Rise of the Living Forge
Chapter 441: Tests

Arwin stared at Eleven, trying to tell if she’d been stalking him. It wasn’t entirely out of the possibility. She’d done it before, and it wasn’t like he had a good way to tell if she was around. Nobody did.

You have to be kidding me. House Blacktongue are the assholes that Thane has to call a family. There’s no way that Eleven coincidentally shows up right after we’ve dealt with them — right after I had to kick a dwarf to the curb for snooping around on my street — and just happens to mention them.

I don’t buy that for a second.

“Is something wrong?” Eleven asked, tilting her head to the side. She yawned, then rubbed at her eyes beneath the mat of hair covering them. “And can it wait for later? I’d like to get this over with.”

“I’ve heard of the house,” Arwin said noncommittally. “Why are you bringing them up? I don’t really have much interest in associating with noble houses any more than I have to. Not that I’ve got anything in particular against them. I just don’t care.”

“Well, we suggest you do,” Eleven said. “House Blacktongue are a fairly influential family. Their oldest son is turning sixteen very soon, and they’re hosting a party to celebrate.”

“And you want us to… infiltrate it? You think the best use of our abilities is breaking into a sixteen year old kid’s birthday party?” Arwin’s brow furrowed and he leaned forward, bracing his elbows on the table. He didn’t give a shit about the Blacktongues or what they did — but he did have a vested interest in Thane. “Something tells me you’ve got a reason beyond simple curiosity. Are they associated with something we should be concerned about?”

“Mm?” Eleven shook her head. “No. It isn’t the Blacktongues we’re interested in. It’s the party they’re throwing. The Adventurer’s Guild has been invited.”

Arwin’s eyes sharpened instantly. “What’s going on? Why?”

“That’s what we want to find out,” Eleven said. “Because it wasn’t just anyone that got invited. It’s one of the Guild’s operatives. A man who goes by Mask. We’re fairly confident that he’s the one that gave Hein Necrohammer’s dagger.”

“What the hell is he doing at a birthday party?”

“Exactly,” Eleven said. “I think you can see why this might be important. Mask is up to something. We want to know what. And the Menagerie… well, you’ve got dealings with the Blacktongues already, don’t you?”

Right. She was definitely stalking us.

“How much did you see?” Arwin asked flatly.

“Just enough to know you stole that dungeon out from under their nose,” Eleven said through a snicker. “They’re going to conceal that information, by the way. Imagine what would happen if anyone found out that those idiots handed a random adventuring team the first clear of an Expert Tier dungeon. Speaking of which, did you get anything good?”

Arwin stared at Eleven for a second. “You followed us through the whole dungeon?”

“Just over to the entrance of it. I figured you’d want your privacy there and I didn’t really want to get dragged into a fight.” Eleven yawned again. “Did the kid manage to get his class?”

Damn spies.

“Yes,” Arwin said with a sigh. “He did. Do you mind not doing that in the future? I’m really not a fan of you just stalking us. If you want to follow along… just let me know or something. Surely that would be easier for all of us.”

Eleven tilted her head to the side. “That’s not an offer I’ve heard before. You’ll let me spy on you?”

“I was under the impression that our guilds were considering a working relationship. We aren’t enemies. And, to be frank, I’d rather control the information you get. You seem to respect that. Seems like a fair offer.”

And it looks like she didn’t see anything I really want to keep under wraps. That’s good. I’d much rather have Eleven’s spying contained than have to constantly worry if she’s breathing down my neck.

Eleven considered his words for a moment. Then she nodded. “Fair enough. I don’t mind that. Makes my job easier. And I take it this means you’re interested in infiltrating the Blacktongue’s party?”

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“If the Adventurer’s Guild is involved, yes. When is it?”

“Three days. Enough time to prepare. And you’ll need it. Mask is not to be underestimated. We believe he’s Sunsetted his class.”

Arwin grimaced. “Of course he has. But I’m not planning to stab the guy in a dark alleyway the moment we get a second alone. If the Guild is actually sending this guy, then they have to have a reason. They’re after something. Maybe one of the other attending families? There’s no guarantee it’s the Blacktongues that Mask is targeting.”

Eleven’s head bobbed in a nod. “Clever. Yes. We’ve considered that as well. My honest answer is that I don’t know. My abilities aren’t the same as Rodrick’s. I don’t specialize in picking up large amounts of information. I focus on a single target. That’s why I’m happy to leave this to you. Good luck.”

