Rise of the Living Forge

Kien’s brother won his round. Everyone he fought collapsed in the same manner as his first two victims, but he still managed to avoid revealing anything else about his abilities. The only thing that Arwin was fairly certain of was that the man’s dagger couldn’t cut through metal any more than a normal dagger could. It had to meet flesh.

The next few rounds of the melee went on without anything of particular interest. It wasn’t that the competitors weren’t good. Many of them were incredible. If this were just for sport, they would have put on a great show.

But the Secret Eye had clearly made sure to keep the general strength of the people in the tournament approximately around the Adept tier. They hadn’t invited the true powerhouses of the kingdom — or, if they had, those guys had a more private tournament somewhere else.

Whatever the case may have been, none of the other melee rounds caught Arwin’s attention. He didn’t see anything about the winning teams that would have made them a real threat to Olive or Art’s teams. There was really only one other thing that he did take note of during the remaining fights.

Arnold.

The boy who Esmerelda had been oddly concerned about finally made his showing toward the end of the melee rounds. His team put on a pretty good showing, but it was clear that they were pushing themselves as hard as they could just to keep up.

There was no chance they would win the tournament. Arwin was confident that Olive could have handled the lot of them on her own, even if she hadn’t been given a replacement arm.

But, despite that, their team managed to scrape out a win. It almost came from thin air. There was only so far that the power of desire could take anyone. He just didn’t see the skill needed to win within them…

But it was as if the universe itself had decided they would make it through the round. Arnold stumbled into people, knocking them from the stage seemingly by accident, and blows whistled just inches past him.

It might have been a special fighting technique — but it wasn’t. Even though Arwin couldn’t see the expressions on Arnold’s face from where he sat, it was pretty clear through his posture and body language that he was just as surprised about the victories as everyone else was.

And there could have been only one reason why.

That reason walked through the door to his room no more than a few minutes after the last round of the melees had ended, while Kraven was mid-speech about something that definitely sounded like some sort of sponsorship.

“Esmerelda,” Arwin said, inclining his head in greeting. “I think I might have seen your touch on Arnold’s team.”

The old woman arched an eyebrow at him. “Are you taking issue with it?”

“No,” Arwin said honestly. Then he hesitated for a moment. “Well, I suppose that depends on what you made him pay.”

“Nothing he couldn’t afford.”

Not ominous in the slightest.

“Nothing I’d disapprove of?”

“That part is harder to answer.” A crooked smile crossed Esmerelda’s lips. “We’re still working on loosening those stiff morals of yours. The world isn’t all sunshine and rainbows.”

“Trust me, I’m more than aware of that. But there are some things that I’d prefer my guild stays better than. Rodrick operates in the shadows, but I understand those shadows. But you… I don’t understand you very well at all.”

“That’s a good thing,” Esmerelda said through a cackle. “I’m an old woman, Arwin. If a young brat like you could figure me out so quickly, I’d be quite ashamed of myself. Don’t worry that little head of yours. I haven’t done anything terrible to the boy. Just giving him a chance to avoid a worthless death.”

Arwin grunted and turned his attention back to the arena. Kraven was still going on about something that the Secret Eye had definitely been paid to promote. He hadn’t even thought the organization could be bought off, but he supposed everyone needed money. ʀÃƝộΒÊȿ

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“I see.”

“Relax. He isn’t going to get in Olive’s way. I didn’t go giving him anything that powerful. Just a little boost. He’ll make it through one more round at the most — but he’ll probably live through the experience. Might even learn something from it.”

“How kind of you. Don’t take this the wrong way, but its not exactly what I’ve come to expect. Have we been corrupting you?”

The corner of Esmerelda’s lips twitched in amusement. “Perhaps. I’m trying not to think too hard about it. I take a certain amount of pride in my hard-headedness — but this hardly seems important. The boy is just that. A boy. I’d be far more concerned with Olive.”

“Concerned?” Arwin glanced back to Esmerelda. “I’m not concerned.”

“Why?” Esmerelda asked. “Some of the people in this tournament are at the peak of Adept tier. She’s a competent warrior with a very powerful set of abilities and some good allies behind her… but you can’t believe that would be enough to win.”

