Path of Dragons-Chapter 19Book 8: : Armor

Sadie stretched her arms above her head, the movement loosening her tight muscles. She’d gone a little too far with her training the day before, and even Elijah’s healing had been insufficient to truly banish the consequences of overwork. And then she’d pushed even further once the sun went down, though when she thought of her nocturnal activities, she couldn’t help but smile.

Her time with Elijah – even though it was destined to end – had proven to be a very necessary balm for her wounded body and soul. In the grove, it was so easy to forget all of her problems. Hong Kong’s issues, as well as the impending meeting with the world’s elite, faded so easily into the background as she basked in the dense ethera, relaxing atmosphere, and easy companionship.

Not for the first time, she wished it could last.

But it was not to be. Soon enough, the situation in the world would intrude on her found paradise, and she needed to be ready for what was to come. That was why she’d trained so hard and for so long.

After stretching, she stripped down and gratefully lowered herself into the miraculous hot spring Elijah and Nerthus had created. Even as the steaming water soothed her tired muscles, she let out a long, contented sigh. It would have been so easy to simply settle into a life of comfort.

Once upon a time, she might’ve been happy with that kind of existence.

But probably not. Even before the apocalypse, she’d been a high achiever who needed goals and purpose to give meaning to her life. That hadn’t changed. What was different were the stakes, though. No longer was she concerned with social status or the performance of the family business. Rather, she now had to worry about the entirety of humanity and Earth’s survival.

Because without her help, they would never meet the system’s requirements that the world’s Primal Realms needed to be conquered within the next ten years. That countdown loomed large in her mind, and though a decade seemed like a long time, she was well aware just how quickly the years could slip away.

After all, it felt like only yesterday that she’d found herself suddenly thrust into a zombie apocalypse. Less than a decade had passed since then, and the intervening time felt both impossibly long and shorter than it should have.

No – she couldn’t afford to stand idly by while the world dealt with its own problems. Neither could Elijah, which was why he’d spent the past week working on his own cultivation. That he felt it was possible to reach the next tier – in any category – so quickly was a testament to his enviable talent. By comparison, Sadie would need a year or more of constant effort to feel confident in her own odds of progression.

And she was a couple of steps behind him.

It was just further confirmation that Elijah, for all his quirks, was special in a way that wasn’t easily quantified. Part of her felt proud of him, but she would have been lying to herself if she didn’t acknowledge the seeds of envy within her heart. The only thing that kept them from sprouting was the fact that he didn’t hold his power over anyone else’s head. In fact, Sadie wasn’t certain he knew just how far ahead of everyone he really was.

Still, soaking in the hot springs technically counted as training as well. Not only did it cleanse her of impurities – according to Nerthus, at least – but it also subtly supported her efforts at body cultivation. The same could be said for everything in the grove, ranging from the fruits Elijah ate, seemingly without even realizing that they were potent natural treasures, to the soap he obsessed over.

Indeed, just living in such an ethereally dense region was a boon all its own. So, just existing on the island came with a certain amount of progression.

That kept Sadie in the spring for almost two hours before her excuses ran out. That was when she pushed herself out of the spring, then headed to the treehouse to shower and dress for a trip to the city. But along the way, she got a bit of a surprise when she practically ran into a teenage girl.

Which was a bit of an issue, because she hadn’t bothered dressing after leaving the hot tub. Normally, there was no one else around, and Elijah had made it absolutely clear that he had no issues with casual nudity. Sadie had taken his cue, though seeing the girl’s wide eyes and red face, she now regretted it.

“What? Who are you?” Sadie demanded, covering herself as best she could with her loose clothes.

“Uh…”

“You shouldn’t be here. Elijah doesn’t allow –”

“I was going to say the same thing t-to you…”

“What are you talking about?”

After that, Sadie got the girl’s story. Apparently, she was a prospective member of the grove, which Sadie found a bit surprising. More importantly, she was Ron’s daughter, Hope. That softened Sadie’s stance, but only enhanced her embarrassment. Who knew what a teenage girl would talk about when she got away from the grove? Before Sadie knew it, tales of a naked woman prancing around the island would spread all across Ironshore. The very idea was mortifying.

So, once Sadie had established that Hope had a reason to be there, she quickly extricated herself from the embarrassing situation and headed into the treehouse, where she quickly dressed. Thankfully, Hope wasn’t in sight when she emerged.

Pushing that from her mind, Sadie made her way across the island to the rowboat Elijah hated so much. Every time he was made to row across the strait, he filled those few minutes with complaints. For her part, Sadie didn’t understand it. With their attributes, rowing wasn’t even remotely taxing, and the passage was quick enough that it was over almost as soon as it began.

Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.

But that didn’t stop Elijah from complaining. Not one bit.

It made Sadie a little grateful he wasn’t around. Instead, he was in what he called his cultivation cave, where he’d spent much of his time of late.

When she arrived at the dock, she found her way to the berth reserved for Elijah’s boats. Sadie expected that he didn’t even realize that they’d given him special treatment, but amidst the hustle and bustle of the dock, it was obvious to her that they’d made allowances. 𝘳ᴀΝŎᛒΕṨ

All around, there were huge boats meant to brave the open ocean. They didn’t venture far – only a few miles one way or another – though the ships were easily large enough to compare to those that had once crossed from one continent to the other. Now, because of the dangers of the new and transformed world, they couldn’t venture too far from shore.

Some were meant to hug the coast on mercantile missions. There were a few other cities to the south, though the closest in that direction was almost eight-hundred miles away. Still, the fact that trade existed between them at all was a good sign for Earth’s development.

