Rise of the Living Forge

“I take it this means that the explosion didn’t… change you somehow?” Arwin asked, ignoring the incredulous expression on Lillia’s face.

“Change me? It damn well changed me, but it didn’t let me start snacking on the Mesh itself!” Lillia exclaimed. “You’re not messing with me, right? You can actually eat magic?”

“It’s not all sunshine and rainbows. It’s not just that I can eat magic,” Arwin corrected, his features darkening. “It’s that I have to eat magic. If I don’t, I’ll die.”

The surprise on Lillia’s face turned to a confused frown. “I’ve never heard of something like that before. So you can’t eat normal food?”

“No, I can. It just doesn’t sustain me in the way that magic does. I’ll also ask you not to mention that – you’re the only one I’ve told, and I’ve only told you because I’m hoping you might have some insight as to what happened to us.”

Lillia pulled her knees up to her chest, wrapping her arms around them and chewing her lower lip in thought. “I definitely got changed by the explosion. It took my class away and gave me a new one called Hearthkeeper.”

“Unique?”

“Yeah. I got it from an Achievement – probably the same one that you did. Does the word Sunset mean anything to you?”

“It does. That was the one I got as well,” Arwin rubbed the bridge of his nose with a frown. “I’m not sure if that gives us more answers or questions.”

“It could lend credence to the idea that someone planted the bomb to save us.”

Arwin wasn’t sure he was optimistic enough to fully commit to the hope. The Achievement hadn’t been granted by the explosion. The conditions to fulfill it had been met. That was a subtle difference, but it was still a difference. He’d felt the power from the explosion. It had been meant to kill, not aid. There was no way to argue that someone knew that the explosion would cause an Achievement to trigger either – nobody other than the Mesh itself knew what could make it assign Achievements or Titles.

And, even if they’d had a strong suspicion it would have worked, many Achievements or Titles would only appear for certain people, even if two people did the same thing. The fact that both Arwin and Lillia had gotten the Achievement meant something else was going on.

“No way to know one way or the other for now, so we’ll just have to assume we don’t. How different is your class from anything else you’ve seen? There’s obviously a sliding scale for anything Unique that could make it either good, bad, or worthless, but my own class is like nothing I’ve ever seen. Does your class have anything odd about it that makes it more than just a normal one? I’m a smith, but some of the abilities I’ve been offered look far more offensive than they should be for a crafting class. It almost feels like I got a hybrid.”

“I’ve noticed some similarities to what you’re describing. I don’t have anything nearly as problematic as having to consume magic to live, but I do gain benefits based on the people staying in my inn or eating at my tavern – and drawbacks if it’s empty.”

“Like it is now?” Arwin raised an eyebrow and Lillia grimaced.

“Yes.”

“Significant benefits?”

“Very. Especially for the inn.” Lillia swallowed heavily. “Luckily, the drawbacks haven’t activated yet, but it won’t be long. That’s why I’ve been so desperate to get more people, but nothing I do works. Nobody wants to come to this shitty old alleyway.”

“What happens when they activate?” Arwin asked. “And how long do you have?”

“Two days. The tavern drawbacks make it so that all my abilities are weakened. The inn debuff… it’ll start by cutting my abilities off entirely. If I can’t get anyone to stay after a month, I’ll die.”

“You need to get this shithole good enough to convince someone to stay in it within a month?” Arwin asked, his eyes going wide. “Oh, shit. That’s bad.”

“You think?” Lillia asked dryly. “I’m focusing on the tavern right now. Nobody is going to bother staying if they don’t come in the first place. That’s why I was desperate enough to try out your monster inn suggestion – and honestly, it seems like it might work. I just don’t know if I’ll pick up enough speed to convince anyone to stay here in time.”

“Can’t you just make it free for a night or something?”

Lillia shook her head. “I already thought of that. It doesn’t work. The buffs only come into play if I’ve properly earned them, so inviting a ton of people into in for free or paying them to stay doesn’t do anything. They have to come in of their own volition and eat or sleep whilst paying for it.”

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“Ah,” Arwin said with a grimace. Lillia’s abilities were clearly more limited than his were – but the Mesh was fair. That meant her potential buffs were probably enormous as well, but getting to the point where she could use them would be incredibly difficult.

“Ah,” Lillia agreed bitterly. “It’s still nice to live peacefully for a bit, though. I’d trade a lifetime of living through war for a month of peace in a heartbeat. Besides, I’m sure I’ll start getting customers soon.”

Arwin could hear the doubt in her voice. She wasn’t optimistic about her chances, and if he was honest, he wasn’t either. Lillia’s cooking was pretty damn good, but her location was horrible. Nobody lived on the street, and nobody would come this far into the slums of the city if they were in their right mind.

It would take a lot of time to build up a proper reputation, and by the time Lillia managed to do that, she’d probably get killed by her own magic.

