Theo turned to Telsa. “That was incredibly rude.”

Telsa crossed her arms, glaring at the door. “Yeah, the fuck is his problem?”

“Well, I’m going to try again,” Theo said, knocking on the door - lighter than Telsa’s aggressive variation.

“He already said he’s closed Theo,” Telsa said, turning around. “Why don’t we come back in the morning maybe he’ll be less grump-”

The door opened again. “I told ye, I’m closed.” Wide, octopus eyes stared at Theo through the cracked door.

“Neniramli, I finished the dagger!” Theo said before the chosen blacksmith could close the door again.

Just as the door began to slide closed once more, it stopped, and opened fully. Neniramli put several arms on his hip. “Did ye now, lad? I was beginnin’ te think ye absconded with me work.”

“O-Of course not!” Theo said, sifting through his bag once more. “If you give me just one moment I can find it and-”

“...Jest come in, lad,” Neniramli eyed Telsa. “You too, lass.”

Telsa scoffed, but followed Theo inside, mumbling about rude blacksmiths and what she’d do with his hammer right about now.

Inside, Theo remembered one important factor. The water. Neniramli’s house was flooded in shin-deep water.

“What’re ye waitin’ fer?” Neninramli asked, arms in his hip once more.

“Um, just one moment,” Theo said, pulling his shoes and socks off. He rolled up his pant legs too, doing his best to keep them in place. He could tell one of them was going to keep creeping down on him, though.

“I’ll just… wait on the platform, Theo,” Telsa said, leaning against the wall. She gestured downward. “These pants are too tight for me to roll them up and I don’t want them to reek of metal later.”

“The metal’s good for ye, lass,” Neniramli grumbled, sloshing over to a table. “I change the water daily, I’ll have ye know.”

“That’s… reassuring,” Theo said as he stepped into the water. He’d forgotten how warm it was last time he visited.

Neniramli touched a magic light above his table, turning it on. The glass orb let off a soft glow, bathing the table in white light. “C’mere, lad. Let’s see yer work.”

Theo glanced at Telsa. She nodded to him, smiling. He continued to the table, taking a seat across from the blacksmith. To his relief, the chair was high enough that his feet were out of the water.

With great care, Theo pulled the dagger out of his bag, laying it on the table for inspection.

Neniramli picked it up, unsheathing it. He eyed Theo once, and began to pore over every rune, silver light glowing in his eyes.

“I-I was hoping to show you more of my creations,” Theo said, his voice quivering with nerves. If he was going to make enough money to help Adam, a deal like this was crucial. Weapons were a huge lacking area in his shop.

The blacksmith mumbled something unintelligible while he continued to twist and turn the dagger in his arms.

Sweating, then. That’s what Theo would do until the man finished his inspection. His feet kicked back and forth nervously until the blacksmith fixed him in place with a glare.

Seconds turned into minutes before Neniramli finished. He hadn’t taken nearly as long on the other work Theo had shown him. At last, he set the dagger down.

Theo stared at him, waiting. He scooted closer in his chair.

“It’s good work, lad,” Neniramli said, sliding the dagger back toward Theo. “Ye have impressed me. I looked fer a flaw, and there was naught. That I could see, anyway. Yer formulae are impressive. I recognize a man with an eye for craft in ye. It’s a deal.”

Sitting up straighter, Theo’s face lit up. “Really? You’ll supply me weaponry to enchant?”

“I said I would, didn’t I?” Neniramli asked, fixing his eyes on Theo. “We can work out the details later. Yer too soft to be underhanded.”

Theo blinked, tilting his head. “...Thank you?”

Neniramli waved an arm. “Don’t mention it. Now, ye said ye had more te show me?”

“Oh, yes,” Theo said, his heart still racing with exhilaration. He rifled through the contents of the bag once again, items clattering against one another.

“I have…” Theo said, pulling out the first of many. The first was a small, hollow cylinder of steel. “I realized before I hadn’t shown you most of my more… lethal creations.”

Neniramli nodded. “Go on, lad.”

“Right,” Theo said, giving Neniramli the best view of the tool as he could. “Well, I call this the Air Lance. It rapidly pulls in air, compressing it, and fires it out the other end. I’ve been able to puncture large stones several feet deep in close-range testing.”

The blacksmith nodded, cupping under his beak. “Aye, impressive, lad. Could modify that fer a spear to improve the piercing power.”

Theo’s eye’s lit up. “Yes! That’s a brilliant idea! I had also wondered, do you make armor? I believe enchanting armor would be something I could be quite proficient at. My family’s books have quite the number of durability enchantments.”

“I make it all, lad,” Neniramli said, nodding. “I can have a few samples of each of me wares delivered to yer shop in the mornin’.”

“That would be wonderful,” Theo said, leaning forward.

An arm pushed him back, several suction cups making a pop as they detached. “Don’t get too flowery on me, lad. I just sense yer potential. Tell me more about these enchantments.”

Theo rubbed at his face, the sensation of the suction cups had been odd. “Well, I do have an interesting experimental piece…” He sifted through the bag, pulling out a large metal spike.

