Chapter 12 || Tinky's Magical Pixiedust

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We spent the next few days coming up with a plan

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We spent the next few days coming up with a plan. Kieran was back, which complicated things. I had hoped to have more time to sort this mess out. The problem was that I couldn't even contact him without a horde of bounty hunters intervening.

Besides, including him of course meant handing over the reins and sitting back as he stepped up to solve my problems. Wasn't this the exact reason I had left the guild? I was perfectly capable of taking care of myself.

Enough of this.

Taking a deep breath, I stopped overthinking and washed up quickly. After changing into fresh clothes that Ty got for me, I left my hair to dry and stepped back into the living area, feeling more like myself again.

However, Ty was nowhere in sight. After probing around a bit, I found a staircase leading down to the basement, and a metallic clang rang out from below.

I made my way downstairs and, after a few turns, I found him leaning over a workbench inspecting a small object in his hands. The room was loaded with all types of weapons, but that wasn't even the strangest part. It was basically built like a forge.

When I got to the bottom of the stairs, he turned around, grinning at me. He was holding a dagger. But this wasn't just your ordinary dagger. Fine delicate runes were etched along the blade, two of them were brimming with energy while the other two lay dormant.

"I think I still owe you a weapon," he said.

I took the knife from his hand to inspect it more closely. It was easy to tell that the craftmanship was exquisite. There was a small mark at the end of the handle. A mark that I was very familiar with but hadn't seen much of.

Vulcan's mark.

My mouth fell open before I looked up at him, and my eyes automatically narrowed in suspicion. I flicked the dagger around, its sharp end now pointing towards his chest accusingly. "This is Vulcan's mark."

"Mhm...yes" He agreed easily as if it was no big deal. He had a mischievous glint in his eyes as he watched me process this new tidbit of information.

Vulcan was the blacksmith in the eastern state. His items were of such high quality that only lucky, very rich, or very well-connected people had even seen any of his work. The reason his goods were regarded so highly was the quality of the runic inscription. Like all things, there was a limit to the amount and quality of runes that could be inscribed on any weapon. Only a handful of blacksmiths had the ability to procure anything that contained more than two runes without the object breaking. He inscribed four. On a knife.

My brother's spear was loaded with three runes. Three. And it was way bigger.

Ty leaned forward innocently as he pointed at the two runes that were still blank. "I was thinking it'd be best if you would charge these yourself. It usually produces a better result."

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