Rise of the Living Forge-Chapter 420: Lich moment

There was still a good while before Milten properly woke up. The night still ruled over its streets and the sun had yet to begin its ascent into the sky — at least, according to the Infernal Armory.

Arwin and Koyu hadn’t had any reason to leave the inner room of the armory. The vision hadn’t taken too long, and their discussion afterward had only been a few minutes. There was more than enough to get more work done before the thought of potential customers waiting to try and see Arwin even had to bother them.

“There is a Dwarf in here somewhere?” Koyu asked, looking around the room with a confused expression. “How? The room isn’t that big, and dwarves aren’t that small. I refuse to accept that I have become so senile that I cannot detect the presence of a single dwarf.”

“He’s not here yet,” Arwin said, suppressing a laugh. “Just give me a moment. I’m getting him. This shouldn’t be too hard. Uh… just be ready.”

“Be ready?” Koyu’s features creased in confusion behind his beard. “For what?”

“Just don’t go saying exactly what you are before I get to introduce you,” Arwin said. “Wallace is a good guy. He means well. But he’s a little bit behind the times on coming to understand that people are not always what they seem.”

Koyu let out a snort. “You are saying he will react poorly to my presence as a Lich.”

“Almost certainly, yes. I don’t think he’s going to think much of my ability to use Soulmancy either. Wallace is a purist, but he’s the only Dwarven Smith I know that is actually aligned to our cause in any degree. We’ll just have to break it to him gently. I think he’ll come around, and I think we need his help for a project as big as the one we’re undertaking.”

“You worry too much,” Koyu said. “I have yet to meet a Dwarf that isn’t completely and utterly morally corrupt in the face of enough gold. Just pay him and he will do whatever you want. They are the ultimate brokers of war.”

Arwin paused. He’d known that the dwarves were involved in the war along with the Adventurer’s Guild, but not quite to what extent. It seemed their involvement ran farther back than he’d initially thought.

“You want to elaborate on that?”

“It is a long story. Not one suited for the time. Let it suffice to say that since the dwarves arrived on this planet, they have always created weaponry for the highest bidder. I have never met one more concerned about morality than materials. Are you absolutely certain we need this dwarf’s advice? Do you trust him that much?”

“Yes. He taught me pretty much everything I know about Dwarven Smithing, and I think he genuinely wants the best for the world. It’ll just take a bit of convincing,” Arwin said, reaching out to the Infernal Armory and setting a hand on its maw. The stone was hot to the touch. It seemed the building was more than ready to get started. Arwin gave it a pat. “Open the connection to Wallace’s smithy, please.”

Arwin summoned roiling black [Soul Flame] to his hand. The flames licked across his fingers and twisted into the air in an attempt to reach freedom. He let the fire roll off his palm and into the hearth, where the Infernal Armory drank it in.

The hearth started to unfold. Arwin took a step back as the fire rising along its surface intensified. It rose up, forming into a crackling black square. Details etched themselves into the square until it had become a polished doorway made entirely of flame.

“Impressive. A portal made entirely of flame and magical energy,” Koyu mused. “I haven’t seen something like this before. It must be of Dwarven make, and I did my best not to associate myself with them too much. They were a secretive bunch. One I wanted to avoid after I distanced myself from my past. How did you make one’s acquaintance?”

“Like this,” Arwin replied as he extended a hand toward the door and let his palm rest upon its crackling surface.

It had long since been unlocked already — Wallace was used to his intrusions at this point. The dwarf had even come through the passageway a few times on his own. Wallace may as well have been a neighbor at this point.

Arwin gave the door a push.

It swung open, casting molten orange light across the Infernal Armory in the process. Before them laid Wallace’s forge. Lava bubbled at a pool in its back and familiar looking smithing tools hung from the wall, their surfaces dancing like mirrors in the light. A small grin tugged at the corners of Arwin’s lips as he recalled the first time he’d seen into this room.

I thought I’d just gotten a bunch of tools and access to a giant pool of lava for free. Didn’t have the faintest idea I was breaking and entering into Wallace’s house. Though, to be fair, if he didn’t want me to come in, he should have had a better lock on his door.

“Wallace?” Arwin called, raising his voice slightly. “You there?”

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There were a few seconds of silence.

Koyu and Arwin exchanged a glance.

Then a ragged looking dwarf stepped out. His eyes were half shut in sleep and his hair stuck out in every odd direction as if he’d stuck his finger into an electrical socket a moment before. A smithing apron hung around his neck at an angle and had clearly not yet been tied properly. He’d definitely just pulled it on.

“What is your problem? It’s the middle of the night! Why are you breaking into my damn forge right now? Couldn’t you have waited until a reasonable hour?” Wallace demanded as he rubbed at his eyes with one hand. “Sleep is vital. Impossible to get any good work done when you’re tired. And when you get to my age, you’re tired an awful lot.”

“Truer words have never been spoken,” Koyu muttered under his breath.

