“You got it, boss.” He started closing the massive iron door as Tim stepped inside. “Just remember, three knocks.”
Tim heard the door shut behind him with a sense of finality. It was the kind of sound that said you were never coming back from this godforsaken hole in the ground. Instead of panicking, though, he focused on the woman in front of him. She was moving down the stairs with purpose. Taking heart in ShadowLily’s confidence, he bounded after her.
They reached the bottom of the stairs, and Cassie gave them a glance to make sure they were following before she moved forward. Tim walked behind the two ladies and took in the details of the cavern system.
The walls weren’t smooth, but they did look shaped. Either there used to be an underground river here, or something else made a path.
A big fucking something.
The roof of the cavern had to be at least ten feet above his head. If he stood in the middle of the path with his arms outstretched there was at least five feet of clearance on either side. Not a path made by kobolds, not unless they had an army.
Fuck, I hope they don’t have an army.
A smile broke out on his face. Maybe an army wouldn’t be so bad, as long as they could take them on in small-enough groups. Think of the experience we could earn. Then again, a cavern full of kobolds charging at them in retaliation for killing their friends sure seemed like an easy way to die.
Gaston appeared out of thin air. “Around the next corner, there is a group of five of them. Might be a scouting party of some kind.”
“Cassie, you’re up.” Tim pointed toward the corner. “Group of five ahead.”
“I’ve got this.” She rounded the corner, letting out a fearsome battle cry and charging straight at the kobolds.
Tim watched in horror as she plunged into the group of monsters. Taking on all five at once wasn’t what he’d had in mind. Gaston and ShadowLily were standing back from the fray, watching their tank attack the kobolds.
“Why are you waiting?” Tim called.
“Just letting her build agro,” ShadowLily replied as she pulled her daggers free.
As nervous as Tim was, he could understand the logic behind her thoughts. There was nothing worse for a tank or a DPS than having the boss change targets. He’d seen it happen in more boss fights than he could count. That was the thing with DPS; they always had to be on top. Fuck the mechanics of the fight. Topping the leaderboards was all that mattered.
It looked like he was in luck, though. His new team was thinking ahead and willing to give her a few seconds to get all of the little buggers focused. He just hoped their new tank didn’t end up full of little holes before the two assassins started doing their part.
Cassie’s staff spun like a tornado. She moved quickly, easily blocking a dagger from behind, but she didn’t stop there. Using the momentum of her blocked attack, she twirled around, bō staff blurring as she waited for the next attack. Her movements picked up speed as she furiously blocked attacks from all sides.
Weaving as she dodged blades and the movement of Cassie’s feet almost made it look as though she were dancing. The kobolds were all totally focused on the whirling dervish in their midst. Tim cringed as a few of the attacks got close enough to leave a scratch. Without thinking, he readied his healing orb spell, waiting for the inevitable.
One of the creature’s knives bounced of Cassie’s forearm, and Tim let the healing orb fly. It splashed against her arm, and he gave a little cheer. “Direct hit.”
“I’ve kind of got a lot going on here. I don’t need you throwing water balloons at me.” Cassie snarled as she fended off the next wave of attacks.
Tim noticed a glint of steel under the torn cloth on her arms. She had some kind of armor on under her clothes. That made him feel a lot better about their chances. “Sorry. Thought you’d need a little refreshment.”
Before Cassie could respond, ShadowLily and Gaston darted forward, taking out two of the kobolds with their daggers. The other three creatures seemed to notice the thief and the assassin for the first time and started jabbering at each other. They tried to get around Cassie to run farther into the caverns, but she kept the creatures positioned in front of her, her movements focused on keeping the kobolds’ backs to the rest of the group.
Two more kobolds fell to the group’s blades. The last one gave up all pretense of trying to fight and made a mad dash to the side of the cavern, attempting to make it around Cassie. Her staff just missed its back leg as it ran up the cavern wall and dropped to the floor behind her.
