Hives Heroism by Benjamin Medrano (z-lib.org)

by Unknown

  That made Joy’s mood dim a little, and she shuffled, looking down at her feet as she replied timidly. “Um, I can’t promise… how am I to stop an orc from stepping on it?”

  Resha stared at Joy for a couple of seconds, tilting her head, then looked at Brianna. “What is she talking about?”

  “We were in a fight with an orc who was around level twenty-five or thirty, and he knocked her down, then snapped her rapier with a stomp,” Brianna explained, shrugging unhappily. “I don’t think there was much she could do. His boss chopped straight through my shield like it was nothing.”

  “Ah. That would be a little more difficult, I suppose. You shouldn’t be fighting someone like that to begin with, but you don’t always have a choice,” Resha said, her scowl fading, and she looked at Joy. “As to what I was saying, I meant not to abuse it. Use your rapier as a lever and you’re going to break it. Don’t do that; these were hard to make with as delicate as luminous titansteel is in its raw form.”

  “Oh, okay! I promise, I won’t do that! That’s why I bought a crowbar!” Joy exclaimed happily, reaching into her pouch to produce the crowbar. She blushed as everyone in the room just stared at her.

  “Makes sense, I suppose,” Draegur murmured, then turned to the crate curiously. “Now, shall we see the equipment? I’m curious how it turned out myself.”

  Joy paused awkwardly, then slipped the crowbar back into her pouch. Obviously they’d thought she was being odd again, and she flushed, then shrugged it off, stepping forward as Resha removed the lid of the crate.

  Chapter 10

  The interior of the crate was slightly illuminated, but only slightly, which surprised Joy a little. The ore had glowed rather brightly, so she expected the entire interior to be glowing… at least until she saw the weapons that were now sticking out of the crate. There was a wooden staff, a rapier, a mace, and a sword that looked a lot like the one Brianna was currently wielding, though the hilt was a little different. Next to it was a shield on the top, emblazoned with a white circle on a field of blue, tiny stars around it.

  “For the sake of stealth, I hid as much of the luminous titansteel as possible,” Resha said, picking up the staff, which had a spherical red gemstone about an inch across at the top of it, and she tapped the side of it. “This is iron oak with a luminous titansteel core. The others weren’t nearly as easy to work with, which is why the striking surfaces glow. Fortunately, the swords have sheathes to hide that. The mace, I’d just suggest making sure your cloak covers it when possible.”

  “Very clever. I was wondering how I’d hide it, if it came to that,” Cora said, taking the staff and admiring it, a smile on her face. “You do excellent work.”

  “Thank you,” Resha said in satisfaction, then grimaced as she added, “Though your armor was a nightmare. I finished it, but it wasn’t easy.”

  Brianna’s sword didn’t interest Joy, though she did find the mace fascinating. Most of it looked almost like silver, but the mace’s flangs were each glowing with a white light. It made Joy wonder what her rapier would look like, and she was very, very tempted to take it out of the box… but Joy stopped herself, instead taking a breath as she reminded herself that she was supposed to be patient.

  “May I look at the rapier, please?” Joy said, her voice almost trembling with excitement.

  “Of course you may. You paid for it,” Resha said, and almost before she finished Joy lunged forward, snatching the sheathed weapon from the crate, and drew it almost as swiftly. The ringing sound chimed through the smithy, and Joy paused, looking at the rapier in awe as it shed light all around her.

  The smoothly curved basket hilt protected her hand while not limiting her movements, and she admired the way the silver flowed together, almost like the veins through her wings. The blade, though… it was glowing crystal that almost looked like it spiraled up to the rapier’s tip. It didn’t, she could see the two edges of the rapier incredibly clearly, and could almost see through the blade entirely.

  “It’s beautiful,” Joy whispered, looking at the rapier, almost entranced by the sight of it. It was so light in her hand, and she felt her smile widen still more. “Thank you, Resha!”

  “You’re welcome,” Resha replied, a smile of amusement on her face. “It took some work to get right.”

