A Gift From The Dwarves

The sounds of hammers hitting metal filled the cave. A blast of heat hit Akiol as he entered.

Wrock slightly frowned at the uncomfortable temperature, "So what are we here for?"

Tilia pointed at an approaching dwarf, "He'll tell you."

The dwarf made a toothy grin and raised his arms, "Savior! I assume these are your friends?"

Tilia nodded, "Minus two."

"Where are the others?"

"Handling things at the East, so I'm afraid having them here is a bit troubling."

"That would make sense then. A pleasure to meet y'all. I am Yordwick, the nominated head of our small community."

The rest of the party swiftly introduce themselves. They watched as Yordwick eyes them individually, "An intriguing bunch, but that's to be expected. However my worst fears have been proven, your equipment is not to standard of someone your level!"

Kan'na shrugged, "It's not easy to replace this."

"That I can see, something as fancy as that is no doubt custom. Some run-of-the-mill Second Star equipment will find itself in quite the competition!"

Yordwick lifted a fingers, "You'll need something custom, just like your current set. That is where I, rather we, come in."

Wrock raised an eyebrow, "You're willing to take commissions?"

"Not a commission, a gift."

"We-"

"If you're trying to turn down the gift like the elf did, I'm afraid we reject."

"Then thank you.", Wrock felt it would be pointless to keep up pleasantries.

"Aye. But of course we'll need some assistance. I hope you will cooperate?"

"What do you need?"

"Some questions answered, your preferences, measurements, the usual."

"We can do that."

"I'd be shocked if you couldn't. Right then, those dwarves dawdling over there will be receiving you. The elf has already gone through this. However, you-", Yordwick pointed at Akiol, "You're going to be troublesome. So I'll be taking that task personally."

Kan'na mused, "Akiol is in trouble."

Wrock corrected, "In troublesome."

"That doesn't make sense."

"For someone fluent in magic language, you sure aren't fluent in jokes."

A small bolt of lightning crackled, only to hit a small blue flame. Wrock grinned in response, "Not gonna work anymore."

"We'll see."

"Ahem!", Yordwick pretended to clear his throat, "Let's not keep the patient ones waiting."

The two were shooed away, much to Tilia's amusement.

Yordwick then crossed his arms, "A swordsman with no armor, in fact I have no idea what that is."

"I was seen through, indeed I have no armor.", Akiol was impressed by the dwarf's insight.

"So what is it exactly?"

"My body."

Akiol morphed his body into a set of metal plate armor, and then back to his original style.

"A slime?! I thought your race was extinct!"

"There are a few stragglers, myself included."

"Even more reason to wear armor then! You have a point that will kill you faster than a human's heart being pierced. You're just going to let that go unprotected?"

"Armor is difficult to keep on after I morph. It would take extra time to make sure all the pieces are on properly. Time I could use to move around faster."

Tilia added, "Akiol is quite skilled regardless. The only time he would face his core being struck is by enemies much stronger than him. By then some armor would prove to be useless."

Yordwick stroked his beard, "I suppose you have your system. I don't recall any slimes from the story wearing armor. But this makes me a bit sad, for I'm not sure what I'm supposed to make you. I would offer a weapon but-"

'Rejected!' -Stars

Akiol smiled faintly, "You heard him."

Frowning Yordwick asked, "Who was that?"

Unsheathing Stars Akiol presented the sword, "This guy."

Holding out his hands Yordwick asked in a trance, "May I?"

Akiol allowed Yordwick to pick up Stars. The dwarf inspected every nook and cranny, gently caressing the blade with skilled fingers. His eyes held a sense of wonder, "What excellent craftsmanship, this is flawless as far as I can tell. The balance, this edge. . . just who made this?"

Stars answered the question, 'Borus did.'

"Borus? You're a creation of the great god Borus?!"

'That's me!'

"No wonder. A weapon forged by the god of blacksmithing. . . I actually get to see one in my lifetime."

Akiol leaned towards Tilia, "How do you think he would react to Glint?"

"Probably would faint on the spot."

"We should bring Nimin here."

"You trying to make them die of happiness?"

"No."

Yordwick had finished his inspection and sighed happily, "I think I can die happily now."

Akiol whispered to Tilia, "It might actually be a possibility."

The dwarf handed Stars back to Akiol, "It's a pleasure to meet a wielder of a creation of Borus. This further reduces what I can do for you however."

"Well I don't really need anything.", Akiol replied as he sheathed Stars.

"If you dislike armor due to the inconvenience, what about that scabbard?"

"It's also a bit of trouble, but only a bit. The only reason I have it is due to the fit Stars threw."

'Heh, that would've been funny to watch.' -Givale

'No it would not have! And I didn't throw a fit!' -Stars

"Then how would you have carried Borus' Creation normally?"

"I would absorb him, but I've been banned from that."

"You can absorb one of Borus' Creations?"

'That's what I'm saying! And call me Stars.'

Yordwick stroked his beard, "Hmm, does this also put things like rings or other accessories off the table?"

"If the effects are decent I would use them, I used to have a necklace, but my luck with keeping neck accessories seems to be quite poor."

"Then there's something I wish to try. If you would follow me?"

"Lead the way."

Bringing Akiol to a secluded area Yordwick approached an unassuming building. The dwarf knocked on the building, but felt more like banging with the sound it made. It opened to a sleepy looking dwarf and before they could speak Yordwick rapidly explained what was going on.

