Path of Dragons

Book 9: Chapter 10: A Philosophical Decision

The metal glistened, glowing bright red inside the forge. It was ready. Carmen knew it. And yet, she couldn’t bring herself to pull it free, largely because she still wasn’t certain how to proceed.

In the wake of the completion of the Forge of Creation, she had experienced a tidal wave of motivation. She’d spent the following weeks hammering out one item after another, and each one was near the limits of her capabilities. Only rarely did she fail to tease out the material’s full potential.

The twin effects of her specialization and the enhancements that came from working inside the Forge of Creation – not to mention her increased attributes, which let her work with more ethera than ever – resulted in a heady rush of power she’d never before experienced. Yet, that surge of motivation soon faded as she realized that the completion of the Forge of Creation – a project that had taken years – left her without purpose.

Carmen knew she wanted to continue forging powerful items. She just had no inspiration.

No – that wasn’t quite right. She was inspired. She had a hundred things she wanted to forge. The problem was that she had no idea which way to go. Her first instinct had been to craft a set of powerful armor and a new weapon she could use in the event someone attacked Ironshore.

And they would.

Carmen was certain that when word got out, some faction would decide that Ironshore – and the Forge of Creation – would be better off in their hands. The question wasn’t if they’d come, but rather when. Maybe Elijah would be around to defend the city, but with the way he constantly wandered off – or got sucked into Primal Realms, as he’d recently revealed to her – it just wasn’t smart to put everything into that basket.

Ironshore needed to be able to defend itself, and when that time came, Carmen would join the Warriors just as she had when the dark elves had invaded. She still had the armor she’d worn back then, but every time she looked at it, she inwardly cringed. It wasn’t bad. But it certainly wasn’t good, either. Not compared to what she could do with her current abilities.

That was the real problem, though – at least with making armor. The moment she finished, she would realize just how many mistakes she had made. Apparently, craft-lock was a real danger that affected many Tradesmen in the multi-verse, and she was no exception.

Ironically, it also centered around the fact that Ironshore needed the ability to protect itself. However, instead of empowering herself, she would focus on equipping the city’s fighters better than anyone else in the world. She had the ability. She even had the materials – or at least she would once she told Ramik about her plans. The goblin mayor would jump at the opportunity, though Carmen questioned whether or not he could afford to pay her.

Probably not.

Ironshore had plenty of materials, but it took time to build wealth – especially with the city’s debt problem. They’d made headway, but paying it off would take no small amount of time. At the current rate, it would be at least five more years before they had a chance to free themselves from those particular shackles. Until then, Ramik and his circle of advisors would need to balance defense, paying their debts, and advancing the city’s interests.

Carmen did not envy them that responsibility.

Thankfully, she didn’t need to worry about all of that. Instead, her role was to support her personal business, advance her own craft, and provide the means of protecting her home. How she accomplished those things was the subject of her current consternation, and as she stared at the molten metal, she came to no new conclusions.

Especially considering that she knew she needed to work on her cultivation. It was a facet of power she’d neglected so far – largely because she wasn’t certain she needed it that much – but now that the Forge of Creation was complete, she had a perfect environment. Already, there were other crafters using the Forge’s cultivation chambers – as well as some of Elijah’s soap that Biggle had been selling on the sly – but Carmen had so far avoided them.

She had done a little research, though, so she knew how to proceed. The problem was that she didn’t know when to take the time to follow those instructions.

With a sigh, she used her tongs to remove the molten ingot, which she set on the anvil to cool. She’d left it in the forge for far too long, and if she tried to work it at that point, she’d only get a brittle product.

“How the hell do you stand the heat in here?” came Carissa’s familiar voice. Carmen glanced toward the forge’s entrance to see the mine foreman standing there with her hands on her hips.

“What’s up?” Carmen asked, hanging her tongs in the proper place before removing her gloves – they’d been made from some extremely fire resistant hide. She hung them next to the apron she often forgot to wear. How many shirts had she ruined? More than she could count.

“I’m not talkin’ in here,” Carissa said, absently running a finger along her cheek. There was a little downy fuzz there, though Carmen would have hesitated to call it an outright beard. “Let’s go somewhere a little more habitable.”

Carmen sighed. “You spend your days in dank, dark caverns.”

“Better than a furnace.”

Carmen rolled her eyes and followed Carissa out of the smithy. The second she stepped into the hall, she felt a blast of fresh, cold air. And she couldn’t deny that, after the heat of the forge, it felt quite nice. She had much higher heat tolerance than most, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t appreciate a little climate control.

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Carissa let out a sigh of relief as she led Carmen down the hall and up the stairs to a communal area that had been dubbed one of the facility’s break rooms. The place was equipped with a full kitchen, multiple tables, a bunch of comfortable couches, and even a few meditations rooms. Carissa led her to one of the couches, then unceremoniously plopped down.

Carmen sat across from her.

“What is it?” she asked.

“Nothin’. Can’t I just want to see my friend? You’ve been cooped up in that smithy for the last two weeks. Been a long time since I’ve seen you.”

“Just spit it out, Carissa. What’s going on?”

“It’s Kurik.”

“Oh. This is one of those conversations.”

“What’s that s’posed to mean?”

“Nothing. Just tell me what the issue is.”

Carissa let out a dramatic sigh, then went on a rant about the relationship she shared with Kurik. The gist of it was that he didn’t take it nearly as seriously as she did. Instead, he spent the vast majority of time working on one project or another. “It’s a good quality for any dwarf, focusin’ on work. But he takes it to an extreme.” ＲÄƝöβЁ𝙨

“I think that’s just how he is,” Carmen said. She didn’t know Kurik as well as Elijah did, but from everything she’d seen, he was a bit of a loner that seemed a bit obsessed with his work. According to the stories she’d heard from Carissa, before the Trial of Primacy, Kurik spent most of his days out in the wilderness, rarely even coming back to the city. Now, he was in Ironshore more often, but he was still a bit of an isolationist, especially when he was working on a project.

