Weaponsmith volume 2 a c.., p.1
Weaponsmith: Volume 2: A Crafting LitRPG, page 1
Weaponsmith
: [A crafting litRPG]
Volume: 2
by D.M. Rhodes
'Razzmatazz'
Copyright © 2022 D.M. Rhodes
All rights reserved.
This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced
or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written
permission of the publisher, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
This is a work of fiction. Any similarity to any persons living or otherwise is purely coincidental.
Written by D.M. Rhodes
'Razzmatazz'
www.DMRhodes.com
Interested in hearing from me when I finish my next book? Find me here!
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DO NOT APPLY ANY OF THE ADVICE OFFERED IN THIS BOOK WITHOUT FIRST CONSULTING A LICENSED HEALTH PROFESSIONAL. THIS STORY IS NOT A REPUTABLE SOURCE OF MENTAL OR PHYSICAL HEALTH ADVICE, NOR IS THE AUTHOR A QUALIFIED PERSON IN REGARD TO SUCH TOPICS
Table of Contents
Chapter 54: There are many things to worry about, but should we really be worrying about them? No.
Chapter 55: Our luck has turned sour, like the smell of many dank frogs in a single room.
Chapter 56: Many strange names fill our nest and they are attached to just as many strange people
Chapter 57: Today we brood, but not brooding in a bird way. Get your mind out of the gutter. Frogs.
Chapter 58: Maturity has arrived in the nest of the owl-god, but it couldn't find the door
Chapter 59: The subjective morality of our actions could be questioned, in theory. But they won't be
Chapter 60: There is a quest available in Hineni's house and it is to work hard for minimal pay
Chapter 61: Many good things come today in the heart of winter. They smell like owls.
Chapter 62: The forge glows alight for a Hineni man. Fire is our old friend and it guides us to ruin
Chapter 63: A token prize has been created. The year of the frog will soon arrive. Beware. Five.
Chapter 64: Carpenter: [A crafting litRPG]!
Chapter 65: Carpenter: [A crafting litRPG]! - Chapter 2
Chapter 66: Carpenter: [A crafting litRPG]! - Chapter 3
Chapter 67: Carpenter: [A crafting litRPG]! - Chapter 4: The End
Chapter 68: It is good to be home where the fluff of the owl is to be found and no slimy frogs
Chapter 69: A warm dinner is earned after many days of toil. The food has no frogs in it.
Chapter 70: A cute day is to be spent with darling Obscura. You WILL obey and do so. Who~
Chapter 71: Human resources are a complicated subject. This is why the best resources are all metal.
Chapter 72: You trust the numbers, but the numbers are not here to be trusted. Fool. Watch your back
Chapter 73: There are many secrets around the Hineni-man. But one of them smells of fives.
Chapter 74: A first solution of fives finds the Hineni-man
Chapter 75: There is a secret to be shown to the Hineni-man, it is one that everyone knows
Chapter 76: Foolish Hineni-men will wander around the home instead of working in the fire place
Chapter 77: Good fortune finds those who hoot, but not those who ribbit. Know the truth.
Chapter 78: The mystery of the missing crunchy fairy and the woman who waits is before us
Chapter 79: People who like to read books are weird and we would be wise to avoid them.
Chapter 80: The adventurers' guild must be defroggified for the good of the population
Chapter 81: Hot blood runs through the veins of many living beings, even those outside of the forge
Chapter 82: The double-layered vision of pretty flowers and poison
Chapter 83: Cold demeanors fills the warm forge. Pretty, crunchy fairies should tread more carefully
Chapter 84: Magnificent Obscura's mysterious maze of many ways
Chapter 85: The talons of Obscura are sharp and the secrets of the owl-god are many
Chapter 86: The dungeon isn't really that exciting. You should never leave the owl-god's side. Ever.
Chapter 87: The rainy mood makes one think froggy thoughts
Chapter 88: The owl night
Chapter 89: The fever chills
Chapter 90: One must wonder
Chapter 91: The croaking of frogs fills our ears
Chapter 92: Of elves and candy and the frozen fairy
Chapter 93: Pretty, golden coins line the trap. Greedy fingers ought to beware
Chapter 94: The implications that are to be implied are implicitly implicated
Chapter 95: The blue of water hides the silhouettes of many froggy things
Chapter 96: There is a secret that we have forgotten. It hides in the night
Chapter 97: Perhaps we ought to best not worry about it for now, yes?
Chapter 98: A quiet day of rain foretells the froggy wetness to come
Chapter 99: The library's dark is darker than the darkness outside of the library
Chapter 100: Something is missing, but no eyes can see what it is
Chapter 101: The pointy-eared elves have come for Obscura's precious things
Chapter 102: The good days are over in the eyes of many, but not in those of Obscura
Chapter 54: There are many things to worry about, but should we really be worrying about them? No.
