Rise of the Living Forge

“New ones?” Kien’s haunted gaze bore into Arwin. “What do you mean? How is that possible? Do you know of the dagger used to steal my powers?”

“No,” Arwin admitted with a shake of his head. “I’ve never heard of such a weapon. I have absolutely no idea how magic like that would function, much less how to actually repair the damage. But you came to a smith, didn’t you?”n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

“A weapon. You want to make me a weapon?”

“The tone of your voice seems to imply you aren’t too thrilled with the offer.”

“I need more power than any mere sword could ever give me,” Kien said. His hands clenched into fists at his sides. “Do you understand what was taken from me? Years of work and blood and sweat, all for nothing. My strength is gone. And you want to replace that with a mere blade? I appreciate your offer, smith. It is kind — but it is not sufficient.”

Arwin wasn’t offended by the man’s outburst. Instead, a small smile tugged at his lips. “I think you may be underestimating the strength of what I am capable of making. I do not make mere weapons.”

“I do not doubt the quality of your craftsmanship, smith. But my opponent is my own blood. Hein stole my power from me, but he will not be satisfied. He will seek more strength. More will suffer because of my failings. I must stop him.”

“Your failings?” Lillia asked, holding a hand up. “What do you mean? You said you were stabbed in the back. You can’t be blaming yourself for that… unless something else happened?”

“I was stabbed in the back, but only because I turned a blind eye to what should have been obvious.” Kien’s eyes tore away from them and he stared down at the table before him. “I knew my brother coveted my power. I thought he had gotten over it. That he was interested in simply being who we were when we were children. Brothers. But I was wrong. I handed him the power he sought, and he will use that strength to take more and more. It is my duty to put that to an end. I trust you can see why a glowing sword will not be sufficient to stop the strength of a former hero.”

“I sympathize with your plight,” Arwin said, trying to keep a straight face. It was obvious how distressed Kien was, and he did understand where the man was coming from. Betrayal was a wound to more than the flesh. It bit deep into the soul… but Arwin was fairly certain that nobody had lost more power than he and Lillia had. Kien was preaching to the choir. “But I believe you are still underestimating what it is that I am capable of. I am willing to help you, but you’re going to have to have a little more faith than that.”

“You think your weaponry would be enough to defeat a man with the powers of a hero?”

“Hero,” Arwin said, turning the word over in his mouth. “You keep using that word, Kien. But I don’t think you properly understand what it means.”

Kien frowned. “What?”

“Hero isn’t a class,” Lillia said. “It’s a title. One you earn — and one that nobody can ever take away. Besides, was your actual class literally the Hero?”

“Of course not. I would not have been felled so easily were I the Hero. I was a Soulblade. Now, I am nothing.”

You’ll definitely be nothing as long as you keep that attitude. I know how brutal this situation can be, but dwelling in misery won’t fix shit. Unfortunately, neither will telling Kien to get his shit together. This needs a slightly finer touch than what I’ve got.

“Well, a weapon is what I can offer you,” Arwin said. “If you’re nothing, then you have nothing to lose.”

The corner of Kien’s lips twitched. “I apologize. You are correct, smith. I am being a child. Anything that can bring me closer to what I need is a welcome blessing. I have coin. Not much, but enough to buy your time.”

“You have thousands of gold on you?” Arwin asked. “And I thought you said you were broke!”

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“It was not my money to spend. I liberated it from some people. This is a worthy cause for it. But what manner of weapon costs thousands of gold?”

Looks like he’s got a sense of humor rattling around in there. Also, definitely a little bit of a cheapskate.

“A very magical one.”

Kien stared at Arwin. “I only have around a few hundred gold worth of platinum on me. I was under the impression that your specialization was replacement limbs. You can make magical weapons as well? Are you a Smith or an Enchanter?”

“I am who I am,” Arwin replied with a shrug. He leaned closer to Kien and let his voice lower to a whisper. “You cannot afford my work, but you can pay for it in another way. You are not the only one who has a grudge against the Guild… but their corruption is deep. We will not be able to cleanse the kingdom of their filth on our own.”