“Sorry about that,” Arwin said with a sheepish grin. “You didn’t strike me as the type to need his beauty sleep. You had the rest of the night to sleep. I want to show you something interesting. Come over here. It’ll be worth your time.”

And I don’t want you to have a portal to run back out of after you find out Koyu is a lich. There might need to be some extensive convincing done to keep Wallace from thinking I’ve become evil.

Wallace squinted at Arwin. “Worth my time? Somehow, I doubt it… unless Lillia is also there with you? Do you have any of the new brews she’s been working on? The waiting list for them is too long.”

“I’ll make sure to let her know you’re looking forward to trying some. There are a lot of people who want to taste it themselves, you know.” Arwin scratched at the side of his neck. “But something tells me she can arrange for a skip ahead in the line in the right circumstances.”

Koyu arched an eyebrow, but Arwin didn’t even have to waste a second explaining himself.

Wallace was moving the moment the words had finished leaving his mouth. The dwarf tightened his apron around himself and stepped right out of the portal, hopping down to the ground of the Infernal Armory to stand before Arwin. He rubbed at his eyes and shook the last of the sleep out of his features before combing a hand through his thick hair in a futile attempt to tame it.

The portal back to his forge sputtered and slithered to a close the moment he’d passed through it.

Nice job. Love it when we’re on the same page. Now Wallace is stuck here, at least for a little while. It really would be easier if Lillia were here to get him smashed on a few drinks before we started the talk, but I need Wallace fully aware for this conversation.

“Right,” Wallace said through a yawn. “What happened? This better be important.”

“Wallace, I’d like you to meet my ally, Koyu.” Arwin gestured to the Lich. Without any reason to believe otherwise, Koyu just looked like a random homeless man with particularly piercing eyes. Wallace probably wouldn’t have any—

The dwarf went stiff as a rod. He took a step back, the weariness evaporating from his features in an instant. “What the fuck?”

Goddamn it. Seriously?

“Hello,” Koyu said. He sounded tired.

“Arwin,” Wallace ground out. “There is a dead man in your smithy? You know this is a ghost, right?”

Not exactly.

“I am aware of what Koyu is.” Arwin chose his words carefully. He didn’t really want to outright lie to Wallace when he was about to ask the dwarf to work together… but he could definitely ease him into the truth. “I’d request that you avoid judging him based on what he is. He’s an expert in the field.”

“Judging? Are you an idiot?” Wallace exclaimed. He spun toward Koyu, his eyes glinting — not with fear or distrust, but delight. “How old are you? How much have you seen?” ƒгeeweɓn૦vel.com

“More, I trust, than you,” Koyu replied.

Wallace let out an elated laugh. “You’re forgiven for waking me up, Arwin. What an honor. A ghost whose memories are intact… name what you seek. I have a great many questions. Do you know of any old dungeons in the area that have been untouched in recent times?”

Arwin stared at them. This was not the response he’d been expecting at all… but it seemed like the exact one that Koyu had been waiting for.

“As I was saying,” Koyu said wearily, “I avoided dwarves, even during life. They have a problem with exhuming long forgotten dungeons in search of materials. They also tend to be rather persistent. I was fortunate that they never found where I resided, or I’d have a line of them sitting around at all times.”

Arwin bit back a laugh.

I guess that makes a certain amount of sense. Old ghosts might know of areas that living people have forgotten. Dwarven Smiths would definitely want to find buried materials with powerful magic that they could use to make better items.

It was tempting to let Wallace continue with the misconception, but Arwin was done with the lies among his own group. This project was too important to risk it falling apart midway through when something slipped free.

“Wallace,” Arwin said. “Koyu isn’t just a ghost.”

The dwarf’s brow furrowed. “What do you mean?”

“Koyu is similar to Lillia and I,” Arwin said. “He isn’t proud of his past, but he’s been immensely helpful to me recently. We’re working together to create something, and we’d both like your help. The thing is, he’s a—”

“I am a Lich,” Koyu said.

Wallace blinked.

Then his eyes narrowed. He was silent for several long seconds. His gaze bore into Koyu like drills, digging deep into the other man’s soul.

Then, finally, he spoke.

“You have a Lich? In your smithy?”

“Yes,” Arwin said.

“And you trust him? Enough to work with him?”

Arwin nodded. “Yes. We have a common enemy.”

It was another second before Wallace responded.

“You know what Liches are? How they are made?”

“I know enough,” Arwin said.

“Are you aware that the Dwarven Council has had dealings with them before?” Wallace asked. “And not an insignificant number.”

Arwin blinked. That, he had not known.

“No. But it doesn’t surprise me.”

Wallace grunted. “No. It shouldn’t. But I avoided Liches. I have made it a point to. If we stood here a few weeks ago, we would have had quite the problem. I do not like the insinuation to my character that you believe I would work with a Lich. But… I believe I know you. And times are changing. I will make no promises, but I will listen. What could have possibly brought you together with a Lich?”

“A skill,” Arwin replied. “Something that the Mesh gave me as my class evolved. One by the name of Soulmancy.”