Syl

Chapter 181: Obsidianite

"What?" I questioned the two dwarves.

Thern tried to say something, but it just came out as a splutter of coughing.

"Did you say obsidianite?" Darmod asked in an almost hushed tone.

"Yes. I got some from a worm I killed." I answered honestly.

"Bloody beards," Darmod muttered. "You said she was special with coming back with crazy shit, son, but I think you undersold her."

"Shit!" Thern eventually yelled after recovering enough, "Why didn’t I come with ya? Of all the bloody luck!"

"Can someone please explain what the big deal is?" I requested.

"Obsidianite is a very rare metal. To say people have died trying to get some wouldn’t be an exaggeration." Darmod started to explain.

"What makes it so special?" I asked. "It didn’t appear that much better than adamantine."

"You’re right that, in most cases, it’s not that different from adamantine," Thern answered before Darmod. "However, while adamantine can rarely be found and dug up, this bloody stuff is rare to an extreme. It doesn’t form naturally and cannot be created artificially. It can only be obtained from a select few monsters through the godly power of evolution."

"Huh... What about feeding it to a silver slime?" I suggested.

Thern’s face scrunched up, evidently greatly disturbed or disgusted by the very idea.

"I’m sure it’s been tried... Like bloody throwing money away," Darmod answered, also looking bothered by the suggestion. "But you’d either need a silver slime that spawned with obsidianite as its metal type, or it would be ruined by the slime mixing the two metals together."

"And I’m guessing obsidianite has no alloys," I replied.

"Nope. None of the legendary metals like to play nice," Thern answered.

"Well... Are you going to show us?" Darmod asked, licking his lips.

"Aye. You can’t leave us high and dry by teasing us like that," Thern agreed.

I shrugged and pulled out one of the largest fully intact scales from the worm, gently placing it on the table. Thern’s response was to start cussing up a storm, while Darmod was beginning to look particularly sweaty.

"Gods... It’s fully intact," Darmod said, shaking his head.

"You really don’t half-arse anything, do ya, Syl?" Thern chortled.

"I mean... I had no idea," I shrugged. "My [Dissection] skill told me it was valuable, so I grabbed it."

"This one scale is probably worth more than our damn house," Darmod explained.

"Huh... Think I could get some silver slime cores?" I asked.

Thern groaned as if expecting my question while Darmod stared at me as if I had grown a second head.

"That would be such a waste!" Thern exclaimed. "I know you have your kinks about the bloody slime cores, but we’re talking about a piece of valuable obsidianite. Bloody beards, just imagine a forge hammer or inscriber made from it!"

"I mean... You can certainly have those," I responded. "I just want some silver slime cores since I’m unlikely find them outside here."

"What do you mean?" Thern asked, looking puzzled.

"I didn’t say that was my only piece-" I began answering.

"Gods!" Darmod shouted, standing up so quickly that his chair tipped. "H-how many do you have!?"

Both dwarves stared at me so hard it felt like they were trying to drill into my mind with their gaze. Their abnormal reaction to this entire situation made me feel uneasy. [Acting] must have agreed, as I was getting a subtle hint that I shouldn’t reveal the truth.

"A few..." I responded hesitantly.

I slowly pulled out a few more; with each one I pulled out, the dwarves looked increasingly frantic, so I stopped when I reached five. I got the odd feeling that if I revealed that I had harvested almost the entire worm, minus the scales I ruined, I might get attacked.

Both dwarves were speechless for quite a while, staring at the obsidianite with a mixture of concern, envy, and awe. I was growing increasingly uncomfortable when Thern finally broke the silence.

"We can’t let anyone find out where they came from."

"They’re going to find out eventually," Darmod countered. "Nobody can keep five large intact pieces of obsidianite a secret. Gods, doesn’t the Adventurer’s Guild know she took a worm kill quest?"

"Yes, but the guild would never sell out an adventurer, especially not one who’s reached gold-rank," Thern disagreed.

"I dunno, son, greased palms can tempt foolish dwarves," Darmod replied.

"That’s not reassuring..." I muttered.

