“Bill!”

“Fred!” The two dwarf-like crafters hugged and cried, Rickerd dashing back and forth trying to fill up a cart.

“That’s great, it really is. But think you mind helping us out with this order? The boss got a huge list form the Cygnus higher-ups. They heard about some huge army coming this way, but no one’s seen anything to confirm it.” he said.

“I saw it! I saw it, a huge army of orcs, all of them slobbering and bloodthirsty, with gamebreaking levels, ready to tear the entire city apart!” Fred claimed.

“Yeah, right.” Rickerd said, going back to the cart.

“It’s true!”

“Everybody knows the orcs spawn in the southern plains. The game’s glitches aren’t that bad.” Rickerd dismissed.

“No, it’s true! I was put in an indestructible cage, and that guy had to Metal Gear Solid his way to the key, and there was a magic barrier miles long…” Fred followed him into the other room, trying to convince the skeptic clerk. Alex shook his head.

“Vell, that’s over and done vith. And I believe that ve, or rather I, am owed payment?” he asked Bill with a shrewd look in his eye. He laughed and smacked Allocrax’s back.

“O’course lad, o’course! Now tha’ m’bro’s back, I got the gumption ta make somthin’ special! But wha’ kinda sword canneh make fer yeh? What kinda mater’als y’got?”

“Unfortunately, we neglected to grab any.” the vampire sighed, then Lina smacked his shoulder.

“Hey, what about that fang I gave you? That’d work, wouldn’t it?” she said. He blinked.

“This?” He pulled the mossbear tooth form his inventory. Bill’s eyes lit up when he saw its’ stats.

“Ah! A fine ingred’ent lad, and fair work lassie! Anythin’ from a mossbear’s super rare, must’a taken yeh weeks teh get it!”

“Actually, I just stumbled across it.” she admitted, scratching her head in embarrassment.

“Vill this vork for a good svord?” Alex asked doubtfully.

“Mmm. Well, it wunna be anyhtin’ like the lasses’ over there, but I kin make yeh summat good. Wi’ mossbear fang, it’ll be harder’n normal, an’ since I got a high lev’l, eh should translate ta at least a +10 ta STR, mebbe more.” he said. Lina shook her head; that ridiculous inflection made it so she could barely get half of what he said. She didn’t know how Alex did it.

“Very vell. Perhaps a sturdy shortsvord, that vill fit my avatar nicely. I’ve got less reach, the veapon must be properly balanced for peak effectiveness. Yes, a slightly longer shortsvord, or a shorter lonsvord, that vill do.” Alex said, nodding to himself. Then again, Lina considered, he probably had experience vith thick accents. She grabbed her head in frustration. Now he had her doing it!

“Methinks yeh know more aboot this stuff irl than I do.” Bill said, and Alex winked. “Hah, but I kin do better’n tha’ in RFO! One sword, comin’ up!” He placed the tooth and a block of iron into a strange-looking pot covered in gaskets, knobs, and dials. He began to fiddle with them, when a boot sailed through the air and clocked him right between the eyes. -1.

“Don’t touch it, youuuuaaahhh-! Dwarf wannabe.” A tall, well-endowed woman with short black hair yawned and sauntered down the steps, smacking her lips and giving Bill a sullen glare.

“B-B-Boss!” he said, bolting upright.

“Don’t you ‘boss’ me, wannabe. I heard about Fred, glad to see he’s back. I’ve been worried.”

“Eh, yeah boss, everything’s fine now! I promised ‘em a sword in return, he wanted a simple design and doesn’t have much money.” Bill said, the accent gone. She looked at the group, then sniffed.

“Alright. Fred’s one of us, one of mine, so I owe ‘em too for saving him. Let me take care of the debt.” she said haughtily.

“Vhat is going on?” Alex whispered to Jamie.

“T-That’s Maulgor, one of the top ten highest-level players! She’s the best item crafter in RFO, she can create stuff better than rare drops!” he said in wonder, eyes shining.

“*Bleep* straight kid, and don’t you forget it.” Maulgor said, grinning. She went over and looked Alex up and down. “You the one with the order?”

“Uh, yes madam…” he said uncertainly.

