We hunt monsters 13, p.4
We Hunt Monsters 13, page 4
“The smithy,” he replied. “Farah and Hunk are going to lose their minds when they see what I’ve got for them.”
“Mind if I tag along?”
“Knock yourself out,” Keith replied, mentally sifting through all the individual items he’d received and selecting the best ones to present to the excitable smiths.
4
“Warn me the next time you’re going to travel like that,” Bob groaned, clutching the side of his head. “Do you have any idea how disorienting it is to go to sleep in one place and then wake up in the middle of a guildhall on another continent surrounded by your screaming fans?”
Keith wouldn’t exactly have called them ‘fans’ so much as members of the guild who hadn’t come along on the raid but heard the news secondhand. Maylee, the platinum elf who’d taken up the role of vice-commander of the guild, was having a hard time shoving through the crowd to get to him. Keith was doing all he could to avoid her, as he simply wanted to reach the blacksmith without getting an earful about the blackout dunk guildmaster he’d basically dumped on her the moment they’d appeared.
It wasn’t his fault Servo had gotten plastered, and Maylee could have delegated the job of dragging him to his room to someone else instead of insisting on doing it on her own. The only reason he hadn’t yet escaped was due to the press of bodies and the endless stream of questions.
“Kind of makes you wish you’d have brought Naia along, doesn’t it?” Tac snickered. “I could have warned you this would happen, but it’s a lot more fun to watch you squirm.”
“Would you like me to clear a path for you?” Bridget shouted.
She was pressed up against his side so tightly that he’d been forced to throw an arm over her shoulder or risk gouging her with the sharper parts of his armor. He was sure there would be no shortage of rumors floating around in just a couple of hours and sincerely hoped that they wouldn’t spread too far.
“Can you do it without seriously injuring anyone?” Keith shouted back.
Bridget lifted a hand, the tips of her fingers glowing a rust-colored red. An instant later, it was like a giant snowplow had driven straight through the crowd, and people were forcibly shoved out of their way to either side.
Shouts of alarm and a few cries of pain were heard, but before the crowd could surge back in, Keith used Speed Demon. He already had a good grip on Bridget, so it was just a matter of leaning slightly to one side and getting her feet off the ground before he vanished in a blur of motion, slowing an instant later in the corridor outside the main hall.
“When did you learn to do that?” Keith asked as the two of them hurried down the hallway.
“Soon after I became guildmaster,” Bridget said with a shrug. “Sometimes you just need some space, and when people don’t want to give it to you, you’ve gotta make it yourself. I honestly don’t remember the last time I had to use it, though.”
Keith could imagine that after being shoved so forcibly out of the way once or twice, people would learn to back off when ordered. He could have shoved through the crowd, but likely not without causing some injuries that wouldn’t go away within a few minutes. Shoving someone aside when they didn’t move was one thing, but breaking their legs was quite another. Well, at least if they were allies, anyway.
“Wow, this place is nice,” Bridget said, looking around as they entered the smithy.
It looked like Farah and Hunk had added yet another extension to the place, further expanding their growing empire. The oxian and human woman were both hunched over a table, the space oddly empty as everyone else had retired for the night, though one of the forges was still lit.
“We’re closed. Come back in the morning,” Farah said, not even turning in their direction.
“And here I thought you’d be eager to see what I brought back.”
Farah whipped around at the same moment as Hunk lifted his massive head. Now that they weren’t blocking the table, Keith could see the clear shell of an automaton lying there. It looked like they were making good progress on that front, though they weren’t quite at the finishing point yet.
“I honestly can’t believe you’re here,” Farah said, looking a bit manic. “Is it true? Did you really find deposits of Striated Mithril and White-Star Orichalcum!?”
“Yes,” he replied. “Large deposits. Teams will start working on extraction once it’s morning in the Frigid Seas. They’ll also start harvesting the mountain-sized monster we killed. Honestly, I’m surprised you haven’t asked what I brought you yet.”
