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  When two tons of fury in the form of a Bristletusk Boar is charging you down, you want to be wearing the fi in solid steel fashion. The heavier the better! None of this namby-pamby cloth or leather shit.

  - Baldin Steelshaper, Free advice offered to a novice adventurer browsing armor in his smithy.

  Aliandra

  “What do you think? Will this work for yues?” asked, hauling out several pact leather jackets with sturdy steel studs c the shoulders and sides. They were heavy enough to thump as he id them out oable.

  Studded Jacket – level 20Evasion: 192Resistance: 42+20 VitalityRequirements: Dexterity 56, Intelligence 14Created by Madriendil Autumnbow.Body – Leather/Steel

  Ali reached out and ran her fiips over the closest jacket, studying the threading and the texture of the studs carefully. It seemed well-made, at least by her decidedly non-professional assessment. She was no crafter, but these must be better than anything she had ever given her rogues. The base structure of the jacket had been fashioned from a very dark browher that she couldn’t immediately identify, but it seemed to be fairly pliable to her touch, a durable. The inside of the jacket had been fitted with cloth and padding to make it sit better on the body.

  “It has an unusual distribution of requirements and defenses.” The back had even been notched with a v-shaped cutout so it would sit well on a kobold without restrig the freedom of its tail.

  “That’s why it took so long,” said. “I had to find a leatherworker capable of doing some non-standard ization. I had them reduce the intelligence requirement to what yues wear, but that took the resistance down substantially. I just hope it’s enough for the mines.” ’s habit of noting every detail down in his book had e in handy yet again – the rogues that were high enough level to wear the armor, and had fifteen or sixteen intelligence, just barely made the requirement that had been crafted.

  “I think they’re fantastic,” Ali said, chug to herself at the memory of the first outfit he had asked his mother to make for her, and how badly he had messed up the measurements. He definitely learhat lesson. It didn’t take a Tailor to tell that these jackets would fit her kobolds perfectly. Pulsing her mana through her fingers, she destructed eae carefully. Ever since she had caused Lydia’s css to level up by learning one of her items, Ali had ceased to feel guilty about destroying a crafter’s signed work to it it trimoire.

  Variant: Studded Jacket added to Imprint: Armor.

  Thank you, Madriendil Autumnbow. Whoever the elveherworker was, she hoped the sudden influx of experience gained from her learning to make the Studded Jacket helped them grow.

  “Is yours the same?” Ali asked, notig that was wearing a new jacket of a very simir design.

  “Yup. I needed less ization to the resistand evasion because I have high enough intelligend dexterity to wear ventional hybrid gear. It results in a more effit defeat spread. See for yourself,” he answered, showing her his jacket by striking a hiriously exaggerated pose.

  Studded Jacket – level 40Evasion: 336Resistance: 336+30 Vitality+24 StrengthRequirements: Dexterity 80, Intelligence 80.Created by Madriendil Autumnbow.Body – Leather/Steel

  “That’s det! Did you keep this leatherworker’s details?” Ali asked, chug at his antics. “I might want this variant if I find some higher-level rogues.”

  “Yes, she has a shop in the sed tree, twelfth level in Ciradyl,” offered, giving more detail than strictly necessary.

  “Sweet. Maybe when Mato es back, we go see if Thuli is doh his pte armor and then we try fighting those Shards of Fme again?” It would be o finally push the Emberfe Mines domain back just a little so she could stop having to worry about dungee striking at random times. Ali couldn’t wait to see what effee det fire resistance gear had on their survivability in the scorg domain fighting against a fire elemental – it roving to be a real chore to craft all the pieces.

  “That sounds good,” Malika called out from her cross-legged meditation pose in the middle of the poison cloud runic circle.

  “What is she doing?” whispered.

  “Training,” Ali said, matg his spiratorial tone. “I’m not sure if Rezan was messing with her or if it’s a real training teique, but she said she wao study magical damage.”

  “You know I hear you guys whispering over there?” Malika said.

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” said.

  Ali had been happy to help Malika learn to read the hs and to make the runic circle, but it had made her a little sad that all her friends had formal mentorship entments with very powerful and aplished people, and she did not.

  Who would mentor a dungeon anyway?

  The fual magical entment for mentorship was based oron-tithe system, simir to mana signatures, which meant that both people were influenced by the retionship. Most people would probably be terrified about being inated with her mana and traits. Even the idea of finding a benevolent duo mentor her was just pin crazy.

