Part 5-First day in Dwelrune
"Lilith Delkara, infamously dubbed as the 'Demoness' after excessive display of.. prowess, which led to multiple conflicts and complaints with various officials down south.
Your party members, or family, were not spared from the reports either. Virudiane 'Green' Delkara and D 'Coldheart' Delkara, also received multiple demerits after similar complaints.
However, yours, miss 'Demoness', are quite graphic in detail, and in turn, your party have been blacklisted for any quests involving bandit subjugations.
There is also an interesting footnote here; would have been eligible for Gold rank a couple years ago. Such a shame."
Lady Arleita continued as she flipped through a few clips of paper and read their adventure history.
"If I may, Lady Arleita, what are you insinuating?" Impatiently, Lilith tried to end the conversation.
"Worry not Lilith, as I mean you no harm." Arleita smiled widely to reassure her as she continued reading the files.
"I simply want to say, the adventurer's policies are quite.. constrictive, don't you think?" she continued.
"I digress Lady Arleita, with all due respect, we are doing just fine."
"There's no doubt indeed, eight year career, over 300 completed quests with a 92% success rate. A model adventurer if not for your mountain of demerits. You are doing fairly well.
But your history is of no concern to me, what I want, is you."
Again, the branch manager extended her invitation.
"My apologies Lady Arleita, I... we refuse."
Having her offer rejected, she leaned back on the sofa and let out a loud sigh at the ceiling.
"It seems that you have something in your mind and I suppose it's well founded.
But no worries, we can go back to your preferred arrangement for the time being.
But do know this, 'Demoness', my offer still stands."
"Thank you Lady Arleita, we will take your offer into consideration, now if I may, I would like to take my leave."
"Oh, I am sure you will consider my offer, Lilith Delkara"
Trying to hide her irritation, Lilith strapped the big bag back on her back and left the office.
"Stay slay darling." the branch manager said excitedly as Lilith disappeared from the doorway.
---
"It is rare to see you just letting something go." a stern voice appeared behind her sofa.
"She's sharp, and perhaps she thinks she knows what I have. To be fair, I would say she is right.
But that confidence is her downfall, she is practically telling me there's more to her than meets the eye, and Arleita Riddick always finds out."
The branch manager glanced behind her to where Lucas was standing with his posture tight.
"Get in contact with the southern border, I have a hunch."
With a silent nod, Lucas proceeded to meld back into the shadow and left the branch manager and her wide smile alone.
----
Striding along the market district, Lilith tried to not let her encounter bother her, but yet, it kept prodding her mind as she visited each stall for supplies.
It was apparent that Lady Arleita had discovered something beyond their record and she was trying to use it as leverage.
But at the same time, she did not explicitly say what dirt she had on them, which meant it is nothing acquitting yet. Still, Lilith was definitely keeping note of her, to investigate what she knew and if needed, ending her accordingly.
That is if they could pull it off should they go for the second option.
Magic jammer, commonly used magitech security system that suppresses mana circulation within its area of activation, effectively stops any attempt of espionage through magic or magitech tools.
This tool brings a side effect however, as it also suppresses the mana circulation of all individuals in the area and weakens them, physically and magically. It took her a couple minutes to steady herself when it was activated.
However, Lady Arleita was barely affected by the jammer, in fact, she was not bothered even a bit. It was evident she was not one that could be easily trifled with, the same could be said to that Lucas guy by her side.
If worst comes to worst, she would have to make a run for it, not the ideal plan however. Vibey was bedridden and all of them were in no shape to fight at full strength.
"East Ezteban should be pretty warm around this year." she pondered.
As she reached the end intersection of the market district, she directed her legs to the left corner, where the workshop sector was supposed to be in accordance with the district map.
True enough, a number of large warehouses lined up the large road, bands of wagons were seen back and forth as multiple chimneys coloured the sky grey with the craftsmen inside working their arts.
Going through the warehouses, her eyes scanned through the rooftops, searching for one with the most chimneys as it usually denotes a forge.
A few warehouses passed, her senses picked up some familiar smell and sound, the stifling smog produced by burning coal, alongside the harmonious clangs only hammer and anvil could produce, the forge.
"Good afternoon, is the master here? I would like to rent a station." Entering the workshop, Lilith asked the first craftsman she saw near the entrance.
"Sure do missy,
BOSS, SOMEONE'S RENTING"
The guy shouted loudly into the workshop, shortly after, a scruffy voice shouted back
"SEND'EM IN"
"Go right in missy," hearing the response, the man gestured his thumb to the back of the workshop, directing Lilith where she needed to go.
"Thank you sir" with a slight bow, Lilith thanked the craftsman before strutting into the inner workshop.
Lined across the walls, furnaces of various shapes and styles decorated the facade complete with smithing tools cluttering the floor near it. Additionally, there was always at least one craftsman manning each furnace, working on each of their own pieces.