"And?" asks Hineni, sitting there somewhat nervously.
Sockel looks up his way, lifting her eyes from the sheet of paper for a moment, before turning her gaze back down towards it.
"It could be worse," replies Sockel. Hineni exhales. That sounds like relieving news. Sockel flips over the sheet of paper, looking at the other side of it. "But it could also be better." Hineni winces. She lifts it up, holding the log of daily sales up to the light. "We’re in the green, but honestly we’re not really as far up as I thought we’d be."
Hineni crosses his arms, leaning against the side of the front-counter. "Explain."
"Well…" Sockel tilts her head. "We had a strong rush at the start," she says. "But because we were running low prices to attract people, we were barely breaking even on the food."
"But we got a lot of repairs?" asks Hineni. "Rhine and I can barely keep up."
Sockel nods, sliding the paper down into a ledger and then pulling out a different sheet. "Yeah," she says. "But we have to calculate our income tax rates, our deductions for Avarice, materials for the forge, wood for heating, your protection deal with the thieves’ guild, the property dues…" She shakes her head. "Now that the building is being used more, there’s more wear and tear, so we’re paying more for maintenance than we were when it was just us." The elf leans back, her ears twitching. "Plus we paid a fortune for that custom sign," she says, pointing over her shoulder, towards the new quest board that the first quests have been pinned up on. She lifts her finger in front of herself. "Add to that the debt for Avarice’s cart that you and the owl-god broke, plus the bill for the food of our first day open and -"
"Okay. Sockel. I get it," says Hineni, interrupting the elf as she seems to be ready to go on and on about their, apparently very abundant, expenditures.
"- And our wages," finishes Sockel, not letting herself be stopped, but maybe shortening her rant to make a point.
Hineni sighs, rubbing his forehead.
"Give it to me straight, Sockel. What are the numbers?"
"We have about four-thousand on the account." Hineni winces. That’s a very bad number. "But we’re getting down to our emergency fund, if we touch that," explains the elf. She kicks her feet, crossing her legs. A group of people walk inside, yawning and waving as they head past, up to their rooms.
"We’re making about four to six-hundred Obols a day at the moment," says Sockel. "But we keep getting hit with surprise costs," she explains. "We need to stabilize our expenses, or we’re going to be running a big risk."
Hineni frowns. "You think?" he asks. Four thousand, while an unfortunate number, is still a fortune for this neighborhood.
"I think," nods Sockel. She lowers her voice, looking around and waiting for the group to leave and go upstairs, before turning back his way. "The frogs haven’t messed with us much yet," she says. "They’ve been playing with their gloves on."
Hineni raises an eyebrow. "They broke in and tried to kill us, Sockel," replies Hineni. "How is that ‘gloves on’?"
"They sent four small groups and only two of them made it inside," says Sockel. "Look around, dummy," she says. Hineni lifts an eyebrow at her unusual snarkiness, but obliges, in the interest of hearing what she has to say. "What do you see?"
"…A house?" guesses Hineni.
The elf stares at him, as if he were missing something obvious. "Exactly. It’s still here, it’s still standing." She lifts her arms, shrugging. "On the day when we opened, they basically just said some mean words and looked sad. You don’t think that the f rogs don’t have some wobbly-woo dark-magic casters who could turn this place inside-out in a minute flat?" she asks. "They were ten steps away from the owl-god. Hell, they were already inside of the house. But they went quiet and low-profile."
"We’re protected from them now," replies Hineni. "The owl-god and Eilig put up some magical protections."
"Yeah, after the fact," replies Sockel. "You’re missing my point," she says, twitching with her foot. "They didn’t just forget to blast the whole house away, while the owl-god wasn’t here," says the elf. "- Or try to assassinate her while she was outside. They went and are still going easy on purpose."
Hineni thinks for a moment and then nods. That makes sense, he supposes. The frogs really could have just destroyed their structure and killed him, at the very least. They could have tried to assassinate Obscura, when she revealed herself to the public, but they didn’t. "They wanted me for some kind of ritual," explains Hineni, remembering when they kidnapped him.
"- And that’s why we need money," says Sockel. He looks her way. "They’re not going to stop. They only tried to kidnap you twice."
"Third time’s the charm," jokes Hineni.
"You’re laughing now," replies the elf. "But you won’t be when we have to rebuild after the inevitable house-fire."
Hineni exhales. He had just wanted to know what their numbers looked like. This is a lot heavier than what he came here to hear. But he does have little choice except to agree with Sockel.
The frogs aren’t done yet and whatever their aims and motivations are, surely things will only escalate from here on out.