  I’ll just have to do it the hard way.

  ***

  Ali sat with Malika on the cou the guild hall, waiting for tanize his css schedule with Mieriel when Mato and Basil returhe guild hall was much quieter than she remembered, and Mato and Basil’s excited chatter caught the attention of almost everyone.

  “We found something cool!” Mato decred, ing up to join them on the couch.

  “More like the opposite of cool. Hot. Very hot! Here, take a look at this,” Basil said, excitedly produg a clump ht red grass that was literally on fire. There was a sizzling sound and the sudden smell of burnt skin and he snatched his fingers away, dropping his prize.

  “Oi, we don’t o burn the guild hall down! Take it into the workshop,” Mieriel yelled. “I had to zombie guts off the carpet once already this week. I don’t want to have to repce it because you burnt it.” Everyone froze at the outburst. With the usually calm Mieriel ying down the w, they all hopped up off the couches and fled to the workshop.

  As soon as they ehe stark, empty room, Basil and Mato proceeded to y out their haul oone floor where nothing would be damaged.

  “What is that?” Ali stared at the strange pile of jumbled reddish-brown vines and brokeals, along with what looked like bloodstains and something that might evehorns.

  Or teeth?

  “It very nearly ate Basil,” Mato chuckled, his jovial light tone g with the horrifying tent of his statement.

  “Ate?” Ali was aghast. She hurriedly examined Basil, but all the usual parts seemed to still be attached.

  “Yup,” Basil firmed, nodding his head vigorously. “It’s a ivorous vine or creeper that tried to eat me! It mao dunk me in the va. How cool is that?”

  “Not cool,” Mato said. “Hot, remember.”

  “Mato! You were supposed to look after him!”

  “He’s alive, isn’t he?” Mato said, cog an eyebrow at her. Both he and Basil burst into raucous hoots of ughter.

  “Boys,” Ali muttered, rolling her eyes and giving an exasperated sigh before turning to the mess lying on the floor. “Hmm. Let’s see what we have here.”

  Fme Lasher – Vine – level 32 (Fire)

  “It’s very rare. It grows geous hand-sized flowers of the purest fire-affinity mana,” Basil expined, his tourning more serious, but his eyes still sparkled with excitement. “They’re seriously beautiful, but we could only find these four. I really hope that you grow them because we make some amazing stuff with those flowers.”

  “I ’t promise anything, but I’ll try,” she said. Basil was certainly quite animated describing the vihat had almost eaten him, so she decided tive him for being a boy and destructed each of the vis. Her fiveness wasn’t in any way influenced by his description of how pretty the flowers were. Not at all.

  Whehird pnt did not give any notification, she cluded that her Grimoire had, in its rather arbitrary categorization, decided to make them airely neter, but as soon as the fourth one dispersed tic, she felt the familiar pressure and the notification as her Grimoire began to inscribe the imprint.

  Variant: Fme Lasher added to Imprint: Creeper.

  “I got it!”

  “It probably o be pnted near some fire mana,” Basil said. “They’re quite impossible to cultivate because they’re very sensitive to their enviro.”

  “Also, they try to eat anyone who es close,” Mato observed.

  Malika snickered, “Like you and anything that es in a pht?”

  “I have my beautiful figure to preserve.”

  “You two bicker like an old married couple,” observed slyly.

  “How about we pnt these down in the mine, after we take over some of the space?” Ali asked, w how she might achieve the right growing ditions. “It will be hard for Basil to survive down there, though,” she mused, w how he had survived a va bath before realizing that Mato must have saved him from being fried. “We would o escort him past the jungle monsters, and I don’t know if he survive that fire mana.”

  “Basil taught me the Herb Gathering general skill,” Mato said.

  “Oh, that’s handy,” Ali said. It certainly solved the problem for noerhaps Basil could take care of it after he leveled up a bit more.

  “You could alsrowing a big patch of this Fire Grass and pnt the vines beside it,” Basil suggested, pointing to the clumps of still-burning grass.

  “Huh, would that work?” Mato grunted.

  “That’s a good idea,” Ali said. Her domain ped their mana affinity into the area around them, so she could – at least in theory – create a pact fire-affinity zohat might be ideal for these pnts. She quickly destructed the grass clumps until she heard the notification a Basil collect the rest to give to Eliyen.

  Variant: Fire Grass added to Imprint: Grass.

  “Let’s go see if Thuli is done and then go down and try the mines,” Ali said, even more excited to explore now that she had two new imprint variants and the new leather jackets had issioned for her rogues.

