My nose was being tickled. I snorted and woke myself up, leaving a fog of lingering slumber pressing down on me. I was resting against something warm and soft, and shoved right in my field of view were scrawling lines of text. Strands of rich red covered my eyes and it took me a few moments to piece it together.

I was sleeping on Rolada, and her hair was in the way. I craned my neck up to see her fast asleep, chin resting on my head. She was reading one of the storybooks I had picked up in Swordhaven, engrossed until sleep had snuck up on her. We were still on the couch in a cocoon of blankets and pillows for comfort.

“Thank you for watching! We will take a short break and return soon.”

The chipper voice drew my attention, and I could see projected on the wall a homely-looking goat girl with a cloak in one hand while a thread and needle were clutched in the other. She had rich sunskissed skin from being on the lovely island nation, long black hair, and several gold rings clamped to her short white horns. Around her neck glimmered a short cloak made of gold-coloured fabric with golden pins attached to it.

Sitting on the floor ahead of me were three drones with fabric, strips of boar leather, and stag hare horn buttons. They stood up and put on their freshly made cloaks, using their second set of arms to hold the cloaks up while they ran in circles making zooming noises.

Rolada mumbled and turned, sounding annoyed at the gap I had made in the cocoon of blankets. I gingerly slipped out and replaced the bedding letting her rest again. I sat down amidst the minions and they brought me some of the material they had gathered. In between their chirps and pointing with their claws I held the cloth up and measured it against my torso.

“Thank you so much students, let’s try again, but this time with sleeves!” the goat girl on screen was sitting on a stool with a table ahead of her, new cloth, buttons, and thread at the ready. She pinched a needle between her fingers and her captivating gaze settled on me as if she was looking right at me. “Please pick up your needle carefully, we don’t want any injuries.”

The minions were engrossed in her instruction and I grabbed a spare needle as I was curious about how hard it would be. She began by explaining how to thread the needle properly, how to hold it, and measure the lengths of the cloth. The cloak lesson flew by, with me only stabbing my fingers a few times. The minions had more of a hand in making things from all the bonuses they had to crafting skills, and they ended up helping me stitch a few places I had left a noticeable gap.

What was interesting is every time we moved to the next step the lady on screen gave suggestions for alternatives. Such as using the material from flour sacks for a cheaper option, how to tie together old thread, and even a spell for a starter mage to fix a bent needle tip. It seemed the lessons were not just aimed at someone wanting to do arts and crafts but at people struggling to make ends meet.

By the time we had finished and she bowed I had in my hand my handmade cloak.

A new crafting recipe added!

Sewing has increased to rank 1!

Sewing is a sub-skill of crafting, adding additional chances for success and increasing the quality of the final product.

The buttons were not perfectly spaced, but fairly close. The hood was a little on the large side, the sleeves were too short only coming up to my forearms and there were a few places to nitpick. Yet I was happy, and I couldn’t help but put it on and go for a spin with my minions clapping to congratulate me.

Simple Cloak

Tier I Common Item

Weather resistant and able to keep yourself dry long enough to get to safety this garment is commonly seen in colder regions. While whoever made this lacked the skill of an expert it has been made well enough to suffice.

“Eh, I’ll take it,” I said with a pleased smile and a shrug.

“Josh?” Rolada yawned and rubbed at her eyes. Her eyebrows rose and she looked between me and the wall. “Oh, Misty is still running her workshop lessons.”

The goat girl waved goodbye before the projection fizzled out for a moment. The stage from the night before appeared again, this time empty. After a few more seconds the light dimmed and the orb flashed a gold colour once before going dark.

I helped Rolada up and took off the cloak, holding it out. “What do you think? Not bad for someone that has only sewn a button back on a few shirts if I do say so myself.”

She put it on and stretched out her hands. This time the cloak covered all but her fingertips. The length was better for her too and she smoothed out the shoulders. “The leather is in the right place for support so it will last. It will keep someone dry, so I think it’s a job well done!” The praise was short-lived as she eyed the stitching. “Were you busy watching her more than where you were jabbing the cloth? How much excess did you use? Why are there gaps here but not on the other side?”

