Rise of the Living Forge

Chapter 72: Just right

Lillia slipped the armor on. Her nose scrunched as she tried to contort herself to grab the clasps.

“Here,” Arwin said, stepping up beside her and tightening the clasps himself as she lifted her arm out of his way. “I suppose that might be a bit of a design flaw. It would be nice if the armor wasn’t a two-person job to put on.”

He walked to the other side and Lillia held her other arm up so he could finish securing everything. Once he finished, he took a step back and gave her a nod.

“It fits well,” Lillia said, twisting her upper body to test her range of motion. “How’d we guess my size that easily? Did you just eyeball it?”

“The Mesh helped,” Arwin admitted. “Does it feel too stiff?”

Lillia bent forward, reaching for her toes, then straightened back up and frowned. “I’m not sure if stiff is the right word. I mean, it’s armor. Armor is rarely going to give you one hundred percent of the mobility you had, even if it can get a lot of it. It’s a tad restrictive, but not the worst of what I’ve worn.”

“What about weight?”

“That might be a bit of a larger problem. This is a lot better than I was expecting. It’s pretty damn light, but if I add on greaves, a helm, gauntlets, and the rest, it might become a lot. My new class is really more of a caster than a warrior, and too much restriction might be more of a drawback than an aid. It’s better for me not to get hit than to get hit and survive it, you know? I’m worried being weighed down too much will stop me from avoiding attacks.”

“Yeah,” Arwin said, rubbing his chin in thought. “You didn’t manage to keep any of the strength or movement passives from your past, then?”

“The only things I kept were the shadow manipulation and my imps,” Lillia said. She hesitated for a moment, then sighed. “And the darkness that seems to follow me around like a thundercloud.”

“It’s not so bad once you get used to it,” Arwin said. “It’s atmospheric – and it definitely makes it easier to sleep. Once you get your tavern open, people are going to come flocking.”

“Maybe,” Lillia said noncommittally. “That’s not going to happen if we never get a damn chance to breathe, though. First the Iron Hounds, then the Wyrms. What next? There’s always something.”

“Then we’ll find a way to make time in between the shitshow,” Arwin said. “I’m not abandoning smithing, and the Wyrm isn’t completely counterintuitive to what we want for ourselves. I can’t imagine Wyrm meat has been eaten in this area often. Being able to serve it up could bring you some customers – and I want its scales.”

“Yeah,” Lillia mused. She walked in a circle, testing out the weight of the armor like it was a new pair of shoes. “That’s true. We have to make it there without somehow getting this entire street destroyed, though.”

“Once we’re stronger, that won’t be as much of a problem. It doesn’t look like this area has anyone much beyond Journeyman tier right now,” Arwin said. “That obviously might not be the case forever, but as long as we can get to the point where we can contest people at that level, we’ll be fine.”

“Right,” Lillia said dryly, coming to a stop beside Arwin. “I mean, we could probably rush to Journeyman, but the drawbacks–”

“Aren’t worth it. We aren’t just playing the short game anymore,” Arwin said. He gently moved Lillia’s arm out of the way and started unfastening the armor. “It’s fine. There are ways we can deal with a Journeyman or two. I doubt they’ve got nearly as much gear as we do.”

“Fair point.” Lillia held her hands up and Arwin pulled the armor off her, setting it back down on the anvil. She adjusted her shirt, giving him a small nod. “Thanks.”

“Any modification requests beyond how stiff it felt?”

“I don’t know. It would be great if it was lighter, but honestly it seems fantastic even without any magic,” Lillia said after a few more seconds of thought. “There really isn’t something I feel I could fairly ask for.”

“What about unfairly?” Arwin asked.

“That would be something I’m not sure anyone can give me.” Lillia laughed and shook her head. “This is more than enough, Arwin. If anything, just make sure the greaves are on the lighter side.”

“I can do that,” Arwin said, but his eyes were still on the armor. Lillia didn’t think it could get much more flexible, but he wasn’t so sure.

Stolen novel; please report.

What if I combine some of the elements of the scale mail and this? Couldn’t I make something that gives her a little more freedom of movement?

“What’s that look on your face?” Lillia asked.

If I turn this solid piece into a bunch of segments from the upper chest down, I think this should be much more maneuverable. I’d have to basically take all the leatherwork apart and then cut the armor into pieces, though…

“I just had a bit of an idea.”

“Well? Are you going to tell me what it is?” Lillia asked. “Or are you just going to make me stare at you?”

“Sorry. I was still processing it. What if we completely modify the armor? Take it apart, strip it down, basically scrap the last few hours of work and treat them as a learning experience. Then we remake the armor in sliding segments that you can move in easier.”

