LGHTNOVELBOOK Chapter 128: Wise Investments
"Mia! Hayden!" Yules' excited voice reached us well before she did. When she emerged, stained blacksmithing apron and all, she practically launched herself at us. I staggered from the impact, eyes wide at her unexpectedly hefty weight, which resulted in me knocking into Mia.
Shortly, all three of us were on the floor, and I wasn't sure which of us started laughing first. Regardless, we rapidly devolved into a giggling mess, with more than a few tears on Yules' part added into the mix.
"You asses! I've been waiting for so long to hear back from you! I thought the two of you were dead, or mindless, shambling husks, or tearing apart Torment in a frenzy or something!" she chided when she finally got her emotions under control, sending a shot of remorse through me.
"Sorry, Yules. We'll make it up to you," Mia promised before I could, petting the her friend's head.
"We got held up. I swear we wanted to come visit first thing after our ascension, but then a bunch of things happened, and, well…" I sighed, then shook my head. "Just… sorry."
"It's okay." She tried to be subtle about sniffling one final time and failed, then brightened considerably. "You two have to see what I made for you! I even have some extra gifts," she added smugly, pride radiating off her in waves.
I laughed at her enthusiasm, glad that any potential bad feelings were already washed away. Really, count on Yules to be concerned with only friendship and her craftsmanship. It was honestly a toss-up which she valued more at any given moment, but those were definitely number one and number two on her priority list.
As she scampered away to bring us our stuff, insisting we wait in the main room of the shop, I finally had a chance to reflect on this new revelation about Yules' nobility.
For once, when confronted with a startlingly powerful demon, my first reaction wasn't dread. Honestly, I felt confused, and maybe a little jealous.
Yules was only slightly older than Mia and I. For a demoness her age to be a noble already? It was, frankly, insane. She was obviously a born demon, and likely came from a well-established lineage, but still! After working my butt off and risking my life far too many times, I had barely managed to squeak my way into archdemon.
Then Abyssal knowledge began kindling in my mind, and the jealousy melted away.
Yules' high-leveled soul had nothing to do with Yules. It was simply proof of how much her mother loved her.
Because when demons discussed the 'cost' of having a child, they meant it far more literally than mortal parents.
According to what the Abyss was feeding me, there were two varieties of 'born' demons. First, a demon could literally be born of the Abyss. Formed from Abyssal essence and plopped out into the world full-grown, the new demon's head would be full of inherited knowledge that allowed them to function, but little else. The souls of such demons were considered the baseline all demons judged themselves by, which is why you needed a greater soul if you wanted to be taken seriously post-ascension.
Then there was the second variety of demons: those born to actual parents.
In order for a demon to be conceived, both parents had to give up a piece of themselves. This could mean just enough power and soul essence to form a baseline demonic soul, judged by the aforementioned standard. Or the parents could pour far more of themselves into the kindling life, giving the new demon a much more powerful soul and thus a more privileged existence from birth.
Tibath, therefore, was full of both deep power and deep adoration for her daughter.
I didn't get much more time to dwell on that realization before Yules came bustling out of the backroom. Her arms were full of two wooden boxes, with another two long objects wrapped in cloth balanced precariously on top. She looked to be seconds away from dropping everything when she finally plopped her burden onto the counter.
The way she rubbed her hands made her look like a slightly seedy merchant about to present her wares to unsuspecting prey.
"Okay, let's start with the armor sets. I didn't think you'd go all… avian on me, Hayden, but it'll work just fine. I'll just need to touch up a few things before you leave. The set will still fit you perfectly, Mia."
Yules had outdone herself. The sets she presented to us were trying very hard to masquerade as plate armor, but she had managed to separate the scorpion carapace into individually crafted scales. This made it remarkably easy for us to move around. Even when wearing the full ensemble, I could twist and bend without any discomfort.
Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.
Yules was oddly evasive about the enchantments she had placed on the sets. The only comment we managed to get out of her was "Like your current armor Hayden, just better." I dropped the inquiries there. I probably didn't want to know how much the enchantments would have cost if we hadn't provided unique materials in exchange for Yules' services.
There was nothing to complain about appearance-wise, either. Whatever Yules had done to process it, the material still resembled glass, but it had taken on a reddish tint that gave our equipment a dash of menace. The scaled motif also lent itself to a naturally fearsome air. From a distance, someone might think Mia and I actually had draconic features.
Yules did grumble a little when she had to pull in my leg and forearm armor so it didn't squish my feathers quite as much, but I believe I paid her back for that by letting her fuss over my wings and feathers.