"And that's the situation."

The dwarf scratched their chin, "I've never made a piece for a slime before. But it sounds like it needs to be bound."

Yordwick nodded in agreement, "However I'm not sure if you can bind a piece to a monster."

"If they hold some intelligence it can happen, and this fella seems to have the intelligence of a human."

"So are you willing to try?"

"Bah, did you think I'd turn down a challenge like this down?"

"You said-"

"Forget that! I'm intrigued on this. You, Slime, I require your cooperation."

"My name is Akiol.", Akiol corrected.

"It matters not, we have some experimenting to do."

"What do you need from me?"

"You'll see, come with me."

~ ~ ~

A dwarf held Wrock's palms and turned them about. A frown apparent on their face as they continued to scrutinize, "A cursed item, that's a bit problematic."

"I'm aware of that, I almost got overtaken.", Wrock partially joked.

"We can attempt to free you, but-"

"It's alright, I have found a method to keep it at bay. As long as I'm strong enough it won't be able to do anything."

"It adapts as fast as you do. One day you may find that it's too much to handle."

"I'd like to see it try."

"In that case we can forget about the weapon, what would you prefer with armor?"

"Something that focuses more on enhancement than defense. I prefer to be more swift with my moves, mainly because taking hits isn't my style."

"The fist pugilist class is said to be the hardest to master."

"I wouldn't say hardest, but it's nice to never be lacking a weapon."

"Mhm, is there a particular style you have in mind?"

"Oh I can choose that?"

"Well it is a custom piece."

"I thought I would only be able to have a preference on the effects."

"We're dwarves, while letting equipment take its own shape is a strategy, creating it to fit an image suits us much better."

"In that case, I find the usual robe-like aspect of the pugilist clothing to be unfavorable. I'd prefer a Gi, or perhaps a robe with no sleeves."

"A Gi should be simple. Any specific design or color?"

"This may sound odd, but I want it in a style of a blue Phoenix."

"Blue Phoenix?"

"Yeah, one covered in blue flames, like this."

Suddenly a blue Phoenix appeared behind Wrock. Its wings spread brilliantly.

The dwarf nearly stumbled back but quickly caught themselves. Adjusting a pair of glasses they marveled, "Brilliant! You wield a blue flame?"

"Kind of, but don't let the armor enhance that. This flame of mine is something I'll make stronger without external help."

"Of course! What about your head?"

"Helmets make it harder to see, I could maybe do a headband but I don't feel the need for it. It's easier to move with nothing on my head."

"Are you going to risk your head for movement?"

"If something can strike my head I'm afraid I am in a lot more trouble than anticipated. At that rate a head accessory will only be distracting."

"So in total a lightweight Gi that focuses on enhancing the wearer instead of defense, and is in a style of a blue Phoenix."

"Yep!"

"This is doable, we have someone that specialized in weaving more than forging."

~ ~ ~

"Sorcerers are a big problem for us."

Kan'na raised an eyebrow, "Really?"

"Magic enhancement requires extensive knowledge, but we focus purely on our craft. There used to be someone who dabbled in magic, but I doubt their small knowledge would be of assistance."

"I can assist, the runes on this robe are partially my doing. Inscribing a few magic circles and or formations isn't an issue for me."

"That's be great then, but due to our limited knowledge on this we may require a lot of help. There may be a lot of failed creations."

Kan'na laughed, "I'm no stranger to failure, creating spells usually always goes wrong."

The dwarf frowned, "You create spells?"

"An odd question, it's not like I summon spells."

"No I mean, usually one would study a spell to use it right?"

"And how do you think that came to be? Someone had to have created the spell for it to be discovered and studied."

"Isn't it one of the gods who grant spells to us?"

"If they did they did not give me any. Regardless, I'm not an ordinary Sorcerer."

"I see. Then we can get started on some prototypes if you are free."

"That works."

~ ~ ~

"Elf! Yours is almost ready."

"Really? I thought it'd still be a while?"

"Normally, but we haven't had an opportunity to flex our creative muscles and got a little carried away. We need only a couple of days before everything is complete, but I need you to synchronize again."

"Oh okay."

The dwarves required Tilia to use her War Sight on a mysterious object. They claimed it would synchronize with the armor and provide something additional. Though they refused to answer when Tilia asked what the additional thing was specifically. She believed that, due to her War Sight's toughness, it would provide additional defensive buffs.

As Tilia walked towards the artifact she asked, "Can I see what's done so far?"

Yordwick scoffed, "Does a painter show off their art unfinished? You'll get to see when it's done. I assure you it will be pleasing."

"I'm sure anything made by the dwarves would be."

"Those weapons we were forced to make certainly are not."

Tilia now felt awkward at the subject. Forcefully changing the direction of the conversation she asked, "So how's that job coming along?"

"We've made enough weapons to give them a good profit. Now we've got a bunch of materials to do whatever we want with. Though these materials are good, they aren't extraordinary. So we'll be using some of our secret stash to provide you guys with some equipment."

"I never heard of this, there's no need to go so far!"

"That's because we all agreed not to tell you until it was too late! Regardless they would sit gathering dust, this was a good excuse."

"Thank you."

"This is merely our thanks for giving us a second life. And an investment to free this damned continent."

"We'll certainly do our best."

"You better."