studiobondurri Chapter 414: Emblem Troubles
Chapter 414: Emblem Troubles
Chapter 414: Emblem Troubles
Pride was a weird thing. Dallion used to claim that he didnt consider himself to be anything special, other than extremely lucky. There was no denying that a lot of things had gone his way: him buying the harpsisword, him being hired to work at The Gremlins Timepiece inn, the attention of the Moons, even him joining the Icepicker guild. As it turned out, there was a reason for most of that, rules of the world that remained in effect regardless if he knew about them or not. Affected by Dallions character and personal choices, the rules had led to a favorable outcome, elevating him from a vast unknown to a rising star at the tournament arena, as well as a hero of Nerosal. From that perspective, having to resort to busking in Performers Plaza could be seen as a significant fall from grace.
Youre being childish, Nil grumbled. Dozens of people perform here for various reasons. I personally know of two minor nobles who recite poetry incognito twice per week.
While somewhat encouragingand a tad disturbingthat didnt keep Dallion from seeing himself as a beggar. Having spent all his sky silver to create his hammer, even if that was considered a masterpiece, had left him lacking material to do the other items he needed. With the city garrison growing, not only had the prices of special metals gone through the roof, but finding it at all had become exceedingly difficult. It was no wonder that people preferred to buy whole items with the goal of melting down the metalan option that Dallion could never agree to. Unwilling to ask for assistance from the general or the mirror pool, Dallion had resorted to the next best thing: he had asked the overseer to buy a small amount of sky silver, for starters.
Fortunately for Dallion, the overseerafter confirming with the local nobleshad agreed. Unfortunately, Dallion was asked to pay market prices for it. Thus, he found himself sitting in a corner of Performers Plaza, playing a ring chord for spare change.
Another silver fell into the wooden bowl that Dallion had placed in front of him.
Wow, the bowl said, full of enthusiasm. That makes fifty-seven! Youre on a roll.
Dallion felt like crying. Fifty-seven wasnt bad for being at it for less than an hour. Strictly speaking, hed make ten times more as a guild member exploring items. Of course, that was half a year ago. Item exploration was not nearly as big now to the point that a guild got one or two artifacts per month. City sanitation and Item improvement remained in demand, but even there the competition was increasing. At present, even the top five guilds were doing things they wouldnt have considered worthwhile before the last festival.
Do you do requests? a familiar voice asked.
Dallion looked up to see Vend standing there. The Icepicker elite appeared unchanged both in appearance and attitude. One would almost say that he had come to give Dallion a task from the guild and to remind him not to slack at his training.
As long as I know it, Dallion replied.
There was a sudden burst of instances. Dallion managed to get a glimpse of Vends instances for a few seconds, but lost track after a matter of seconds. Clearly, his former teacher still had the upper hand when it came to splitting.
I thought youd do better than that, the elite said. Thanks to his music skills, Dallion knew he was jesting.
One day I will. You still want me to play something, or are you here for a chat?
Vend tossed a gold coin into the bowl.
Just talk. Im on my way to the nobles sector. Apparently, theres some mending I need to do.
No gold clothes? Dallion arched his brow. It was a huge deal getting invited by a noble, to the point that guilds dressed their members in gold and silver just for the occasion. In the past, those used to be major events observed by hundreds of people. Lately, the nobles tended to deal with their problems on their own.
Lady Marigold wants to keep a low profile.
Given that she was a family member of the previous owner of the city, it stood to logic. There was no word as to the views Lady Marigold and Countess Priscord held concerning each other, but Dallion suspected that they werent the best. Possibly the countess blamed the locals for the failure that had occurred during the festival. It was also possible that there was bad blood that ran a lot deeper.
Still improving your training dagger? Vend asked.
I stopped at level thirty-nine, Dallion replied.
Talked down by an eternal teen guardian of his own creation Neither Dallions skills, not focus, not even the twelve instances he used at every strike, seemed enough to keep Onda content. In this aspect, the little geek was worse than Nil. However, that was a good thing. Despite his pesky remarks, he compensated for Dallions faults, shifting the weight of the hammer ever so slightly at precisely the right moment.
At least, I know that the design works, Dallion said to himself as he kept on working.
No markers appeared around the piece of metal as he worked on. The first two hours passed in savagely beating the shape into submission, which had to be done in ten-minute intervals, since at that point the sky silver had to be heated again. By midnight. Dallion had managed to get the rough shape, but still had to shrink it in size.
Fatigue had started to rear its ugly head, but was kept at bay by sheer determination. Another couple of hours later, and the basic shape was readya thin, flat disk, no wider than Dallions thumb nail.
You need some rest, the hammer said.
Im fine, Dallion said, breathing heavily. I can do this.
Like a cat on water. Seriously, gramps, chill a bit. You want to get it done right, right?
It was unclear which was worse: the hammers comments, or the Vihrogons laughter in the background. While Dallion had made a point to leave most of his gear at Eurys workshop, the guardians had snuck into Ondas tower just to listen to the banter for their own amusement. That was one of the risks of linking items to ones realm.
I said, I can do it! Dallion yelled.
Do what? A voice asked at the door.
Dallion briskly turned around. Euryale was standing near the entrance, leaning at the door.
Eury? Dallion blinked. How long have you been there? He hadnt even noticed when she had come in.
Enough to see you lose it, the gorgon replied. Another critical discussion with Nil?
Something like that, Dallion said, doing his best to ignore the gossip session which had started in his awakening realm regarding his relations to Eury.
The gorgon moved away from the door and went to take a closer look at the sky silver disk.
Steady work, she saidthe first actual praise Dallion had received on the matter. The hammer as well. The compliment didnt pass unnoticed. What are you making exactly?
An emblem shell. I was thinking of having it blessed after I pass my trial gate.
Not a bad idea. The gorgon took off the gear she was wearing and rolled up her sleeves.
What are you doing? Dallion asked, knowing exactly what she was going to say.
Just the bellows. A smith must make their own gear alone, but theres nothing against assisting with the annoying stuff. Especially since youre still my apprentice. She went to the bellows. Put it in and take a few minutes. This is going to be a long night.