The demoness was quite taken by my new appendages. I could even swear I caught her pouting about not having wings herself. Of course, I then made the mistake of showing off how I could switch my feathers between perfect downy fluff and sharp metallic death implements, at which point Yules looked at me so hungrily that I tried to hide behind Mia.
That failed. Obviously. Which is how I ended up getting 'persuaded' to part with quite a few of my feathers in the name of experimentation.
I hadn't tested it before, but removing my feathers was an involved process. The first extraction left a large whole in my arm, not to mention resulting in a startling amount of blood. Yules was extremely apologetic… right until we needed to extract another feather. Then she got her game face back on and yanked.
But she did promise me a massive discount on my next order, so… profit?
It wasn't until several hours later, when we had retreated into the backrooms of the shop for more privacy, that Yules finally presented us with her gifts. She had been shooting the long, cloth-wrapped packages furtive glances throughout the day, but seemed to be battling a fair amount of anxiety. Finally, after a few not-so-subtle hints that we would need to leave soon, she caved.
"I know I didn't ask for permission, even if you did leave all the materials with me, but… well, here. You mentioned you needed to upgrade your weapons last time, and I have this uncle, so…"
Though clearly still hesitant, she handed over the two packages. Heart pounding, I very gently unwrapped mine, then felt my breath catch in my throat.
The weapon was beautiful. Not quite on the level of my inherited sword, of course, but it held a charm all its own.
The blade was long, thin, and wickedly sharp. Crafted out of the scorpion carapace we had left with Yules, it gleamed like a precious gem. Runes and sigils adorned its length. They drank in the light and sent it cascading throughout the sword, which made it hard for my eyes to lock onto the weapon. It almost looked like the blade was wavering in and out of reality. I had little doubt that it would be an utter pain for a foe to keep track of in the heat of battle.
The pommel was functional, a simple cross guard that would serve me well, but it came with its own special extra feature. Inserted into the pommel's base was a large citrine. A single rune shone in the gem's depths, swirling in all its multi-dimensional glory and making my magical senses tingle.
Sharpness, whispered a voice at the back of my mind. For a moment, the sword's edges gleamed in a way that sent uncomfortable prickles all over my body.
The sword came with a scabbard, made out of the same Lagyel material as our armor. However, the carapace had been treated in a way that made it almost perfectly see-through, hiding the vein-line enchantments that covered the scabbard. I couldn't figure out what they did.
Thankfully, I had a very chatty Yules right there.
"The swords are much sharper than you might expect, and the nature of the materials used in their forging makes it hard to defend against any attacks you make. The scabbards will be useful, too. They have a hardness enchantment that makes them nearly impossible to damage, and an enchantment of my uncle's making that will slowly repair any sword you put inside them. Oh, and… um… you can soul-bind them, too."
I did so immediately, feeling a rush ripple through my being as I linked to the sword. It was a little more potent than I expected. I stared at my new blade, unable to keep my eyes from shining with glee.
Judging from the look of delighted awe (and not inconsiderable malice) on Mia's face, she was thoroughly taken by the weapons, too.
"Next time I try to stab something, it's going to work." The cat demoness's voice was terrifyingly quiet, and the smile that stretched her lips sent chills down my spine.
Note to self: don't be the thing she wants to stab.
But something else was digging at the back of my mind, preventing me from enjoying my gift fully. Forcing my eyes from the incredible blade, I turned my attention back to Yules.
"These can't have been cheap. Weapons like this… not to mention the armor… it's too much, Yules. We can't just accept them. "
The demoness flushed and waved me off, pointedly not meeting my eyes. "Don't worry about it. Really! My uncle was delighted to work on those, and my mother was hovering the entire time I was making your armor. I think she was jealous."
"Then…" I glanced at Mia. She must have had the same thought as me, because she looked away from her new weapon long enough to shoot me a nod. "Okay. In that case, at least keep the rest of the carapaces."
Emotions warred on our friend's face as she fumbled for words, but she managed to make her protest eventually. "That's too much! There's so much of it left!"
"And we can use none of it," I pointed out. "Not really. I guess we could sell it all, but… well, you'll put it to good use."
"I want you to have it. This sword is amazing," the cat demoness declared. Then, flushing, she hurried to add, "The armor too, of course! I didn't mean that—"
"It's fine." Yules giggled, Passion visibly igniting ever hotter in her eyes. "And thank you. Both of you. I can do so much with that stuff! Oh, you're going to be Mom's favorite customers too, at this point."
She might have been teasing, but frankly? If we managed to make it to that status, I wasn't going to complain. Tibath and Yules had treated us so well already, it was worth putting in the effort to stay on Tibath's good side. It would have made sense even before I knew Tibath was an incredibly high-leveled demonic noble.
With all her personal power added to the mix?
Yep, the materials were an excellent investment.