  “Oh, Aliandra,” Mieriel called out, catg her attention as they headed for the door. “If you’re off to the bcksmith, could you take Sabri and introduce her to Thuli? Vivian said she needs some equipment.”

  “Of course,” Ali said, being for the shy Ahn Khen girl to join them. Sabri shot over as if she had been released from a catapult. Ali frowned. Did she need permission to join in? Was that cultural? She might have a word with Malika about that.

  Kavé

  Kavé stood quietly behind the ter, listening carefully as Thuli ducted business with Aliandra and her group. She ted them as some of her only friends in this town, but she wasn’t about to interrupt Thuli’s business. Besides, he had asked her to watd learn, and so she did.

  “Who’s the new ss?” Thuli asked, pointing to the unfamiliar girl wholly absorbed with the wall dispy of her master’s fi shields. He refused to let her call him master, so she didn’t – out loud – but he was the master, and she was the apprentice, as roper. She had been remarkably fortuo have run into Ali and Thuli, without whom she would have likely been begging for scraps oreets with an undeveloped css. Especially with how most humans viewed Dragonkin.

  “That’s Sabri. She’s a new member of the Adventurers Guild – uh, and of the Ahn Khen people like Malika. She got her css yesterday and needs some armor. She doesn’t have much money yet and she hates handouts. Is there anything you do for her?” Aliandra said, c as she realized her prattling had revealed several truths Sabri might have preferred to keep private.

  Kavé’s ears perked up, curious to see how Thuli would choose to hahis situation, knowing he would ask her about it ter. He always expected her to have an opinion.

  “Hmm, I admire that spirit,” he said, running his hand over his rge beard as he did when he was thinking. She had no idea how he had never bur off w the fe, but he was quite proud of it. “I have an idea.” And then to her surprise, he turo her and said, “Kavé, yer first job. Go get her!”

  First job? What… Aah! Before her brain even caught up with her, she scrambled off to ihe novice, who was only a level three warrior, to join them.

  “Let me give you a few tips on reading ers,” Thuli said, wheurned with the girl in tow, addressing her as if the others weren’t listening in. “What do you think her role is in the adveeam?”

  “This one hasn’t asked,” Kavé answered, not quite uanding what he was getting at.

  “What kind of css es into the bcksmith shop and swoons over the big shields?” Thuli rumbled, a broad grin crag his face at the btant hint.

  “Oh. She is a tank?” Kavé g the girl once again, taking in the leather armor with the perfectly tric hht through the ter of her chest and a matg o the back. She didly look like a tank, but she had definitely been smitten by Thuli’s best shields.

  “As a bcksmith, yer bread and butter will be swords and daggers,” Thuli tinued. “Everyone wants a sword or a dagger. Yer chores will be making arrows or mail because they’re a lot of work. But yer best work and materials should always be reserved for the tank.”

  “May this one know why?”

  “The tas hit a lot. It may be educational to watch a serious fight,” Thuli said. “Adventurer groups are anized around having all the monsters hit the tank and everyone else shoots or stabs the monsters. This means that the armor sets worn by any other css will only occasionally be a keep them alive, usually when things are going poorly. Mostly they will care about the entments buffing their attributes. But the tank will try to take every hit, only surviving because of excellent equipment and the skills ta use it. The rest of the team relies on that ta survive. When ya make a good tank breastpte or shield, yer skills are not just proteg the tank – every member of the team is effectively hiding behind those pieces.”

  “Thank you for your wisdom. This one begins to uand,” Kavé answered. It made a lot of sense whe it that way, just based on how much each piece was used, the tank would be routinely hit way more than any other member of the team.

  “If ya wish to grow and gain experience, form a retionship with a good tank, and make them the best shield ya fe. The shield is where most of the bcksmith’s experienes from – remember, that shield is proteg the whole group. Sure, a rogue’s daggers see a lot of a and be a good iment, but the tank will do more, and more often, with the shield. Yer sed priority is the tank’s breastpte.”

  “Ok,” Kavé said, noddiedly. It was turning out to be a rather important lesson for her, important enough that she didn’t mind having to have it in front of everyone.

  But then he surprised her again.

  “Ok, measure young Sabri here. You will craft her first steel shield and breastpte. Keep it simple, match the ss’s level, and practice yer Firefed Steel teique. Don’t fet what I said about the importance of the shield – she will be putting her life and the lives of her team in yer hands. Nothing but yer best work, hear me?”

