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Chapter 210: Emerge

The first was that Arwin couldn’t just make anything he wanted to. He needed to outfit Melissa, but he didn’t want to completely reveal the full extent of his powers. Giving her a bunch of [Awakened] items would be the end of his freedom if anyone figured out he could make them.

Even making his “normal” magical items had the potential to overplay his hand. Given the magic weapons that he’d seen in Milten so far, nearly anything he made was liable to give the average adventurer a heart attack.

The Falling Blades’ magical items had only proven that even further. Arwin and Lillia stood in his forge, looking down on the pile of enchanted equipment they’d taken from the grey-clothed men.

Swords that could flash with blinding light at will. Small metal balls with the same enchantment. Rings that connected to each other and let the wearers send brief messages with their minds at a significant cost of magical energy.

The strongest weapon of the lot was a wicked looking black dagger that could inject poison stored in its hilt out through its blade the moment it touched someone, ensuring a lethal dose of liquid death was sent straight into a victim’s veins.

While the magic equipment was effective and useful… it just wasn’t anything compared to the work Arwin could manage.

It would be stupid to let that get to my head and manifest any arrogance. I’ve seen magical items that make my equipment right now look pathetic, and I’ve seen it used by adventurers not that much stronger than I am now.

While I’m confident I have the potential to reach and surpass that level in the future, this isn’t the future. The reason my equipment is so much better is because the competition is just so much worse. There isn’t much magic this far out in the kingdom.

And, because of that, it makes everything I can make considerably more valuable. If people discover what I’m capable of, every large guild in the outskirts of the kingdom will be knocking on my door. I can’t let that happen.

That was a bit of a problem. Arwin had fully planned on making relatively weak items, similar to the ones they’d taken from the assassins. But if he made items at this level… there was basically no chance for Melissa to survive.

“What do I do?” Arwin muttered. He picked up one of the marbles and rolled it between his fingers, his lips pressed thin. “I promised Melissa I’d make her something that would let her have a chance of surviving this. How do I do that without completely exposing my own back?”

“Definitely no living items,” Lillia said. “Those are more long-term weapons anyway. We’re not trying to make Melissa the strongest warrior in the kingdom. We just need her strong enough to survive.”

“Right,” Arwin said with a nod of agreement. Frustration made his hands clench. “But how strong is that? And how do I pull off anything strong enough to accomplish that without the item being too strong to reveal? I want customers for above average magical items, not to get locked in a cage by someone that realizes what I’m fully capable of.”

Lillia didn’t respond immediately. They both thought in silence for several seconds. Then the former demon queen tilted her head to the side.

“You know, it’s impossible to tell how strong most of your armor is when you’re wearing it. I saw the description of your gloves — good job with them, by the way — but everything else just looks like normal, well-made armor.”

“Right,” Arwin said. “I could make sure the stats were concealed from other people, but I don’t trust Melissa enough to put our potential future in her hands.”

“Of course not. That would be stupid,” Lillia said. “But what if you took it a step further? If you can hide the stats from other people, couldn’t you hide them from her too?”

He hesitated. Hiding stats was a common enchantment. When he’d been the Hero, basically every single piece of equipment he’d used had borne it. But hiding stats from the wearer themselves… if anything, that was more of a curse than a blessing.

Nobody in their right mind would put on magical equipment when they didn’t know what it did. They were liable to find themselves in its control rather than the other way around. But Melissa wasn’t exactly grabbing armor from the middle of a haunted dungeon.

He was making it from scratch. A smile slowly crawled across Arwin’s face. He grabbed Lillia by the shoulders. “That’s it! I just have to make it so that absolutely nobody can see what the equipment does! I can maybe even find a way to ensure it breaks down if anyone goes digging too hard. That’ll make it so that Melissa has what she needs to survive, but it’ll keep my interests protected as well.”

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“Can you do such a complex enchantment?” Lillia asked, clearly trying to restrain from getting too excited until it was clear they actually had a path forward. “You’d have to conceal the item’s stats, put in a failsafe, and also make all the actual magic that keeps her alive.”

Arwin hesitated for a moment, a stopper put in his excitement. He’d gotten pretty complex with the enchantment for his gauntlets, but this was yet another level. A few seconds of thought passed. Then he nodded.

“Yes. I think I can. If I have all the monster parts I need, I believe I can do it. The gloves showed I can make items piece by piece. So as long as each enchantment is tied to a different focal piece, I believe I can get pretty complex. It won’t be easy… but I’ve got a week.”

“So that just means we need to figure out what enchantments you’re going to do and the type of armor Melissa needs.” Lillia took the marble from Arwin so she could roll it around herself. Arwin glanced down at the pile of equipment. There were several other marbles sitting there that she could have taken. Lillia followed his gaze and her cheeks reddened. “I wanted yours.”

Arwin suppressed a laugh. “What are you, a cat?”