“It probably wouldn’t be, but that’s not all Olive has.”

“So I saw. Your giant mark on the front of all their armor is pretty hard to miss. But what exactly does it do? That has to be quite the set of armor if you’re that confident in it. It’s going to have to hold up to not just some of the best adventurers in this tier, but also their armorers.”

“I don’t want to get too ahead of myself. I just have confidence that Olive will do well. My armor is just a bit of an insurance in case things are harder than we expected.”

“You didn’t say what it did.”

“No,” Arwin agreed. “I didn’t.”

“Spoilsport.”

“On the contrary. If things get to the point where that armor has to activate, I think you’re going to get a whole lot more fun out of seeing it activate if you don’t know what it does.”

Esmerelda squinted at Arwin. “You know what? You’ve got a bit of evil in you, just like the rest of us.”

The corner of Arwin’s lips twitched in amusement. “I never said I was a saint.”

“Sure do act like a savior, though. Got a bit of a complex, eh?”

“Says the one that just saved a boy for no apparent reason. Some evil saleswoman you are.”

Esmerelda coughed into a fist. “We can change the topic. Where’s Reya?”

“Warning Kien about his brother. We’re pretty sure we saw him. Did you happen to see the guy that won the melee a few rounds ago? The one with the dagger.”

Esmerelda’s brow furrowed for a moment before she shook her head. “No. I was, ah, selling things. In the audience.”

Damn. Her take on the weapon might have been pretty damn useful.

“Well, keep an eye out for him if you can,” Arwin said. “He’s got a dagger that seems like it’s stealing the powers of everyone it stabs. I didn’t think a weapon like that was even possible, but it happened to Kien and isn’t showing any signs of stopping.”

“That’s a nasty piece of work,” Esmerelda said, her expression going dark. “Power like that… I wouldn’t say I haven’t seen it before, but it never comes at a light cost. I’ll watch out for it. And you say you aren’t worried about Olive in spite of that?”

“That’s why Reya is warning her as well. The dagger doesn’t go through metal, but I don’t want her to be caught off guard — and I’m confident in her abilities. Anyone using a weapon like this needs to be put down for the good of the people.”

Esmerelda grunted. Then she turned and grabbed her wicker bag, slinging it back over her shoulder. “Then I’ll make sure to find a good spot to watch from. Don’t want to stay here long, and I’ve got more sales to make. I’ll let you know if I notice anything interesting.”

“Appreciate it,” Arwin said, his attention focusing on the arena floor as Esmerelda headed back out again.

It looked like Kraven had finally finished shilling whatever it was that he’d been trying to sell the crowds on.

“…so with that, we’ll get on with what you’re all waiting for,” Kraven was saying. “The melee rounds are finished. I hope nobody got too excited because that was just the appetizer! We’ve filtered out the best of the best to ensure that every round of this tournament keeps you on your toes! Now, I know you’re all busy people, so we won’t be waiting any longer. It’s time to get a little more personal. Our first fight of the day is coming up now!”

The crowd roared in approval. They were really doing a lot of that. Kraven hadn’t even actually done anything yet.

“The first of the two teams to take the stage will be the representatives of the Kererus Coalition!”

And just like that, the announcer had Arwin’s attention. The Kererus Coalition hadn’t come into direct conflict with him yet, but they’d tried to kill Melissa and take over the Montibeau house.

The Menagerie had already stuck their fingers in the Coalition’s lunch before… and Melissa had helped fund and source some materials for Art’s team. They were one of the groups that Arwin would have liked nothing more to lose in a swift, humiliating manner.

So they made it through the melee rounds, huh? They’ll probably make it a decent way up if they’re still working with the assassins they were hiring earlier, though. I wonder when we’ll get a chance to go against them.

“And up against them…” Kraven called, drawing his words out as if intentionally trying to piss Arwin off with the delay, “is the team representing the Menagerie! Let’s give it up for our first competitors!”

And just like that, a grin split Arwin’s lips.

Well, would you look at that? Sucks for them…

But this is going to be a great opportunity for Olive to start really going all out. I can’t wait to see just what she’s capable of.

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