Rise of the Living Forge - Chapters 521-522

It was morning when Arwin’s thoughts drifted lazily back to his body.

At least, he was pretty sure it was morning. Telling the time was impossible when he was in Lillia’s room. But, judging by rested his body felt and how all the aches and pains from the previous night had been washed away, he couldn’t imagine it could be anything but the dawn of a new day.

His mind was hazy. It wasn’t uncomfortable. On the contrary, it was the relaxed haze that only arrived at the end of a truly satisfying rest, the lingering memories of the peace and comfort he had just emerged from.   

Lillia leaned against him in bed. The two of them were in an odd sprawl of limbs, somewhere in the purgatory between lying down and sitting up. They were so entangled that, even if the room hadn’t been pitch black, telling where one of their bodies started and the other began would have taken a rather significant feat of observation.  

A long yawn slipped from Lillia. Her hair brushed across Arwin as she raised her head slightly to look around.

“You’re warm,” Lillia murmured. Drowsiness dripped from her every word. She paused for a moment. It took her mind a few moments to catch up with her body. Then she jerked upright — or at least, she tried to.

A bit too much of her was pinned to the bed beneath Arwin. All she really managed to accomplish was startling what little vestiges of sleep remained out of him. Arwin snapped fully awake in an instant.

That only managed to make their tangle worse. The blankets decided to get caught up in the whole matter, somehow binding around the two of them in a matter of seconds.

“Stop that!” Lillia exclaimed, her cheek pressed up against Arwin’s chest and voice muffled. “You’re going to break the bed!”

“I’m not moving! You’re moving!”

They both stopped — more for the sake of the bed’s continued survival than anything else — and carefully extracted themselves. Lillia sat up beside Arwin a few moments later. She was silent for a second. Then she cleared her throat.

“Wow. You’re really warm. Like an oven.”

Arwin looked down at himself. There really wasn’t much reason for that. It wasn’t like he could actually see anything in the magically induced darkness enveloping them. But he didn’t need to.

He could feel it.

A heat emanated throughout him, running from his heart and coursing down his veins to reach every single part of his body. The temperature was far from uncomfortable. It felt like he’d just chugged a dozen mugs of hot chocolate in the dead of winter.  

“Too hot?” Arwin asked, a flicker of worry passing through him. His body was heat resistant. It had been for quite some time — and that had been before the events of the night. “I didn’t burn you, did I?”

“Depends on the context of hot you’re asking in.” Lillia let out a small laugh and rested her hand on his thigh. “No. You didn’t burn me. I — damn, Arwin. You’re really hot.”

“Thank you,” Arwin said, a relieved grin slipping across his lips.

Lillia let out a snort. “Don’t turn that around on me. What did you do? You did something. This isn’t normal. You aren’t sick, are you?”

“Not sick,” Arwin said. He found Lillia’s hand with his own and gave it a small squeeze. “This is intentional. I did mention that I was going to use all the power I’d stored up from our recent crafting efforts, remember? You’re just feeling the results.”

“You made yourself into a portable oven?” Arwin could hear the amusement in her voice. “That was the best thing you could come up with? Well, I suppose it’ll be useful. Not what I would have gone with, but who am I to judge?”

“The oven bit came with the package.”

“What did you change, then?” Lillia’s tone grew serious. “You feel different, Arwin. Really different. It’s like there’s a miniature sun trapped inside of you. How much energy did you end up using?”

“A lot,” Arwin replied. He rubbed two fingers together. He could feel the warmth emanating from within them. “It’s a relief that it isn’t worse than this. I was worried it might be.”

“Seriously? You were expecting more than this?” Lillia asked. “What did you do? Is this a new ability?”

“No. I changed my body,” Arwin replied with a shake of his head. “I was trying to figure out what the biggest advantage of Sunsetting a class was. Figured it wasn’t any specific ability or title, but a direct upgrade to your own body. Making yourself magical.”

“Like Eleven’s hair,” Lillia murmured. “I didn’t think about that. I’ve just been focused on advancing my skills and strengthening my body the way it already is. I never considered literally changing it… but what did you do? Nothing serious, I hope?”

“I’m not about to start dropping limbs, if that’s what you’re asking. I don’t think I did anything that should put me at risk.”

Lillia let out a laugh, but there was more than a little relief in it. “Well… that’s good. So what did you do? Set organs on fire permanently?”