After her going over the entire garment she frowned, hummed, then whistled. “I could patch these places up and I think it would make for a lovely gift. Anyone in mind?”

She held it up to her side as if calculating how to make it fit better. I brought up the sleeve and shook it. “Are you saying you want it? If so that’s fine, but you said her name is Misty. Did you know her well?”

Rolada squeezed me into a hug and the minions joined in for a big group hug. “I would love it. It’s going to be way better in the heavy rain than my old one, and Misty? Yeah, when I was growing up she started her little workshops and had the mages there project it to other shrines connected to Ishaka’s temple. Give something for people to enjoy doing with their hands.”

“That’s pretty neat,” I said. I flexed my hand with the red little marks from the needle, and felt light, as if my spirit had some zip to it. My grin was hard to suppress. “I feel inspired, want to make something else?”

Rolada flipped the oversized hood over her head, swallowing her fluffy fox ears, and her face leaving only her mouth visible, happy grin and all. “Let’s see what you have in mind. I think I’m hitting a roadblock in my studies, so something to break it up is just what I need.”

I looked to the minions and called up the work order queue. “You guys okay for a few tasks?” After getting some thumbs up and nods I asked for them to fetch my equipment, the runes and my crafting material.

As we went ahead I thought of the little program I had watched. Misty had looked fairly young to me, barely into her twenties if I had to guess. Yet if Rolada grew up around her then she either had the best skin routine known to exist or something else was up. There was also her captivating gaze and voice.

“Is Misty actually a goat girl or some kind of demon?” I asked Rolada.

Rolada hummed and tapped her cheek in thought. “She’s a fellow beast-kin. Mostly.”

I waved at the door ahead of us and the dungeon opened it for us letting us get to the library. The minions at the behest of someone had put a simple rocking chair by the fireplace, but otherwise, it was mostly the same. I took up a desk by the practice dummy and the stone hall and found our magical-minded minion hard at work.

His star-covered red and black wizard hat was spotted with new fantastical colours of ink. His sleeves had been rolled back and his black fur was much the same. For his efforts, he had a selection of scrolls, wands and the staff we had given him.

The caster minion turned with it in hand and raised it over his head. He dropped down into a low stance and let out a battle cry. He jogged towards the stone hall and pointed the end of the staff at the wooden target at the far end. The large staff was clunky in his hands but once he had it aimed, he grew still with wide, wild eyes. “Fi-argh!”

The top half of the staff flared up and three long streaks of fire flew down the hall striking the target and wall beyond it. The impact sent burning wood chips in all directions and the flash of light was followed by a wave of heat coming towards us.

He was all smiles as he held it up to me and I gingerly took the powerful weapon.

Staff of the Fire Snake (Damaged)

Tier III Uncommon Weapon

This staff holds up to 9 mana points and can be used on the spells attached to it.

For 3 mana points, you can cast the tier 2 spell Serpent’s Blaze

The spell was quite interesting to me.

Serpent’s Blaze

Tier 2 spell - costs 3 mana points

You summon 3 rays of fire in the likeness of a blazing snake and hurl them at foes with a range of 100 feet. Each ray deals 2 to 12 points of fire damage. These can target one creature or as many as you have rays.

In addition, you can combine the rays, even with another spell cast to combine them all together in a single powerful attack gaining additional potency and adding a small area of effect. Every three caster levels add a flat bonus to the damage and area of effect of this combined attack.

During the siege, the skeletal mages using the staff had made their attacks combine, and it was as powerful a cannon shot as it blew up a few walls. I turned the staff around in my hands and felt something different between the leather and wool wrapping around the middle of it.

The top half felt charged, slightly warm and solid, unlike the bottom half which just felt like a piece of old wood. The runes that were carved deep into the body of the staff had a faint light and heat to them until they reached the middle where there was damage and the magic felt vacant.