After passing a few stations, Lilith saw a large stocky man standing at the edge of the room, his hands resting on his bulging hips which emphasised the assortment of smithing tools dangling from his belt.
"Renting a station missy?" The large man started the conversation as Lilith walked near.
"Are you the master of the forge?" Lilith replied.
"Sure do, and please just call me boss. Anything specific for the forge or yer good with just any?" The man took off his soot-covered glove and extended his hand forward.
"Nice to meet you boss, I am fine with any as long as it is equipped for magismithing" , answering the handshake, Lilith made her request.
"Magismith eh? Yer in luck missy, we got one free, the only one as a matter of fact, ha!
That would be 50g for one day rent, you'll be responsible for the fuel, tool, and cleaning, but we do provide those if needed. What would it be?"
"Do you accept reservations?"
"Reservation? Ah, you mean paying it ahead, yeah?"
With a nod, Lilith confirmed what she meant.
"Sure, you can uh... reservate."
"I think three days is fine for me, tools are no issue and I will clean afterwards, but I will need coal."
"Sure, DMA warehouse, that's Dwelrune Miners Association for ya, one to our left, they only sell in bulk, but tell'em yer a renter of ours and they will sell ya by the kilos."
"Thank you boss, here's for three days", thanking the boss, Lilith took out her pouch and paid the fees.
"Likewise missy, must admit though, it is rare to find a magismith here in Dwelrune, adventurer from far yonder?"
The large man bent forward a bit, curiosity in his tone as his hand stuffed the coins in his apron pocket.
"Ah yeah, from down south, is magismithing not a thing in Dwelrune?" His information piqued her interest.
"Not a common thing no, as you know, Dwelrune is one o' those 'Starting Towns', keep us busy, but not much stock of advanced stuffs, that includes magismithers."
"Ah.. that makes sense."
"Alright, here's the seal to forge number 18, make sure to return the seal to me once your business is done. Anything else you need missy? Or should I leave you to it?"
"That's all I need, thank you boss." Just as her previous encounter, Lilith slightly bowed as she thanked the boss.
"A polite one arent'ya missy? May the hammer of Durandall bless your steel."
After making sure Lilith had all she needed to do her thing, the boss excused himself and made his way back to his station.
For Lilith, she headed to the only magismith station in the forge, put down her prized tools and materials which she purchased when passing through the market district, and headed out to the DMA warehouse to get the coal she needed.
The art of magismithing is indeed not a common one, and not a popular one either. Unlike traditional smithing that relies on pure strength and craftsmanship skills, magismithing relies greatly on mana control and material knowledge.
A magismith must have a deep understanding of the minerals they are working with and understand the right control they need to exert over them. Sharp mind and unfazed focus is crucial in the process as small missteps can lead to a failed product and waste of materials, this leads to its bad rep among novice and beginners.
In addition to that, magismithing is not a craft as flexible as traditional blacksmithing, using the appropriate tools and equipment with a good amount of mana conductivity is equally important to the success of magismithing.
To which in Lilith's case, she needed to rent a magismith station to repair and re-enchant her party's equipment. The station she rented is made of copper, a T1 material, lowest tier, when it comes to its mana conductivity, but that was all she needed as she could trust herself to do the rest of the work.
With her hair tied in a small bun and rolled up sleeves, she braced the heat produced as her arms continued hammering and shaping the steel ingots to the equipment.
There might not be much strength in each swing, but the mana exerted went through her tools and shaped the steel to her will. It was a demanding work even with her mana pools, and her only rest was treating herself to the bitter blue vials.
---
Hours passed, the twelfth bell of the day was ringing in harmony, which meant it should be dinner hour soon.
Lilith had pretty much renewed her rapier and reshaped Vibey's dual blades, all in a day's work. Though, there were still more to come.
There was a need to reshape the buckles and plates to the appropriate shape and hardness before D could sew it to their armors.
But the biggest trouble would be D's twin tower shields, all too bent and in a state of disrepair, no choice for her but to melt the slag down and shape another pair from scratch.
That would be a challenge for tomorrow though as Lilith tidied up her tools, alongside, she also made two notes on her work; one for herself and one for the station. A safety protocol for the renter who uses a station for more than a day.
Covered in sweat and gunk, she picked up her crafts and materials and left the rest inside the crate provided by the forge. All before letting the boss know she was leaving for the day and made her way back to the inn.
Lugging the now half empty large pack, she arrived back at the Siren Sisters Inn. The diner on the first floor was a big mess that equaled the rumbling crowd filling the tables, her stomach rumbled in kind, but she needed to set everything down before she could move onto the third meal of the day.
"Hope D ordered before rush hour" she thought to herself as the stairs leading to the second floor creaked under her with each step.
"I am back y'all, where's di-"
Opening their inn door, Lilith was greeted by one too familiar smile, her eyes droopy and complexion looking a bit pale, her arms shaking slightly as she lightly nibbled on an apple.
"Oh, Lili, morning"