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Once Arwin and Lillia got up to the point where they’d both found themselves on the streets of Milten — leaving out the exact details of their classes — the smithy fell silent for several long seconds.

“How deep does this go?” Wallace asked, tugging on his beard in distress as he finally found his voice once again. “Treason — no. This isn’t treason. The guild controls the kingdom. Something at this scale couldn’t possibly be executed by just one or two people at the top. It would have to be dozens. The guild leader. The branch leaders. All of them, and the demons as well. But… why?”

“That’s the question we’ve been trying to find the answer to ourselves,” Arwin said with a shake of his head. “We don’t know. Lillia and I still don’t know what saved us in the first place, much less why they chose that way to get rid of us. Maybe we weren’t even meant to kill each other that day. They could have planned to keep the puppet show going on longer. I just don’t know. Do you know what the gem in my armor could have been? Is it of dwarf make?”

Wallace gave his beard a tug so violent that Arwin feared that the dwarf would rip it straight out. Fortunately for all of them, the hair stayed stuck steadfast. Dwarf hair was evidently made of sturdier stuff than that of humans.

“I don’t know. I’d be able to answer that if I could see the gem, but it’s gone. It’s impossible to say anything with nothing more than a vague description. The Achievement doesn’t ring a bell for me either. I can look into things, but I would have to be very careful. If the intent of the gem truly was to kill you, then its maker would know you had survived if I started poking around. Earth Father save us,” Wallace murmured. He released his beard and shook his head. “I can’t even tell the council about this. They could be part of it. Many of them have close ties to the top members of the Guild. How did you know I didn’t?”

Damn it. I was really hoping he could have said something about the gem, but I suppose it would be a ridiculous reach to be able to get anything just from saying there was an explosive black stone in my armor. If Wallace can poke around… a small lead is better than nothing.

“More of a good guess than anything else,” Arwin admitted with a small shrug. “You couldn’t recognize how I could have both saved and killed that many innocents. Anyone responsible for what happened to me and Lillia would have been able to deduce it pretty easily. You were also so focused on getting rid of what you perceived as evil that I find it hard to believe you’d be willing to compromise your morals to orchestrate the death of far more than I could ever kill on my own.”

“Got me there.” Wallace finally took control of his facial features again and chewed his lower lip in contemplation. “This is deeply, deeply concerning. The more I think about the scale this operates at, the colder me feet get. It must have been going for years. Longer than I’ve been alive. Has the war always been fake? Agh. I have so many damned questions.”

“Aren’t you forgetting something?” Lillia asked, arching an eyebrow and crossing her arms in front of her chest.

“What now?” Wallace asked wearily. “What else is there?”

“Shouldn’t you be thankful we told you all this?” Lillia’s lips pulled up in a small smirk. “It isn’t like we warned you that you might prefer to not know. Oh, wait.”

“Oh, fuck off,” Wallace said with a short bark of laughter. “You sure know how to hold a grudge, lass.”

“This isn’t a grudge,” Lillia said with an award-winning smile. “I have a grudge against the adventurer’s guild. This is just a little revenge. There’s a difference.”

“Aye, I suppose there is,” Wallace allowed. He massaged his brow and then let his hand drop back to his side as he blew out a slow breath. “I need a drink if I’m going to be looking into this any deeper.”

The dwarf shot Lillia a sly look. She let out a snort.

“Don’t push your luck. I’m still a little mad at you.”

“Eh. Can’t blame you.” Wallace chuckled. He scooped his hammer off the ground and slung it over his shoulder. For a moment, he stood in silence. Then he turned his gaze to Arwin, his features turning serious. “We’ve got some business to complete before I fuck off, lad.”

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

“We do?” Arwin blinked.

“Not more tests, I hope,” Lillia said, idly picking at her pointed thumbnail with the nail of her forefinger.

“Nothing like that. I need to officially recognize Arwin’s work,” Wallace replied. “That will complete his exam and turn him to a proper trainee. Give him all the goodies he racked up in the process as well. The Mesh is waiting with bated breath.”

“Oh, that sound’s like a good…” Arwin trailed off and blinked in surprise. “Hold on. Did you say the Mesh is waiting? You can make the Mesh wait? How?”