“Don’t let it get away!” Tim cried. If the creature summoned reinforcements, it might be more than they could handle.
Cassie’s hand dipped to her waist as she pulled a hook free. She spun it around her head, letting more of the chain out as she did, then, with a well-timed motion, she let the hook fly. Tim watched as the hook and chain sailed across the open space. Somehow the hook found the creature’s ankle, and it fell to the cavern floor with a squawk.
The kobold continued to scream as Gaston rushed forward to end it. The assassin looked up after sinking his dagger into the kobold’s back, his head tilted as if he heard something.
Turning back toward the group, Gaston shouted. “We’ve got company.” He beat a hasty retreat to the tank. “There are ten of them this time.”
“Ten,” Cassie said, looking a little pale. “This is going to hurt.”
“Not if I can help it,” Tim shouted. “See if you can pick a few off with your throwing knives before they reach us. Cassie, you take control of the rest while they get to work.”
“It’s not much of a plan.” Gaston laughed as he watched the Kobolds charging toward them.
“No plan survives contact with the enemy,” Tim shouted above the din of rushing kobolds.
“Sounds like something said by a shitty planner,” ShadowLily snarked as she let her first throwing knife fly.
The blade missed the rushing kobolds a few feet to the left. Tim looked at her, ready to give her a little of her own medicine, but stopped at the look of determination on her face. ShadowLily’s second blade flew across the open space and sank into the chest of one of the creatures.
A quick scan of the battlefield showed that Gaston had dispatched two on his side, leaving seven for the rest of them to deal with. Cassie ran forward to meet the charge. Tim almost felt bad seeing, the smaller woman bound into a group of knife-wielding kobolds, but she’d proven herself more than capable.
Tim watched as she dove into the group, staff swinging faster than before. Despite her amazing moves, there wasn’t any way Tim knew of to avoid seven attacks at once. He cast healing orb, determined to be ready for a real injury.
Two more of the kobolds fell under the group’s daggers, and Cassie handled the remaining five with ease. She was smiling now, and he was starting to feel a little useless. Maybe it would be better for him to remain a DPS until they reached something more challenging.
Cassie cried out as a blade slashed across her back. Somehow she managed to parry the next attack, but she was in trouble. Tim let the spell go and the orb of healing water flew toward her as Gaston took out the offending kobold.
Her swings were slower now. Two of the kobolds blades bounced harmlessly off her forearms, but Tim could tell she wouldn’t be able to keep it up much longer. His orb hit her in the back, and the effect was almost instantaneous. Cassie started to move with purpose again as ShadowLily took down another of the mean little fuckers.
Cassie was firmly in control now, herding the other three around to make it easier for Gaston and ShadowLily to finish them off. Tim cast a few more healing orbs in her direction, mostly just to feel like he was part of the fight and not just watching a Twitch stream.
One by one, the remaining kobolds fell. Cassie stood there panting from the exertion. Gaston had a cut on his arm that Tim healed as he joined the rest of the group.
ShadowLily was grinning from ear to ear. “That was fucking awesome.” She pulled Cas
sie into a hug. “You kicked ass.”
“Only because Mr. Water Balloon saved my ass,” Cassie said, patting her wet clothes.
“It’s called healing orb,” Tim said, trying to sound offended. “I can’t help that it gets you wet.”
“Getting wet has never been my problem,” Cassie said with a grin as she watched the water dripping off her clothes. “It’s too bad your healing spell doesn’t repair clothes.”
“No, but your inventory does,” Tim told her.
“Now it just sounds like you’re trying to see me naked,” Cassie quipped.
“Maybe it’s not just him who wants to see,” ShadowLily said with a laugh.
“Ugh, you just made it weird.” Cassie motioned for the boys to turn around. A few seconds later, she called, “All clear.”
“See? Good as new,” Tim replied. He was feeling great about how things had gone so far. “How about we tackle a few more groups before we call it a night?”