“Not exactly.”

Lillia laughed again. Then she stopped laughing. Arwin knew her more than well enough to imagine her eyes narrowing in the dark. She leaned in, pressing her forehead to his and squishing their noses together.

“Not exactly? What did you do, Arwin?”

Arwin coughed into his fist. Now that Lillia was pressing him about it, the idea that had seemed so clever to him the previous night was starting to sound a little bit monodic. Perhaps a more than a little bit.

“Uh… I just worked with what I had. Nothing too crazy.”

“Arwin,” Lillia whispered, a note of danger in her voice as she pressed herself against his side, “Don’t try my patience. I am not above resorting to underhanded methods to get what I want… assuming it isn’t going to set me aflame. Please tell me that I’m guessing incorrectly here. Did you fucking infuse your entire body with lava?”

“No,” Arwin said.

Lillia blew out a relieved breath. “Oh, good. That would have been—”

“I replaced my blood with it.”

Lillia froze.

“What?”

Arwin winced. “I replaced my blood. With soul-magma. The black lava that’s infused in my soul. I gave it more power and coaxed it into my body. I mean, I think it’s more of a magical connection more than a physical one. My blood isn’t literally lava. It’s just got the properties of lava. Soul lava, that is. Not normal lava. That would have been stupid. But I’m resistant to the soul stuff, and I reinforced my body with even more heat resistance so I wouldn’t spontaneously combust. It should—”

“Arwin,” Lillia said.

He cleared his throat. “Yes?”

“You’re an idiot,” Lillia said. “You replaced your blood. With lava.”

“Well, technically speaking…” Arwin trailed off, then cleared his throat. He could tell Lillia was glaring at him. “Yes. I may have done something that could be simplified down to that if you were really trying to frame it in a bad light.”

Lillia groaned into his shoulder. “What if you weren’t resistant enough? Would I have woken up to you catching fire?”

“I mean, I already survived the Soul Magma once,” Arwin said. “I was really confident it would be fine. I wouldn’t have risked it while you were in the bed if I wasn’t.”

Lillia hesitated for a second. Then she let out a huff. “Being romantic is not going to get you out of this. And not burning me alive on accident only gets you half a point. That’s not a very good bargaining chip.”

“Err… sorry?”

“Better,” Lillia said. “But telling me exactly how this makes you stronger will get you more.”

Arwin scratched the back of his neck. “Well, I literally have lava in me. That’s going to be a nasty surprise for anyone that manages to cut me. It’s also a power source I can draw on with most of my weapons… and I’m pretty sure I’ll be able to control the lava, at least to a degree. I think I can make more of it by using magical energy as well.”

“That’s… pretty terrifying. I suppose I can see what you were going for. If someone else had done it, I would be more inclined to like it more. But I’m not much a fan of my consort risking blowing himself up.” She prodded him in the side, then cursed. “Ow! You’re built like a rock!”

“Sorry,” Arwin said with a laugh. “I put a lot of magic into reinforcing my body. To… well, make sure I didn’t blow up.”

Lillia rested her chin against his shoulder. “Well, I suppose you do make a very good bedwarmer now. I suppose it can be forgiven. Please don’t blow yourself up.”

“Blowing myself up was never on the table.”

“Good,” Lillia said. Then she let out a bark of laughter.

“What?” Arwin asked.

“I just realized that you’ve taken your class name a bit literally, haven’t you?” Lillia snickered. “You’re literally turning yourself into a living forge.”

Arwin blinked. Then he tilted his head to the side. “I… huh. Yeah. I suppose I am.”

Lillia poked him in the side again. “Just don’t go replacing all your other parts, please. I prefer you as a man. Not a building. No offense to the Infernal Armory.”

“I’m sure it hasn’t taken any, but I’ll keep that in mind,” Arwin said. He slipped out of bed, stretching his arms over his head as he let out a long yawn before extending one toward Lillia.

She took it, pulling herself free from the tangle of sheets and stepping down beside him. Her tail whacked him lightly in the side — and Arwin had absolutely no doubt in mind that it had been intentional.

Then she froze.

“Arwin?” Lillia asked. “Why do I have so much magical energy? Just what did we create last night?”

