The translucent water dragon took a deep breath as it unfurled its massive, leathery wings and turned its head toward the judges. Then it took a step forward, its entire body undulating as the water from which it was made sloshed inside of it like it was made of plastic.
Only it wasn’t because its next step engulfed Annabeth’s table, causing the entire structure to disappear within its bulk.
“How can this be?” Damore said, and the shock in her voice surprised even me. She took a step forward as the dragon’s huge muscles tensed and it flung itself into the air. The wind coming off its wings was intense as it hung there, suspended under the power of its own flight.
Then it opened its mouth and roared. The sound seemed to shatter my ear drums.
“It’s so scary,” Gabriella said, clinging to me suddenly, her hands wrapped around my arm, popcorn forgotten. “It feels like it could eat me.”
“Yeah,” I said, inclined to agree. The raw power of the dragon was insane, like Annabeth had somehow infused the might of the storm into its very being.
Each glittering scale shining like opal dew drops as it turned its huge head toward the judges. It flapped toward them, crossing the distance in a few quick strokes before landing just in front of their station.
“I call this one, Mireu,” Annabeth said, gesturing at the creature, and as she spoke, its form changed. The wings folded into its body, and it seemed to elongate like a serpent, so that instead of resembling a European-style dragon like it had before, it now resembled a Chinese dragon. The change of it was so sudden and elegant, I couldn’t even really see the where and when of it, though I’d watched it happen.
“Amazing,” Freya asked, leaning forward to touch the creature. As she did, it inclined its head forward, allowing her to stroke its head like a cat. “You can control the shape of the piece by harnessing the flow of the water within it.”
“You should ask Mireu,” Annabeth said, crossing her arms over her chest.
All eyes turned to the huge dragon.
“Okay then,” Freya said, regarding the creature thoughtfully. She gave it one last scratch before pulling her hand back. “How do you change your form, Mireu?”
“In all honesty, I do not know, Madam Freya. When my creator thinks about how she wishes me to be, it conjures an image in my head, and my entirety of being flows into that mental image.” It nodded, head bobbing like a giant snake. “I have no form and yet all forms, and because of that, I am boundless.”
“Did the sculpture just talk?” Damore said, hands shaking. Without another word, she snatched the mouse from Koshuda. “I do not deserve to be in this competition with you Annabeth. I withdraw. In the future, I hope I can one day master both the tree of life and the tree of elements.”
Her words struck me odd, and as she said them, Annabeth winked at me. Were they talking about actual skills, and if they were, how did Damore know about them? Curious, I opened Annabeth’s skill tree and found myself staring at two new trees that had branched off her existing skill set. It looked like she had learned them once she’d gained the penultimate skill in both the Realism and Emotive trees.
Crazier still, she only had a few points in the first skill in either tree, and as I scanned it, I realized that if she mastered one or the other, or both, she’d become monstrously powerful.
Sculpting - Life
Skill: 2/10.
By combining the Emotive and Realism skills, the user can bring sculptures to life. The degree to which they appear alive stem from the difficulty of both the subject and the medium. In short, by using more difficult materials and sculpting more challenging subjects, the greater degree to which life is granted.
Sculpting - Elemental
Skill: 4/10.
The sculptor can now sculpt with various elements. By working with the essence of the chosen element, a sculptor can bend it to her will, causing the very characteristics of said element to be bent for a period of time.
That’s when I realized how intelligent Annabeth truly was. The reason she’d chosen water was exactly the reason it had worked. As her sculpture had said, it didn’t truly have a form, and instead of trying to form the water, she had given it life and allowed it to choose its own form, flowing into a shape it’d never take on its own. Furthermore, by using such a complex subject, it had increased the power of her life sculpting, causing a sort of power loop that kept strengthening each other.
“No. Absolutely not,” Mammon cried, pointing a finger at the dragon like it’d just kicked her puppy. “It’s clear the Builder has been augmenting her skills. Those are Rank 1 skills she’s using, and there’s no way she could have learned them. I move she is disqualified from this competition.” Mammon crossed her arms over her chest.
