chest while making sure no part of him actually entered it – who knew when the lid would decide to snap shut.

A long, thin blade rested in the center of the chest above a ratty old tarp bag, suspended up by two y-shaped stands. It was made of a scarlet metal with ripples running through it in a mesmerizing pattern. The sword had a jagged black hilt and a matching handle.

Energy gathered before Arwin’s eyes as the Mesh identified the weapon before him as magical.

Crimson Fang: Average Quality

[Firefolded Steel]: Flames have been worked into this weapons blade, allowing it to ignite upon striking a surface at the cost of magical energy.

“Huh,” Arwin said, his eyes moving past the blade to look at the bag beneath it. “Nice sword.”

If anything, he was more interested in how someone had folded flames into the metal than he was of the weapon’s actual construction. It was a decent looking magical item, but nothing particularly interesting to him.

“Show us!” Reya exclaimed. “I want to see!”

Arwin wedged his hammer against the chest to make sure it wouldn’t close on him and picked the blade up, pulling it free so the others could look at it.

“Oh,” Reya said. She caught herself midway through a word and cleared her throat, changing the sentence before it could exit her mouth. “Well, it’s pretty.”

Nobody else said much. A wave of smug satisfaction passed through Arwin. They all preferred his own work, as amateurish as it was. He reached into the box and grabbed the tarp bag, pulling it out as well before dismissing Verdant Blaze and turning back to the others.

“There was also this. I–”

Arwin trailed off as he saw Olive sending the sword a wide-eyed stare, the desire etched into her features as her hand twitched at her side.

Ah. Right. Magical weapon and she’s a swordswoman. She probably wants this pretty damn badly. I doubt she’d show her true colors now if she was going to try to steal it, but it’ll be interesting to see how she responds to this.

Olive hadn’t even asked to join the guild yet, but this is as good a spot as any to test her to see what she’s really like. Everyone changes when something really valuable comes onto the line, even if it isn’t all that useful to us.

Why don’t we have a pre-application test?