Chapter 106 - Surprise at Smithy

Sitting alone on the rooftop I hadn’t lifted my head once since she left. It wasn't a matter of choice, my head literally wouldn’t come back up. I felt heavier than stone, the mixed bag of emotions that welled up inside of me anchored me to the ground.

My arm rose slowly beside me, once it came up to my shoulder it hovered for a moment before…

Thwack!

My fist collided with the roof and a rush of pain shot through my hand. It rose again, slower than before.

Thwack! Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!

Over and over and over again! I drove my fist into the roof until I couldn’t feel my hand any longer.

{Excessive damage has been dealt to your hand}

A drop–one of my tears–dropped through the screen that floated between my face and the rooftop.

“I don’t want to be weak anymore…never again…never!” I cried out.

I raised my fist to my side and with a desperate scream I drove it into the surface below me once again. The rooftop echoed with the subtle slam of my fist. My head lowered further and rested beside my fist, where the warm surface of the roof hit my forehead.

At that moment, that granny's voice somehow made its way back into my thoughts, this time followed by the crinkled frown that Liv shot me.

I held my hand in front of my eyes and the droplets of tears hit against my palm. It was covered in blood, yet I felt no pain. There was no stinging in my hand, no hurt, just the knot in my chest that grew larger and more uncomfortable.

“To use this, huh? I promise I’ll get stronger Mister Ed…I won’t look back!”

I left shortly after and raced through the streets that crossed into Cobble Way.

I should go check on Arga, if I’m going to head back into the Tower anytime soon then I’ll need to make sure she’s up for it first. I doubt she’d be too depressed over things but I never thought I would have been either, so who knows.

At the end of the path was my target–the dusty old building with scratched paint and a rickety sign out front.

I placed my foot onto the first step and opened the door to Arga’s smithy where an empty room greeted me. I took a moment and froze at the door.

“I don’t know why I expected anything different…Still, where is she?”

I entered the store and walked past a large display hidden under a sheet. A smile ran over my face and my hand gravitated to the sheet. As my fingers brushed over it, the smile deepened.

“Just like the day I first came in here, she always has something big prepared. I wonder if this is something for…”

My words trailed off as my fingers raised the sheet slightly. A loud bang from the other room suddenly rang through the store and I flinched. I dropped the portion of the sheet I had in my hand and backed away skittishly.

“In there, huh? Figures she’d be working.” I smiled.

It was somewhat comforting to know that she hadn’t lost her way over Mister Ed’s death. Her being at work, even just the sound of it, brought comfort to my heart.

The noise came from the back room, I followed the repeated banging to a half-opened door with light that peered into the rest of the store.

I entered the back with a wide swing from the door. “Hey Arga, hope you’re not slacking on my repairs…eh?”

My ample smile hung empty as I saw Veldor sitting in the corner of the room. His armour was laid out on the workstation with Arga sitting beside it, smashing at a hunk of metal that still burnt red.

She used a tool to lift the metal and dunked it into the water, where it let off a violent hiss.

Veldor faced me with his usual bitter expression and our eyes locked.

“Hmph.” He turned away.

“Don’t hmph me when you’re the one out of place here! What are you even doing here?!”

“Oh, Rei! I didn’t hear you come in, hope ya didn’t disturb my customers.” Arga chirped.

“...what customers?”

Veldor leaned forward in his seat. “This is a smithy, isn’t it? It’s only natural that I came here to get my weapons repaired.”

“Yeah but aren't you some kind of bigshot at Heaven’s Gate? You guys don’t usually buy your gear in places like this.” I added with a raised brow.

Arga looked confused. “Places like this?”

Veldor stood up and walked over with a heavy step, he came face-to-face with me and showed no signs of backing down.

“What, is it a problem for me to be here?”

A pair of arms wrapped themselves around us both with a casual grip, followed by Arga’s smug grin between us.

“My–my, I never would have thought I’d have two customers fighting over me~ If only my old man saw this. He’d be turning in his grave!” She laughed off.

“He isn't dead…”

“And nobody's fighting over you! I’m not even a customer.” Veldor added.

My brow raised. “Wait, you’re not?”

“Not a chance! If I had it my way, I would have gone to our usual place supplied by the guild. It was her idea to fix my stuff for free.”

Arga nudged his shoulder and her smug expression grew two-fold. “Hey now, that wasn’t the only reason. Weren’t you the one who said you were dying to see what I could come up with?”

Arga’s face turned mortified. His dreary eyes and sour look somehow worsened as Arga continued to gloat. He grew visibly upset and pushed her away like an annoyed kid.

“Don’t put words in my mouth! I just said your stuff was pretty solid and wanted to try it myself. Don’t get a big head, I am still a guild member for Heavens Gate!”

How could we ever forget when he says it so often?

“Well lucky for you, it’s finished. You wanna see?” Arga grinned.

Both Veldor and I leaned in closer. I tried not to show it because it was something for him but once I glanced over, I noticed the excited glimmer in his eyes.

“This is the unique piece I put together just for you, so don’t go breaking this one.”

Arga reached into the chest that sat beside her leg and pulled out a new mace. A solid white rod with a chunk of metal at its head. The mace's strong point–the head–was a large block with streams of gold that ran along the edges.

“Where have I seen that before…” I pondered out loud.

“Hmm, that’s because you have. I managed to swipe that right before we left the Hollow, it was all that I could find through that mess we had to dodge through.”

“From the hollow?! Arga don’t tell me…”

Veldor grabbed the new mace with a firm grip and held it to the air, to admire it from the light that came from the window. His dull blue eyes lit up with the clear gleam that hit his face.

“That's all that’s left of the Master's shield.” He answered.

I can’t believe she managed to get away with swiping that off of the battlefield. If the guild found out that she took that…geez, here I was worried she’d be feeling down!

“That's the first part.” Arga chimed in.

My eyes followed her hands as they raised something out of the boiling water in front of me. She looked more excited than either of us and let out a giddy sound as the item emerged from the water.

It was a square object with a cube-shaped hole that ran straight through it. I don’t know much about crafts or weapons but that was something far beyond what I could pretend to recognise.

She walked over to the workstation and placed the object over Veldor’s shield where it fit perfectly. It stuck to the back of his shield, just above where his hands strapped in, to hold the shield.

“That completes my end of the agreement.” Arga faced Veldor.

“Deal?”

“Yeah, I had to get him here somehow,” Arga replied.

She brought him here for some deal then, what could it be about? I don’t see these two getting along, so what could they have needed to talk about?

“She wanted me to join you two in a party,” Veldor added.

“Wh-what?! This is the first I’ve heard of this.”

Veldor crossed his arms. “A deal's a deal, I’ll join your guys' party.”

…

“WHAT?!!!!!”