“What does it matter?” Damore asked, cocking her head at Mammon before gesturing to Mireu. “The things you proclaim don’t matter. It doesn’t matter how she acquired her skills, nor why she has them. It doesn’t matter if a test says she can do them either. What matters is she can wield them like a master, and far better than anyone in this arena, I might add.” She turned and looked right at me. “To take that away from her is vulgar.”
“It doesn’t matter, anyway because I think Koshuda and I are in agreement,” Freya said, looking to the other judge. Koshuda nodded, and Freya continued, “We both agree Annabeth has won this competition. As much as I like Fina, I don’t think there is any comparison between the two sculptures.”
Koshuda smashed her hand against the gong as Gabriella dragged me to my feet and pulling me toward Annabeth. “Come on, we have to congratulate her on winning.”
As I moved across the arena, I found Annabeth beaming at me from ear to ear I realized something else. While I knew her victory meant we’d get the Heart of Storm, I almost didn’t care about it. No, the only thing I cared about was how happy she looked, and how proud I was of her. She had beaten the stacked odds, and she’d done it through her own hard work and sacrifice, and there was no one, not even Mammon, who could take that away from her.
The next moment sort of passed in a blur because I don’t remember pulling away from Gabriella. I don’t remember running across the arena or sweeping her into my arms. I don’t remember hugging her tightly and lavishing praise upon her.
I know I did all of those things and more because I can sort of remember it in retrospect. I remember the tears of joys leaking down my face, and the kind words, but most of all. Most of all I remember how happy she was in that single moment.
And for that, well, to see that moment, anything I could do in return wouldn’t be enough.
24
True to her word, for winning the contest Freya agreed to sculpt an item of our choosing. Now, two days later we were finally on our way back to the Graveyard of Statues with the Favor of the Broken Storm. With it, Sally could use her Alchemy to create the Heart of the Storm.
“I think Sally is going to be really pleased,” Buffy said, showing me the contracts the guild leaders had presented her with as we bounced along the road on her buggy. We were nearly to the Nexus Gateway and would be home in only a few minutes.
It was weird because even though the Graveyard was barely a town, it still felt good to be heading back. I’d wasted enough time in the Royal Centre, and the idea of being back with my people working on our town was appealing in a way I couldn’t quite explain.
“How’s that?” I asked, turning to look at the goblin. She was sitting next to Annabeth who was busy chipping away at a piece of wood she’d been given by Damore. I wasn’t sure why it was special, and when I’d asked, the sculptor had just shrugged at me.
“You aren’t even listening to me, huh?” Buffy said, crossing her arms and glaring at me. “I’m controlling all your finances. You should listen.”
“I do listen,” I said, sighing. “You told me you got all the contracts and sold all Annabeth’s practice pieces for a killing. I’m not sure what I’m missing.” As she opened her mouth to tell me, I continued, re
membering something else. “And that Annabeth has a bunch of contracts for pieces that will make us a bunch of money. See, I listen.”
“I did say all that, but that isn’t why Sally specifically will be happy.” She showed me a contract. I glanced over it, and as I did, my eyes widened in surprise.
“How did you manage that?” I asked, shock evident in my voice.
“Oh, it was nothing,” Buffy said, grinning like the cat who had swallowed the canary. “I just asked what would happen if a blacklisted alchemist won their annual contest.” She smirked. “I reminded them how long you’ve been here, and that theirs isn’t for almost a year.”
“Are you saying what I think you’re saying?” I asked, my eyebrows furrowing. “Because it sounds like you blackmailed them to remove Sally’s Blacklisting because they think she’ll win their tournament and it will look bad.”
“When you say it like that it does sound bad,” Buffy mused as we approached the gateway. She flicked her wrist, causing the portal to shimmer into being like a sheen of blueberry jam. “I didn’t do that though. I just asked them what that would be like. If they inferred otherwise, well, that’s not my fault.”