Her tail poked him in the leg and he cleared his throat, taking Lillia’s hand and trapping the marble between their palms. “There. Now we can both hold it.”

If the assassins knew their magical item was getting used as little more than a fidget toy, they’d probably cry tears of blood. Eh. Good riddance. Bunch of vile, arrogant pricks.

“I suppose I can settle for that, but don’t get used to it. I don’t like sharing.” Despite her words, a satisfied smile crossed Lillia’s lips and she leaned against his side. “It really does feel like the work keeps stacking up, doesn’t it?”

“There’s never enough time,” Arwin agreed through a sigh. He looked over at the heart, still thumping away in the corner of the smithy. “But we can try to fit in some extra work while we get everything ready for Melissa. It’ll be a bit before I can actually start on her equipment.”

“What?” Lillia blinked. “Why? Do you have the time to waste?”

“Waste? No.” Arwin shook his head. “Not at all. But I’m not going to waste time. I just need materials. I can’t make Melissa’s armor with what I’ve got now. I need monster parts. Specific ones. That takes time to get.”

“You mean you’re going to squeeze in both dungeon diving and crafting this week?” Lillia squinted at Arwin and her tail flicked in irritation. “You realize that’s impossible. You won’t finish.”

“I have to. Today I’ll figure out the enchantments I’m doing and what materials I’ll need. Then we’ll figure out where to get those items. It’ll be too late to head out so we can work on the bellows again. Then we’ll get the bits I need the next day and I can start crafting after that.”

“Right. I forgot you were like this,” Lillia said with a sigh. She rubbed the bridge of her nose. Then she flicked him in the shoulder.

“What was that for?”

“Do you really think we’ll find everything we need in just a day? It’ll be days of dungeon diving if you need a bunch of specific things.”

“Then that’s what we’ll have to do. What’s the alternative?”

“You have a guild, Arwin. You do realize that you don’t have to do every single dungeon dive yourself? Allocate tasks. We agreed that you’d stop trying to do everything yourself. You’ve been including me, but have you forgotten about everyone else?”

Arwin’s brow furrowed as he sought an answer, but the words died before they could even form. No excuse he could come up with sounded even remotely reasonable. Lillia was right. Trying to go through a bunch of dungeons and craft an entire set of armor in a week was just impossible.

But sending the others without him… no matter how hard Arwin tried to find a workaround, his thoughts always fell right back to the exact same issue.

“I don’t want to send them alone.” Arwin’s shoulders slumped. “I’m worried someone will get hurt if I’m not there.”

“Arwin…” Lillia’s voice was gentle.

“I know,” Arwin said. He swallowed. “I can’t protect everyone. I know that. But at least I can protect the Menagerie while they’re next to me. If they aren’t… what can I do?”

“They’re adventurers and adults, Arwin. Even Reya. And they’re far from weak. Your equipment has taken already talented people and pushed them even higher. That’s how you protect them. But you know what isn’t protecting them? Keeping them permanently under your wing and out of a situation where they can truly grow.”

Lillia’s words, although softly spoken, bit into Arwin like an icepick. Her hand tightened around his and with her other she cradled his face, moving his chin so they were looking into each other’s eyes. “You need to trust them, Arwin.”

“I do trust them,” Arwin said. “I just don’t want something to go wrong.”

“You can’t control that. And let’s be real — you don’t have the liberty to shelter them if you want to save Melissa as well. Let them make the decision for themselves.”

She was right and they both knew it. Arwin heaved a defeated sigh.

“Damn it. You’re right. I don’t like it, but you’re right. How is it you’re so good at this?” Arwin nearly asked if Lillia was worried about the others, but he stopped himself before the words could escape. He knew she was. Insinuating anything else would have just been an insult.

“I think demons had a much more effective way of training soldiers than humans do,” Lillia said, pulling Arwin into a hug and resting her cheek against his shoulder. “You aren’t doing anyone a favor by keeping them completely safe. People need to overcome danger to grow. Let them grow. You’ll be with them in your equipment. Besides, it’s not like they’re going to be doing the hardest dungeons in the world. They can still take things slow.”

Arwin nodded slowly. “Yeah. You’re right. As usual. It sounds like I need to focus in and figure out the traits Melissa’s items need — and then I need to speak to the rest of the Menagerie. I’m going to need their help.”

Lillia released Arwin and took a step back. She set the marble back down in the pile. “Then let’s get those traits locked in before tonight. How can I help?”

With a path already starting to emerge in the clouds in Arwin’s mind, it only took him a moment to answer. “Help me act out a scenario and brainstorm what the assassins can do. Let’s get Rodrick as well. He knows their abilities more than we do. Then we can figure out what I’ll need to make the enchantments we need.”

Lillia gave him a confident smile and Arwin returned it. They had a plan — and if all went to it, the Falling Blades would never know what hit them when they came for Melissa the second time.

No matter how this all ends up falling out, our time in the shadows is over. We’ve taken the first step into the light. It’s time to fully emerge onto the stage.