Rise of the Living Forge
Chapter 449: Determination

The next morning arrived too early as it always did. A growing part of Arwin wished the nights were longer, but an equal part of him was eager to finally make the prototype armor they’d spent so much time preparing for.

It helped that Lillia was equally as busy as he was. She had a hell of a lot of customers to prepare for, and though she’d refused to tell him exactly what it was the previous night, Lillia had some manner of secret project that was apparently pretty close to being complete.

Arwin had headed out early in the morning before the sun had risen, making for the Infernal Armory with determination in his steps.

Ridley seemed to have wrapped the final parts of the inn’s renovations up. He’d moved his cart of materials along to one of the other run-down buildings sitting along the streetside and was well underway tearing the thing apart.

He certainly moved fast. It looked like the mason had already gotten started on the auction house. The two of them exchanged a nod as Arwin passed. They really hadn’t spoken much, but neither of them really had to.

Sometimes, a nod was more than enough.

That said… I’m no expert on masonry, but I really do feel like Ridley works far faster than he should be able to. The guy doesn’t even have any backup. At least, not that I’ve seen. He just throws buildings together within days. That’s crazy.

I wonder what kind of class he has. With the amount of money we’ve paid him and the number of projects he’s gotten… maybe we should look into deepening our relationship a bit more. It’s not like the auction house is the last building we’re going to need him to make.

Arwin made a mental note to bring the idea up tonight at dinner as he stepped through the door of the Infernal Armory and headed into the back room— only to find Wallace and Koyu already waiting for him alongside a marble table covered with organized materials from the previous night.

“Now you’re just making me look bad,” Arwin said, crossing his arms in front of his chest. “Beating me to my own armory is just in poor form.”

“Shouldn’t have established a connection to my front door,” Wallace said with a rough laugh. “This one’s on you, boy. Real smiths are early risers. We wake before the sun does. A cold bed does wonders to get you moving. What’s keeping you in bed anyway, you lout? What could possibly be better than the song of creation? A woman?”

Arwin stared at Wallace for a moment. Then he cleared his throat. “…yes?”

Wallace blinked. “You… Lillia?”

“Was that fact not already established?” Arwin asked. “I thought it was kind of obvious.”

“It is,” Koyu said. “Painfully so to anyone but yourself for the longest period of time.”

“Hey!” Arwin protested. “That’s in the past. You can’t hold it over me. We figured things out eventually.”

Koyu just shrugged in response. Wallace continued to squint at Arwin like he’d grown a third arm from his forehead.

“You sleep in the same room?” Wallace asked. “In the same bed? Have you courted?”

“What are you on about?” Arwin asked. Wallace actually looked stunned. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d seen the dwarf so taken aback by something this inconsequential. “Yes, we do. Why?”

“Right. Human rituals are different than dwarven ones. Forgot you lot move a bit faster.” Wallace turned away with a grunt. “Let’s get to work.”

But he didn’t turn fast enough. Arwin caught a hint of a blush in Wallace’s cheeks. The old dwarf was actually embarrassed.

He burst into laughter. “Hold on, Wallace. Not to be judgmental, but how old are you again?”

“Don’t get uppity with me,” Wallace grumbled. “We just like taking things the old fashioned way. Last lass I talked to didn’t so much as shake my hand for a year.”

“That’s… a little sad,” Arwin said. “Not that I have a lot of experience with this kind of thing. Are you sure you were actually seeing each other?”

“Course we were,” Wallace snapped. “It’s just dwarven custom. Takes a while.”

“Is that custom, or is that what she told you?” Koyu asked.

Wallace glared at the lich. “Don’t push your luck, corpse. At least I have equipment to work with.”

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

“Ouch,” Koyu said. “But I will have equipment, as you say, soon enough. This armor we create will precede my new body — though finding another to spend my life with is not particularly high on my list. I have been accompanied by death for too long.”

“Yeah, sure. Nobody’s going to buy that excuse,” Wallace said through a snort. “But if it helps you sleep at night, we won’t begrudge you it.”

“I rarely sleep,” Koyu said. “And it seems I’d have time to die and come back to life a second time before you shack up with the dwarf of your dreams. Your house is made from straw and you play with fire.”

“Speaking of fire,” Arwin said, coughing into his fist. “The armor?”

Both of the other two cleared their throats as well. There was a long second of awkward silence as they realized that the three of them were caught in the conversation of a group of preteens. Then Wallace clapped his hands together.

“Materials. Lots of them. We have a plan. Let’s get to it, shall we? Where’s the Infernal Armory? Slacking off? Get it to work.”