I stared at the goblin for a long time, trying to arrange my thoughts. “I’m glad it worked out, but I don’t like it. I feel like it cheapens Annabeth’s win, and that’s not fair.”
“I don’t feel that way,” Annabeth said, shaking her head. “I earned my victory, but I won’t deny that you helped me greatly. I would not have won without you. That much is certain. If my victory helps us get the guilds to work with us, we should exploit it for everything we can.” Her eyes darted to the horizon. “After all, at the end of the day, the Darkness will come. Time is not on our side. Every moment we spend arguing is a moment wasted.”
“There you have it, your rank one sculptor agrees.” Buffy crossed her arms over her chest as we hit the portal. The whole world exploded into sheets of color, and if I’d had a jaw during that weird null space of travel, I’d have clenched it to bite down the pain. Traveling like this was always weird because it always hurt even though the whole thing took less than a nanosecond. Besides, it wasn’t like I had a body to actually feel pain when I’d been ripped down to my composite atoms, anyway. The whole thing was just weird.
“Just because she agrees doesn’t mean I agree,” I said as we reappeared on the other side. “But I guess you’re right. We need to use every advantage we can to beat the Darkness. I just don’t want people taking away Annabeth’s victory.”
“If I may,” Buffy said, holding her hands out in front of herself palms up. “She crafted a fucking dragon out of fucking water. No one cares about how it happened, only that it did.”
“That’s true,” Annabeth said, shrugging. Her knife flicking away at her chunk of wood as we rolled closer to the Graveyard. Only it was weird because it was loud inside the town.
I could hear the sounds of construction within, and as we pulled up through the two rocks we’d used as gates, I realized that the framework for walls had been laid on the ground. I’d seen the sort of construction before when we’d fortified Lustnor.
The walls would be built in sections and then attached to bracing that was put in the ground. Since we hadn’t had a mason, we’d opted to create a sort of frame with wood and fill it with stone and dirt to give it more strength.
“They’ve been busy,” I said, looking to my left when some of the bracing was already in place. “We were only gone a few days.”
“I guess Crystal has been busy,” Buffy grumbled. “Hopefully she didn’t waste too many materials.”
I was sort of inclined to agree, but it didn’t really matter because we had barely cleared any of the forest surrounding the graveyard. Nope. Wood was one thing we’d have an abundance of. If she wasted some making our walls, that would be way worth it.
“Why did they dig the hole like that?” Gabriella said, pointing past the bracing to where a deep furrow was dug into the earth.
As I stared at it, a realization hit me. “That’s going to be a moat. Maribelle talked about doing a similar thing in Lustnor, but since we’d only fortified a few sections, we didn’t need that much dirt. My bet is that they are using the dirt in the walls while digging the moat. It’s smart, really.”
“Hmm,” Gabriella said as we came to a stop near where the tents had been set up. “I will have to remember that. We don’t have moats in Heaven, but maybe it’d be a good idea.”
“Guess you can tell them how it works in practice when it’s done,” I said, grabbing the Favor of the Broken Storm out of its crate. “Now if you will all excuse me, I have to go see Sally.”
I got to my feet and moved to the ladder on the side to climb down, only as I did, I saw people coming out of the tents.
“Arthur!” Maribelle cried, eyeing me up and down from the doorway of the tent. Her red hair was tied back in a ponytail, and her yellow eyes sparkled as she looked me up and down. “We wondered when you’d be back. I don’t know how you got us free of our old contracts, but thank you so much! I mean that. Truly.”
“Yeah, took you long enough,” Sam snorted. As the pink-haired blacksmith shoved by Maribelle on their way over to us, I couldn’t help but smile. I was so happy to see them I could practically burst. Part of me had thought they weren’t actually coming back, that despite what the guilds had said, we’d get thwarted by Mammon. Only somehow, we’d pulled off another victory. We had our people back, and that was worth having to help the guilds. Hell, it was worth way more than that.
Tears clouded my vision as I hugged them, pulling them both close. As their inexplicable girl smells hit me, and they wrapped their own arms around me to hug me back, I still couldn’t quite believe they were both back.
