by Logan Jacobs
I was anxious to get back to Bastianville, but in the meantime, I knew the three of us could find some interesting things to do for our honeymoon.
While it was technically mine and Elissa’s honeymoon, Mahini felt like my wife, too, so I wanted to make sure she was pleased with our mini vacation. That meant our next stop should be the blacksmith since I knew the desert goddess would be pleased with the smell of metal and leather.
I still needed to visit the enchanter to repair my wand, and I wanted to see what other skills I could learn while in town, but I decided the blacksmith would be our next stop.
Elissa cradled the package containing our new pottery to her chest like a loving mother holding a baby, and the image made my blood stir in an unfamiliar way.
Was I turned on by the thought of making babies? This world had certainly changed me, but I was sure it was for the better.
I shook my head in awe at myself, but I would need to revisit that idea later to see how I felt about it.
We took a right out of the pottery shop and headed toward the blacksmith. The streets of Bullard were busy, but not nearly as much as the first day we’d arrived. I was starting to get accustomed to navigating the streets, too, especially after I’d dashed through them at superhuman speeds.
I grinned down at my griffon feather boots I’d enchanted a few days ago as we walked to the blacksmith, but then I realized we didn’t have any of our weapons or armor with us to repair.
“Hey, Mahini,” I said as I halted in the middle of the busy street. “What are you planning to repair?”
“My sword needs to be sharpened,” the desert goddess reminded me, “but I’d like to get a dent out of my chest piece, too.”
“I want to add some decoration to my armor,” Elissa added in an eager voice. “I want to make it more colorful.”
“That will just make you easier to spot by your enemies,” Mahini pointed out with furrowed eyebrows.
“I want it to be pretty, though,” Elissa pouted.
“Anything is pretty when it’s on you,” I explained in a loving voice. “You could make a burlap sack look sexy.”
“Aww, Bash, you’re too sweet,” the red-haired beauty sighed with hearts in her emerald eyes.
“Alright, so you two wait here for me, and I’ll be back in a jiff,” I said before I stomped my foot to activate the fleetness ability of my boots.
“What’s a jiff?” Elissa asked, but I had already started to dash through the streets.
I ran quick as lightning back to the castle, dashed up the stairs to our room, and had my arms full of weapons and gear a moment later. Then I stomped my foot again, and I took off in a blur of motion to bring my load back to my beautiful women.
I skidded to a halt right in front of them, and I grinned triumphantly as I handed them their gear.
“That’s a jiff,” I explained as I caught my breath.
“Oh, so really fast,” Elissa giggled.
“I would have retrieved our items, Great One,” Mahini said with a small frown. “You shouldn’t have to run errands for me.”
“It was my pleasure, my love.” I winked at the desert goddess.
Mahini sighed, but she helped me carry some of my armor to the blacksmith’s shop, and the sound of a hammer striking an anvil rang out through the crowded streets as we drew closer.
Mahini’s piercing blue eyes lit up with excitement as we drew near, and I chuckled at her enthusiasm for metalworking. The desert goddess always seemed the most comfortable by the heat of a forge, and I mirrored her expression of eagerness as I thought about what else I could learn.
I’d picked up quite a few skills during my time in this world, but the one I was most proud of was my blacksmithing ability. It had taken me many attempts to master the art of working metal, but I’d surprised Bastianville’s blacksmith with my skill, so it was worth every redo.
I’d also learned how to log timber, tan hides, enchant armor, and cast spells during our travels. Then I’d moved on to other skills like butchering, baking, and candlestick making, and I’d turned myself into a nursery rhyme character in the process.
We stepped inside the blacksmith’s shop, and I took a quick look around. The shop smelled like coals, hot metal, and sweat, but the odor was inviting to warriors like us. The forge was set up in the center of the room but toward the back of the building, and the embers inside glowed a bright red. A workbench was situated against the far-left wall, and numerous blades lined the partition to my right.
“Hello!” I greeted the older man who was bent over the anvil.
He turned around and gave me a quick scrutinizing glance before he nodded curtly. “What can I do for you?”
“My name is Sebastian, and this is Elissa and Mahini,” I said as I gestured to my women. We are staying in the duke’s castle, and we’d like to use your shop to repair some of our items. We’ve been traveling a lot, and they’ve taken on some wear.”
“Uh… I would be happy to repair your gear,” the blacksmith countered with a confused look. “No need for nobles to break a sweat.”
“I’m more of a blacksmith than a noble,” I told him with a sly smile. “I’d like to repair my own gear, but I’d be happy to pay you for the use of your shop.”
“Sebastian is the God of Time,” Mahini informed him in a warning tone. “If he says he wants to use your forge, it would be wise for you to let him.”
“Easy,” I murmured to my loyal warrior woman, and I motioned for her to stand down.
Mahini nodded, and she released the tension she held in her shoulders.
“God of Time?” the blacksmith asked as his eyebrows rose in surprise.
“Call me Bash,” I said with my most charming voice, and I stuck out my hand to shake his.
“A-Alright.” The blacksmith wiped his black-streaked hands on the leather apron stretched across his broad torso. “You can use my shop. My name’s Yorn if you need any help.”