Lillia blinked. “Sliding – huh. Interesting. I’m for it. It’s not like I’ve got anything better to do.”

Arwin agreed. He had no interest in making anything but the best product possible. If that meant he had to scrap the last few hours of work and fix it, then so be it.

He used [Scourge] to pry the bolts holding the leather in out, occasionally bringing the armor to the hearth to heat it and make the metal easier to work with. It was slow, generally annoying work, as he wanted to be able to reuse the leather after he made the modifications to the armor.

But, eventually, he got all the leather separated and laid out on top of the stack. Arwin studied the metal, thinking on what the best way to split it apart would be. Something sharp would have been great, but most of his new tools had been destroyed by the magical fire.

I don’t think the knife I made Lillia is going to be too useful either. I’d probably ruin it if I used it for this, so I suppose we’re doing it the old-fashioned way – with fingers.

Placing the armor into the flame, Arwin waited until it had grown to a ruddy glowing orange before activating [Scourge] and pressing his fingers into it as precisely as he could. He made the smallest set of holes he could through the metal, working until he’d severed both the front and the back halves of the chest piece just a few inches below the breast area. Arwin took the top half of the armor out of the fire and set it to the side.

He then got some more scrap and inserted it into the flame. After letting it fully heat, Arwin took the scrap out and brought it to the anvil. In his mind, he could already start to picture the final design of the armor. He had absolutely no idea if it would actually work, but it felt fine in his mental image.

“Your turn again,” Arwin said, holding the hammer out to Lillia. “I need to hammer this piece out.”

“Gladly.” Lillia took a hold of the hammer. Arwin automatically adjusted her hands again, then shifted his position to avoid being in the path of the hammer. If the weapon’s haft wasn’t so long, it probably would have been impossible to use like this. Even using it as they were now was… awkward at best. He tried not to think too much about his proximity to Lillia. This was about making her a powerful set of armor, not about feeling like a preteen idiot.

“Let’s get started,” Arwin said, guiding the hammer up, and they got to work striking the metal to flatten it back out. The rhythmic clang of crystal on metal filled the air. Over the course of the next thirty or so minutes, they worked the metal into a flat plate. Sweat dripped down her forehead and soaked into the back of her shirt as Arwin gently took the hammer from her mid-swing.

“Done?” Lillia asked, wiping her face with the back of a sleeve.

“This step is,” Arwin said with a nod. “Now it’s my turn again.”

He then separated the sheet into thin bands the width of his palm and quenched and cleaned every piece. He then sized the bands to the armor, overlaying them on top of each other like the shell of an armadillo.

Arwin studied his design for a minute, making sure everything looked right before he got about to making pins to secure them, allowing for just enough movement for the plates to slide without letting them open too far and leave an unarmored spot.

Attaching them was slightly more problematic than he’d expected, as even the slightest mistake in his measurements meant that the bands hung at an odd angle. He had to redo his work several times, but the armor inched closer to his goal with every passing minute.

The Mesh fed into him, and he felt energy building at his fingertips the longer he worked. He worked out the shimmering lights that the Mesh suggested he fix, but the original design of the armor had been his rather than from the Mesh. Arwin wasn’t sure if that meant he’d gone too far and had rebelled against the metal, but it didn’t feel like the metal had exactly opposed anything he’d done.

It had wanted to be armor, but it hadn’t had a specific desire to be any kind of armor, so Arwin’s request for it to be armor perfectly made for Lillia didn’t seem to be too much of a stretch.

At least, I hope it isn’t. If it is, I think I’m going to be completely lost as to what I’m supposed to do. This armor is either going to prove that the Mesh wants to guide me but still have me think for myself, or it’s going to show that I have absolutely no goddamn idea what I’m doing.

Arwin turned to the leather, layering strips of it over the metal bands so they wouldn’t scrape against each other. He then put in the normal padding on the chest and shoulder areas, making sure it wouldn’t be too uncomfortable to wear. He added the straps and the final touches before finally setting the armor down on the anvil, finished.

The Mesh sparked, then swirled around his fingertips. Verdant Blaze hummed in approval at Arwin’s side as the Mesh flooded into the newly made piece of armor.

[Flowing Ocean Chestpiece: Rare Quality] has been forged. Forging a magical item has granted you energy.

Your Tier has raised by 1 rank.

“Whoa,” Lillia breathed, unable to hold her silence any longer as she stepped up beside Arwin and stared at the finished piece of armor. A ripple of blue traveled across its surface, so faint that Arwin almost missed it.

A wave of weariness wrapped around Arwin, but it didn’t stop the smile from pulling at his lips.

I leveled off making that, huh?

You know what? I think this piece might have turned out just how we wanted it to.