"Well, then we should sell it through your company discreetly," Thern suggested

"Hmm... That would be maybe plausible. I could pull in one of the noble houses to be our benefactor for a small cut, perhaps get some protection that way to conceal the true source."

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"Whatever you two think is best, as long as I can get a few slime cores out of this, I’m happy," I replied. "You’re welcome to take one for an inscription tool, Thern."

The dwarf looked genuinely gobsmacked. "R-really!?"

"Of course, I wouldn’t be here if not for you," I replied. "You even waited for me when I was late..."

Thern broke out laughing hysterically. "Bloody beards, Syl, I think I could kiss you!"

"I’d rather not. No offense," I replied, waving my hand dismissively.

"It’s an expression!" Thern laughed more, "Wait till Greg hears about this. Sure, he had a prodigy for an apprentice, but I got a bloody elf adventurer!"

I chuckled, remembering how sour he was after I gave Greg the unicorn horn.

"Although if you’re going out adventuring tomorrow, you have got to take me along!" Thern demanded. "I’m sick of missing out on all the fun, which you seem to be a magnet for. First, you visit a floating island and find unicorns, alicorns, and pegasi, and now, barely a few days here, you find obsidianite! When I take my eye off you, I bet you’ll find some lost, enchanted relic or godly artifact."

"Sure. I’d be glad to see what runes can do in combat," I replied honestly. His strange class had greatly interested me. "I had a quest to exterminate kobolds, but I didn’t run into any today."

"Aye, the cheeky buggers can be hard to find," Thern admitted. "But I’m sure we can find some. Teach them not to mess with a dwarf and an elf!"

"In the meantime, I’ll contact the Flintheart family. I’m practically blood brothers with Kaldrour, their current heir, so they’ll be extra discreet." Darmod added to the conversation. "I’ll tell him you want silver slime cores as payment... But I don’t know if even they can wrangle enough to pay you."

"I’m alright with other cores. I’m missing a few from my collection." I responded.

"Sure, which ones?" Darmod asked. "Can’t hurt to ask. Hell, they might buy some off the market for you. It’s a bit middleman, but whatever works."

"Black, Pink, Gold, Gray, Brown, Violet," I replied, listing the ones I knew from memory.

"Lass... You have expensive taste. I’m pretty sure half of those are forbidden or unknown." Darmod replied. "Also, no offense, but I think you’d be the best person to obtain a brown slime core."

Thern burst out laughing. "You take eccentric to a whole new level. But if you keep finding such incredible loot, I won’t complain no matter what you do with all those cores!"

"What’s all the racket down here?" A grumpy Thessa asked, practically storming down the stairs. "You drag me away from my work, telling me I need to sleep, and then you make enough bluster to rouse the bloody dead!"

"Sorry dear, we were just discussing-" Darmod replied before pausing.

Thessa suddenly started sniffing very loudly, and then she looked at the table with an almost predatory gaze. "Is that what I think it is?"

"Pa! She’s got that look in her eyes!" Thern warned.

Darmod moved swiftly to Thessa as if to halt her progress, but he was slowly being pushed backward even when he placed his hands on her shoulders and braced himself.

"Honey! Dear! Be reasonable! We have a guest!" Darmod begged.

I stared unblinkingly at the strange situation until Thessa reached the table. Her eyes went wide as she saw the obsidianite scales, and she immediately took a big whiff of them. As if that wasn’t strange enough, she picked it up and proceeded to lick it. A moment later, she actually bit into it!

’Gods, is she going to eat it?’ I couldn’t help but wonder.

My fear went unproven, and instead, she started cackling with laughter.

"Obsidianite!" Thessa exclaimed. "It’s been almost twenty years since I last worked with it!"

"Ma... Be reasonable. That belongs to Syl." Thern said. "Well, except for the piece that will become my inscription tool and hammer."

"Oh?" Thessa asked almost threateningly. "And who exactly is going to forge those for you? I don’t see another master smith in the room."

"W-Well..." Thern stuttered.

Thessa grinned triumphantly.

"Blast it. She’s right. Especially if we want to be discreet," Thern grumbled.