  Kavé gnced down at her hands, turning them over once. “Yes, m– Thuli.”

  Thuli turo Sabri and said, “I will ihe pieces, but my apprentice is quite skilled, I’m sure yoing to be very happy with her work.”

  “I… I ’t pay for something that good,” Sabri said, embarrassment leaking from her void even her posture.

  “Don’t worry, ssie. Yer Guildmaster and I have an arra. I give good dists ta ahat isn’t at least bronze rank in exge for being the guild-reended bcksmith. The guild will also pay me up front a ya pay off the cost of the items when ya take quests ter. It’s a pretty good deal if I say so myself. Yer Guildmaster is a sharp ss, prioritizing safety even for those who haven’t got enough levels to earn their keep yet.”

  Sabri bobbed her head. “I… see.”

  Thuli cpped the girl on the shoulder, his heavy hand making a surprisingly solid e – and the girl barely flinched. Not unimpressive. “Besides, you’ll be back when you grow.”

  Heart rag, Kavé quickly measured Sabri and theo the fe to begin her work, leaving them to their discussions and business – which seemed to involve a great deal more Lesser Essene and the challenging shapeshifter piece Thuli had beeing over for the st few days.

  She drew the steel into the fe with her magic, shaping aructuring it while she added the appropriate quantities of eapo, just as Thuli had taught her. Tragredients, ores, and reagents that must be ble the perfect temperature and time to produce the stro alloy. As she fell into the familiar zone of shaping the molten steel with her magic, skills, and hammer, her ay fell away, and she touched the pure joy of creating. She worked quickly, but every strike racticed, every application of her skill purified the metal, shaped it to her will as the breastpte and shield slowly took form on her anvil.

  When she finally pulled them out of the queng trough and polished them with a quick pulse of her steel magic her breath caught ihroat. She knew. She studied the gleaming pieces, but they were perfect – the best she had ever crafted. She gnced up, realizing that Sabri had found a perearby and had been watg her work the eime. Gesturing for the girl to follow, she made her way to where Thuli was engrossed in a versation with Aliandra and the others.

  “Master,” she said, pg her work oable before him, fetting in the moment that he had forbidden her from calling him that. She wiped the sweat off her brow, eagerly awaiting his rea.

  He g the pieces and then stared openly at her. “Kavé! Your first masterwork pieces, well done!” He spped her heavily on the shoulder makiumble, fetting his true strength for a moment. “Och, sorry ss. Now watch carefully,” he said. Pig up a random dagger from a box, he eled his mana into the piece, signing it. It rocess she could see simply by how it affected the metal itself, and she had watched him do it many times.

  “Now, you sign yer pieces,” Thuli said.

  “But this one is still an apprentid only level seventeen?” Kavé excimed in surprise. Apprentiever got to sign their work. If it was good enough to sell, the master would always sign it. Only when she had graduated to at least journeyman rank would she be allowed to pce her mana signature on her work. It was simply unheard of for a level seventeen bcksmith to be doing such a thing.

  “Poppycock. I don’t believe in that nonsehuli decred, gestig widely with a hand. “Ya made a masterwork piece. Two even. Ya deserve the experience earned by putting ynature on it. It would be wasted o that level. I would rather have ya level up faster so ya learn how to make more advaems. Those other bcksmiths are just slowing their apprentices down for their stupid pride.”

  “Yes, master,” she said, bowing low. She could scarcely believe her ears.

  “None o’ that master stuff,” he said gently. “Now give it a try.”

  With a trembling hand, she pced her mana into both the shield and the breastpte, signing them, the process itself proving to be simpler than she expected. Then, she helped Sabri into the breastpte and shield, finding that the girl’s uraiement was iious. Before she k, she was grinning just as broadly.

  Steel Chestpte – level 3Armor: 43Requirements: Strength 11Quality: MasterworkCreated by Kavé Steelscale.Body – Firefed Steel

  Steel Round Shield – level 3Armor: 21Block ce: +15% (Blocked attacks ot cause critical damage.)Requirements: Strength 11Quality: MasterworkCreated by Kavé Steelscale.Off Hand – Shield – Firefed Steel

  Mato

  Mato had enjoyed watg Thuli teag his apprentice how to identify adventurers. His insight into the retive value of good equipment would stand Kavé in good stead as she advanced her bcksmithing skills. She would of course need a more nuanced approach as she grew so that she could reize other styles of tanking, such as his own. He blocked with his shoulders, paws, a, using his superior strength to break the momentum of his attackers, and so he had never been ied in a shield. But he certaihized with Sabri’s wide-eyed wonder as she had studied the heavy, well-crafted gear on dispy. There was a sense of security that came from having the substantial weight of steel between your flesh and the cws of a monster. Sabri was just starting out and had a lot to learn, but she could hardly g with someone as skilled as Thuli looking after her equipment.