“I’m so glad you’re back. I missed you both so much.” I smiled at them both, and as I did, Maribelle grabbed my cheeks and pulled my mouth to hers.
“We don’t have time for more, but trust me. I aim to repay the favor,” she said when we broke apart. I stood there like a dumbass, trying to wrap my mind about how lucky I was when Sam tapped me on the shoulder.
“What about me? Didn’t you miss me?” Sam asked, one eyebrow raised. “Unlike Miss Needs-to-get-the-wall-built-before-we-all-die, I actually do have a few minutes to spare.” She grabbed the hem of my shirt and pulled me close to her. “Understand?”
“You don’t have to rub it in, Sam,” Maribelle said, frowning as Sam pulled me back toward the tent she’d come out of.
“That’s half the fun,” she said, over her shoulder. “I’ll try not to break him. Much.”
“You’d better not,” Maribelle said, frowning. “If you do, Sheila will be mad. I do seem to recall her calling dibs.”
“Wait, Sheila’s back too?” I asked, and as Maribelle nodded, I nearly went to go see her.
Only as I started to pull away from Sam, she planted a kiss on me. “Arthur, you can see her in a few minutes. She will understand. I promise.”
25
“So here’s where I am,” Sam said, showing me the gauntlets she’d been working on for the last two days. They gleamed like polished steel and the gemstones Sally had crafted via Alchemy, including the Heart of the Storm, sparkled on the surface. Only, instead of radiating power, they felt dead and lifeless.
I reached out, running my finger along the length of the left one. Unlike most of the things Sam had crafted, this one felt like it was missing something, and as I stared at them, I knew why. It wasn’t the craftsmanship or the gemstones. No, it was because we were missing a vital ingredient. Power.
“I think I know what the problem is,” I said, looking at the recipe. As soon as I did, I knew I was right.
Recipe: The Unrelenting Grips of Greed
Class: Blacksmithing
Used to create Unrelenting Grips of Greed.
Ingredients: Heart of Flame, Heart of Earth, Heart of Water, Heart of the Storm
Requirements: Special: 95+, Agility: 95+, Special: 95+, M
ammon’s Favor.
“Yeah, me too genius,” Sam replied, rolling her eyes. “We don’t have Mammon’s favor, and that’s a requirement.”
“Not sure how we’re going to get it either. I doubt I can buy her favor, and even if I could, it’s not like we have the money. The last tax collection cleaned us out good and hard. It bought us another five days, but that’s not nearly long enough. Hell, as it stands, even with Annabeth’s sculptures selling for more, we’ll barely squeeze by.”
“There is something else she wants,” Sam said, staring me down. “You.”
“Okay… what would you have me do?” I asked, getting annoyed. This wasn’t the first time we’d had this conversation. In between each and every step of the process, Sam had called me in claiming she’d needed more power. The difference was, this time, there was nothing left to do. Hell, the tooltip on the gauntlets told me as much.
The Unrelenting Grips of Greed
Type: Gauntlet
Durability: 2,700
Defense: 0
Enchantments: None
Ability: None
Flaw: Item still requires Mammon’s Favor.
“Have you even asked Mammon what she wants?” Sam asked me as she moved across the tiny space and put a hand on my arm. “I know she’s scary and all, but you keep giving me excuses. You do not know what she will want.”
“I haven’t had time,” I said, glaring at her. “Between getting our walls built and all the attacks, I just haven’t been able to do anything.”
“Here’s the thing, Arthur. You’re not really doing anything though for those things. Buffy is handling trade. Gwen is handling all the town logistics. Maribelle and Crystal are handling the actual construction of the walls, and Sheila, well, she and Gabriella have been fighting off the majority of the monster attacks themselves.” She pointed at me. “And while I’m sure Sally enjoys your company, I’m willing to bet she’d prefer if you just left her alone for a bit so she could actually finish refining all the dark blood they’ve brought.”
The Builder's Greed (The Legendary Builder Book 2) Page 15