She rose to her feet.

“Hold on there,” Arwin said, mirroring her motion. “While we’re happy to do this, I do believe we agreed that there would be a payment for when our guild helped yours.”

“Is this goal not something you would also want accomplished? It seems we are aligned.”

“Except we’re doing the work for you,” Arwin said with a small grin. “I think it’s only fair that we get something for putting ourselves in danger, don’t you? Don’t tell me the Setting Sun can’t afford it.”

Eleven let out a snort. “What do you want? Another Dungeon Heart?”

That was a tempting offer… but Arwin hadn’t even used the last one she’d given them yet. He still wanted to figure out what the best spot for it was. Sure, they were building an Auction house, but he wasn’t sure if they’d actually need to use the heart for something like that.

“I’m not sure yet,” Arwin admitted. “But we’re not doing this for free. It puts all the risk on us and none of it on you. I think some form of payment for services rendered would be fair. We are doing your job for you, after all.”

Eleven let out a small laugh. “Fine. I can accept that. Ask me for something reasonable and I’ll get it for you. But can you at least tell me if you got anything good from the dungeon? I’m dying to know how much the Blacktongues screwed up.”

“To be entirely honest, I don’t know. I haven’t checked yet. My plan was to take a look tonight, but then a dwarf showed up slinging all sorts of rude accusations around.” Arwin crossed his arms in front of his chest. “You wouldn’t happen to know anything about that, would you?”

“I waited until you were done with her to show up. What do you have to complain about?”

So she did know the dwarf was here.

“Did you know what she was after?”

Eleven shook her head. “I don’t read minds, Arwin. She just looked like an annoying smith trying to hawk her equipment. We aren’t keeping tabs on all of your enemies. I’ve got better things to do with my time.”

Arwin inclined his head. So Eleven had been in roughly the same spot as Rodrick. The dwarf had hidden her goals well enough that she’d fooled two master spies — but in all fairness to both of them, neither could read minds. It would have been ludicrous to manage to guess that Ida was working for the council without having some kind of lead to follow.

“In that case, I’m going to go sneak back into my smithy now that the crowd has hopefully forgotten what’s going on. I need to take a look at the loot we got from the dungeon, not to mention that I might have locked someone in there,” Arwin said, clearing his throat. “You want to do something with your time while I’m at it?”

“No,” Eleven replied. “Not in the slightest.”

“Great. Glad to hear you’re willing to work for a place to sleep,” Arwin said. “Find Ida and follow her. I want to know what the dwarf is doing and Rodrick has better things to do. He also already has a room.”

Arwin couldn’t see Eleven’s eyes, but he could tell she was glaring at him.

“You and One have too much in common,” Eleven grumbled. She rose to her feet, swaying like a drunkard before straightening herself out. "Very well. I will observe her for an hour. No longer. After that, you owe me a place to spend the night.”

Lillia just had some new rooms made, and there’s still the underground area. The best place to keep Eleven is inside the Devil’s Den, where we know exactly where she is and what she’s doing.

“I’ll talk with Lillia, but that should be no problem,” Arwin confirmed with a nod. Lillia had likely heard their entire conversation anyway. Eleven wasn’t trying to hide her presence, and the tavern would fill her in if it hadn’t already. It was no less intelligent than the Infernal Armory was.

Arwin turned on his heel and set off for the door. He didn’t bother looking back at Eleven. There was no point. The table would be empty, devoid of any signs of Eleven’s presence other than the plates she’d left behind.

With Eleven on Ida’s case, I should be able to get back into the Infernal Armory and finally get a look at the magical items we took out of the Expert Tier dungeon. I’d imagine at least a few of them should be pretty damn good. At the very least, I should be able to learn a bit from them or get some emergency snacks for a fight.

A determined smile pulled across Arwin’s lips. He had three days to work with before the party. With the slew of commissions he’d completed today, he’d have a fair number of new materials to work with very soon. Three days was more than enough for him to make the next version of his armor.

This time, it was going to be a hell of a lot stronger than the last. The prototype he’d made had revealed a lot of issues…

And he planned to fix all of them.

The Adventurer’s Guild hadn’t been ready for his teams in the Proving Grounds, and he didn’t plan to break that streak now. His hands tightened into fists.

Something tells me that this isn’t going to end without a fight. You used my people as a test last time, Mask. But, this time around, the test subject is going to be you.

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