Which was almost always.

Carmen could definitely relate, given that she was also quite obsessive about whatever she’d begun working on. She’d lost count of how many meals she’d missed, and there were times when she spent days without rest. Was it healthy? Not at all. But it was probably the only thing keeping her sane.

After all, if she wasn’t working, she was worried about Miguel. Or Elijah and all the ridiculousness that he typically got up to. Or she was thinking about Alyssa. Even now, years later, she still dreamed of her wife. Of all the good times they’d shared. And sometimes, she even had nightmares about her betrayal. She hadn’t been there, but she knew enough that her imagination could paint a pretty vivid picture.

When she wasn’t dwelling on those problems, she was thinking about Earth’s eventual fate and its place in the wider multi-verse. The situation with the Primal Realms were only the most recent problem, but Carmen was intelligent enough to know that they wouldn’t be the last issue. It was a false hope to believe that Earth would be left to its own devices.

Someone would come. She knew that down to her core. And being ready for it was one of the many reasons she’d become so committed to her craft. Even so, distracting herself from all the reasons she had to worry was more important.

“Do you think it’s because I can’t grow a proper beard?” Carissa asked.

“What?” Carmen asked. She’d drifted off, losing the dwarven woman’s most recent complaints.

“My beard. It doesn’t really grow much. This is the best I can do,” she admitted.

“Uh…is that important to dwarves?”

“Of course. Not as much as a hefty base, but I don’t have much issue there. I’m talkin’ about the beard. Don’t humans have beauty standards?”

“Yeah? I mean, human women don’t really grow beards, though.”

From where she was lying on the couch, Carissa narrowed her eyes. “Huh. I guess I never really noticed. Would explain why they all think you’re ugly. Not you in particular. Just…all of you.” A second later, she added, “I think you’re beautiful, though. On the inside, mostly.”

“Thanks,” Carmen said, rolling her eyes. “Do you want my advice? Or is this just a complaint thing?”

“Advice, if you got it.”

“Don’t worry about it. He’s with you, right?”

“He is.”

“Then that’s all that matters. He likes you just the way you are,” Carmen said. “If you need proof, it’s that he’s with you and not somebody else.”

“Hmm. I guess that makes sense.”

Then, Carmen was treated to some very vivid descriptions of dwarven relationships. Apparently, there was quite a lot of beard pulling, which Carmen found difficult to imagine. Or maybe she just didn’t want to.

“What about you?” asked Carissa.

“What about me?” Carmen countered. “No real developments on that front.”

“The baker?”

Carmen shrugged. “She got tired of me.”

“You mean she got tired of playin’ second fiddle to everything else.”

“Maybe.”

“But that ain’t what I was talkin’ about. I’m askin’ about what had you starin’ into that forge like it ate your best minin’ pick,” Carissa explained. “So, what’s on your mind?”

Carmen sighed, leaning back on the couch. “It’s mostly post-craft malaise,” she admitted. “You know, when you work so long on something and finally finish it, you kind of have this period where you don’t know what to do? I know it’s normal. Everyone feels it. But that doesn’t make it any less affecting.”

Then, she went on to explain the crux of her issue, detailing the three paths she could take. Would she focus on developing powerful items meant for either her own use or for sale? Or would she embark on her cultivation journey? The third option was to shift her efforts to equipping Ironshore with enough gear to set them apart from every other force on Earth.

All three had their merits, and she knew she’d probably dabble a little in each area. However, she needed to pick a focus or her efforts would be meandering.

“The way I see it, you need to ask yourself a simple question.”

“What’s that?” Carmen asked.

“What do you want? Personal empowerment? Or do you want to contribute to something bigger than just you?”

“You make it sound like I’m debating between selfishness and selflessness.”

“That’s exactly what this is.”

Carmen shook her head. “It’s more complex than that.”

“It usually is. But it comes down to the same question. I had to face a similar decision when I took my class. Do I want to be stronger? Or do I want to make others stronger? I chose the second one.”

“And you think I should too?”

“Didn’t say that, did I? I said you got to decide that for yourself. I know what I picked. I know what I’d do in your situation. But I ain’t you. I got a good idea what drives you, but only you can make your choices. So, what do you want?”

Carmen frowned, giving it some thought. But in the end, there was a reason she and Carissa had become friends. They had similar values. And in the end, they usually came to the same conclusions. In this instance, that meant her path was clear.

And Carissa knew it, too. She grinned, saying, “Ironshore’s gonna be a force to be reckoned with, ain’t it?”

“They won’t lack for gear. I can tell you that right now,” Carmen responded, cementing her path. It would not be an easy project, but she intended to turn the nascent and developing defense force into a true army. She already had some ideas for how to do that, but those ideas needed some serious development before she implemented them. She pushed herself to her feet, which prompted a response from Carissa.

“Where are you goin’?”

“To talk to Ramik. I’m going to need a lot of material support if this is going to work the way I want it to.”

“It’s the middle of the night,” Carissa stated. Then, she laughed at Carmen’s expression. “You didn’t even know, did you? You really need to get outta the forge a little more often.”

“Yeah. Maybe.”

But they both knew that wasn’t going to happen. Carmen could already feel the tickle of anticipation in her stomach as her obsessive nature started to take over.

It was a nice and familiar feeling. Comforting, almost.