* * *
It is the afternoon of the next day.
"Get back here!" calls Sockel, sounding very annoyed.
"You can’t make me!" shouts Eilig. "Get lost! Get frozen and die!"
Rhine, who was sitting on the staircase with Hineni, looks up towards the fairy. "It’s not that bad," he says. "We all wear clothes."
"You’re all idiots!" snaps the fairy at Rhine. "Doesn’t mean I’m going to be!" It turns back towards Sockel, who is running up the staircase in pursuit of her, holding a small dress in her hands.
(Eilig) has started channeling: [Fairy’s Chime] {3 Seconds}
"Eilig!" scolds Hineni. "No magic in the house."
Sockel presses a leg against the wall on the right-hand side of the stairwell, launching herself off of it and jumping over Rhine’s head, as she tries to swipe for the fairy in mid-air. The boy yelps, ducking down.
Channeling Interrupted: [Fairy’s Chime]
Eilig is forced to fly away to avoid Sockel’s grasp and flies up the staircase, continuing her escape. Sockel runs after her.
The two of them sit there, listening to their thudding from above as the chase continues.
"So, what’s this about, Rhine?" asks Hineni, looking back down towards him. Rhine had asked to speak with him in private a minute ago.
"- Anyways," says Rhine, leaning over and looking upwards between the flights of stairs, to make sure that they’re really gone. He rubs the back of his head. "Uh, I…" The boy rubs the back of his head, staring at the ground as he seems to be thinking about his ask.
"Boy," says Hineni. "Out with it. We have work to do."
"Yeah, about that," says Rhine. "Can I take a day off?" he asks, sighing. "I’m beat. Plus, there’s something that I want to do, so…" The boy places the tips of his fingers together. "I was wondering if I could get my pay a little early? Please?"
Hineni blinks. A day off and money?
What a world.
He rubs his forehead, thinking. They have a lot of work to do and with Sockel’s lecture on their finances this morning, they need to move fast. But…
He turns his head, looking at the bright face beneath the long, azure hair, staring his way with a hopeful gleam.
- Hineni sighs. "Fine," he relents. He realizes that he wouldn't be able to say ’no’, even if he wanted to. "I guess it’s fair to say that you’ve earned it." He gets up.
"Really?!"
"Sure, come on," says Hineni. "Do you want me to go with you to the city, or should I ask Sockel?" he asks.
Rhine shakes his head. "I’ll go by myself."
Hineni stops on the staircase, looking up towards him. "Are you sure?"
Rhine nods. "I don’t want to be babied," says the boy. "I’m a man."
Hineni raises an eyebrow. "Okay," is all that he says. He supposes that it’s for the best that Rhine is developing some real self-confidence and not just some show-boating boistering. It is a little dangerous, yes. But perhaps it really is for the best for him to leave the nest on his own once in a while.
He doesn’t want to coddle him, after all. He’ll end up soft.
"Let’s get your money," says Hineni, listening to the pair of boots running after him as they go downstairs.
* * *
Hineni walks around the library, looking around.
The employee tests went well. Sockel is going to be doing ‘some stuff’ in order to make sure that everyone is on the up and up, but it seems to be okay so far.
He lifts his gaze, looking at the sharp, owlish face that peers down his way. Obscura is laying on top of the shelves.
"Hineni has wandered into Obscura’s mysterious maze, yes?"
Hineni blinks. "It’s the library."
The owl-god clicks in excitement, sitting upright, her legs dangling down the shelves. "For days, the little Hineni wandered through Obscura’s woods," she hoots. "Lost and hungered." Hineni raises an eyebrow. Everyone sure is dramatic today. "But he found Obscura’s loving tree and she has brought him to prosperity, yes?" she asks, clasping her hands together.
"…What?"
"Who~!" She gestures around herself. "Many dangers and traps fill deadly Obscura’s den of riddles!" She leans down towards him. "Hineni is forsaken, yes? Unable to escape her sharp talons and wit, yes?"
"- I can see the other door right there," he says, pointing towards the right. "There’s a door literally behind me," he explains, pointing behind himself at the door that he just came in through.
Obscura hisses angrily at him. "FOOLISH HINENI!" she squawks. "He will play Obscura’s game."
"We really should be working."
The owl-god crosses her arms. "Wise queen Obscura will hunt no more rabbits," she says. "Not until Hineni has solved the big labyrinth and won her incredible prize!"
Hineni looks around the library. It is in somewhat of a state of disarray.
Books have been removed from the shelves by the hundreds, in order to build towers and walls. Boxes from the other rooms have been brought in to create tunnels and bridges. Looking down at his feet, he can’t help but notice that she seems to have even chipped away at the insides of some of the shelves like a wild animal to make some tunnels and passages between them.