“Right,” Arwin said, the corner of his lip twitching as he shook his head and approached the table. It was laden with parts that they’d gathered over the past days — from dried black leather from the bats he’d fought in the Blacktongue’s dungeon to the metals he’d earned from his commissions. They’d already picked out all the materials they’d be working with for the prototype, and he’d interviewed each piece to make sure it was interested in being part of his armor.

The only part that Arwin wasn’t entirely certain about was the plate of crimson metal in the center of the table. He’d actually been the one to insist on including it. Something about the metal had held his attention ever since it had given him the odd vision.

It wouldn’t have just checked me out and then kicked me from the vision if it didn’t want to work together. Materials can always choose to stonewall me… but this one didn’t. I’m honestly not sure if I’ll incorporate it into the final design yet.

Arwin’s eyes flicked to another plate of metal on the table, this one a practically glowing bronze. There were quite a few pieces of it. It would be the core material the armor was made from, having both incredible shock-absorptive properties whilst having a high resistance to warping.

He could replace the crimson metal with the bronze if the need called for it — but he’d only find that out after he got started.

“Is everyone ready?” Arwin asked. “If so… I’m going to begin.”

“I am prepared,” the Infernal Armory said, a tremor of excitement in its voice. “This is what you created me to do. This is my purpose. My full attention — every scrap of my being and focus — is here and now. We will create history.”

“I’ll settle for a good piece of armor. Been waiting for this for like a week,” Wallace replied with a grunt. “Let’s do this.”

“I am likewise prepared,” Koyu confirmed. “Though I do not know if your armory will be able to connect to me.”

“Only one way to find out,” Arwin said. A determined smile split his lips and he nodded. “Let’s do this.”

A tremor rolled through the floor of the armory. Slots all along the walls slid open as black tendrils wound out from within it. They coiled through the air like an eldritch monster before all of them shot forward as one.

Tendrils slammed into Arwin’s back, driving into his body and establishing his connection with the Infernal Armory. Power slammed into his mind as two more presences buzzed to life in the back of his mind.

Koyu and Wallace had been similarly connected. The armory’s mind hummed together with theirs, stabilizing their combined power and re-allocating it. Power pulsed through the coiling tendrils running through the air. The hearth started to hum in anticipation.

Arwin let out a sharp breath as he steadied himself, making sure the magic pouring through his body couldn’t affect his concentration. Then he reached deep into his own mind.

The ocean of Soul Lava that resided within him responded. Power poured out from him and coursed through the tendrils connected to his back. It flowed into the Infernal Armory — and the grooves on the floor ignited as lava started to pour through them.

Heat flooded the Infernal Armory in a choking wave that threatened to squeeze the air from any unprepared lungs. Not one of the three flinched. Wallace and Arwin were already more than used and resistant to the intensity of the lava they worked with, and Koyu simply didn’t care. He didn’t even need to breathe.

“First step is the skeleton,” Wallace said, his gaze affixed on the diagram pinned to the far wall of the armory. “It’ll be Torbronze, but we should start with the Cleansteal pins for the joints. You’ll want those ready before we get too deep into anything.”

Koyu picked up a piece of glossy silver metal that was so bright that it practically looked like a mirror and handed it to Arwin, who nodded his appreciation and took the material.

[Soul Flame] crackled to life over Arwin’s hands and ignited within his mouth as magma bubbled up from his palms. Heat poured from between his lips like the breath of a dragon as he shoved the magma into it, chewing to deepen the connection between himself and the superheated rock.

“Doesn’t the magma come from your soul? Do you really need to eat it?” Wallace asked.

“It’s about the spirit of things,” Arwin replied through a full mouth. “It’s tradition.”

Wallace paused for a moment. Then he shrugged. “You know what? Can’t argue with that. Dwarves have always been a bit too much of a fan of tradition.”

“You can say that again,” Koyu said.

“Shut it,” Wallace grumbled.

Arwin extracted the lava from his mouth and tossed a new portion in. He repeated the process a few more times until the connection between himself and the growing ball in his hands was so thick that it might as well have been part of himself.

Then he shoved the piece of shimmering metal right into the lava. As high-quality and beautiful as it was… there were always impurities. And he couldn’t have that. Arwin wasn’t going to settle for anything less than perfect for this armor.

Thoughts and desires brushed across Arwin’s mind as he felt his connection to the melting metal intensify. A grin split his lips as the joy of crafting swallowed him in its meditative flow state.

The process had begun in true…

And he wasn’t going to stop until the strongest piece of armor he’d ever dared to create sat finished before him.