Sadie tied the boat off, then climbed onto the dock. Soon enough, she was weaving her way through the crowd. It felt odd, going out in public without her armor. For years, she’d worn it everywhere she went, and though she knew there wasn’t much danger in Ironshore, she felt incredibly vulnerable. Naked, almost.

Her cheeks reddened at her recent encounter with Hope, but she pushed her embarrassment away and focused on the reason she’d come to the city in the first place. She didn’t intend to get distracted – not like Elijah was wont to do. Rather, she would remain on task.

To that end, she broke free of the docks, leaving its congestion behind for slightly less dense traffic. Along the way, she passed the project everyone referred to as the Great Forge, marveling at the size of what would be a crafting center. Idly, she wished they had something like that back in Heaven’s Bastion, though she knew they had neither the space nor the creativity to build anything of the sort.

It was a stark reminder that her grandfather’s repressive regime was anathemic to true progress. At best, they would maintain the status quo, which was probably Tianwei’s entire goal. He was at the top, and he wanted to stay there – progress be damned.

Shaking her head, Sadie moved on, and eventually, she reached her destination – Carmen’s smithy. Since coming to Ironshore, she’d grown to enjoy the Blacksmith’s company. She was a no-nonsense person, and she seemed to genuinely care about other people. She’d welcomed Sadie with open arms, which was definitely something she’d needed at the time.

They were friends, though the relationship was new enough that it felt a little premature to think of it as anything more than acquaintance. In any case, that was likely Sadie’s own insecurities rearing their ugly heads, so she put that thought out of mind. She deserved friends, even if she sometimes wondered why other people would even tolerate her often-judgmental presence.

Predictably, when Sadie entered the smithy, she found Carmen hard at work. She was still building the tools for her forge, which was far more complicated a process than Sadie could have ever expected. Further evidence that the system was right not to offer her a crafting class, all those years ago. She had neither the patience nor the imagination for that kind of thing.

After a few minutes spent beating on hot metal, Carmen shoved the cooling billet back into the forge, then looked up. The second she recognized Sadie, the Blacksmith grinned – a reaction to her presence to which she was definitely not accustomed. Maybe from Dat or Elijah, but nobody else.

Carmen let her hammer disappear, saying, “I’d give you a hug, but – yeah. Sweaty and probably a bit smelly. So, probably not the best idea for maintaining friendships. What’s up?”

“How long have you been at it?” Sadie asked, stepping further into the smithy. It was like a furnace, and even with her high Constitution, she was more than a little uncomfortable. Immediately, she started to sweat.

Carmen shrugged. “No windows, so hard to tell. A day? Maybe. I don’t know. But I’m almost done with the metal for my tools. Look at this.”

She grabbed one of the blocks of metal she’d piled on a nearby table, hefting it into the light. It shimmered with iridescent beauty, with green lines cutting through a dull red metal.

“What is it called?” Sadie asked, taking the block. It was much heavier than she had expected.

“Vulcanium. Titanium, volcanic mithril, and cold iron. That hunk of metal right there is worth more than this whole smithy,” she said, grinning. “Well, except for that over there.” She pointed to a corner, where another metal shone with ethereal light. “Elijah dropped it off earlier today. Or maybe yesterday? Not sure. He said you would talk to me about it later. You know what it is, right?”

“Celestial gold,” Sadie answered. “It was a reward from the Trial of Primacy.”

“A damn valuable reward. I thought volcanic mithril was expensive, but that stuff…”

“Can you work with it?” Sadie asked.

“I can work with any metal,” Carmen answered confidently. “From what I understand, it’s a finnicky material, and it’s best used as a component of an alloy. Some ascended smiths can forge it alone, but…well, I can do it, but I’d only harness a fraction of its power. Better to use it as part of an alloy. We’ll stretch it that way, too.”

“What do you suggest?” Sadie asked. “For the alloy, I mean.”

“Straight mithril. It’s one of the most stable materials available at our level. Expensive, but that’s true of anything worthwhile,” Carmen answered, scratching her ash-smeared chin. “What do you want made?”

“Armor,” Sadie answered. “And a new sword if there’s enough material.”

She removed the sword from her back, revealing its cracked and notched length. She might have been willing to go without her armor, but walking around completely unarmed was a fool’s idea.

“This size,” she explained. “I can deal with heavier, but I like the length of this one. How much mithril should I get?”

Sadie hadn’t spent any of her own money since the world had transformed. Instead, she’d been given anything she could want, paid for by Heaven’s Bastion. So, she had plenty of ethereum saved up.

As it turned out, when she went to the Branch with Carmen’s instructions in hand, she found that she was something of a pauper – at least by multiversal standards. She bought as much as she could manage, but it wasn’t even close to enough.

So, when she returned to the smithy, ingots of metal in hand, Carmen told her that she would make it work.

“How much for the commission?” Sadie asked.

“Nothing from you. Elijah’s already taken care of it,” Carmen said.

Sadie frowned. She definitely didn’t like charity.

Carmen picked up on that feeling, saying, “Just accept it. It’s a gift. He only wants to keep you safe. He knows you’re going to throw yourself into danger, so this is the best he can do. Be thankful someone cares enough about you to do that.”

Sadie’s frown faded, and she nodded. It would take some time to acclimate to the notion that someone wanted to take care of her. Normally, the shoe was on the other foot, with everyone expecting her to look after them. But the more she thought about it, the more she appreciated the idea.

It was almost like having her family back.

“Do you think you can finish it before we have to go to Seattle?”

New novel chapters are published on freewёbn૦νeɭ.com.

“I’ll get it done,” Carmen stated. “It’ll be the first time I use my new tools, once I get them forged. It’ll be awesome. I promise.”