Rise of the Living Forge - Chapters 491-492 (Patreon)

Arwin wasn’t sure how long he stood there. The passing of time seemed to turn into little more than the hiss of sand rushing past his ears.

Arwin wasn’t sure how long he stood there. The passing of time seemed to turn into little more than the hiss of sand rushing past his ears. All he knew was that time had passed. Nothing else mattered.

Every part of his focus was on Lillia. If the faint twitch of her tail hadn’t been proof that she was still awake, he might have wondered if she’d fallen asleep or passed out. Standing out here and watching Lillia push through the preparations to Sunset her class was a thousand times more painful than doing it himself.

He was dimly aware of Two’s presence beside him. The other man had been muttering under his breath the entire time, but not one of the words had reached Arwin’s ears. He’d taken to pacing back and forth, occasionally taking a half-step into the room before changing his mind and turning back.

Time passed on.

Minutes, hours, it could have been either. Arwin was pretty sure it hadn’t been much more, though. The Hungering Maw would have started acting up if that much time had passed. Even if it had, Arwin wouldn’t have budged from this spot until he had absolutely no choice but to move.

And then Lillia’s eyes snapped open.

Two let out a startled curse as Lillia abruptly shot to her feet like she’d been stung on the backside. Her gaze seemed to shift in and out of focus for an instant as she squinted through the molten gold light, swaying in place.

Then Lillia stepped the platform and slid down the side of the twisted hill. She stumbled at the bottom but caught herself before she could fall. Arwin met her halfway to the door before he even realized that he’d moved.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

“Tenderized. Like a pork chop,” Lillia said. Her voice sounded slightly more distant than normal, as if her thoughts were still back in the beam behind her.

The two of them stepped out into the hall. Two closed the door behind them with a heavy thud before spinning to Lillia.

“And you feel… different?” Two confirmed. “You sense the shift?”

“It was like there was a pop,” Lillia said. “And then things stopped changing.”

“Shit,” Two muttered. “Another one of you. On your first try. Absolutely fucking ridiculous. We need to move. The next stage should be cleaned up and ready for you. Follow me.”

“Cleaned up?” Lillia asked.

Two didn’t respond. He was already striding back off the way they’d come. Arwin and Lillia followed after him. Despite Lillia’s disorientation, she didn’t seem to need any assistance walking — and Arwin didn’t offer it.

He just kept close enough to her that she would have a shoulder to grab onto if the situation arose. For whatever reason, she hadn’t had nearly as easy of a time with the preparations as he had.

The three of them were outside in record time. Two led them back over to the mouth of the volcano. Lillia blinked as she looked down along the path to the platform waiting for her just above the lava.

As Two had said, it had been cleaned. Arwin didn’t envy whoever had been granted that job. Whatever the black fluid that had come up from up from him had been… it certainly hadn’t been something he’d want to be anywhere near. Especially not in these boiling temperatures.

 “What do I do?” Lillia asked.

“Go down to the platform,” Two replied. “The hard part is over. All that remains is to focus on you. Who you truly are. What you truly desire. Sit down upon the platform and allow your magic to align itself with who you’ve become.”

“That’s it?” Lillia asked. “It’s a fancy meditation course?”

“Why are people always surprised when something is straight forward?” Two asked. “Not that it is. You’ll see. But don’t waste time. You don’t want your magic to settle back down. The sooner you make connection with your desires, the sooner everything will set and the easier it will be.”

Lillia nodded. She stepped away from them, striding down the path without another word.

“How long did this bit take me?” Arwin asked, not taking his eyes off Lillia as she descended toward the platform.

“Impatient, are we?” Two asked. He swallowed, then shook his head. “Not nearly as long. But Lillia is past the most difficult part. For her to have endured that on her first try, without any of the normal training before preparation… what is wrong with the two of you?”

“Maybe it has something to do with already being Sunset once.”

Two let out a noncommittal grunt. “I don’t know anymore. But it looked like Lillia could feel at least some of the pain that she should have. I was beginning to wonder if the Leyline wasn’t working right. Now I’m wondering if we’re all just weak. She didn’t even flinch.”

“She’s Lillia,” Arwin said, as if that answered every question.

And it did.

Neither of them spoke again. They just stood in silence, staring down at the platform as Lillia arrived upon it. She lowered herself into a seated position, crossing her legs beneath her, resting her arms on her knees as she closed her eyes.

The Mesh said it wanted to speak with her as well. I wonder what it’ll say. I wonder what it’ll change. Will it make it so that she can make more taverns? Unbind her from the current one so she can properly travel? Or make the bindings stronger?

There would be no answer. Not until she was done.

And, while Arwin had never felt himself a particularly impatient person, that moment couldn’t come soon enough. He would have done a great number of morally ambiguous things just to get the answer a little sooner.

Sitting around and doing nothing but watching was just painful. But there was absolutely nothing he could do to help. Arwin’s lips thinned. The only thing making this marginally better was the knowledge that there was absolutely no chance that Lillia would fail.

She was Lillia. He had faith in every member of the menagerie, but Lillia was the Demon Queen. He knew her inability to be struck down better than anyone else. After all the times they’d fought, it was hard not to.

