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Chapter 154:

“Well… I don’t know.” Reya’s cheeks colored. “I just don’t know what to do.”

“It seems like you’ve been doing better. You’re actually talking to her. That was a step in the right direction.” Arwin tried to make sure his voice didn’t get too dry, but he didn’t do the best job at it. Reya’s blush intensified.

“You don’t have to rub it in. And I know that. I meant what I’m supposed to do about what she just told us about. Her past.”

“I don’t know if there’s a specific answer to that. Just be kind and try to help her if she needs help. Is it something specific you’re asking about? I’m not sure I’m following.”

Reya’s fists tightened and she tapped a foot on the ground as she searched for the proper words. “That’s not it. I know that. I mean… isn’t it cheap, or something?”

“Cheap?”

“Olive is clearly not feeling well. Even if she’s pretending like she isn’t bothered, it’s pretty obvious that she is. Wouldn’t it be wrong of me to try to do anything when she’s like that? I have ulterior motives.”

“That’s not an easy question,” Arwin admitted. Arwin lowered the Maristeel and brushed his hands off. This was definitely moving well past his pay grade, but he couldn’t just leave Reya hanging. “The fact that you’re thinking about it is probably a good thing. In the end, I don’t think there’s anything bad that can be said about being there for someone. You’re not trying to leverage this for anything, are you?”

“What? No!” Reya hurriedly shook her head. “Of course not! I just want to help.”

“Well, there. If you’re not trying to take advantage of her, then nobody is going to complain about a shoulder to support themselves on. It would be an issue if you expected something in return for that, but if you don’t, then I don’t see an issue.”

“But isn’t it manipulative?”

“Do you want to help her purely to get in her pants?”

Reya choked on her on saliva. She took a second to gather herself before shaking her head. “Who do you think I am? No.”

“Then you aren’t doing anything wrong. It’s good to think about this, but I don’t think life is secure enough to waste time on it,” Arwin said with a sigh. He leaned against his anvil and drummed his fingers on its edge. “Kindness is free. If someone has a problem with that, then they aren’t worth your time. Just don’t leverage it as some sort of favor and you’ll be fine.”

Reya ran a hand through her hair. Then, to Arwin’s surprise, she let out a small laugh.

“What?” he asked, confused.

“I asked Lillia about this before I came over here, and she gave me the exact same answer that you just did, just with different words.”

“Well, then it must mean we’re right.”

Reya rolled her eyes. She tucked a strand of hair behind the back of her ear and gave Arwin a slight nod. “Maybe. Thank you. That helps. I’ll ask Olive if she wants to talk more about the past later, once she gets back. Maybe I’ll go find everyone and see if they need help.”

“I’m certain they’d appreciate it. There were a hell of a lot of Iron Hounds that we didn’t get a chance to strip down. Wyrmlings too — we got their scales, but there are still claws and teeth.”

“Do you want all that?”

A vision of his new smithy piled completely to the brim with Wyrmling bones flashed through Arwin’s mind and he shuddered. He was confident the street wasn’t haunted, but it certainly would be if he brought that many bodies back.

“Maybe a bag full of them. Two at most. I won’t need more — by the time I run out, I suspect I’ll have moved onto better equipment anyway. I don’t want to become a complete hoarder.”

“Sounds good. Anything else?”

“If you’ve got free time, I could use some more Brightsteel,” Arwin said. He pulled his pouch off his side and tossed it to Reya. “It makes some pretty good armor, and I want to start getting our funds really padded. Do you think you could buy some for me? We really need a proper supplier instead of buying everything from Taylor, but that can come later.”

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“Sure thing. And I’ll pass your request for stuff along to the others.” Reya headed over to the door, then paused and looked back at Arwin. “Thanks again. I never really had anyone to talk to about stuff like this. It… means a lot.”

She stepped out before Arwin could respond. Arwin looked at the spot where she’d been standing, a small smile pulling at his lips before he could quash it. He wasn’t so sure he should let himself feel good about this. He barely knew what he was doing himself. Giving Reya advice didn’t feel like the smartest move, but her question hadn’t been too focused on the romantic elements, so he felt like he hadn’t overstepped any bounds. And, if Arwin was honest with himself, it felt nice to be relied upon.

He got back to work on the Maristeel, the small smile still present on his lips. Time slipped by, properly this time. The rough exterior of crud covering the Maristeel steadily came off and he soon had a polished piece ready to work with.

Arwin set it into the flame and set about working it into a plate once it was hot enough. When he’d finished, he pulled it into pieces with [Scourge] and laid them out to cool.