“I’m in,” Gaston said as he spun a throwing knife on the tip of his finger.
ShadowLily grinned at Tim. “You’re the one with work in the morning. If you think you can handle it, then I’m in too.”
“Then let’s make it quick,” Cassie said. “Our fearless leader needs his beauty rest.”
“Fuck off,” Tim groused. “And let’s get started.”
Chapter Forty-Two
“The cardinal sends his kind regards,” Juan Pablo whispered.
Pulling his blade free of the man’s chest, Juan wiped it off on his target’s shirt. These men were unworthy of the hunt since none of them ran. All of them had called on the goddess to protect them, and she had not. He wondered if in the next life, they would find peace, or if there was no next life for these Western fools.
Now that this poor excuse for a hunt was finished, it was time to make it look like a robbery. Juan Pablo stalked around the room, turning over furniture and emptying drawers. He took a few items that looked expensive. He didn’t think the guards were very good investigators, but even the dumbest guard might not think it was a robbery if nothing was stolen.
Hopefully, Jepsom would have something more entertaining for him soon. Killing old men as they slept wasn’t his way. He liked it when they ran, when there was a chase. Sometimes his little rabbits even surprised him by fighting back. Those were days to remember, days to be thankful for.
There hadn’t been a lot of those days since Dapper Don had been killed. The cardinal was an insufferable asshole. Often when the man was talking, Juan Pablo thought about sinking his dagger into him. The look of surprise on his face would be worth it, even if he died shortly afterward.
There would come a time when he wouldn’t be able to suffer the groveling. He had enough money now that he could hire a boat to take him back home.
So why am I still here?
Revenge. It was that simple. He wanted to kill the man who’d ruined his life more than he wanted to see the cardinal in a puddle of his own blood. There were rumblings in the temple that the boy he’d killed was still alive. That the goddess had brought him back to life.
More bullshit.
He’d seen the life slip out of the man’s eyes before he’d left the dilapidated room. It was more likely the temple was using someone who looked like him to build the religious fervor of their following. It would be simple enough to do. Outside of the high priest, not very many people had interacted with the man.
Juan Pablo shook his head. “Faking a resurrection is some next-level shit.”
He’d never understand these people and their convoluted ideas of religion, but he would find the man the high priest had carrying out his orders. It was the least he could do for the memory of a life burned to ashes.
Taking a final look around the room, Juan Pablo jumped out of the second-story window and hit the ground, rolling with the impact. He came out of the roll and walked down the street as casually as a man could. He wasn’t in any hurry to return to the temple, but his feet pulled him in that direction, regardless of his desire to stay away.
“Two of my top associates have been killed,” Cardinal Jepsom raged.
Jepsom kicked the man kneeling in front of him. “And you.” He sneered. “You only managed to kill one of the targets on your list.”
“Just give me more time, Your Holiness,” Juan Pablo said through gritted teeth. Every part of him wanted to grab the asshole’s leg the next time he kicked him. From there, he was pretty sure he could snap the cardinal’s neck before anyone interrupted them.
“Time! Time is something we don’t have.” Jepsom walked around the man in slow, deliberate circles. “I have a new task for you.”
“Name it, Your Excellency, and it will be done.”
“Of course, it will,” Jepsom snapped as if the thought of someone not following his orders never even occurred to him. “I need you to stick to Frederick like glue. Wherever he goes, you go.”
The cardinal paused his relentless circling. “When Lady Briarthorn’s assassin shows up, gut him like a fish.”
Juan Pablo risked looking up, and as soon as he saw the cardinal, he wished he hadn’t. The grin on the man’s face didn’t hold a shred of sanity. He’d totally lost his mind. Juan Pablo had seen this all before. He’d worked for men dancing on the edge of insanity, and it never turned out well.