This item has 0 charges to it. Maximum capacity is reduced by 66.6% from damage.

The caster minion excitedly waved a scroll and on it, I could see a very promising diagram. The minion also showed me a log where he had gained fifty experience for fully researching the staff and even had a recipe to replicate it. It didn’t seem too bad, it needed some copper for a conductive core, a decent staff, something with fire energy such as the fire powder I had purchased, and some expense with good quality mana crystals that could hold quite a bit of charge. Something feasible for us, except for one little issue.

Requires a dedicated shrine to Orothalos the dark serpent of ambition, of flames of...

“Not a big fan of that,” I said with a weary sigh, waving away the many, many names of the deity. The dark fire god probably wouldn’t be too forthcoming with aid since I was soon to be blasting his followers. I rested the staff beside my foot and looked down the length. I could see where the runes and etchings were damaged and if I could just reconnect the lines I thought it would work again. “Rolada, think we can fix it?”

“Got a recipe or a blueprint by any chance for fire enchantments?” Rolada asked with hope in her voice. She elbowed me in the side and gave me a cute smirk. “If so I think we can work a little magic together.”

I called up what the scholars had told me when I dealt with the powder-selling alchemist. In the mix of information was an ink that could be applied to spell lines to work fire spells, add a temporary touch of fire damage to weapons for a few hits or for fireworks. “I think I have something here, and one if we want to have a blast later.”

Rolada had already made space on a desk, and as soon as she got my recipe she had the vial with the fire powder, ink, and a glass of wine. She was pouring measured amounts into a bowl and waved a brush. “Thanks, I’m on it!”

The mixture resulted in a thick paint-like paste we used to fill in the cracks of the damaged runes by the handle. The wood greedily soaked it in, sucking all the moisture out and leaving the paste to flake away. The runes beneath had more depth now, with colour and power within it. The staff hummed with power, balanced now from top to bottom.

The staff of the Fire Snake has been repaired!

I handed it off letting Rolada recharge it with her own mana and let her get a go with it. As she blasted the target down range the caster minion showed me how his research had gone. He had mostly been repairing the staves and the one-time use of magical ammunition from the goblins. It had yielded him the recipes for the bolts and arrows which I added to a work order.

“We have some very excited customers looking for fire arrows. Think you are up to it?” I asked.

The minion stood up tall and puffed out his chest in pride, saluting me. “Merp!” He stuck his nose up on the table and took the bowl of fire paste Rolada had made. He ordered some arrowheads from the minions and set up his desk to get to experimenting.

I found my equipment and got out my sword. The worn enchantments could be fixed, and I picked up the frost rune the hyena people had given me. “Think we can fix it on our own? One of the hyena people offered to fix it for a fee.”

Rolada leaned the staff against the wall and handled my sword with care. “The lines here are really fine, and we could, it would just take a while. Then again it might not be a bad idea to hire them to get on their good side, especially if she is trained for this kind of thing. I would hate to break your best weapon.”

I leaned back in a chair and scratched at my chin. “So far I think we are on good terms, but you are right.” I squeezed my eyes shut and let out a long sigh. “Money comes and money goes eh?”

Rolada just nodded and picked up the staff. “Want to give it a go? It’s fun and deals a bunch of damage!”

I left the rune on the table and ordered a regular sword to be brought in. I had a few to spare and I was keen to experiment. I sank a few mana points into the staff as Rolada had and took aim at the abused, smouldering target.

“Serpent’s Blaze!” The staff felt alive with power and three thin rays of fire sprung out the ends of them splitting into the wide open jaws of a snake ready to swallow its prey. The rays zig zagged through the air in an arc like it’s namesake slithering towards it target and it struck the wooden target. Light, heat and flames flared into life and I shielded my eyes. “Now that’s the firepower we need!”