“Right. Which of you want to be an arrow?” Arwin asked, looking out at the thick strips of Maristeel on his anvil. He’d started to get used to speaking to his materials, as odd as it was.

And, as usual, he was delighted to find that the Maristeel was amiable to just about anything. The metal was just so happy to be used after all the time it had sat around doing nothing that he was pretty sure it would have been thrilled to be a toilet seat.

Okay, that might be going a bit far. I’m not so sure anything wants to be a toilet seat. I should take care to never speak to the materials of one of those, or I may never be the same again.

Arwin gathered up the pieces of Maristeel and set them aside. With the metal handled, it was time to move on to the next, and arguably more important, step. He needed something to focus the magic.

“Let’s see,” Arwin mused, looking around everything he’d brought into the smithy. He still had the white gemstone from the Mesh’s Challenge. That didn’t feel like it would benefit an arrow much.

I need something that would give it traits that would… well, suit an arrow. Definitely nothing with [Brittle] since I want to reuse it. I don’t think anything from the spiders would be all that useful. I bet I could get a poison attribute from that, but I’m looking more for massive damage than that. The centipede pieces will also be a lot more useful for defensive purposes.

Arwin’s thoughts drifted to the Wyrmling scales. There were literal piles of them just waiting to be used. The scales themselves probably wouldn’t be of any use in an arrow… but their claws and teeth were a whole different game.

I think that’s what I need. I’ll just wait for the others to come back with the Wyrmling bits and I’ll use either a tooth or a claw for the arrow.

He turned, satisfied with his decision, and froze. Resting in the corner of his smithy behind him was a bag stuffed full of bone. He walked up to the edge of his workshop and squinted out the door beyond it that led into the street.

The sun was already shining down on the street. He’d somehow let hours slip away from him once more. It looked like the others had already completed their item run and dropped everything off without disturbing him.

“Good timing,” Arwin mused to himself, even though it was likely the bag had gotten dropped off quite some time ago. He pulled it open to see what they’d gotten for him. Within it was a mixture of bones, teeth, claws, and daggers. There were also a few broken swords.

Well, it certainly looks like they got everything they could. This was probably just one of the bags.

Arwin took out a tooth and a claw, then walked back to the anvil. Both of them were sharp — there was no doubt about that. The claw was considerably larger than the fang. It was rounded and curved to a thin point.

The fang, on the other hand, was sharp all the way along its edges. Even though it was smaller, the fang felt like it fit what he needed quite a bit more than the claw did.

Not to mention I’ve used a fang for an arrow before. Sure, it was a smaller fang and a worse arrow, but the idea is the same.

Arwin put the claw back and set the fang aside. He selected several pieces of Maristeel and returned them to the flames to heat. Once they’d grown hot enough, he set about hammering them together into a rod.

The process went relatively quickly. That wasn’t to say it was fast, but between the extra strength from [Scourge] and the [Soul Flame] that rippled with every strike, Arwin soon had the shaft of the arrow made.

He added the tooth to the head of the weapon, keeping himself focused on his end goal. The Maristeel would likely add in some form of water or sea related attribute. He couldn’t easily control that one without splitting his attention — perhaps that would be an ability that came with time.

It wasn’t one he had now. So, instead, he focused entirely on what he could control. He needed an arrow that would be sharp. An arrow that would shoot straight and fly as far as a rod of metal could reasonably be expected to fly.

Strike by strike, the arrow came together. Arwin poured magical energy into it. It was considerably more nerve-wracking to make something entirely without the Mesh’s guidance, but he didn’t want just any old arrow. He wanted the arrow. One that would serve him for the foreseeable future. Something that could survive being fired and resummoned over and over again.

Something that could channel all the power within Prism’s Reach without breaking, and something that could pierce through armor like paper.

The ring of Arwin’s hammer filled his smithy. It rang in his ears, going from individual sounds to a hazy blur. With every strike, his work seemed to blend more and more into the sound of rushing water.

And, as he lifted his hammer one last time, it struck Arwin that his work was complete. A glistening blue arrow sat on the anvil before him, humming with magical energy. He was done with the arrow — but the arrow wasn’t done with him.

A vision rushed up, darkening the edges of his vision so quickly that he barely had time to drop into a seated position before it swallowed him whole. It seemed like the arrow was eager to test his mettle. That was just fine with Arwin. He was equally interested to see what it had to offer.

I’m not settling for less than the absolute best that both the arrow and I can bring to the table. From here on out, anything I make for my allies will be the best it can possibly be or nothing at all.