Rise of the Living Forge

“Remain calm,” Raen repeated, raising his and stepping forward to put himself between Arwin and Monica. “Monica is human! There is no reason to panic. She just happens to vaguely resemble an Orc. It’s a very unfortunate problem, but I can assure you that she is not a monster.”

Arwin stared at Raen, then sent a pointed glance at Monica.

The woman stood at nearly seven feet tall. She had more muscle than any natural human could even hope of having, and her skin was the ruddy green of a forest. The two fangs jutting up from her lips may as well have been a stamp that said, “I’m an orc” smacked directly in the center of her face.

Monica raised a hand and waggled her fingers in greeting. She swallowed, then opened her mouth to speak — revealing rows of jagged teeth meant for ripping through flesh like it was nothing more than paper. “Hello. My name is human. I’m a Monica.”

Her voice was high-pitched and squeaky, almost like she was trying to force it to sound cutesy. No sooner than she had spoken did Monica realize her mistake. She let out a groan and cradled her head in her hands, letting out a slew of curses in a language that Arwin couldn’t understand, but it was one he’d heard before.

That’s definitely Orcish.

“She gets a little nervous at times,” Raen said weakly.

“All the time. I’m a very flighty person, and I hate fighting. Everyone thinks I’m a dangerous monster, but I’m not. I don’t want to look like this,” Monica said, clasping her hands before her and twisting her shoulders. She blinked heavily, and Arwin realized she was trying to flutter her eyelashes. “I get scared all the time, Mr. Smith. Especially of normal, scary things that people don’t like. Like insects. And — oh, bloodfly!”

Her hand snapped out through the air in a blur, moving so fast that Arwin could barely track its motion. Her robes cracked around her as she jerked to a halt, a tiny insect pinched between her fingers. She shoved it into her mouth, then froze in place with her fingers still in between her lips.

Monica slowly pulled her hand out of her mouth. “Er… fight or flight response?”

“It’s fucked,” Raen said, his head slumping.

“This whole plan was fucked,” Monica snapped, her tone turning turned throatier and lowering by several octaves. Her stance changed to that of a warrior and her shoulders un-hunched as she rose up to her full height. She cracked her neck. “I can’t do this, Raen. I’m horrible at this kind of thing.”

You can say that again.

“Monica, we—”

“Sugar, we’ve done things your way up until now, but I’ve got limits,” Monica snapped. She strode up to Arwin and stopped several feet away, looming over him. “Listen here, smith. I don’t care what you think of me or who I am. Give me the fancy item thing and I’ll be gone. You’ll never hear from me again. Problem solved. Sound good?”

“Why do you want it?” Arwin asked, tilting his head to the side. He’d never heard of Orcs fraternizing with humans before — but he’d never heard of demons doing the same until he’d re-met Lillia.

The world is always bigger than I think it is. What a fascinating place — and damn the Adventurer’s guild to hell for what they’ve done setting us against each other. There are so many sentient monsters that are every bit as worthy of life as humans are.

“Does it really matter?” Raen asked, clenching his jaw. “Look. Ifrit. We had a deal. Monica might look a little intimidating, but that changes absolutely nothing in our agreement. Don’t make an enemy of my guild.”

“Sugar, shut it for a moment,” Monica said, her gaze boring into Arwin’s. The corner of her lip curled up in what would have assumed to be a sneer, but Arwin was actually fairly confident it was a smile. “You’re great at bargaining, but that isn’t going to work here. This smith is one of my kind.”

“He — what? He’s an orc?” Raen asked.

“By the twin gods, I love you, but you’re as dumb as a sack of babies sometimes,” Monica said, ruffling Raen’s hair without breaking eye contact with Arwin. “Ask your question, smith.”

“My question hasn’t changed,” Arwin said with a shrug. “What do you want the item for? And, just so you know, I ask every single person that purchases any of my work or help the same thing. I’m not singling you out because you’re an Orc. Couldn’t give a shit less about what you are, though I certainly wouldn’t object to hearing the story as to why you’re here in Milten.”

This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

Monica’s smile grew wider as surprise washed over Raen’s features.

“I knew it,” Monica said with a laugh. She clapped Arwin on the shoulder with enough force to shake the legs of a normal man, but [Bulwark] reduced the impact to a mere thud. “I knew I recognized that look in your eyes. Let me rest your bones, warrior. I don’t want to cause any trouble in your town.”

“Warrior?” Raen asked.

Monica turned to the man, lifted him a foot into the air, and gave him a long kiss on the mouth. Then she carried him over to the corner of the smithy and sat him down before walking back over to Arwin.

“He’s a genius guild leader and a good man, but he’s horrible at reading the room,” Monica said. “All brains, no smarts. I love him for it, but excuse him for a few minutes. He’ll catch up with us soon enough.”

Raen blinked. He touched a hand to his lips as he stared into the distance. It looked like he’d completely forgotten everything that he’d come here for. He didn’t even seem to realize that there were other people in the room.