“What have you brought me?” Farah asked. “It’d better be good if you’re bothering me this late. Also, where’s Selena? Where’s Naia? You didn’t bring me any automatons to ogle at.”
“They were needed back at camp,” Keith replied simply. “This is Bridget, the guildmaster from Beastland. I’m sure she’s got some requests as well. As our resident Sage-ranked smith, perhaps you can make her something of Legendary quality whose effects won’t be diminished by her return to her home continent.”
“Oh, that’ll be easy,” Farah said, waving her arm like it was nothing. “Nice to meet you. Now, the goods. Gimme! Gimme!”
“Hello, Hunk, how are things?” Keith asked as he began removing the materials he intended to use for his items.
There were several things he was saving for the alchemists, as he wanted specialized armor potions crafted. They were going to the continent of Monstros soon, and while he still had to deal with the Terror, it was never too early to start prepping for their trip.
“Going well,” he replied. “But don’t try distracting me. I want to see what kinds of items the largest World Monster in existence gave you. None of the boring stuff, either. I want to see the good stuff.”
“I guess Legendary+ items just don’t cut it for you guys anymore,” Bob sighed. “Wow, you really are spoiled.”
“Says the monkey stuffing his face with a powdered donut,” Bridget said, poking him in the stomach.
“Hey, hands off the fur!” Bob protested, smacking her finger away.
Bridget giggled, then reached up and scratched his belly, earning more growls of annoyance— at least until she reached up to scratch his head. Then he stopped complaining and closed his eyes to enjoy the attention she was giving him.
“Mythical items it is then,” he replied. “I’ve got five of them, but you might want to clear some room. Also, how much weight can the floor handle?”
“It’s made of solid stone,” Farah said, the question seeming only to excite her more. “Now come on, don’t keep me waiting. The suspense is killing me.”
“Me too,” Bridget admitted. “And I got to see the monster firsthand.”
“Was it really as terrifying as I’ve been hearing?” Hunk asked.
“The stories don’t do it justice,” Bridget replied. “If you want, you’ve still got the option to see it in person. Keith is returning to the Frigid Seas. You can always hitch a ride.”
“Do I look like a packhorse?” Keith asked as he heaved the first item from his inventory.
“Holy cow! You weren’t kidding about the size,” Farah exclaimed while Keith bent his knees, his muscles straining to set the first item on the ground.
It was a massive, rounded platelike chunk of bone. It was yellow-tinged white in color, with dark lines of black and blue running through the divots and cracks. The item was some fifteen feet across and weighed over a ton.
Name: Denkai’s Mountainous Cranium
Crafting material for armor, potions, & elixirs
Quality: Mythical
Value: 1,000 large gold bricks
“Toss me that hammer, Hunk,” Farah said, approaching the massive chunk of bone and running her fingers across it before she removed a chisel from her inventory.
She caught the hammer, then tapped it against the chisel, which she’d angled against the bone. A loud, bell-like sound echoed, reverberating through the bone itself and ending on a strangely musical note.
“Fascinating,” Farah said. “And not a mark on it. We might need our Orionite saw for this one. Oh yeah, we used some of the scraps for some crafting tools. Sorry.”
Keith could have been aggravated she’d filched some of the metal as it was extremely valuable, but seeing as she was now going to be doing some work for free, he wasn’t too bothered by it. She hadn’t agreed to it yet, of course, but she would.
“I’m guessing you want me to try making you a new suit of armor,” Farah said, still examining the chunk of bone.
“I would,” Keith replied. “But I’d also like for you to see if you can incorporate it into my current set.”
“We can switch and replace pieces,” Farah said thoughtfully. “That is one of the major perks of your current armor, but I want to see what else you have before I can be sure it’ll fit.”