“Oh,” Arwin said. A grin crossed his features. “You got energy from making Uriel! That’s a relief. I was hoping you would. Now you can turn your blood to lava as well. Not that I would recommend it.”

“Uriel?” Lillia asked slowly.

“That’s the Soul Guardian’s name,” Arwin said. “I imagine she’s probably waiting to speak with you. She’s not like the other Soul Guardians I worked on. She woke up instantly.”

“It — she — is just permanently awake? Wandering around my tavern?”

“Yeah. You’re technically her mom. I think. Kind of. It’s a complicated situation. Let’s not think too hard about that.”

“…right,” Lillia said slowly. “Anything else I missed?”

“Oh, yeah. One more thing.” Arwin scratched his chin. “Uriel wants you to build a bigger bathtub in the Devil’s Den.”

Arwin could feel Lillia staring at him for a long second.

Then she blew out a sigh. “Of course she does.”

Chapter 522

Arwin and Lillia wasn’t the only ones that went looking for Uriel that morning. Monica was already awake well before they were. She stood with her back against the wall, keeping watch over entrance to the basement.

The orc gave them a nod of greeting, clearly too tired bother with anything else this early in the morning. Arwin and Lillia returned it as they made their way down, only to find that it seemed the rest of the Menagerie had already beaten them there.

Uriel sat in the center of the room in front of Lillia’s demon tree, her spiked metal knees pulled up to her chest. All around her was just about every member of the Menagerie. The only ones missing were Elias and Maeve, who were still out training, and Rodrick.

Even Wallace had found his way over and was staring at the massive Soul Guardian. The dwarf looked completely enraptured. He wasn’t even saying anything. His eyes were just wide — possibly in their best attempt to bore a hole into the armor with sheer interest alone.

“Do you like food?” Reya was asking. “What would happen if you ate something? How would you use the restroom?”

“Reya,” Olive said, leveling a flat stare at the other woman. “You can’t ask that.”

“Oh,” Reya said.

“The answer is obvious,” Olive continued. “She’s got energy inside her. It would probably incinerate the food completely, leaving nothing behind and using it for fuel. But we should test just in case. I’ve never seen armor take a—”

“Girls,” Anna said sharply. “Let’s try to keep our composure, shall we? Uriel is probably tired. We should be respectful, not theorizing on—”

“No. It is okay.” Uriel raised a hand slightly. “I am curious. I have never used the restroom. But I do have many memories of it. Particularly from Wallace. He spends a lot of time in such places. Sitting. Contemplating. It seems to help him. I believe I find such matters interesting.”

“The bathroom?” Reya asked.

“No. Contemplating,” Uriel replied. “I do not believe I hold any particular interest toward the restroom beyond the fact that I have never entered one. I have never entered many things. And, but for my memories, I likely never will.”

“Oh,” Reya said. She looked down. “I’m sorry you can’t use the bathroom.”

“I believe the memories I was created with will be suitable,” Uriel said. “I do not feel disappointment.”

“That’s good,” Reya said. She put a careful hand on Uriel’s arm, making sure to avoid the spikes jutting out of the huge suit of armor. Reya caught a glimpse of Arwin and Lillia staring from the far side of the basement. Her eyes lit up and she turned toward them. “Oh! Arwin and Lillia are back! Did you hear? Uriel is okay with the fact that she probably can’t use the restroom.”

Arwin sighed. “That’s… great. Thank you, Reya. Pivotal information. I guess everyone’s already made Uriel’s acquaintance, then?”

“Fascinating,” Wallace muttered. He stared at Uriel with starry eyes. It didn’t sound like he’d heard a single word of the conversation that had just gone down. “Utterly fascinating. She’s beyond anything that I ever could have imagined. There’s more in here than what we put in. An impossibility. Adding one and one to get three. A right beauty.”

“I have so many questions,” Thane said, his voice barely above a reverent whisper. The boy was practically vibrating with excitement.

“You can hold them,” Esmerelda said. “And you’ve got work to be doing, boy. My shop still needs organizing, and Vanessa can’t handle it alone.”

“Oh. Right. Yeah. That’s true.” Thane’s shoulders fell for all of a second. Then a new thought struck him and he grinned. “But that’ll give me time to come up with more questions! So that’s okay.”

Lillia and Uriel quietly made eye contact — or about as much eye contact as one could have with a sentient suit of armor — through the din. Neither of them said a word. But, even though their mouths didn’t move, Arwin could tell by the look on Lillia’s face that they had spoken.