Arwin repressed the urge to laugh. “I’m sure he will. So. My question?”

“I’m not asking for it so I can go murdering people in the city or some other evil shit. I don’t want to hurt anyone that doesn’t deserve the hurting,” Monica replied with a one-shouldered shrug. She paused, then sent a glance over her shoulder at Raen. “Well, nobody that doesn’t like a bit of it.”

Noted. Orcs are very forward — or Monica is. Suppose I can’t classify all of them by one.

“Noted. Don’t need that much detail,” Arwin said.

Monica snorted. “Your fault for asking.”

“Fair enough,” Arwin said. He held the bracelet up, then glanced at Monica’s arm. “What do you want to look like?”

The orc’s smile fell away and she let out a small sigh. “I don’t know, smith. Whatever you can make me look like. I don’t want to look like this anymore. I just want to be with Raen. I want to look normal.”

“You do look normal,” Arwin said. “I don’t mean to make moves on another man’s wife — I’ve got a girlfriend — but you’re a perfectly good looking orc.”

Monica’s cheeks darkened in a blush. “If only every human thought the same, smith. Unfortunately, a normal orc isn’t going to cut it. I can barely even hold Raen’s hand when we walk down the street. If anyone notices I’ve got green skin, I’m a roasted pig with an apple stuffed up my ass… but Raen needs to be in the city. He’s got a guild to take care of. We both do. I can’t look like this. I need to be human.”

“More than a small change,” Arwin observed, giving the orc another look over. The modification would basically have to be the exact opposite of what he’d done to Twelve.

“There isn’t anything about me that’s small,” Monica said with a loud snort. “It’s fine. Raen hedged around the bush. He’s not very good at getting to the core of the matter. Merchant problems. I didn’t expect you’d be able to do much. Nobody can. I don’t hold it against you. It was a pleasure meeting another human that doesn’t hate me from principle.”

Hm. I’ll need to find a material that helps with that, but I think it should be simple enough. Won’t need to make this cursed. She’ll want to be able to take the bracelet off whenever she wants to look like her real form.

Maybe I can use a strand of hair from Reya or Olive to help solidify the human transformation? It can replace the bit of demon I yoinked from Lillia for Twelve’s gem.

“Sorry, what was that?” Arwin asked, pulling himself from his thoughts and looking back up to Monica, who had pulled her hood halfway up her face. “What are you doing?”

“Preparing to leave. I can’t head out like this, you know.”

“Why? I haven’t given you your bracelet yet.”

Monica paused with her hands halfway to her mask. “What? You mean—”

“I can make it,” Arwin said. “Raen, would you go into the Devil’s Den and get Reya for me? I need her help.”

Raen blinked, then gave him a jerky nod. He darted out of the smithy. A minute later, he returned with Reya at his heels. Monica tensed as the former thief entered the room.

Reya glanced up at the orc. “Neat.”

“I need one of your hairs,” Arwin said.

“Kay,” Reya replied, yanking a hair from her head with two fingers. She held it out to Arwin. “Guess this is who you’re making the item for. Here you go. Anything else?”

“Maybe a drink for her?” Arwin asked, nodding to Monica, who stared at them in abject disbelief. “Ask Lillia what her recommendation is.”

“Sure thing,” Reya said. She waved goodbye, then strode out of the smithy.

Monica and Raen watched her leave, their words seemingly failing them.

“I… don’t understand,” Raen said. “Have I injured head at some point? I think I may be hallucinating.”

“We’ve got a healer. You can see her if you need to,” Arwin said. “Wait here for a bit. I’ve got an item to finish up and I need to modify the bracelet a bit. I don’t think it’ll fit Monica’s arm as things are right now.”

Then he strode into the back room of the smithy, enjoying the feeling of their baffled stares boring into his back as they tried to figure out what was going on.

***

Arwin emerged from the back room of the smithy just about an hour later. Monica and Raen sat on the floor in the main room, a tankard in each of their hands. Reya and Olive sat across from them and it seemed that the group had just finished a conversation. They all looked over to Arwin.

“Done,” Arwin said, lifting the modified bracelet before him. A pale white gem glimmered at its top, and it had been widened to account for a much bigger wrist. “This should work for you.”

“Just like that?” Monica rose to her feet, her eyes affixed on the bracelet. “What’s the catch?”

“It only works as long as you’re wearing the bracelet, and it’ll drain a small amount of magical power while it’s active. It might get a bit much if you wear it constantly,” Arwin replied as he scratched the back of his neck. “Oh, you can’t change what it ends up looking like either. You get one new look. That’s it.”

He held the bracelet out to Monica and she took it from him gingerly. She slipped it onto her wrist without a second of hesitation.

For a moment, nothing happened.

Then her eyes widened and she drew in a sharp breath. Raen stepped forward, worry flashing over his features, but Monica held a hand up to forestall him.

Her body started to change.

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