“Challenge, lad. Just like everything else,” Wallace said with a small wave of his hand. “It’s what runs everything. If you’re working in the Mesh’s best interests and creating challenge for others, then it gives you a whole lot more leeway. That includes not screwin’ an exam with a bunch of flashy words. Weren’t you wondering why you didn’t get any magical energy for crafting a damned cursed item or learning Dwarven Smithing?”

“I’ll be honest, I was a little preoccupied,” Arwin admitted sheepishly. “So what do we have to do?”

“This,” Wallace replied. The dwarf squared his stance and blew out a sharp breath. His gaze went steely and he locked eyes with Arwin and extended his hand. “I, Wallace Gentletongue, rescind my offer of apprenticeship on grounds of your completion of judgement. I name you Dwarven Smith. May you reap what you have sown.”

Arwin took Wallace’s hand. A sharp buzz ripped through the air and a jolt of pain bit into Arwin’s palm. He let out a curse and yanked his hand free, shaking it furiously as the scent of burnt hair filled the air.

“What the hell was that f—”

A brilliant flash of light exploded in the air before Arwin with such intensity that he was momentarily blinded. He let out a slew of curses to join his first and blinked furiously as energy poured into his body like a raging river. A contented purr rolled across the back of his mind from Verdant Inferno. It seemed like he wasn’t alone in receiving the magic.

The Mesh erupted before his eyes, several different sentences made of golden letters overlaying on top of each other in their haste to form. Arwin squinted through the burning light and the sentences finally snapped out, separating themselves and flashing before his eyes one by one.

Milestone 1 of [The Dwarven Smith] has been completed.

Reward 1: You have been recognized as a Dwarven Smith. [Molten Novice] has upgraded.

[Molten Novice] (Passive) – You have spent enough time working immersed lava that it has begun to recognize you. It will respond to your song, should you sing well enough. You have become a Dwarven Smith. Your potential depends only on your creativity — and how hard you can swing a hammer.

No sooner than Arwin had managed to finish reading the first message did it vanish in a spray of golden sparks, replaced by a new one.

[The Band Three: Cursed] has been forged. Forging a cursed item has granted you a significant amount of magical energy.

Achievement: [Oops.] has been earned.

[Oops.] – Awarded for forging your first Cursed item. Effects: Gain an extra Class Specialization option. This achievement will be consumed upon your next Class Specialization.

Title: [Harbinger of the Forsaken] has been earned.

[Harbinger of the Forsaken] –You reached out to the deepest reaches of your soul and welcomed the shadow that lurked within into the light. That might not have been a good idea. You can now sense and forge the emotion contained within materials — whether you want to or not. In addition, Cursed items you craft are shrouded from all but the strongest of gazes.

Arwin stared at the words floating before him, a knot forming in his throat. A class specialization that would almost certainly be related to making Cursed items. A Title that gave him affinity toward putting emotion into the items he crafted. One that, judging by its name, probably leaned a little more toward negative emotion than the alternative. Arwin didn’t imagine that the things he killed were going to have very much positive thought in store for him.

He didn’t have much experience with Cursed items, he knew they were strong. That their power came at a price. That price didn’t have to be too much to bear, though. Everything came at a price. They weren’t going to be able to defeat the Adventurer’s Guild playing by the established rules. The corner of Arwin’s lips pulled up.

Yeah. I can work with this. The Band Three isn’t completely evil. It has at least one option where things turn out well. That means not every single Cursed item is going to be malicious. If the price to pay isn’t too much, they could be a huge advantage.

“What are you smirking about, lad?” Wallace asked. “Get something interesting?”

Arwin didn’t get a chance to reply. Even as he drew in a breath, one final message from the Mesh carved itself into the air before his eyes.

Your Tier has raised by 1 rank.

Your Tier has raised by 1 rank.

You have advanced to [Journeyman 1]

[Oops.] has been consumed.

New Class Specialization Available.

Choose a Class Specialization:

[Dwarven Smithing]

[Cursed Dwarven Smithing]

[Offensive Items]

[Defensive Items]

[Magical Consumption]

[War Smithing]

“Oh, shit,” Arwin breathed, his eyes tracing over the floating words. His muscles rippled beneath his skin, seemingly coming alive with a mind of their own. He could feel the magic coursing through him infusing every part of him. Making him stronger. Faster. Hardier. It took him several moments just to process everything. Then a smile split his lips. “Now this is a reward.”