The Chronicles of a Scalebound Sage

WM [39] Rowdy Monster Hunters

Bjorn found there was a surprising lull throughout the past couple days, Tanisha spent most of the time with the cold infusion basin. Joel gave her a hundred ingots to infuse with various materials, the dreamweaver blood being one of them. Between cold infusion, potion brewing, and selling her wares at the stall, Tanisha barely had a moment to breathe. The afternoons, reserved for combat training, had to start earlier to avoid another confrontation with the innkeeper, whose wrath they’d learned to dodge.

Adelheid had been observing Tanisha and Bjorn’s far more intense training regimen. Bjorn noticed her lingering glances, the way her posture would tense as if she was holding back the urge to join in or say something. He even caught her trying some of the moves from the forms when she thought no one was looking. She watched in silence until Joha eventually dismissed her. 

It was the last day in the town and it started like any other with flexibility, balance and breathing training in the morning. They followed by an hour or two of inventory management. All the while Tanisha didn’t so much as acknowledge Adelheid’s presence. In fact Bjorn and Joha noticed pretty early on that Tanisha had not once spoken to the wifwolf who dutifully paced behind them like a lost child.

Both Bjorn and Joha had picked up on it early on. Tanisha’s silence toward Adelheid was palpable, an invisible confrontation was brewing just beneath the surface. In the meantime, Joha had kept Adelheid busy, putting her to work gathering supplies or trying to teach her the art of trade. The wifwolf complied, she didn’t have a choice and although she was hesitant at first she seemed to be slowly acclimating to Joha. Her eyes frequently drifted toward Tanisha and Bjorn, her expression torn between curiosity and guilt. 

“Today is our last day in town. Did you manage to get all the infusions done?” Joha asked Tanisha, his hands deftly arranging items on the table. “Once we are done today we will be continuing to the border.”

Tanisha, busy herself, barely glanced up as she responded. “I should be done. I only have a few more to do. It’s the new essence Joel gave me that’s giving me trouble.”

Bjorn couldn’t help but agree as he listened in on the conversation from a soft patch of grass he laid down on. He hadn’t heard Tanisha curse as much as she had the past couple of days trying to figure out the new essence. 

“What did he give you?” Joha asked.

Tanisha pulled out a large feather from her bracelet inventory although it looked more like a golden quill made from actual gold. “It is a feather from some kind of bird monster. I don’t remember the name.”

Adelheid, who had been silently assisting Joha by placing spices on the table, spoke up. “Quillstriker,” she said, her voice quiet but clear. “They’re a monster that shoots its feathers like arrows at its prey.”

Everyone turned to her, and she froze as she realized she just corrected Tanisha. She notably recoiled and averted eye contact as she quickly finished placing the last of the spices down.

“Ah, quillstriker sounds like an interesting creature. I wonder what the infusion will do to the metal,” Joha said, continuing the conversation.

Tanisha’s gaze lingered on Adelheid for a long moment, and Bjorn could feel the unspoken words between them through his bond with Tanisha. She wasn’t upset or atleast Bjorn didn’t think so but he couldn’t read her emotions as they were quickly locked away. Then, without a word, she took the bait Joha left and the feather disappeared back into her inventory.

“It should add some type of retaliatory effect from what I can surmise,” Tanisha said. “If it is made into armor, if something strikes it while magic or material is supplied, small feathers will shoot back at the attacker. They won’t be nearly as deadly as the real thing and the range will vary depending on the magic supplied to the armor.”

“What did the dreamweaver blood do? He gave you a lot of that,” Joha asked.

Tanisha’s expression softened slightly as she recalled the essence. “I think it was some kind of ward against dreamweavers, which is apparently a pretty common monster. Its cuts can cause unnaturally heavy bleeding even from a scratch. If it’s made into armor, it can cancel out bleeding curses or hexes. And if it’s made into a weapon, it can cause them on opponents.”

“Shame we won’t get to see what the blacksmiths here are planning to make with those ingots,” Joha said. 

“Yeah, but we’ll see other infused gear I am sure. Its low success rate is apparently the reason people typically go for enchanting over infusion,” Tanisha said. “And after all this work and only getting thirty usable ingots I agree.”

***

The inside of the blacksmith’s shop was as hot as ever as Bjorn’s group entered. It was going to be their last time coming here and Joel was in the middle of haggling with a few monster hunters over the price of a spear and a few swords. There was another dwarf at the counter neither Tanisha or Bjorn had seen. The man had a short beard for a dwarf which was long by anyone else's standards which only came down half his chest in length. He was totally bald with soot and ash covering all available surfaces across his skin except the circles around his eyes where the imprint of goggles protected them.

Identify
Name: Underrock Stonecrusher
Species: Dwarf
Level: ??
Vocation: Noncombatant

“Welcome to my shop, please come in,” the bald dwarf called. “I guess yall are Tanisha, Joha and Bjorn?” He squinted his eyes a second. “And is that Alaric’s little trouble maker, Adelheid?”