  As soon as Kavé had rushed breathless aed into the fe, Thuli turned and summoned a massive stru of articuted steel, dumping it oable with a thud that shook the foundation of the smithy.

  Mato’s eyes widened as he took in the heavy pte bands buro a dark, gleaming reddish shine. “Is that…?”

  “Aye, ddie. Yer armor is ready!”

  “YES!!” he roared, identifying it at once.

  Bae Armor of Fire Resistance – level 40Lio your mana, this armor will shapeshift with your ging forms. Armor: 336Resistance: 336+31 Endurance+25% to resistance against Fire damageMana: ShapeshiftRequirements: Shapeshifter, Strength 80, Wisdom 80Created by Thuli.Body – Firefed Steel

  “Wow…” He had been waiting for so long, and now it was done, which meant they could finally try a rematch with those Shards of Fme. “Looks… heavy,” he said, suddenly finding his toruggling to find words adequate to match the beauty of the armor set resting there.

  “But yer s,” Thuli growled, making it sound like ‘you’d better be.’

  Mato reached out to get a sense for the weight, solidity, and the perfect finish – and perhaps to reassure himself that it was real.

  “Impressive, isn’t it, ssie?” Thuli said. Mato gnced over to find Sabri staring, just as wide-eyed as he was. “Level up a little and I’ll make ya one of yer own.”

  Mato chuckled to himself; if she was this fasated with heavy pte armor already, there was no doubt she had picked the right css.

  “Let me help ya try this on, d,” Thuli said, lugging the giant armor over with one heavily muscled arm.

  It took a lot of hefting, shifting, tightening, and adjusting of straps. Thuli even tried to apply the universal lubrication of several choice dwarven swearwords before he stopped and frowned. “Ach, gonna take a little percussive persuasion,” he decred, produg an enormous steel hammer twice the size of Mato’s head.

  “Hey, what are…” Mato said, drawing back a little.

  “Hold still ddie, this shouldn’t hurt –” Thuli said, and before Mato could blink, he heard several loud gs and the armor slipped firmly into pce “– much.”

  “Oof,” Mato announced.

  Sabri had the cheek to be giggling behind her hand and boung ooes. He wagged a finger in her dire. “Just you wait.”

  “I made the fastenings from Fire Drake leather, so it shouldn’t burn even if ya get dunked in va,” Thuli chuckled meantime. “Go on and give ‘er a spin.”

  Mato shifted to his Bear Form, feeding the required mana into the armor, and it stretched, expanding with his growing chest, ing around the upper part of his shoulders and going all around to protect his ribs and belly. Oh wow! That’s… massive! He took a few paces, finding the smithy suddenly a lot smaller. He swung his paws a few times to get the feel of it without endangering the spectators. It was a fair bit heavier than his old armor, but oher hand, he had quite a lot more strength now, and it felt quite easy to move around. Thuli’s articuted pte bands glided across each other, adjusting perfectly to every twitch of his muscles.

  “It’s perfect,” he said, shifting back to his normal form. “And the resistance is exactly what I need.”

  “Why would you waanstead of armor?”

  Mato gnced down at the ily curious Sabri. “The monsters down in the mines are fire elementals, and they do lots of fire damage. More fire than physical.”

  “You issioned a armor made just fhting fire elementals?” Sabri asked breathlessly, seeming rather more impressed than incredulous.

  “Yup, it’s totally worth it,” he answered, realizing now why Malika and the Guildmaster had both beeed for them t Sabri along for their armor fitting. Without realizing it, she was already abs the importance of prearing. “It’s also better overall than what I had before, so I’ll use it in other situations as well, unless I need something specific again. It really helps, if possible, to study and uand the monsters or foes you’ll be up against beforehand. ’s especially good at that, you should ask him for some tips.”

  “I will,” she said, all seriousness now.

  Then it was her turn, and Mato simply sat bajoying how excited she was to receive her first level-three pte armor and shield. He gnced back at Thuli, about to make a joke, but he held his to the sight of the gruff dwarf wiping something from his eye.

  ----------

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