The next few days passed almost as if in a blur. It was a pleasant buzz of activity though. I might not have been fighting any spawn of the Devourer but that was a nice change of pace on its own. We would spend some time in our quarters, have hearty meals, much better and especially copious than I had been used to from our recent campaign, and especially we had plenty of restful sleep. And of course we would spend more than a little time at the Arcanist's forge either training or in Gash'zur's case being hard at work.

Even our trips through the city were quite enjoyable even if they never wer really quiet and peaceful. Apparently there was no shortage of children to whom we apparently were the most interesting thing in the world. After some time even the adults warmed up to our presence. Especially the shopkeepers started praising their wares and services in hopes to make a sale with us. Well, many of the things were not all that useful to either me or the giantess, as they were, which really was no surprise, goblin sized. I gave in at some point though and got myself a nice hair cut. It had been growing wild for a while after all and needed to be trimmed a little.

Spending some time with Giz and Mit, the goblin and forgeborn ladies running the barbershop, gave me a chance to glean some more insights into goblin society as well. Hairdressers were as talkative here as anywhere else. I got to hear plenty of the local gossip and I wouldn't have been surprised if they in turn got me to spill more details about how things were back home than Gib and his superiors had managed during the whole time.

In a way I felt bad about eventually leaving the place behind again. Especially as the time to leave drew nearer day by day. I could pretty much watch out time here come to a close as the assembly of my new scale mail neared completion. My new shield, a close match to the wyvern scale one I had been using, was already done. It was a piece of art in general and mimicked even the artistic decorations that had been carved into my old shield.

I was taking a break from training with my new glaive, admiring the work everyone was doing on my new gear, as Gash'zur and one of the Arcanist's forgeborn daughters brought over one of the last scales that needed to be affixed to the padded leather which served as a base for the new titanium scale mail. It was humming with power, just like the armor as a whole. That wasn't just a figure of speech either. The scales were actually vibrating with power. Or at least it seemed to be that way.

That somehow didn't seem very practical. I turned to question my giantess friend and the forgeborn about it. “What is up with the humming? That doesn't seem very practical. Not for someone who has been making good use of stealth at times.”

Gash'zur wiped away some sweat. “Its the enchantments. Every single scale is enchanted and the spells are interacting with each other.”

“Exactly.” The forgeborn chimed in at that point to elaborate a little further. “It is the spells interacting with each other that causes the slight vibration you can feel and hear right now. That should stop as soon as we add the last scale. The suit as a whole is designed in such a way that the interference from the individual pieces should cancel each other out once it is complete.”

Crazy! That was utter madness! “I still can't believe you would go so far as to enchant each individual scale.”

The disbelief was plain in my voice but neither the giantess nor the forgeborn seemed to mind. It was the latter who put things into perspective for me. “That way the overall enchantment becomes strong enough that it can't be easily disrupted. You know, like you have been practicing with your new glaive. I suspect even mother would need to stop and channel Mana for several moments to even try and disrupt it for a single strike. The attempt would leave anyone trying vulnerable to counterattacks.”

Well, that made sense. Still the thought sent shivers down my spine. It was a reminder of just who or rather what the Arcanist expected me to face. I took a deep breath to calm my mind and turned to face the other armor stand with my wyvern scale gear. “What about my old things?” I couldn't burden myself down with a second suite of armor. I still felt pangs of loss when thinking of just leaving it behind though. “What will you do with it?”

It was one of the goblins working nearby who answered my question. “We'll probably put it in the museum. That's where it belongs. I hope ye don't mind. They are really good at preserving things over there as well. Sine it has just gone through maintenance it might be good for a hundred years or maybe more.” The goblin rubbed his chin, disturbing his beard briefly before smoothing it out again. “If ye can get what remains of yer broken weapon back to us as well it is sure to make for an exhibit that is one of a kind! Ha! It might get the youngsters these days to appreciate the museum a little more again.”

Gash'zur chimed in at that point before I could say anything. “Who knows, if they take good care of it another hero could end up wearing it in a hundred years. They probably would only have to change the leather base, if anything at all. The scales would still be good. No doubt about it.” She patted me on the back as she spoke and the others nodded in agreement.

I took some time to think on it. The idea had some appeal. At least it wouldn't go to waste. I still had to have a look at that museum anyway. Maybe I could ask Gib about it later. It wouldn't do to leave without having visited a place named the Museum of existential terrors after all. Finally I nodded. “Might as well do that.”

With that said I shooed the giantess back to work, to which she returned with a heartfelt laugh. The others returned to their forges as well. They had had enough of a break apparently.

I on the other hand turned to face my new armor again and put a hand on the slightly vibrating scales. Well, it was a scale mail but calling them scales might have not done it justice. The individual scales were shaped to resemble maple leaves after all instead of scales and they formed an overlapping weave that was considerably denser than the wyvern scales had been. They seemed individually lighter and more flexible as well. They had to be. Otherwise the suite of armor as a whole would have become to cumbersome. The enchantments in turn were placed on the inside.

It took me a moment to tear my attention away from this piece of art. I still had more training to do, to get used to my new gear after all. I just wished I could wear it already as I probably would have to adapt it as well. Maybe tomorrow. Instead of fretting over it I picked up the titanium shield though. It was time to get some practice in wearing it and using my new glaive at the same time.