“You want me to aid you against them?” Kien asked. “Done. Should I survive this, then my blade would have turned against them next nonetheless. I do not expect I will be of much use, but I will offer what I can.”

“Maybe you’ll get your magic back if you succeed at your task,” Lillia said.

Kien heaved a sigh. He sent Lillia a bitter smile and shook his head. “No. As much as I would like that… it is impossible. I can feel it within me. My powers are gone. They are no longer mine. My body is as it was before I first got my magic.” ℞ÁŊȪ฿Ε𝐬

Wait.

“Even your titles?” Arwin asked.

Kien hesitated. Then he shook his head once more. “No. They remain.”

Lillia and Arwin exchanged a glance. The world around them seemed to fall away and Arwin found his hand tightening on the wooden table.

Hold on. A hero stabbed by a weapon that took their powers, returning them to their state before they got a class? One where the victim kept all of their Titles?

I’ve heard this story before.

Arwin’s skin prickled like someone had poured ice water over his back.

Our weapons. I don’t know every enchantment my sword had, and it’s possible to hide magic from even a weapon’s wielder. I did it for Melissa… so someone else could do it to me.

Our classes didn’t just evaporate. They were stolen… but something gave them back to us. The gem? The explosion? The achievement? The Mesh itself?

I don’t know.

But Lillia and I weren’t the guild’s first time doing this. How many other people have gotten their magic stolen before they got killed and silenced? And what the fuck is the guild doing with this stolen magic?

“What is it?” Kien asked. “I don’t want your pity. You don’t have to look at me like—”

“It’s not you,” Arwin said. He ripped himself from his thoughts and met Kien’s eyes. The Arwin saw was teetering on the brink of shattering. He was an inch from broken — but he wasn’t gone. Not yet. The Guild had tried to remove him from the playing board. And, if anything, that was the best possible way to vouch for someone’s character. If the Guild didn’t want them around… he did.

“Then what?” Kien asked. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Old memories,” Arwin replied. “And I was mistaken.”

“Mistaken? How so?”

“I said the only thing I could do was make you a weapon. I was wrong.”

“You can fix me?”

“There’s nothing to fix. You’re a clean slate. Wiped blank and ready to start anew — but I can give you more than just a little of a head start,” Arwin replied. Magic prickled in his chest and bubbled up through his throat, seeping into his words seemingly of its own volition. He did nothing to stop it.

A faint wind picked up around Arwin. Magic coursed through his body and a tremor took grip in the ground, causing the cutlery on the tables around them to rattle and bounce.

Kien rose from his chair, nearly tripping over it as he took several steps back. “What is this magic? I thought you were a smith!”

Motes of golden energy gathered in the air. They danced like tiny fireflies, swirling in the wind and growing brighter with every passing second. The magic caught in Arwin’s mouth, hanging at the tip of his tongue like a forgotten word.

Then it spilled forth.

“I can’t get you your old class back, but I can do you one better. I suppose it might be construed as paying forward a favor that someone else did for me,” Arwin said. “Nobody can really give you power, but I can certainly open the path for you.”

“The path?” Kien asked, but even as the question left his mouth, his eyes narrowed. “Never mind. I don’t care. If you have something that will help, then I accept. I don’t care what the cost is. I must become strong enough to end this before it can go any farther.”

“Then you will need to find a Class.”

All the energy in the air drove into Arwin’s words. They left his mouth like crashing rivers of melted gold.

Kien flinched back as a wave of power slammed into him.

Then it vanished. Power drained from Arwin and he staggered, catching himself on the table at the sudden loss of strength.

When he looked back up, Kien’s eyes were as wide as saucers.

You have offered Kien of the Twin Blades a Quest.

“A… challenge to get a new Class? Not from the Mesh, but from you?” Kien breathed, reading something invisible floating in the air before him. He swallowed heavily, his hands shaking at his sides as he stared on in disbelief. “How is this possible?”