But what will we do for the next person we choose? Who am I going to put at a risk like this? I can’t protect them by preventing them from getting stronger. We have to take advantage of the ability to Sunset our classes.

Who can I tell to do it first, though? Especially when it’s likely it’ll be some time before the next? They’ll have to train for god knows how long, which means I’ll have to leave them with Setting Sun. I don’t want to spare anyone from the Menagerie. I want them all home… but I can’t exactly have that.

“Not everyone is going to be as easy as you and Lillia,” Two said, his eyes not leaving the platform in the center of the volcano. “Whatever the reason, I know for a fact the two of you were a special case. We can’t take the risk with others.”

“What, can you read my mind?”

Two let out a sound that might have been a laugh. “No. But I’ve seen that look on your face before. Whenever I spoke with One while he was deciding which of our recruits to attempt to Sunset.”

“Is this where you tell me it’s safe provided sufficient preparation?” Arwin asked.

“No,” Two replied. “This is the part where I tell you to choose the right person or don’t choose at all. If they aren’t ready, preparations or not, their class could be irreparably damaged. You’re the guild leader, Arwin. You don’t get bullshit. You get the truth. Your feelings aren’t part of the equation.”

Arwin grunted. He didn’t say anything else. There was nothing else for him to say. His thoughts were already adrift — and he wasn’t about to select anyone at all without talking to Lillia first. It felt a bit invasive, but there was literally nobody who knew every member of the Menagerie better than Lillia did. The Devil’s Den revealed all of their stats to her, after all.

Minutes dragged by.

“Why is it taking so long?” Arwin finally asked, the impatience forcing its way past his lips. “Did I really take this long?”

What is the Mesh telling her?

“Yes,” Two said flatly. “Much longer, actually. Just wait. I would tell you to relax, but it’s pointless. I already know. But nothing can be changed at this point. Whatever changes occurring have already happened. This is just letting the sediment settle.”

   Arwin was midway through forming a reply when Lillia suddenly lurched forward, catching herself with her hands an instant before her face smashed into the hot stone platform. She heaved, a deluge of black sludge pouring from between her lips as she hacked and sputtered for breath.

“You’d think getting rid of all that incompatible magic would feel better,” Two observed. “But it never does.”

Arwin didn’t offer up an answer. He was too focused on Lillia. She continued to throw up for another several long seconds, the vile liquid splattering across the platform all around her as Lillia’s body purged itself.

And then her eyes raised.

Lillia’s gaze met Arwin’s.

He didn’t need any words. The look within her eyes was more than enough. Whatever conversation she had had with the Mesh… it was over.

The Demon Queen had Sunset her class.

Chapter 492

Lillia didn’t answer any questions when she reached the top of the volcano’s mouth to rejoin Two and Arwin. She barely even gave them a second glance. Her eyes were already somewhere else, and it seemed that the only thing her body could do was follow.

“We’re leaving,” Lillia said simply.

“What about—” Two started.

“Eleven will return soon enough. Tomorrow at the earliest, if you can manage to get her to move that early,” Lillia said, cutting the man off before he could even try to finish his sentence. “We’ll select the next of the Menagerie to Sunset their class then. There are other things I need to do right now.”

Two blinked. He hesitated for a second longer, clearly not wanting to leave things at that. Even if he’d seen a number of Sunsettings before, Arwin got the feeling he and Lillia had stuck out ever so slightly.

But Two didn’t voice any of the questions that were clearly swirling thorugh his mind. The man only inclined his head and stepped out of their way, moving to clear the path to the portal that Eleven had left in the ground.

“Be careful,” Two warned. “Don’t push yourselves too hard so soon after Sunsetting. There can be nasty consequences.”

“What, is our magic still unstable?” Arwin asked. “Are you concerned that we’ll get ourselves killed?”

“No,” Two said. “I’m concerned you’ll kill someone you don’t want to. Figure out your limits before you go doing anything dangerous, or you’re going to punch a wall and bring the entire building down on top of your head.”

“Fair enough,” Arwin said. He had quite a few questions of his own, but none of them were going to get an answer until they were back in the Devil’s Den. It was pretty apparent that Lillia had no plans of speaking more than she had whilst still in Setting Sun’s territory. “Thank you. We’ll be in contact whenever Eleven returns.”

Two nodded, and that was all. Arwin and Lillia stepped into the portal as one. It swallowed them whole, and the Setting Sun’s volcano vanished as the Devil’s Den sprung up to take its place.

Lillia grabbed Arwin by the wrist no sooner than a split instant after their feet were on solid wood once again. She might have yanked his arm out of its socket if his body hadn’t been so filled to the brim with energy from his recent Sunsetting, but she barely even seemed to notice.

Arwin didn’t bother wasting his breath on a word. He just let Lillia pull him — though it was really more of her dragging him through the air behind her like a large, smith-shaped flag — back to her room in a flash.

He didn’t even get a chance to see if any of the Menagerie had been there to notice their return. By the time his senses were fully back about him, he was already within the darkness.

