Rise of the Living Forge

Arwin knew that it would have been rude to laugh, but the expression of disbelief on Elias’ features — so stark that it was apparent even through the wrappings covering his entire body — was doing its best to break him.

After all, he wasn’t about to reveal to Elias just why they didn’t care that he and Maeve weren’t human. Just because Elias seemed like he was worthy of helping didn’t mean the man could be completely trusted with every single one of their secrets. There was a difference between a working relationship and a friendship.

One can turn into the other, but there’s no point jumping the gun.

I’d still pay a lot of money to see the look on his real, unbandaged face if I were to reveal that our guild has the Demon Queen and a vampire in it, not to mention whatever the hell Esmerelda is.

Elias swallowed and interlaced his fingers, clearly trying to control his body to prevent from letting on just how simultaneously stressed and relieved he was. “Then we will gratefully take you up on your offer. I’m certain I don’t have to stress this, but please be cautious with our identities. Others are not so kind as—”

“We know,” Lillia said, a gentle note entering her voice. “Don’t worry. Not a single person in this room will ever reveal anything about who you are to anybody else. Your secret will be safe with us — but we still have some more business to deal with before the night is done.”

“We do?” Elias asked. “We… are working together, yes?”

“We are,” Lillia confirmed. “But you said that most teams worked in groups of 3 for the tournament, right?”

Maeve nodded. That seemed to be just about all she could actually do in the purposes of conversation. Arwin was tempted to ask exactly what kind of monster she was, but that felt like a remarkably rude question.

“We’ll have to find someone else,” Elias said. “I have no delusions as to how much good equipment can do. It can make a massive difference… but when we’re up against a group like the Starforge Guild — or really any of the powerful ranked guild teams, going two versus three is impossible. The problem is finding someone we can actually work with. Now that you know about our… peculiarity, I’m sure you can understand how hard it is to find a third member. Teams are built on trust. We could hire some mercenary, but we’d have to watch ourselves around them just as much as an enemy. Finding that last member will be difficult, but I promise we can do it. We won’t be a burden to your guild.”

I think you’d be surprised at just what items can really do, but I agree that there’s no point to limit ourselves to just three people. But I really don’t see a reason to go hunting for someone else to fill in the final spot on their team when we have a perfectly eligible warrior right here.

It only took a glance at the other present members of the Menagerie to realize that they were all thinking the same thing. Reya, Lillia, and Rodrick had all already turned toward Olive, who was blinking at the sudden attention sent her way.

“What?” Olive asked.

“We’ve got a perfectly capable warrior right here,” Arwin said. “One who isn’t going to be revealing your secret to anyone.”

“But… aren’t you a crafting guild?” Elias swallowed and cleared his throat. “Not to be rude, of course. But this is a very difficult tournament. I know we might not look like much, but—”

“Olive is a very competent warrior,” Arwin said. “She isn’t a craftsman — at least, not yet. It’s never too late in life to pick up a new hobby. But I digress. She’s more than capable as a warrior. What Tier are the majority of the participants at the Proving Grounds?”

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“Mid Adept,” Elias replied.

Arwin nodded thoughtfully. That was quite high — comparatively speaking, at least. The Menagerie hadn’t really been pushing to advance at max speed before. They’d had other things to deal with. Jessen. The Ardent Guild, and most recently, Twelve. There hadn’t been time for them to completely focus on growing their own strength… but now things were different.

“How long do we have until the tournament?” Lillia asked.

“I don’t know,” Elias replied with a shake of his head. “The Secret Eye hasn’t told us the exact date, but it should be at least a few weeks. That’s how long we had after they told us about it last year.”

Arwin and Lillia exchanged a glance. They’d both been through quite a few Tiers in their time. Rushing to advance was a huge mistake but advancing with purpose… that was different. The Menagerie was already drawing a lot of attention.

If Rodrick was right, there would be more eyes than ever before on Arwin after word of Olive’s new arm spread. If he started taking on more tasks and creating more powerful items for people, those would spread word of him as well.

The path to power was practically paving itself — and he would use that to advance his entire guild. Getting to Adept was just a stepping stone on the road to tearing down the corruption within the Adventurer’s guild.

“That’s more than enough time,” Arwin said. “A few weeks is enough time for you to get to know each other and start training — and that training can help me get materials that I can use to outfit all of you.”

Elias blinked. He exchanged a glance with Maeve, then looked to Olive. “Is this okay with you?”

“I…” Olive hesitated. She didn’t have the best history with working in teams. Arwin was more than aware of that. It was exactly how she’d lost her arm the first time around. She was silent for several long seconds. Then she swallowed heavily. “Can I think about it?”

“Of course,” Arwin said. “If you don’t want to do it, nobody will force you. We can find someone else. Maybe Rodrick wants to stretch out his old bones.”

Rodrick shuddered. “Please, no. I’m more than happy sitting on the sidelines. But we don’t have to figure this out now. We have time. Either way, I think we’ve all got a lot of work to do in the coming days. The Phoenix Circle will need the full strength of the Menagerie behind them, not just Arwin’s equipment.”

Elias started to nod. Then he paused. “What does that mean?”

“You’ll see.” Rodrick smiled, and a small shiver ran down Arwin’s back. Even though Rodrick was on his side, the man’s eyes could be positively sinister when they caught the light in just the right way.

“We can deal with more logistics tomorrow,” Lillia said, clapping her hands together to pull their attention back to her. “For the time being — Elias, Maeve, I believe both of our guilds would benefit from getting to know each other better… and the rooms at my inn are quite reasonably priced.”

Elias hesitated for several seconds. He glanced at Maeve, who nodded. The bandages on his face creased as his lips pulled into a small smile. “So long as I’m not paying a gold for each of us every day, I think we’ll be fine. Maeve and I know how important having a strong relationship is for fighting together effectively. If you think it’ll help, then we’ll stay.”

“Good,” Lillia said. Her eyes flashed, and it struck Arwin that the Menagerie might have had a few too many people that could look sinister in the right lighting. “I can assure you that you won’t regret it. Do you mind sharing a room?”

“Can you get two beds in it?” Elias asked.

Lillia nodded. “Already done. Then, unless anyone else has anything to say tonight, I think it might be time to wind the excitement down. I’ll show you both to the room.”

“Then that would be perfect. Thank you — all of you. I can speak for both myself and Maeve when I say we greatly look forward to what we hope to be a successful partnership.”

Maeve bowed her head, mirroring his thoughts if not his words. The two of them both rose from the table and Lillia led them upstairs toward their new lodgings.

But, as they left, not every single member of the Menagerie was paying attention to them. Olive’s eyes were still transfixed in the air before her, and her face looked to have gone a shade paler.

“Olive?” Reya asked, noticing something was awry and reaching out to touch the other woman’s shoulder. “Are you okay?”

“If you’re really concerned about the tournament, you don’t have to do it,” Arwin said. “I didn’t mean to put you on the spot. I thought you might have liked the opportunity to test the arm out.”

“No,” Olive said, swallowing heavily. “It’s not that at all.”

“What is it?” Reya asked.

“My Challenge,” Olive said, her voice dropping to a stricken whisper as her left hand lifted to touch the seam where her new wooden arm met the flesh of her shoulder. “It’s back.”