“Thank you, Yorn,” I replied. “I think we can take care of it ourselves, but we will call for you if we need anything.”
“Good.” The blacksmith nodded again. “Grindstone is out back, help yourself to anything you need. I’ll send the bill up to the castle.”
“Perfect.” I grinned.
I took Elissa to the workbench, and I started to show her how she could add cuts of leather to the design of her armor while Mahini watched over my shoulder. We cut tiny flower shapes out of the leather and stitched them onto the strap that ran across her breasts.
Then I worked on my own weapons and armor until everything was in mint condition. Jaxtom had reworked the armor I’d pulled off Lucian’s dead body, and the Bullard family crest had been removed, so I had a high-quality suit of plate metal armor as well as a sword and three daggers.
I decided to check the stats on my armor before I started my repairs.
Part of my ability was being able to see the stats on weapons, armor, and magical items in this world. All I had to do was press my pointer finger to it, and lines of text hovered in the air above it. Apparently, I was the only one who could do this or even see the words when I activated the stats, so I assumed it was another aspect of my godhood.
I put all my pieces into a pile and then pulled them out one by one. The greaves, thigh pieces, and both the upper and forearm parts were identical, and each piece had the same stats.
Durability – 90%
Weight – 2.2lbs
Quality – High
Magical Aspect – None
Armor Tier – 3
I put the items needing to be repaired into their own pile, and then I moved on to the other pieces.
The shoulder guards were fairly close to the other pieces of armor in weight.
Durability – 100%
Weight – 2.4lbs
Quality – High
Magical Aspect – None
Armor Tier – 3
My gauntlets were pretty awesome, but I checked their stats anyway.
&n
bsp; Durability – 89%
Weight – 5.2lbs
Quality – Excellent
Magical Aspect – Iron Fist
Armor Tier – 5
They definitely needed some work done on them, so I added them to the repair pile. Next, I checked my breastplate, but I didn’t expect any surprises there.
Durability – 100%
Weight – 5lbs
Quality – Excellent
Magical Aspect – None
Armor Tier – 6
My shield had barely been used during our journey, and I considered smelting it down so I could turn it into something else, since I could summon a magical shield now, too. I checked the stats on it, anyway, just to be certain.
Durability – 100%
Weight – 7lbs
Quality – High
Magical Aspect – Minor Magic Deflection
Armor Tier – 6
It was a good shield, but I already had multiple ways to deflect magic, so I didn’t feel like the magical aspect added to its usefulness. Still, I’d need to try out some different fighting techniques to see if it suited me before I decided to part with it.
In the end, very little of my armor needed to be repaired, so I separated the pieces I planned to work on, and then I moved on to my weapons. I had Lucian’s sword, my feather sword I’d taken from the goblins, the sorcerer’s curved dagger, and the two daggers Jaxtom made for me as a wedding gift.
My feather sword wasn’t in bad shape, but I hadn’t repaired it since I’d left Bastianville.
Durability - 63%
Weight - 0.2lbs
Quality - High
Magical Aspect - Feathering
Magical Ability - None
The sorcerer’s dagger was better off but still needed some work done on it.
Durability - 84%
Weight - 0.9lbs
Quality - High
Magical Aspect - None
Magical Ability - None
The sword I’d picked up from the duke’s son, Lucian, after I’d killed him had only been used once on our journey when Elissa killed a kobold with it, so it was almost in perfect condition.
Durability – 97%
Weight – 4.8lbs
Quality – Excellent
Magical Aspect – None
Magical Ability – None
Then I checked Elissa’s mace to see how it stood compared to our other weapons.
Durability - 53%
Weight - 3.9lbs
Quality - Low
Magical Aspect - None
Magical Ability - None
My wife’s mace was in bad need of repair, but I was unfamiliar with the weapon, and I would need some guidance before I’d mastered the spiked club. So, I made a new save point before I hailed Yorn and showed it to him.
“Can you teach me how to repair it?” I asked as I held up the ancient-looking mace in both hands. “I don’t want it to fall apart on her the next time she uses it.”
“The little one uses the mace?” Yorn’s eyebrows shot up, and his gaze flicked to Elissa.
“Yes,” my wife answered for me with a proud grin. “Just call me Skullcrusher.”
“I’ll remember that,” Yorn chuckled. “I don’t come across many Skullcrushers these days, but anywho, back to your question. It’ll be easy enough to repair, just need to sharpen the spikes and replace the leather grip.”
Yorn took the mace over to his workbench, and he pulled out a small knife to cut away at the frayed leather on the handle. Once the grip was removed, he worked another strip around the metal and sealed it with what looked like glue. Once I felt like I’d seen enough, though, I reset back to my save point to do it myself.
Chime.
It took me three attempts to get the leather to stay on correctly, and Yorn eyed my handiwork with keen eyes.
“You’re a talented smith,” the older man observed in an appreciative voice. “Where did you learn?”
“Bash already knew how to smith,” Elissa interjected.
