The Next Day

I was feeling a bit more melancholic than usual when I woke up.

The lingering sweetness on my lips from the kiss was soothing, and helped me push through.

Every so often, I’d trigger the flashes of being at the marsh while practicing turning Mana Vision on and off.

And then, I practiced Invisibility. There was a change now. I could hold my breath without going invisible. My volition was now playing a bigger part in it.

I wondered if there was something I was missing. Why was it affecting my clothing? Some items I picked up were also affected, but something like a chair wasn’t.

I had a guess, but I needed to stop by one of the temples and pick up some reading material to confirm.

Couldn’t be today, though. I was pretty set on going back to Meredi’s.

The forge was hot and roaring when I got to her place since Meredi was busy finishing up an order.

I took that time to chat with her and tell her all about my epic first battle with the Merry Edge. She learned all about the Gloomspawn's attacks and my own moves.

Meredi was excited. She talked about how so many people would love spawn-resistant weapons, and I got to gripe about not having enough Gloomspawn parts to extract ingredients from. That got me a stern talking to about how dangerous those parts were.

Fear was really a powerful thing. But you know what? Meredi working and speaking with me so casually just had a way of making all that negative stuff just melt away.

We were having such good conversations, and then, an annoyed voice came from the doorway. 

“Oh. Tim’s here. Again.”

“Morning, Rav,” I replied, glancing at her. She was wearing an oversized vest that stopped midway down her thighs. “Sleep well?”

She stared at me and nodded. Then she turned to her sister. “Meredi, I’m going to have some of the fruits.”

“Go ahead, Rav.”

As soon as Ravela was out of earshot, Meredi snickered. “Someone’s cranky.”

“Oh? Was she?”

“Probably upset that my weapon brought you glory.”

The rest of the morning passed in a blur of alchemical trials and the steady percussion of Meredi’s forge. We moved the tests out to what counted as a backyard in this setting—an enclosed space surrounded by tall, metal walls and patched over with makeshift roofing.

Some of the coatings actually held up under ichor exposure longer than expected. The rate of damage was slowly being minimized. Meredi cheered whenever a coating didn’t immediately hiss and dissolve. Another turned unexpectedly rubbery upon contact with the ichor, which cracked her up and endlessly fascinated me. She jotted notes down on a grease-smeared ledger, and we went to the next batch of formulations.

Ravela lingered like a shadow. She sat on an overturned crate near the fencing, a half-eaten piece of dried fruit in her hand. Her eyes followed everything, but her mouth stayed shut. She was just a shadow interested in watching me.

It was almost lunchtime before I realized I was starving.

“I think I’m gonna head to the market,” I said, stretching and brushing rust flakes from my shirt. “Need to pick up a few things for work anyway.”

Meredi perked up from her project station near the forge. “Oh, you go on ahead. I want to get a head start on that alloy test I was telling you about.” She grinned. “Working on your stuff just got me inspired.”

“Got it,” I said with a salute. “See you in a bit, then.”

I turned to grab my coat and head out, but Ravela pushed off the wall. “You’re going out?”

“Yeah.” I slung the coat on, as I reminded myself of what I wanted. “Hope you’re not offended. I just need normal stuff right now. I’ll reach out when I need the exotics.”

She eyed me. “Alone?”

I raised a brow. “Pardon me?”

“You’re going alone?” she asked, cracking her neck.

“Oh. Yeah. It should just be an hour or so.”

Her brow twitched. “You’re not gonna ask me to come?”

I blinked at her, then shrugged with a grin. “Didn’t think you’d want to. Aren’t you busy or something?”

She crossed her arms. I don’t think she knew how much the pose accentuated her chest. That scowl was venomous, though.

I tried not to linger on it and opened the front door.

“I mean,” I added over my shoulder, “you can come, if you want. But it’s not going to be exciting.”

I didn’t hear anything for a second. So I walked out.

“Tch. Fine,” came from behind me.

She followed, muttering something about “not letting idiots wander into danger,” even though we both knew it was just the open market. Well, actually, Cynthia was probably there, so yeah. Maybe I did need the protection.