Rolada scoffed but my minion laughed at that. The drones hurried in and dropped us off a few things including some snacks and hurried about on their business. Rolada took a seat next to me at the desk with a simple steel longsword on the table. It was a two-hander with some heft, a good balance, and a sharp edge.

Rolada pinched the rune stone in her fingers and held it up to a dungeon light. “These are a little different than the ones that I saw in school, but it should be the same. Ready?”

I rubbed my hands together feeling energized. “Ready.”

As we began stripping the top layer of mica off the rune stone to expose the enchanted ink infused into the hunk of mineral, the room filled with an otherworldly chill. Gently placing the stone above the blade’s crossguard I could feel my fingers getting stiff just from the air temperature. Rolada traced her finger along the rune’s writing making the stone pulse with bright clear blue light.

My breath was visible as was Rolada’s. She disappeared further into the newly made cloak shivering from the sudden chill. The moisture in the room condensed on the steel blade and where the rune was getting transferred from the stone onto the steel ice formed.

The blade rang with a melody, a haughty echoing tune. Rolada whistled to match it and held up a finger, silently asking me to hold still. She grabbed the powder vial of frost leaf, sprinkled a little into a cup and mixed it up with a drop of wine.

A sudden, unexpected burst of frost energy surged from the enchanting stone, leading to my concentration wavering. The room chilled to an extreme, and frosty crystals began to creep up my arms. The enchanting rune was more volatile than we anticipated.

A tear collected in the corner of my eye then froze. “Uh Rolada, help.”

She hissed a curse and flexed her hand. “Produce fire.” She waved it around my hands to melt off the surface ice and placed her index finger on the stone. “Warm up your hands, I got it.”

Cupping my hands beneath the summoned flame I winced and let out a pained grunt. My fingers were fine, just tingly like I had plunged them into freezing water. When I was ready I held the stone and Rolada dabbed the mica with paste. The stone sucked the magic right out of it, and the stone became dim. We pushed it aside leaving the sword with the rune etched into the surface.

Rolada held out the brush to me. “Want to do the honours? You just need to fill in the engraving and it will be done.”

The paste was thick and I had to work the brush in to get a good glob of it. As fast as I could press it against the rune the sword soaked it in, gobbling up the magic in the paste, casting off chunky bits of paste onto the table. The caster minion appeared beside me with thin pieces of copper and when I had finished adding the paste he placed the copper by the rune etching. The sword drew it in too, fusing the copper into the rune etching. The copper tone on steel made for a pleasant look and the room returned to normal temperatures.

“That’s it?” I asked. The sword lacked a flare of magic to it, just something that was subtle and under the surface. “Ah, we need a way for it to hold magic don’t we?”

Rolada unclipped one of the rings out of the leather strip she used to tie up her hair and one of the good mana crystals. She pulled on the ring and the soft metal gave way, letting her open it up. She clamped it around the hilt, just below the crossguard and used a tiny hammer from our tools to press it in. Finally, she had me balance the mana crystal over the ring and give it one gentle tap with the hammer. The crystal sang and turned into liquid, flowing into the ring, and then into the sword. “There, that will hold a mana point so it should be good for a couple of swings.”

Sword of Minor Frostbite has been created!

+40 XP divided to all creators!

I picked up the newly minted frost sword and tested the balance. There was a hint of power, ready to be unleashed. I walked up to our nearly destroyed target and slashed at it. The sword bit down into the wood with ease and frost formed along the cut. It opened the wounded area and erupted into frozen splinters.

The enchantment held, and I raised it up, with Rolada and our little wizard minion clapping.

Pride and joy bubbled up in my chest as I turned the weapon around in my hands. I could make out my own reflection in the steel blade from the blue light coming out around the copper rune markings. I came back to put it back in the scabbard and felt my satisfied smile grow. I put an arm around Rolada’s shoulder and pulled her into a hug. I grabbed an arrow off the table and twirled it between my fingers. “Want to make some more cool things?”

Rolada’s ears pinned back and she scowled. “Only if I don’t have to listen to ice puns all day.”