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Chapter 105: Contemplating weapons

To be honest, even if I can contain the crystal’s magic to keep it from affecting me, I don’t know if I’d want its power anywhere close. Maybe this would be better as some form of throwing weapon? I could bind to it with Arsenal and reuse it.

Arwin paced in circles around his anvil as he thought. A throwing weapon definitely had potential. The crystal was unwieldy and heavy, but he could use [Scourge] to fling whatever it ended up in.

Maybe a javelin or a spear? But I’m really not all that accurate with those. I could throw them, sure, but I don’t know how often I’d actually hit my target. It would be much better if I had a…

“A bow,” Arwin muttered, his eyes lighting up. “That’s it. I’ll make it part of a bow. It would have to be one big bloody bow, but [Scourge] would let me draw the string. It wouldn’t be the first time I used a bow, and I’m a decent shot with them. Adapting to such a large weapon might be difficult, but it’s better in the long term.”

Arwin nodded to himself as he spoke. The longer he thought about it, the more promising the idea seemed. Any magical effects the crystal had would likely get transferred into its arrows rather than affecting the wielder.

It would give him a way to study the crystal and what it did without putting himself or anyone else at too much risk. All he had to do was figure out how to actually make a bow. He wasn’t about to do it out of wood. That would have required a bit more skill than he had with the material – and it wasn’t like he could forge a tree trunk.

If I use a flexible metal like Brightsteel, I could make the bow bendable. I’d have to use a lot of it, but it would be basically unusable unless I’m using [Scourge]. I suppose that was always the plan, though.

Brightsteel could make up a portion of it, but he’d need more than that. A string, for starters. Something that could handle the enormous draw weight of what he was planning. That wouldn’t be cheap.

Beyond that, there would need to be parts of the bow made from a harder material that could withstand the string dragging across them.

I’ll need an arm guard as well. If I don’t have one, I’ll chop my arm off on accident when I shoot my first arrow. First things first. I need to see what I have to work with.

Arwin’s pacing slowed to a stop. He put the crystal back into his bag and took out the foul-smelling metal that he’d taken from the Rot Giantling. It smelled just as bad as it always had, but it was the hardest metal he had.

I wish I had something better to scrape with than just my bare hands. I don’t think Brightsteel would work too well against this, though. It would just end up bending. Ah, I know.

Arwin took a second piece of metal out of his bag. They were both covered with crud – but the film on top of them wasn’t going to be anywhere near as hard as the metal itself. He braced one piece against his anvil and got to work scraping away at it with the other.

It was slow and tedious work. Even with [Scourge], Arwin felt like he was making almost no progress. The only thing that kept him going were the strips of trash that reluctantly peeled back and fell away.

Hours slipped away. Arwin’s back streaked with sweat and his muscles burned as the repetitive motion worked its way into him, dragging claws of weariness through his being. If it had been even the slightest bit exciting, it might not have been that bad.

It wasn’t. The scrape of metal grated against his ears and the foul smell remained an ever-present annoyance in his nostrils. But, with every scrape, more metal was freed from its ancient confines.

A faint ocean blue rippled like waves beneath the grime and buildup. Arwin worked faster once he had an end in sight, and he was finally rewarded with a fully cleaned sheet of metal by the time the end of the day came around.

He set the piece he’d been using to scrape it aside – some of the metal on it had been exposed, but he didn’t have the motivation to clean it as well. Arwin brushed the pile of rancid shavings over to the corner of his shop, then held up the fruits of his labor.

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It was beautiful. The metal danced in the light. Swirls of faint green ran throughout it, invisible to anything but the most scrutinous eye. The metal itself was incredibly smooth. None of Arwin’s rough work had so much as scratched it.

This is perfect. Not the material I ever would have thought to use for a bow, to be honest. I bet it would make an incredible set of armor… but that can come later. I don’t have all that much of it. What should I call this, though?

“Maristeel?” Arwin mused. “That sounds decent enough. I have no idea if this is actually from the sea or if it’s steel, but who cares. I named the damn thing. I get to decide what it’s called.”

He was tempted to get to work immediately. Arwin nearly did – but he stopped before he could reach for Verdant Blaze. Setting the plate of cleaned Maristeel down, Arwin headed over to the door and pushed it open.

The sun had set. It looked like it had been down for about an hour or two judging by the position of the moon in the sky above. He turned back and drew the [Soul Flame] that had been granting him light to work by out of his hearth. Arwin set out across the street and returned to the tavern. He’d promised Lillia that he’d join her for dinner, even if it got late.

She was in the common when he arrived.