“You pierce it into the monster… I was thinking of combining it with the Air Lance, in fact, and it causes all loose stones in the vicinity to fly at the target at high speeds,” Theo said, running a finger over the metal. “It should crush most non-armored foes and potentially even break the armor of others.”

“And you uh… brought this with you for self-defense, Theo?” Telsa asked from across the room.

“Oh!” Theo said, waving his hands. “Goodness, no. I brought my normal self defense tools with me… provided I could find them. Hm.”

“Fair enough,” Telsa said, shrugging. She scooted down the wall to sit on the stone platform. “You two have fun chatting.”

Theo turned back to Neniramli. “So, there’s one I haven’t created yet but I had this idea…”

“This enchantment would focus light through a lens,” Theo said, placing his hands on the table. “I got the idea from my Light Orb I have at home. If I were to use amplification runes, and possibly change the shape of the glass - this would require some testing - I could create a beam of light that burns whatever it’s fired at.”

Neniramli shrugged. “Sounds like a complicated Light Ray spell to me.”

“It is! But you see, the focusing of the light would cause it to be far more mana-efficient.”

Neniramli cupped under his beak with an arm. “I see what ye mean… could add it to a spear. With a glass spearhead.”

Theo frowned. “You’ve suggested a spear for the last five enchantments I told you about.”

“I suppose ye could put it on a lance,” Neniramli said, shrugging again.

Theo sighed.

“Theo, I want to go home,” Telsa croaked, looking at him blearily from the floor - where she’d been for hours.

For the first time in a while, Theo glanced out the window. It was night. Much darker than when he’d arrived. “Oh goodness, I hadn’t realized the time! I’m sorry, Neniramli, I should really be-”

“Yer fine, lad,” Neniramli said, waving him off. “I need sleep meself. I’ll have yer new stock at yer shop by midday.”

Theo bowed, walking toward the door. “Thank you so much. I’ll make sure to turn us both a massive profit!”

“That’s what I was hopin’ te hear,” the blacksmith said, tipping his drink toward Theo.

“Are you ready, Telsa?” Theo asked, stepping back onto the stone platform. He shook his feet a few times.

“I’ve been ready,” she said, standing up. Several pops and cracks followed as she stretched.

“Okay just… one moment,” Theo said, clamping his mind down on his mana pool. “Broomgust.”

Winds coursed around Theo’s feet as he focused the spell toward them. It took about a minute of casting as Telsa glared at him, but his feet were soon dry.

“Have a nice night, Neniramli!” Theo said, pulling his shoes back on.

Telsa was already out the door by the time he laced up his second shoe.

“Telsa, wait for me!” Theo shouted, chasing after her.

She turned around, crossing her arms. “Like I waited for you, for… I don’t even know how many hours?”

Theo stopped in his tracks, heat flushing his face. “Oh, was it really that long? I-”

“It’s fine, you made a business deal,” Telsa said, turning and walking once more. “I’m just… tired. And antsy to get back to some action.” She clenched a fist.

“I apologize, Telsa,” Theo said, falling into step next to her. “I didn’t intend to take so long I just- it’s hard to find people to talk about enchanting with.”

“Seriously, Theo,” Telsa said, meeting his eyes. “It’s not a problem just… maybe visit him in the morning next time so I don’t have to stay to walk you home?”

Theo stared at the ground, his cheeks still burning. “I can certainly do that next time.”

“Hey,” Telsa said, grabbing his chin and bringing his face level once more. She smiled at him. “We’re one step closer to having Adam fixed up. I’m just-” She sighed. “Getting impatient.”

“Well, for now, this is yours,” Theo said, handing her the dagger. “Don’t even think about paying me anything for it. You broke your others saving my life. If there’s another dagger in Neniramli’s shipment, which there probably will be, I’ll make you a second. You can even pick which one you want if there’s multiple. I’m… sure he’ll understand. I hope.”

Telsa’s eyes shimmered in the moonlight. She pulled Theo into a hug. “My old daggers were so shitty anyway. Thank you, thank you, thank you.”

A small chirp from inside Theo’s bag brought his attention back. “Tirr! I forgot you were in my bag this whole time. How did I not notice you when I was pulling out enchantments- Ah, the vest. Of course.”

Tirr popped his head out from inside a vest in Theo’s bag. The cold night air hit his face and he plunged back into the depths of the bag.

Telsa chuckled, shaking her head.

“...I had wondered how the vest got in my bag,” Theo said, closing the bag up. “Come to think of it… is this even my vest? I don’t recognize it. But it could be the lighting I suppose.”

“Probably just the lighting,” Telsa said, staring up at the sky. “You can check when I get you to your house. Let’s hurry, I’m tired.” Her pace increased.

“Darn these short legs…” Theo muttered, following after her.

At his shop, Theo almost left his bag on the floor, but decided against it. Unpacking it, an unhappy Tirr made annoyed noises at him until he tucked the zilant into his vest pile in his room.

Afterward, he began to put away all the items he’d shown Neniramli one by one. He was too excited to sleep right away, anyway. At the bottom of the bag, he found the vest again. In light of the magical lamps in his shop, he frowned.

“This… isn’t my vest.” He glanced in the direction of his room - realizing the creature that slept within. A creature notorious for hoarding items. And now he’d realized Tirr’s hoard-focus.

“Oh dear.”