Adelheid, who was in the back of the pack, answered nervously. “Hello, Master Underrock, it is good to see you.”

“Aye, good to be seen,” Underrock bellowed. “Heard you got yourself into a bit of a durlivon nest, but good to see that you are trying to make things right with these people.”

The group walked up to the counter as Underrock took off his thick ash and metal shaving covered gloves. He reached out his hand as soon as Tanisha was close enough to shake. He introduced himself and was apparently Joel’s father and the owner of the Jackrabbit’s Smithy. He was just as excited to see Bjorn as his son had been jumping over the counter to get a good look at the hydra. He then returned to his place on the other side of the counter. 

Underrock’s voice was gruff. “I know that you’ll have been dealing wit’ mah boy Ironjaw but I am glad I got to meetcha before yah left. He’s been talkin’ nonstop about the talented alchemist that managed to have a twenty percent infusion rate on her first try. Did he already offer you a job because I could use someone like you permanently.”

“That’s kind, Master Underrock, but I can’t settle down now. I still have many things out in the world I want to see,” Tanisha said.

“Can’t have you stealing my apprentice out from under me either,” Joha said with a humorous chuckle.

“Yeah, I wouldn’t dream of it Joha, besides there are many wonders out there, but it is a damn shame to let you go,” Underrock said as he shifted into business mode. “Were you able to infuse the ingots? I know it was short notice.”

“Actually, yes. I just finished today,” Tanisha said.

Joha breathed out red maya over the counter and one hundred neatly stacked ingots appeared in stacks of ten. The thirty-seven fully infused ingots separated from the sixty-three failures. Underrock gasped and even Joel had to run over mid haggling to look at the stacks. They went over each one animatedly running mana through each of the successful ingots. Bjorn could all but see both of the blacksmiths already envisioning the crafts they could make with them.

“This-this is even more than we anticipated you’d do even if you had a full week,” Joel asked. “Did you stop all your other potion making just to work on this?”

“No,” Tanisha said with a flush of embarrassment. “I was able to do this in between working my stall and potion making.

One of the monster hunters Joel abandoned called out annoyed. “Hey, we weren’t done!” 

“Yeah-yeah don’t get your nappies in a wad,” Joel said as he walked back over to the group.

“Well this makes what Joel did with your armor make more sense,” Underrock finally said, his voice a deep rumble of approval. “Give me one moment.”

Underrock stepped back, his hands moving with a practiced grace. With a snap of his finger, the dwarf summoned a set of black plate armor from his inventory. The pieces appeared in mid-air before and floated gently down to rest on the counter. The armor was breathtaking, its design perfect and intricately modeled to fit Tanisha’s body. Every curve, every edge, every detail had been meticulously crafted. 

Underrock wasn’t finished with just that though and with a focused expression, he extended his hands over the counter. Two golden ingots levitated effortlessly into the air. Those were the only two successful ingots Tanisha managed to infuse with the quillstriker feathers. Bjorn watched in awe as the ingots began to glow, their surfaces heating up until they were nothing more than streams of molten metal, swirling like liquid gold in the dwarf’s magical grip.

Underrock moved his hands in a series of precise gestures, guiding the molten gold blue steel across the black armor. The liquid metal responded to his will, flowing along the edges and seams, tracing intricate patterns that seemed to weave themselves into the very fabric of the armor. Bjorn could taste the magic in the air and could feel the precision in Underrock’s control. The golden accents formed elegant designs, spiraling and curling like vines.

Everyone was mesmerized even the rowdy monster hunters giving Joel a hard time stopped to watch the master at work. The way Underrock molded the molten metal with his bare hands, shaping it with the ease of a master artist, was nothing short of mesmerizing. The black armor now gleamed with gold, each piece a work of art, yet undeniably formidable. The contrast between the dark, matte black and the shimmering gold was striking to say the least.

When Underrock finally lowered his hands, the gold solidified instantly, cooling into place as though it had always belonged there. The dwarf stepped back, a satisfied smile on his face as he admired his handiwork. He only used half of the ingots and the rest solidified back into one and floated back to the counter.

“Now with that I think this armor is complete,” Underrock said.

“Divines above Underrock, I want that done to my armor!” one of the monster hunters yelled.

Tanisha was speechless as Underrock presented her with the now complete set of armor. She expected simple blue steel but this was far beyond what she expected. Bjorn couldn’t help but feel a swell of pride for Tanisha. She had worked tirelessly to infuse those ingots, and now, standing before them, was the result of that effort. She stepped forward and ran her hand across one of the brasers. 

“I-it’s perfect,” Tanisha said breathlessly. “I don’t know what to–”

The moment ended abruptly when a bell alarm rang. The sound of movement outside gripped everyone. Then they heard screaming and people yelling orders for noncombatants to get inside. There was a monster horde attacking.