She must have at least some connection to Uriel from her relationship with the Devil’s Den. I wonder if they can speak telepathically.

Art approached Arwin, leaning heavily on his cane with one hand and rifling through a deck of cards absentmindedly with his other. The two of them were silent for several seconds. They simply watched the rest of the Menagerie.

“Rodrick hasn’t returned yet,” Art said quietly. “But today is the day.”

“I am aware,” Arwin said. “Are you feeling up for it? Nerves?”

“This will hardly be the first time I pull a trick on people more dangerous than myself,” Art said dryly. “Playing both the Dwarven Council and the Blacktongues may as well be a warm-up for me.”

“Really?”

“No,” Art deadpanned. “I’m terrified that I’m going to make a mistake, Arwin. But I won’t. There are too many people counting on me. Everything is already in motion. Ida has conveyed the information we needed to seed. The auction house’s construction is just about complete, although I believe you still need to use the Dungeon Heart to make it a proper addition to the street.”

“So I do,” Arwin said. “That can come after we actually have the things we plan to sell. We’re on a bit of a tight schedule.”

“When aren’t we?” Art asked with a wry laugh. “But, yes. I am prepared. That goes doubly so now. I had not expected Uriel to be… well, this. She is more powerful than I was counting on. That is good. It takes some weight off my shoulders. I still wish Rodrick were here, though.”

“So do we all,” Arwin said. “But not because we don’t trust you. Rodrick isn’t the type to hand responsibility off casually. You know what you’re doing, Art. Trust yourself.”

Art snorted. “Are you trying to be my father? I’ve already got one of those. I don’t need another. A sister is already more than enough extra advice.”

 “Don’t pretend like I don’t give good advice,” Vix said, slipping out from the darkness behind Art. “You’d be a shut-in if I didn’t drag you out every once and a while.”

“Maybe,” Art allowed. He looked back over the Menagerie, then let out a sharp breath. “Right. We should probably get started. Lots of people to reposition if we want to pull this off right.”

“Then take the lead,” Arwin said, gesturing to the crowd in the basement. “The only thing I’m going to be doing is smacking monsters. This is your show.”

Art swallowed. Then he nodded. After a second more of hesitation, he drove his staff down into the ground beside him. It let out a metallic clang. Despite the din of conversation, every single member of the Menagerie turned toward them as one.

That had clearly been a much faster reaction than Art had been expecting. He’d already brought his staff halfway up into the air in preparation for striking the ground a second time. Clearing his throat, Art lowered his hand.

“Sorry. I didn’t want to yell. It’s just about time we get started with the mission. I’ve already gone over the semantics with everyone doing the more… involved parts. But if you’ve got questions, now is the time to ask.”

Everyone exchanged a glance. The mood in the room had shifted on a dime. Not a trace of the earlier light-heartedness remained.

“We’re ready,” Reya said.

“Been ready for a while,” Kien said with a nod, stepping from the side of the room and resting his broom against his shoulder. “And remember that no plan ever goes completely to plan, Art. A master strategist doesn’t have to predict his enemies’ every move. He just has to be able to adapt.”

“Thanks,” Art said. His lip curled and he turned back to the others. “As we all know— timing will be tight. We need to ensure that both the Blacktongues and the Dwarven Council believe that Arwin’s team has retrieved the loot from the vault and is bringing it back through Thornhelm. For that to work, each group has a job that needs to be accomplished no matter what. Does everyone remember their part? If you don’t, now’s the time to ask. There won’t be another chance.”

The only response to his words was silence. Everyone just watched Art silently.

A cold smile passed over Art’s features. He nodded.

“Arwin, you’ve got just about two days to completely clear out the dungeon and get back here before anyone realizes you’ve left. You’re certain your team can do that? We don’t need to give you backup?”

Arwin’s lips twitched. This dungeon was going to be dangerous. But after all the upgrades and advancements he’d made recently… the last thing in the world he was scared of was a dungeon.

No, if anything, he was excited.

This is a chance to see just how much more capable we’ve all become.   

“No backup will be needed,” Arwin said. “We’ve got this.”

“Good. Then timer starts now,” Art said with a sharp nod. “No matter what — return to Milten by this time tomorrow. Let’s move!”