  “Well, you’re certainly an excellent smith,” Brianna said, admiring her own sword, which only had the edge of the blade glowing, while the rest of it was blackened, increasing the contrast. “I don’t think I’ve ever had a chance to hold a sword like this. Not that I could, as low-level as I was when I was younger.”

  “Ah, the joy of having a hard time picking up weapons when you’re young and low-level,” Draegur murmured, grinning broadly.

  “It certainly made studying weapons harder,” Resha agreed, looking far less thrilled than her husband did. “Do they feel like they fit your hands properly? What about the balance?”

  “This is wonderful!” Joy said excitedly, turning away so she could make a few test thrusts and cuts, then nodded in satisfaction. “I like it!”

  Murmurs of agreement came from the others, prompting another smile from Resha.

  “Excellent. Then it’s time for you to check your armor,” the smith said, picking up the shield from the top of the pile and offering it to Stella. “Here’s the shield you requested. A solid piece, if I say so myself.”

  “Thank you,” Stella said, examining the shield and smiling. “This will certainly help in combat. But the armor… ah, you enameled it?”

  Joy leaned forward, just in time for Resha to remove the armor she’d made for Stella. The armor was composed of a corslet, greaves, bracers, and gauntlets, but the unusual thing was the color. It didn’t look like metal at all to her, with a smooth, dark blue surface, except for on the chest of the breastplate where there was a softly glowing circle like the moon, as well as several other patterns here and there on the armor. Well, and some silver trim, but Joy wasn’t paying attention to that. Beneath Stella’s armor was a near-identical set that was green with copper trim, just sized somewhat larger and without the chest symbol.

  “I did. I thought it was the best way to keep you from imitating a lighthouse,” Resha agreed, smiling at Stella broadly. “You’ll note I used it to create a holy sigil for you, though. It should be easy to keep covered if you need to be stealthy, easier than your mace for certain.”

  “Agreed. Thank you very much, Resha, I’ll have to try this on,” Stella said, and glanced at Draegur. “I presume you have a changing booth or something?”

  “A couple of them,” Draegur confirmed, pointing at a couple of doors in the corner that Joy had almost overlooked. “Go ahead and pick one, neither is in use.”

  Brianna picked up her armor in the meantime, examining it critically, and in doing so exposed what Joy was certain was her armor. Who else would have armor that had black and yellow stripes on it? Not much of the yellow, which glowed softly to her eyes, but it was there. It looked a lot like her current armor, and Joy grinned, quickly fastening her rapier to her belt as she leaned down. While she was distracted, Brianna quickly headed for the other changing room as well.

  “That’s pretty! Let’s see…” Joy said, pulling out the armor to look at it closely, and almost dropped it. “Oof, heavier than it looks! Not much heavier than my current armor, though. I think it covers everything it needs to cover, too. Don’t want to get stung in the stomach.”

  “No, that wouldn’t be good,” Cora said, peering past Joy. “And mine… how did you manage to keep it from glowing?”

  “I didn’t. Not entirely, anyway,” Resha said, shrugging. “What I managed to do was dim it, then I sandwiched the titansteel between two thin layers of cloth. If something breaks the outer layer you’re going to see a slight glow, but I don’t think that you’ll run into that much.”

  “I certainly hope not. If someone’s in range to stab me, it isn’t going to be pleasant,” Cora said, glancing at Joy as she added, her tone turn
ing teasing. “Sort of like when Joy didn’t expect the orc to keep spinning when she dodged his axe.”

  “That hurt,” Joy complained, wincing as her antennae drooped. “How was I supposed to know that would happen?”

  “He was higher level than you. You shouldn’t have stayed inside his reach at all,” Cora said, pulling out her new clothing. It was a long-sleeved jacket, tunic, and trousers, Joy noticed, which looked pretty good to her. The jacket and trousers were a simple brown leather, while the tunic was a light green color that pleased Joy’s eyes.

  “Right! I’ll try to remember that,” Joy said, glancing toward the changing room impatiently. She wanted to try on her armor, and she’d been lectured about not changing in public often enough as it was.

  “How bad was this fight?” Resha asked, her eyebrows rising as she leaned against the counter.