Refusing Jepsom wasn’t an option, but it was even clearer to Juan Pablo that he couldn’t risk staying much longer. Lowering his forehead back to the floor, Juan Pablo intoned, “Your will flows through my hands. It will be done.”
“Then go!” The cardinal kicked him again. “The sight of you makes me sick.”
You’re not the only one.
Pushing up from the ground, Juan Pablo considered making his move now but discarded the idea. It’d be better to attack him outside of the temple if he wanted to live. There were plenty of people who relied on Jepsom for their power here, and more than a few would try to avenge him if they lost it.
Even if he was a giant prick.
Turning away from the cardinal, Juan Pablo marched toward the doors with a sense of purpose. He had a job to do, and at least for the moment, that job would keep him away from here.
Chapter Forty-Three
“Time to see if you’re not totally worthless,” Ironbeard said with a twinkle in his eye.
Tim couldn’t help but think of his grandfather as he watched the dwarf. Grandpa was always full of little digs, but behind them was a person who wanted you to get the most out of life. He was the kind of man who pushed you hard so you would push yourself harder. Nothing great was ever built by someone who didn’t want to put in the work.
One thing Tim noticed with a lot of other families growing up was that some of the parents just wanted to be friends with their kids. Some of them couldn’t say no to their kids, even if it meant they went bankrupt. Tim’s parents had never had a problem saying no. When the choice was between going out to eat and having a roof over your head, there really wasn’t a choice at all.
He’d also seen plenty of people with natural talent peter out as they tried to move from high school to college. Natural talent could take you a long way, but the stars of this world also had an incredible work ethic—not that he could judge people for slacking off without being the world's biggest hypocrite.
If there was a national award for the biggest procrastinator, he would have won every year.
He got the work done, but he never dedicated as much time to it as he should have. When you wanted to be great at something, you didn’t get there without a lot of sleepless nights and a ton of effort.
Effort and repetition were the keys to success. Then there were the times when you just had to get shit done.
Using the tongs, Tim pulled the mold from the coals of the fire and placed it on the bench. After setting the metal tongs to the side, Tim put on his Unburning Gloves and grabbed a small chisel and hammer.
As he moved around the mold, he tapped in the spaces Ironbeard indi
cated. On the last tap, all four sides of the mold fell away, revealing a perfect bar of silver. The dwarf moved forward to examine it. He looked it over for a moment and, snorting his approval, grabbed a stamp and his hammer.
With one quick stroke, Ironbeard put his mark on the silver bar. That was enough for Tim to know he’d done a good job. The dwarf would not have signed his name to inferior work. Feeling pretty good about himself, he started to smile.
“I wouldn’t start grinning yet, boy. We’ve got ten more of these to finish before you can go.”
Ten.
Ten seemed like an insurmountable number. He’d made four iron bars before Ironbeard let him try the silver. His first three bars came out wonky, and he’d had to melt them down and start over. His fourth bar finally earned him the approval of the old dwarf, and he’d hoped for an early exit.
Leaving early wasn’t in the cards.
Ironbeard laughed at the crestfallen look on Tim’s face. “Don’t be such a sourpuss. You can pour more than one at once, you know.” He moved over to where he kept the molds. “I’d start with five at a time.”
A customer entered the store, and Ironbeard headed to the front to see what they wanted. He paused in the doorway to the smithy. “Just take your time. Same rules apply—anything that doesn’t make the grade has to be redone.”
“Easy for you to say,” Tim mumbled.
Of course, it was easy for Ironbeard. He’d put the work in, slaving in front of the forge day after day until he could make bars of any kind in his sleep. Not only that, but he could now shape metal into a variety of incredibly useful things. No one became a master by sitting on the sidelines.
Tim walked over to the mold station and started laying out the pieces he’d need to make five bars at once. As he put the first mold together, he chided himself for getting angry. Hadn’t he just been the one bitching about how greatness required effort? What kind of man would he be if he wanted to be great without doing a damn thing?
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