Keith nodded, reaching into his inventory and removing the second Mythical item he’d received. This was a rounded plate, appearing to be made of some kind of metal, and was only around three feet across. It was dark in color but striped through with the same black and blue lines shining through the strange disk.
Keith grunted as it came out of his inventory and struggled for a moment as he lowered himself so he could set it down.
Name: Titan’s Skull Plate
Crafting material for weapons, armor, potions & elixirs
Quality: Mythical
Value: 1,235 large gold bricks
“Geez, just how heavy is this thing?” Farah asked as she tried to lift it.
“Heavier than anything I can move,” Hunk said after trying to move it as well. “Would you move that over to the forge for me? Otherwise, we’ll have to break it apart on the floor, and I don’t feel like damaging the stone.”
Keith nodded, heaving the dense chunk of plate up off the ground and setting it down where Hunk had asked.
“Alright, let’s see what else you’ve got,” Fara said. “I can do all my tests later. Seeing as you tend to show me items in order of awesome to even more awesome, just stop making me wait and show me everything at once.”
Keith hid a smile but complied with her demands. He wasn’t looking to spend all day there, so he removed his final three items. The first was a miniature version of the monster’s shell, this one only ten feet across and five tall. It had every single detail, down to the scratches and scuffs. It also had a very interesting description.
Name: Titan’s World Shell
Crafting material for unique armor
Quality: Mythical
Effects: Climbing into the shell will protect the wearer from any form of fallout, magical, spiritual or otherwise
Value: 1,950 large gold bricks
The second was a crystallized sphere with ridges and facets all over. It glowed with an inner orange-yellow light. It was also ten feet tall.
Name: Sartori’s Heart
Crafting material for weapons, armor, items, potions & elixirs
Quality: Mythical
Value: 2,100 large gold bricks
It was the final item that really drew Farah’s attention, though – an item that, unlike all the others, fit into the palm of Keith’s hand. Or rather, it floated several inches above his palm, moving as though it were somehow connected, yet not at the same time, as it moved with a sort of strange lag.
The sphere was perfectly round and smooth, radiating a brilliant inner light, just as the gigantic monster’s heart did. However, unlike the heart, this item seemed to radiate power, and not the sort of power that gave off the same feeling of indestructibility as the others he’d shown so far. This item gave off the feeling of pure, unstoppable might. It drew the eye in an almost hypnotic way.
Even before reading the description, Keith had already known there was only one thing this item could have been designed for – a weapon of mass destruction.
Name: Titan’s World Core
Crafting material for weapons
Quality: Mythical
Value: 2,500 large gold bricks
5
“Are you sure it was a good idea to leave so many valuable items with her?” Bridget asked as the two of them left the guildhall several minutes later. “I mean, I get that she’s a Sage-level smith and all, but still. You just left enough money to start a kingdom sitting in that smithy!”
“It’s not like this would be the first time,” Keith said with a shrug. “Besides, you left her with plenty yourself.”
“Only after I saw how much money you were leaving on the table,” she replied. “And I thought the parts we took from our World Monster were valuable.”
“They were,” Keith said. “These just happen to be worth more.”
Aside from the five Mythical parts, he’d also left the two smiths with a whole boatload of others. He only wanted the very best for himself, but they were planning an expedition, and he wasn’t about to go in unprepared.
“Are you still sure you want to come along with me for this?” he asked. “You don’t have to get involved.”
“I know I don’t,” Bridget replied. “But you’re my ride back, and I won’t get to meet that guy you’ve been talking up until later. May as well fill my time with something productive, don’t you think? Besides, I’ve missed just getting out the way I used to.”
“Makes sense, I guess,” Keith said as she reached up to scratch behind Bob’s ears.
The monkey was riding with her as he was still sullen about his rude awakening.
They reached the manor gates and were let through without any issue. Astrid was already there, waiting for them as they approached the front doors.
“Keith! It’s so good to see you again,” she said, shaking his hand enthusiastically. “Why don’t you come in? I’ve had a meal prepared. Will you be staying long?”