  “Really bad,” Cora said, letting out a sigh. “If it hadn’t been for the army ants wearing the invaders down, we’d probably have lost. Hell, if the orc’s axe hadn’t been damaged, I think it’d have cut straight through Stella’s shield.”

  “Possibly,” Stella said, stepping out of the changing room and rolling her shoulders as she did so. “With a normal shield, certainly. But I’d used Mother’s Rampart, and it boosts the defense of the shield for a few moments, so it would’ve had a chance of working. Not a good chance, but better than nothing. This feels… odd. I don’t know why, but it feels loose.”

  The armor looked pretty good on Stella, Joy thought, with how the etched symbol glowed behind the Acolyte’s holy symbol, and the dark blue complimented her well. She rather liked the shield, since it looked like it was larger than the circular ones Stella had used before. The biggest difference was that the armor wasn’t partly shrouded by Stella’s vestments that she usually wore with her armor, but Joy supposed she could change that later on.

  “That doesn’t sound right,” Resha said, pushing away from the counter as she frowned. “Not your ability, but the armor. Let’s have a look at you.”

  Stella nodded, stepping closer and turning in place as she replied. “I easily could have missed something, I guess. I’m used to my old armor.”

  “Yes… and you did miss something,” Resha said, stepping up behind Stella as she reached under her arm to adjust something. “You didn’t tighten this strap here. That’ll help keep your breastplate secure.”

  “Drat, thank you. I wondered why it felt loose,” Stella said, blushing as she reached over to touch the strap in question. “I guess I’ll just have to get used to the design. It’s different from where I grew up.”

  “Unsurprising. Different regions have different designs for armor. Only the gods know why,” Resha said, nodding and glancing at the other door. “The only question is how it fits… Brianna, is it?”

  “It’s fine!” Brianna called out from inside. “I’m just trying to get the door without dropping anything.”

  Joy giggled and bounced over to the room, speaking brightly as she shifted her armor into one arm. “I’ll get it for you!”

  She opened the door quickly, then backed up as she saw the human. Brianna had awkwardly stacked her old armor in her arms, along with her old sword on top of it, which explained why she had so much trouble with the door. Joy would’ve carried it differently, but she wasn’t Brianna.

  “Thanks, Joy,” Brianna said, edging out into the room carefully. She stepped over to the counter and set her things down, prompting Cora to whistle softly.

  “You certainly look more dangerous in that,” Cora said, her eyebrows rising, and Joy nodded in agreement.

  Brianna didn’t look that much different than Stella, save that her armor was green, but with the sword at her hip she had a decidedly more predatory stance. It reminded Joy of a praying mantis, when she thought about it. Graceful, but deadly.

  “I really like it. It fits better than my old armor did, too,” Brianna said, looking down and rapping the chest plate. “Not that it’s surprising. My old armor wasn’t a custom piece, it was just off the shelf.”

  “That’s how most adventurers work, at least until they get to level twenty-five or so,” Resha said, nodding approvingly. “Unless your gear can be easily upgraded, like yours can, it isn’t worth the additional expense of getting it bespoke.”

  “Bespoke?” Joy asked, almost pouncing on the word. She hadn’t heard it before, and she liked learning new things.

  “Made specifically for a single person,” Stella said without pausing, and glanced at Cora. “Are the two of you going to change?”

  “Sure!” Joy said, considering for just an instant before darting into the room Brianna had vacated. It was already open, so there was no reason not to use it.

  The changing room wasn’t large, just big enough for Joy to be able to put on the equipment easily, plus a little more space, and it also had a footstool and a bench. She appreciated how compact it was, since it was the first reasonably-sized room she’d seen outside of hives.

  Removing her armor was the first order of business, and Joy did it with alacrity, about the time she heard the other door close, indicating Cora had taken the next room. Joy examined her new armor, then put on the chest-piece, flicking her wings to get them through the wing-slits, and gasped as the cool metal touched her skin.

  “That’s different,” Joy murmured, a little surprised by the sensation, since she’d never felt it from her own armor. It might be part of her innate armory ability, though. She adjusted the straps, then went for the next pieces of armor.