That’s bad. I just got another ally and she’s probably going to end up dying in just – wait. Am I an idiot?

Arwin burst into laughter. Lillia blinked, taken aback, then narrowed her eyes. “I didn’t realize you took that much joy in my upcoming death.”

“No. It’s not that,” Arwin said, trying to get his laughter under control. “I just realized how stupid we both are.”

“What are you talking about?”

“You just need a few people to avoid dying?”

“To stay in the inn? Yeah. That wouldn’t stop the debuffs, but it would be enough to keep me alive. Anything more than zero is going to be impossible at this rate, so it hardly matters. You can’t strongarm them into doing it either. That goes against how it works.”

“I don’t need to,” Arwin said. “As I said, we’re both stupid. You already have two people that can stay in your inn. Me and Reya.”

Lillia opened her mouth, then paused. She blinked, her brow furrowing. Slowly, she let her mouth close again. “I – oh, shit. You’re right. I didn’t even think about that because you were… well, you know.”

“I’m well aware, yes. But that would work, wouldn’t it?”

“I don’t see why it wouldn’t,” Lillia said, excitement starting to enter her tone. “You’d still have to pay me for the rooms, though. It couldn’t be free or it won’t count.”

“I think we can handle that as long as your prices aren’t ridiculously high. It’s not a big price to pay, at least until you can get enough people here to keep yourself alive. We might even be able to go farther. The other two members that joined my guild may be in need of an inn fairly soon. They might be able to move in as well.”

Lillia’s eyes lit up and she took a step forward. “You’re serious? Two more people?”

“Yeah. You’d have to have actual rooms for them, though. Does this crappy place have anything like that?”

Lillia cleared her throat. “It… well, not yet. I’ve got two rooms upstairs that I trust the floor in. The rest of it is liable to collapse – but still! I can make do with that, and the money could go toward renovations and making more rooms and a better tavern! Having you and Reya here would also remove enough of the debuff on my abilities for me to get some helpers in the tavern.”

“I’ve got twenty-seven gold and nine silver right now,” Arwin said, looking through his pouch. “Would that be enough?”

“Twenty-seven? Are you kidding me? Yeah, that’s more than enough. I only have to charge a silver a day!”

It was a bit odd, seeing excitement on the face that had belonged to his mortal enemy for so many years. He’d never seen her direct anything toward him other than disgust, anger, or apathy.

I suppose I was no different. That smile definitely suits her well, though.

“What?” Lillia asked. Arwin realized that he’d zoned off and shook his head to clear it.

“I just got lost in thought. How strong are those buffs you get if we properly fill your tavern and inn?”

“Pretty damn powerful. I don’t even know the full extent of what they do. A lot of it is gated behind how many people are staying or eating here.”

Arwin nodded. “We’ll have to make it a priority to get more attention here, then. If your power is anything like mine, then I suspect you’re going to have some form of scaling factor that means you need to get more and more people to stick around to keep yourself from dying.”

Some of the excitement in Lillia’s expression slipped away. “Shit. That could be bad.”

“We’ll handle it,” Arwin said. “After all, we’re going to have a whole guild to back you up soon enough.”

“Optimistic, are you?”

Arwin chuckled. “Perhaps. Either way, I get the feeling Reya is going to be ecstatic about this. She already eats your food constantly, so being closer to it will probably make her blow steam out her nose. I’ll introduce you to the rest of the guild shortly – assuming they stick around.”

Lillia started to nod, then paused and looked down at herself, gesturing vaguely. “Wait. What if they… well, you know.”

“For now, I’d suggest keeping up your disguise. They’re decent people, but I don’t know how they’ll react to the truth.”

“Even if we’re part of the same guild and they’re staying here constantly? They’re going to have to suspect something.”

“Then you’d best make sure you really seem to be into your role,” Arwin said dryly. “Hopefully you’ll have the place in a bit more order by the time they come around. Speaking of which, is there anything else you need made?”

“I – oh, yeah. Definitely. I still need more utensils, and some more cookware would be incredible. I don’t know if I can afford anything extra right now, though.”

“I could pay you with supplies. That wouldn’t count against your class, would it?”

Lillia tilted her head to the side in thought for a few seconds, then grinned. “I think that would work.”

“Perfect,” Arwin said. “In that case, let’s go tell Reya. We’ll need to move the beds out of the smithy and into your inn.”

“I can help,” Lillia said. “Seems only right. Can’t say I ever thought I’d be in this position. It kind of feels like I had some nasty mushrooms in my food and I’m passed out somewhere in a field. I mean… imagine that. The Demon Queen and the Hero of Man–”

“Both still out there, fighting somewhere,” Arwin said. “The original ones are dead and rotting. The only people in this room are Arwin and Lillia.”

Lillia smiled and nodded. “Right. Thank you, Arwin. I’m looking forward to working with you.”

“Likewise,” Arwin said. “I think we’ve both got a lot we can learn from each other.”