“Sorry. I’m a bit later than I thought I would be,” Arwin said.

“It’s fine.” Lillia took a sip from a mug in her hand. “I did say any time would be okay. We might have to be a little quiet, though. The others are already asleep.”

Lillia sniffed the air as Arwin approached. A grimace passed over her face and she thrust a finger toward the back of the room. “Nope. You’re not eating like that. You were working with that rancid metal, weren’t you?”

“Is it that bad?” Arwin smelled his fingers and grimaced. It was a mixture of sweat and seven-day old fish that had been left out to stew in the sun. “Okay. It’s that bad. I’ll draw up a bath.”

“There’s already one waiting for you. Fortunately for you, I predicted this may have happened and retrieved one of your sets of clothes as well. You might need to get some more in the near future. You’re running out.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

Lillia nodded in response. He headed past her and over to the bathrooms. As Lillia had said, there was already a large tub full of water waiting for him, his clothes draped over a wooden hanger protruding from the wall to its side.

He wasted no time in taking advantage of the awaiting water. It was cold, but a little application of his [Soul Flame] brought everything up to heat quickly. Arwin scrubbed himself down and worked the smell out of his skin as best as he could. He didn’t want to sit around in the bath for the rest of the night, but Lillia had been right about the smell.

It took him around thirty minutes before he was satisfied with the results. Arwin re-clothed himself with the spare set and then headed back out to rejoin Lillia. She was still sitting at the counter, though she’d finished her drink.

“That was great. Thank you,” Arwin said as he drew up beside her. “I–”

The rest of his sentence caught in his throat as Lillia leaned in, smelling at the nape of his neck. Her hair brushed against his skin before she pulled back and gave him a small nod. “There. That’s better.”

“I – ah, yeah.” Arwin cleared his throat. “It is. When did the others go to bed?”

“Two or so hours ago. Anna and Reya were all worn out from traveling. I’ve just been mostly working on the inn. Repairing some of the extra rooms and trying to see if I can get the rest of the upstairs portion a little more livable,” Lillia said. “I’ll probably need to get some more beds in the near future. That’s a problem for later. Right now, I just want to eat.”

“There’s always work,” Arwin agreed. “We can handle that later. I’m looking forward to eating as well.”

“Really? I thought you were just keeping me company. I thought you didn’t really need food.”

“I don’t, but it doesn’t hurt when it tastes good.”

“I think those squid tentacles might have.”

“They were perfectly fine. You’re just being overly critical of yourself.”

Lillia pierced Arwin with a stare that told him she didn’t believe a single word coming out of his mouth. A small grin pulled across her lips and she shook her head, rising out of her chair and brushing past him as she headed toward the kitchen. “Come on.”

“We’re not eating out here?”

“No. I want to turn the light out.” Lillia stopped beneath the lantern and reached up to it. “And the magical shade in my room mutes sound. It’ll make sure that nobody wakes up from us talking.”

Arwin shrugged and joined her. She reached up to the lantern and snuffed the candle out. Her hand found his wrist a moment later and she guided him through the darkness. Lillia’s hand caught his shoulder a few steps later.

“Careful,” she whispered.

“What? I can’t see where I’m going. Did I almost hit something?”

“The doorframe,” Lillia replied. Arwin’s foot nudged into the hay that made up her bed and she gave his wrist a small tug. “You can sit down. I’ve got the food waiting. I made these so they’d still be good cold.”

She put what felt like a sandwich into Arwin’s hands, then sat down beside him. He lifted it to his lips and sniffed at it. It was a strange feeling to be about to eat something that he couldn’t even see.

“Is this a sandwich?” Arwin asked.

“Yeah. Meat, cheese, and oil. Not exactly fancy, but I’ve been devouring them today. They’re pretty good. I think they are, at least.”

Arwin took a bite out of his meal. He chewed silently for a few seconds before swallowing. She was right. The sandwich tasted great. It was plain, but all the ingredients held their own and melded into a perfect mix of flavors.

“It’s really good.”

“Thanks. I’m going to try to make a menu for the inn soon. Get signs for the front and everything. I still need a name and the like. Once I figure one out, I’ll get everything made.” Lillia’s shoulder brushed against Arwin’s and she leaned against him.

“Any ideas for one yet?” Arwin tried not to pay attention to her hair tickling the side of his neck.

“No. Not yet.” The smile in Lillia’s voice was evident. “But that can wait for tomorrow. I don’t really want to do anything other than sit here right now.”

“Yeah.” Arwin took another bite out of his sandwich and smiled. “Me too.”