  None of them felt quite right going on. They fit well enough, but there was something subtly off about them, which made a certain amount of sense to her. This armor was different than anything she’d worn save for the dress she’d bought, and that had been silky cloth, not leather and metal.

  Eventually, Joy gave up on figuring out what felt wrong and focused on what felt right about the armor. Her wings fit through the wing-slits without issue, and she made an exploratory flutter, then took flight for just long enough to ensure it wouldn’t hurt her wings when she tried to fly, and noted happily that it wasn’t going to cause any problems there. Furthermore, the armor felt sturdier than the armor she’d been wearing lately, which made her happy.

  “Right, that does it,” Joy murmured happily, nodding firmly to herself as she reached to open the door, then picked up her older armor, efficiently stacking it, then slid it into her backpack. She could deal with it later, assuming she wanted to fuse her new equipment with it.

  When she stepped out, Brianna’s eyebrows rose, and the human grinned at her, speaking up. “Hey, you’re looking good, Joy! What do you think?”

  “It’s sturdy, better than my old armor!” Joy said, tapping her side experimentally as she thought, then continued. “A little heavier, and it feels like something is off about each part. That’s probably from it being metal and leather, though! I’ve never worn things like this before.”

  “Never… ah, yes, your armor is made of chitin. I almost forgot,” Resha said, momentarily sounding perplexed before she nodded. “Yes, it would be heavier. Metal tends to be denser than chitin is, and is generally stronger. Not always, as I’ve heard of some high-level insects having armor that’s stronger than enchanted diamondsteel, but generally.”

  Joy nodded, bouncing on her toes a few times, then settled down as she made a decision. “I like it! I’m going to fuse it with my old armor, I think.”

  “Er, fuse?” Draegur asked, blinking at her quizzically.

  “Her Innate Armory allows her to take equipment that’s the same type as what she has and fuse them together. It gives the armor she can create the properties of the equipment fused with it, and if it breaks, she can make a new set, given a little time,” Stella explained, a smile playing at the edges of her lips. “After her rapier got snapped, it took her three days to make a new one. It was rather fascinating… she started by rolling out a hilt between her hands from nothing, then slowly just… pulled the blade out, bit by bit
.”

  “It replaced my stinger,” Joy said, grinning broadly. “I just want to make sure I can replace it, if I have to!”

  “Hm. That would be useful, though it could have disadvantages, if the equipment breaks when used by others. It means you couldn’t sell it when you outgrow the equipment,” Resha said, rubbing her arm thoughtfully.

  “It does!” Joy confirmed, walking over to the others, then glancing back. She wondered what was keeping Cora.

  Draegur laughed, glancing at Resha while murmuring. “At least it keeps your job secure.”

  “Shut it,” Resha said affectionately, punching him in the arm. Draegur pretended to have been injured, but even Joy could see that he was just playing around. It amused her, and reminded her of the Shadebough Hive. The apis there had gotten along really well, unlike some of the humans she’d seen.

  “I like it,” Cora announced, just as her door opened and she stepped out, wearing the trousers, tunic, and jacket she’d been given. It gave her a very different look than she’d had in her robes, and Joy blinked, perking up a little. Cora continued, reaching up to push her hair back as she continued. “The only problem is that it’s going to be somewhat warm, but compared to the risk of glowing, I think I can deal with that.”

  Resha nodded, grinning as she replied. “I thought as much. Besides, I know a few of the shops in the area sell adaptation pendants, so if it’s too uncomfortable, you could always pick one up. They’re a little pricy, but unless you’re buying one which can deal with the worst sort of cold and volcanoes, you can probably afford it.”

  “Ah, I see how it is! You’re hawking wares for other merchants now!” Cora teased, grinning broadly as she walked over, then spoke more seriously. “Honestly, I’ll probably do that. Thank you for the suggestion, because with summer approaching, this could get a bit uncomfortable.”

  “True,” Brianna said, looking down at her armor and wincing. “This is going to get warm, too… maybe I’d better get one as well.”