“It’s true.” Mahini graced us all with one of her melodic laughs. “I was surprised at how well he made a sword, but he swears he never laid a hand to metal before.”
I grinned while my girls bragged about me, but when Yorn sent me a questioning glance, I merely shrugged.
After the mace handle had been replaced, I checked the stats again.
Durability - 80%
Weight - 3.9lbs
Quality - Low
Magical Aspect - None
Magical Ability - None
The durability had jumped up almost thirty points, but I figured I could get it to one hundred percent by sharpening it. I wanted to finish my armor first, though, so I went piece by piece and analyzed my gear for any signs of weakness. I banged out a couple of dents, replaced the leather straps, and cleaned them with an oiled rag, and eventually, they all shone like they were brand new.
Then I moved all our weapons outside, and Mahini and I took turns on the grindstone. Once everything was nice and sharp, I checked to make sure all the durability stats were at one hundred, and they were, so I gathered everything back up. We finished up, and then we said goodbye to Yorn before we headed out into the streets of Bullard once more.
The cobblestone streets were busier than they had been before we entered the blacksmith’s shop. People rushed to and fro everywhere I looked, and most wore simple clothes in modest colors, but every once in a while I spotted a richly dressed noble. Our outfits were dingy in comparison, so I decided our next stop should be a seamstress.
While we were there getting fitted for new outfits, I purchased some fabrics to send back to Bellona in Bastianville. I couldn’t wait to see what the talented seamstress came up with, but it would have to wait until we made our way back home.
I made a new save point before we reached our next destination, which was the enchanter’s shop. Despite it being a warm day, there was a fire burning beneath the mantle, and the older man sat in a chair facing the flames. A workbench sat in the center of the room, and several shelves lined the far wall. From where I was standing in the doorway, I could see several wands, staves, and other magical items. I’d been here before to create my griffon feather boots, but I’d been too obsessed with my task to look around much.
The enchanter stood when we entered, and he gave us a small bow. He wore hooded blue robes that framed his wrinkled face, and his eyebrows were like gnarly white caterpillars, but his eyes twinkled with an inner youth.
“How can I be of service today?” he asked as he folded his hands inside his baggy blue robes.
“My name is Bash,” I began. “I have some magical items I would like to repair.”
Even though I’d met him once before when I’d pretended to be Kane’s apprentice, it didn’t look like the old man had recognized me, and for a second I felt bad about my ruse, but I was happy with the outcome. I had my griffon feather boots, and my treasured feathers remained a secret. While I’d learned enough enchanting to create my magical boots, there was still so much more I wanted to learn about the trade.
“You can call me Burnyolf,” the enchanter replied. He seemed to be in a good mood, and I wondered if it had anything to do with the court wizard’s recent defeat at my hands. “I will gladly help you with any of your enchanted items.”
I pulled out my inferno wand and the staff of magic deflection, and I placed them on his workbench. I checked the stats to see where our start point was, and the inferno wand was right where I’d expected it to be.
Durability - 5%
Weight - .5 lbs
Quality - High
Magical Aspect - Fire
Magical Ability - 1x Inferno
It looked like the last five percent of durability remained because the wooden shaft of the wand was still in one piece, but other than that, it was pretty much useless.
Then I checked the stats on the magic deflection staff I’d gotten from the lake guardian when I’d broken the curse of Lake Baler
no and killed a lich lord.
Durability - 95%
Weight - 1 lbs
Quality - High
Magical Aspect - Negate
Magical Ability - +5 Minor magic deflection
I still hadn’t used the staff in combat, but I imagined the magic deflection worked much the same as the enchantment on my shield. I wanted to experiment with it some more before I relied on it in a fight, though, so I’d have to find someone to spar with me.
Maybe I could teach one of the girls a magic spell or two, and then I could have them throw magic at me while I practiced deflecting it.
The enchanter eyed my two items closely, but he seemed impressed if his raised eyebrows were any indication.
“Where did you acquire such rare items?” he asked as he peered into the crystal on top of the staff. “I haven’t seen the likes of them in decades. Very ancient work, it will be hard to keep it maintained.”
“I found both items in a burial sanctum outside of Lake Balerno,” I explained. “We cleared the catacombs, and I found the wand in the process. The staff was given to me as a gift from the guardian of the lake as a reward for breaking the curse on the water.”
“It sounds like you have had quite the adventure,” Burnyolf replied, and the corners of his lips twitched up into a smile. “Have no fear, we will get them into tip-top shape.”
“Perfect.” I grinned, and then I watched closely while the enchanter mixed up some ingredients.
Burnyolf took a lump of hot coal out of his fireplace, added a small stone and some strange looking liquid, and then mixed them all together with a mortar and pestle. The resulting solution glowed a bright hot red, and he poured this mixture over top of the wand.
He repeated the process to the staff, but instead of coal, he used a mysterious root. Burnyolf didn’t explain any of his actions, so I started asking questions.
“Where can I find these ingredients?”
“I purchase them from a traveling vendor,” the enchanter murmured.
“Can I buy some of them from you?” I asked with a wiggle of my eyebrows. “Where else can I find it?”