“No, I can’t, I’m afraid,” he answered. “But you mentioned something important?”
“A couple of things, actually,” she replied. “But I want to hear about this raid before you do anything else. I want a firsthand account.”
“You won’t mind if Bridget comes along, would you?” Keith asked. “I can’t remember if the two of you have met yet.”
“We’ve been introduced,” Bridget said. “Briefly.”
“Guildmaster of the Beastland branch of We Hunt Monsters,” Astrid said, shaking her hand as well. “The pleasure’s all mine.”
Astrid muttered something under her breath that Keith was pretty sure went along the lines of ‘supposed to get him to myself’ or something like that. He didn’t comment on it, and she remained polite as she led them into her office.
Keith recounted the battle to the best of his ability, Bridget jumping in to fill in any details that he missed.
“I wish I could have been there if only to watch,” Astrid sighed. “It sounds truly spectacular.”
“It was terrifying,” Bridget said.
“I could only imagine. A monster on the scale described seems quite formidable indeed,” Astrid agreed.
“On to business then,” Keith said, doing a mental check of the time.
“Yes, business,” Astrid said. “We’ve run into a few problems with some of the higher-ups in my guild. Nothing for you to worry about, but I only thought it would be fair for you to be made aware.”
“What sorts of problems?”
“Oh, just the usual,” Astrid said, her features going a bit dark. “Scheming members looking for a leg up. People after my position and so on. They don’t like our friendship and believe the trade deals we’ve made aren’t beneficial. The addition of new lands and the end of the wars doesn’t seem to sway them either way.”
“Wars do make a lot of money,” Bridget pointed out. “Maybe they’re angry about the lost income?”
“There’s always going to be a reason for them to be unhappy,” Astrid sighed. “Again, it’s nothing for you to worry about. I’ve got it well in hand. Our second problem, though... Well, that might be a bit more of an issue.”
“How do you mean?” Keith asked, sensing the change in her mood.
“Sylvie came to me just a couple of days ago,” Astrid said, interlacing her fingers and looking serious. “A woman had shown up outside the factory and was refusing to leave. When I went to investigate, I found the strangest-looking platinum elf I’d ever encountered. Worse, she was dangerous. We didn’t fight or anything, but I could feel it. She carried herself with the confidence of someone who’s not afraid of anyone or anything.”
“What did she want, if not a fight?” Bridget asked.
“To meet you, Keith,” Astrid replied. “I don’t know why, but she said she’d be sticking around until I arranged a meeting.”
“Have you seen her since?” Keith asked.
Astrid shook her head.
“Can you give me a description?”
Astrid did, giving him every detail she could about the strange elf, down to what she was wearing and what her maid looked like.
“Interesting,” Keith said, leaning back in his seat and thinking.
Bob crunched loudly on a piece of fried potato, making everyone jump.
“What?” he said, brushing crumbs off of his stomach. “If I’m being woken in the middle of the night, the least I can get out of it is a snack.”
Though Keith didn’t say it out loud, he suspected he already knew who this elf was. Shervone, the mysterious woman who stood at the top of this world’s number one trading and shipping company – the one Revia, Ichabod, and so many others were a part of. The ones who’d been giving him so much trouble getting any of his larger businesses off the ground.
“I can’t just stick around and wait for her,” Keith finally said. “There’s too much for me to do, but the next time you run into her, tell her we’ll set up a meeting. This sounds like a problem that won’t be going away on its own, which means I’m going to have to take care of it myself.”
Astrid let out a sigh of relief, sitting back in her chair and seeming far less stressed.
“Well, that’s a load off my shoulders. I’ve got enough on my own plate to deal with, so I appreciate you stepping in.”
“She did come looking for me specifically,” Keith said. “It would hardly be fair of me to dump it all on you, especially when this impacts my own business interests. I just appreciate your willingness to act as our go-between.”