“Lillia?” Arwin finally managed. “Are you—”

“You spoke to it too, didn’t you?” Lillia asked, her breath hot against Arwin’s ear. And it wasn’t hot in the way of a gentle warmth or a comforting glow. This was a real heat. It was as if was a miniature furnace burning within her chest.

“The Mesh,” Arwin said. “Yes. It told me it was going to speak to you. Did something important happen?”

“The Mesh speaking is just something happening?” Lillia asked, a small laugh slipping out. Arwin felt her hair brush against his shoulder as she shook her head in mirth. “It — wait. It spoke to you again?”

“Yeah,” Arwin said. “I wanted to wait until after your Sunsetting was finished to make sure you didn’t get distracted. But it was just a talk. No huge boons like last time. None beyond Sunsetting, at least. I suppose that’s enough of a boon on its own.”

“Only you could think that speaking to the Mesh itself isn’t in itself worthy of disbelief. What, is it uninteresting now that you’ve done it twice?”

Arwin coughed into his fist as embarrassment heated his cheeks. “I — well, I thought there had been something more. You know. Surely the Mesh isn’t just telling us all the same thing. I’d imagine it has better things to do than that. It told me about how Achievements and Titles are no longer necessary to grow stronger, and we can allocate the power we get as we want to. Was it the same for you?”

“It what?” Lillia exclaimed, her eyes going as wide as saucers. She abruptly went quiet for several seconds, presumably pulling her class status up to take a look at it. Then she drew in a sharp breath. “Godspit. My Achievements!”

She was so focused on something that she didn’t even get a chance to realize that her Achievements were gone? Just how significant were her changes?

“It didn’t tell you?” Arwin asked.

“No. We didn’t get a chance to talk about that. It said time was short and that you would be able to fill me in on what it couldn’t. I suppose I know why now. You spoke to the damn thing as well. Again,” Lillia said. Even though Arwin couldn’t see her in the darkness, he could tell she was shaking her head in mock annoyance. “The Mesh was more focused on telling me a bunch of other stuff. Mostly about my class.”

“Oh?” Arwin blinked. “It was? That feels dangerously close to meddling. It’s always been really careful not to do that. What was it saying?”

“Mostly generic stuff,” Lillia admitted. “But some of it… it made sense. No specific advice, of course. It cautioned me about restraining myself to be less than I actually am.”

“Wow. That is general,” Arwin admitted. “Motivational pre-battle speech much?”

 Lillia let out a snort. “It did sound a bit like one. Gods know I’ve given enough of them to recognize one. But this felt… real. I don’t think they were just made up suggestions. And the changes to my class are definitely real. I can barely believe it.”

“Are you going to tell me? Or just keep me hanging until the eagerness chokes me like a man at the gallows?”

It was a moment before Lillia replied. When she did, she spoke softly, as if barely even able to believe the words leaving her own lips or fearing that speaking anything aloud would banish the boons that she had received from existence.

“The restrictions on me, on the Devil’s Den, they’re gone. Changed.”

“All of them?” Arwin asked, his eyes going wide. “Do you still have your former abilities?”

“Yes. None of them are gone, but a lot of them combined. Do you remember the boons I got from serving more people and the curses that I could potentially get landed with if satisfaction ratings ever dropped below a certain level?”

Arwin nodded. Even if he couldn’t seen in the dark, Lillia could.

“Of course. They’re gone?”

“They’re… different.” Lillia paused for a moment as she searched for words. “The satisfaction rating I get isn’t just some passive thing anymore. It earns me power that I can directly spend to empower aspects of the tavern.”

“Aspects? Like… you can make the food taste better?”

“I think I can do a hell of a lot more than that,” Lillia said. She swallowed. “I don’t know if I understand this properly. The implications are too big, and it could be easy to get carried away. But I’m fairly certain that I could spend those satisfaction points to make a drink that could completely restore someone’s magical energy within instants.”

“Holy shit,” Arwin breathed. “That powerful?”

“Well, it would be a huge waste of points. I don’t think they’re easy to earn… but there’s one more thing that was entirely new. And I don’t think it was part of Sunsetting my class at all. The Mesh said I had a lot of Achievements and it would have been unfair to take them all away without providing something in return.”

“Oh?” Arwin’s eyes lit. “What did you get?”

A flash of gold lit the pitch black, barely bright enough to cut through the magical shadow surrounding them for a moment. It vanished just a second later. But that second was enough to give Arwin a chance to read over the short ability that Lillia had displayed for him to look at.

[Hearthmother’s Touch](Passive) - Any magical effects created by your hand within the premises of your Hearth linger, maintaining both their magical and physical qualities for extended periods of time. Any satisfaction earned by the consumption or usage of these effects will still be granted to you, even if they are utilized outside of your Hearth.

“Wait,” Arwin breathed. “You mean you can make food and drink, then give it to people to eat later and you’ll still get benefits for it? Ones that you can spend to improve the buffs offered by the tavern?”

“Yup. It’s time to expand the business… and I’ve already got an idea on just how to do it,” Lillia said. “I’m thinking it’s just about time the Devil’s Den starts offering in-dungeon delivery.”