"And you, Syl!" Thessa declared, pointing at me. "I’m going to forge you a weapon!"

"I don’t really use weapons," I answered honestly. "I have a bow I earned from a dungeon ages ago that’s gathering dust. I’m pretty heavily focused on magic."

"Bah. Mages," Thessa scoffed. "What if you run out of Mana? Always good to have a backup."

"Well...." I stammered.

Perhaps hoping to gain some ground on his mom, Thern chuckled and answered. "I don’t think Syl here has ever run out of Mana; I know you don’t have [Mana Sight], ma, but she’s got enough to light up the entirety of Dhoggurum."

"Well, ornamental then!" Thessa replied. It was rapidly beginning to look like she wouldn’t take no for an answer.

"Well... I do like rapiers," I answered.

Thessa sighed, "Of course... Something dainty..."

"Never disparage the client’s choice, dear." Darmod chuckled.

"You’re right," Thessa said reluctantly. "At least she didn’t say something silly like a bow. Sure, I was hoping for a big warhammer or battleaxe, but I’ll just have to make do."

"Maybe it’s a little late to bring this up again, but I still haven’t understood why obsidianite is so good," I said. "I know it’s rare since it’s only from monsters, but what makes it special to use? I’m hoping it’s not purely decorative for its rarity."

"Heavens no." Thessa chuckled. "Let the smith do the talking, not the merchant or enchanter."

Darmod and Thern nodded in agreement.

"Obsidianite is nearly as durable as adamantine. Through its godly creation and monster evolution, it’s lost all the brittleness of obsidian and has become a true metal worth using." Thessa began explaining. "You’re probably familiar with mithril being a Mana conductor. Obsidianite is a little similar in that regard; instead of conducting it and distributing it, it drinks it up and stores it, using it to reinforce itself."

"To add to what Ma is saying, if you have either Earth or Fire affinity, it will naturally enhance the obsidianite. Earth adds to its durability, while Fire refines its edges," Thern explained.

"That’s... Honestly, very impressive," I conceded.

"I thought you’d like that. Especially since you have Fire affinity," Thern grinned.

"Actually, I just recently got Earth too."

"Bloody beards, girl! Will you have every affinity the next time I see you?" Thern exclaimed.

"Even better then!" Thessa cheered. "What about some obsidianite armor? A nice set of full plate to seal your defense."

The dwarves were going back and forth so fast that I couldn’t find the opportunity to speak up.

"You really want her clanking around in full plate?" Thern asked. "Her previous class was a rogue mage hybrid. I’m pretty sure she still likes being sneaky."

"I do," I admitted. "Although I wouldn’t say no to an armor upgrade."

"Hmm... I could add some small platings to your existing leathers. Like studded leather, except far more expensive," Thessa chuckled. "What’s this made out of?"

"Inferno Salamander," I replied.

Thessa whistled and nodded, looking very excited.

"Made from the original owner of that new furnace heart," Thern added.

"That’s perfect," Thessa answered happily. "The natural Fire affinity in the armor will blend well with the obsidianite. I would have thrown it away if it was made of something like fish scales."

Using [Equipment Swap], I exchanged it for one of my spare robes and handed it over to Thessa. To my surprise, she began examining it on the spot.

"Hmm... Good, the maker knew what he was doing. Also, damn, do you bloody elves not sweat at all?" Thessa asked. "Of all the racial differences possible, I think that might be cheating too much," she shook her head and then swiftly changed the subject. "I’m assuming the runes are your handiwork, Thern?"

"Aye. I’ll need to redo them when you’re done with the rework," He replied.

"Good. I’m glad to have more evidence proving you haven’t gotten rusty," Thessa poked. "You’d have broken a poor mother’s heart."

"Quit the act, you forge devil," Thern quipped back.

"So... About payment," Thessa said mischievously.

"I can put a deposit down or something," I answered, pulling out my guild tag.

"Ahh... I’m afraid Thessa’s Forge only accepts trade as payments for the foreseeable future," She chuckled.

Of course, the dwarf wanted some of the obsidianite herself. However, I saw no reason to refuse, as apparently, I had more than they knew what to do with.