Rise of the Living Forge

“Our biggest threat is… a child?” Lillia asked, squinting at Rodrick as if trying to tell if he was joking or not.

“No,” Rodrick replied. “My biggest threat is a child.”

“Have you considered that you might just not want kids?” Reya asked. “There’s nothing wrong with that. It’s scary.”

“And a big responsibility,” Anna said.

“Really?” Rodrick asked, glaring at her. “You too? I’m trying to be serious!”

“Sorry,” Anna said with a sheepish grin. “They are, though.”

“So they are.” Rodrick rolled his eyes. “And this one is especially so. Several of the little bits and bobs I’ve stuck on old records just in case someone came looking for me have gone off. It’s been a while since that happened.”

“Bits and — what now?” Arwin’s brow furrowed. “You can do something like that? How does that fit into your class? You never said you could set traps.”

Rodrick coughed into his fist. “I absorbed the entirety of the Secret Eye’s knowledge, Arwin. Everything they had. Do you really think I didn’t get some Titles from that? I’m no mage, but I’m not incapable.”

“Right,” Arwin said, shaking his head and blinking away his surprise. This wasn’t the time to press for details of exactly what Rodrick was capable of. He drummed his fingers against the side of his thigh. “So you think Art is going to be a major threat?”

“In all the ways that the other teams aren’t,” Rodrick confirmed. “I don’t think he’s going to be much good in a fight. When I looked into him, I couldn’t find anything that indicated he was a competent combatant. He’s got a deformity in his leg that forces him to use a crutch to walk. But when it comes to information… that’s what we need to hide the most.”

“If people figure out what Elias and Maeve are…” Olive trailed off. Then she grimaced as a scenario played out within her mind. “That would be bad. Really bad.”

“Really bad,” Rodrick agreed. “I’m looking into him, but my network is very focused in Milten. Art is in a city closer to the center of Lian called Thornhelm. I don’t have good connections there. I’ll have to take a trip to visit and build up a network.”

“Isn’t that dangerous?” Lillia asked.

“It’s necessary,” Rodrick corrected. “And it’s not like Art is an evil monster. This is a competition supervised by the Secret Eye. We’re enemies, but we’re not trying to kill each other. I’ll be fine.”

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“Well, if we can help, let us know,” Arwin said.

“I always do.” Rodrick pushed his chair back from the counter and rose to his feet. Anna picked a piece of egg off the front of his shirt and arched an eyebrow at him. Rodrick coughed into a fist. “Art isn’t our only trouble, though.”

“I thought you said there were only 3 teams we have to watch,” Lillia said.

“That’s because I don’t know who the other ones are. I know they’re there, but I haven’t managed to single them out.” Rodrick’s expression darkened and he crossed his arms behind his back. “I think the Adventurer’s Guild is going to be personally involved in this tournament.”

That caught everyone’s attention. A chair scraped back across the floor and Arwin realized that it had been his.

“The Guild is going to have a team?” Arwin asked.

“I think so. They’ve hidden it very well,” Rodrick said with a shake of his head. “I would have guessed it was Kien before. He was their golden boy. Not the Hero, but not far from him in popularity. But… well, he’s dead. Can’t be him. So I’m still looking. Just be ready. We might have some serious competition.”

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Arwin’s emotions twisted in his chest. Old memories and new mixed as one. The Guild had been looming at the back of his mind for so long that actually coming face to face with them was enough to send what almost felt like an electric shock through his body.

He drew in a sharp breath and forced it out through his mouth.

“It’s a good thing that Lillia and I aren’t directly competing,” Arwin said. “We might actually be able to use this.”

“The Guild doesn’t know who Olive is,” Lillia said. She paused and glanced at Olive. “That is, unless you’ve also got some form of connection to them that you just haven’t had a chance to mention yet? You didn’t run someone important through in your youth or something, did you?”

“No. My slate with them is clean.”

“Really?” Reya asked. “Sweet.”

“Why is that a surprise? Not being on the Adventurer’s Guild’s shit list should be the standard, not the exception! And you can’t act like they know who you are! You’re in the same boat as me.”

Reya scratched at the back of her neck as her cheeks went bright red. “Well… not really.”

Arwin’s eyes snapped over to Reya and he fought to keep his expression neutral.

Wait. Seriously? When did Reya have a run-in with the Guild?

“How?” Lillia asked. “I thought you grew up in Milten.”

“I did.” Reya’s cheeks somehow turned even brighter. They were rapidly approaching the color of Olive’s hair. “But the Guild occasionally sends representatives to outer cities. To check up on stuff, you know?”

“You robbed him,” Olive said flatly.

“I did not rob him. I was part of a very carefully executed heist. He was carrying a bag of gold the size of a baby’s head around on his waist! That’s practically asking for someone to take it.”

“So you got caught trying to lift a huge amount of gold from a Guild representative,” Rodrick said through a laugh. “That’s a good way to get them pissed at you.”

“I didn’t get caught. I got the money. Unfortunately, he saw what I looked like.”

“You really did manage to make everyone hate you,” Olive said with an awed whistle. “That’s some talent. You ticked off the Adventurer’s Guild and they aren’t even in Milten.”

“Thanks.”

“You shouldn’t be proud of that,” Lillia said, trying to fight a laugh away. “But the earlier sentiment was right. Olive is literally the only one here that the Guild doesn’t dislike.”

“Yet,” Reya said.

“Yet?” Olive exclaimed. “What do you think I’m going to do?”

“You’re hanging around us. We’re bound to be a positive influence at some point.”

Olive rolled her eyes and Arwin chuckled. It really was ludicrous that they’d all managed to step on the Guild’s toes one way or another. Even Elias and Maeve would be at odds with the Adventurer’s Guild because of their identity as monsters.

He didn’t want to think of what would happen if the Guild figured out who he and Lillia really were before they were ready to take them on. That just couldn’t be allowed to happen. Fortunately, he wasn’t actually participating. He’d just have to take steps to ensure that nobody figured out Elias and Maeve’s true identities.

***

A pleasant-faced man with the beginnings of blond stubble running along his handsome features sat in an empty tavern, looking into a wine glass full of milk as if it held the secrets to the future within it.

The tables all around him were shattered and strewn across the ground. Old stains and broken glass covered the ground. There wasn’t a single piece of furniture that was intact other than the table before him and the chair he sat on.

The man’s eyes flicked up as a footfall echoed through the silence. He lowered his glass of milk, setting it down on the table, as a figure dressed in black robes stepped out from behind him and moved to stand at the other end of the table like a spiteful ghost. The figure’s face was completely indistinguishable within the shadows that clung to his cloak like water.

“It is done,” the cloaked man said.

“Do you have to be so melodramatic about it?” the handsome man took a sip from his wine glass.

There was a metallic thud as the other man set a stiletto upon the table between them.

“Yes.”

“Of course you do.” He set the glass down and picked the dagger up, examining it. There was still blood on the thin weapon’s blade. “I’d invite you to join me for a drink.”

“I woke up lactose intolerant today.”

“You did the same thing the last time I asked. Are you certain you just don’t have an intolerance on every day?”

“No. Just the days you ask.”

“Of course.” The handsome man let out a short sigh. Something within his eyes sharpened as his features turned deadly serious. He pointed the end of the stiletto at the other man. “This is an important experiment. It took me a very long time to get everything set up properly for this. You’d be surprised at how much easier it is to extract energy than it is to summon it… but we have to make sure it works properly before we let ourselves get too attached. Keep a very close eye on things for me, would you?”

“I always do.”