“Hmph. Sword, right? You did us a solid, so I’ll do you one. Bill! Get me some breakfast! The Cygnus guys had me up all night with their orders and reports!” she commanded.

“Yes ma’am!” He bustled off into the kitchen, Fred and Rickerd staying out of her way. She opened the pot.

“Hmph. Bill’s good, but only been playing two months. He doesn’t have the levels to make something…special.” She smiled dangerously. She kicked open a cabinet, and took out an herb and what looked like a pepper grinder. “Heh, yeah, that could work. Mossbear fang’s not really any better than a standard bear, but it is certainly rarer. And though it’s not good for stats, since it’s so rare, we can make something good out of it. Yeah…how much gold did you say you had? What level are you?” Maulgor asked, her arms filled with jars and ingredients.

“Uh…level 15, I have…”

“Got it, need something that’ll last…hmm, razor gator teeth would add stats, but we don’t have any to spare…deadwing scales we could certainly spare, no, that wouldn’t do anything…” She muttered and bustled around the pot, her eyes bright. Literally, as the crafting stats appeared and disappeared in her vision. “Hey Fred! They saved your *bleep*, got any drake claws to repay ‘em with?” she called, adding a dollop of what looked like shampoo to the concoction. The pit hissed and started to rattle, Alex, Lina, And Jamie all taking a step back.

“This’s just a little side project, doesn’t get anything fancy, boring but that can be elegant, just gotta...” Maulgor trailed off as she twisted knobs and examined dials. “Someone! Get me more firewood from out back! We need more heat!” she shouted, pointing randomly as Jamie, who nearly fell over.

“M-Me? B-But I-”

“Hurry up! NOW!” she hollered, and he fell over himself trying to get out and fetch wood. She took an iron poker and stirred the pot one way, then the other three times.

“Is this forging a veapon or a vitch’s brew?” Alex said.

“Littl’a both, in this game.” Maulgor said absently, hitting the timing of the crafting system with practiced ease. The metal was red hot, and sparks and blue smoke started to emanate from the pot. “More wood!”

“Here!” Jamie burst in, staggering under the weight of the log stack. Lina started feeding them to the fire.

“Good! Stop there. We need a constant heat, until-aha!” The metal melted, filling the pot with virtual molten steel. “Right!” She twisted knobs and pressed a button. The fire went out, and she took a pair of heavy tongs and lifted a rectangular block of cooling metal into the air, grinning like a maniac before shoving it into a tub of water. Steam filled the room as she took it out. Grabbing a hammer, she set it on a workbench. “Love this part. Hey you, c’mere and help me.” She beckoned Alex over and handed him a large, heavy spike. “Could you hold it over this, right here?”

“Madam, are you doing vhat I think-”

CLANG!

She swung down, hitting the spike into the lump, cracking it open. The center was still hot and molten. Grabbing it with the tongs and sweeping the steel cocoon away, she began hammering in a specific pattern. The oblong molten object soon began to stretch and solidify, digitizing into a straight sword, the blade two and a half feet long with a leather-wrapped hilt. Maulgor smiled as she examined it.

“There you go. Try it out, it should be balanced to your avatar’s specifications. Bill wouldn’t have taken that into account, he would’a just made it.” she said, tossing Alex the sword.

“Hey, vatch it-” He grabbed it by the hilt, and froze, mouth open. It was a perfect fit. Almost in a daze, he tightened and loosened his grip, the blade swinging with the smallest motion. His wrist almost felt simply like another joint for this weapon, swinging as easily as his hand, but with enough heft and weight he felt like he could cut through a brick wall. He gently swished it through the air, hearing the wind part before the blade.

“Madam, this…this is spectacular. This is exactly vhat I’ve been looking for. And not just in this game. How…how did you do this?” he said, marveling at it, unable to look away.

“Psssh, it’s easy. My dad’s a blacksmith, he’s made custom stuff like that for years. I’m gonna be doing it too after I finish up college, gonna get my metallurgy degree and be official. RFO’s crafting system is a similar, dumbed-down system like that. Too easy, especially if you got a high level. It’s got +10 STR and +5 SPD, with the Increased Hardness feature. It’s not indestructible, so be careful, but normal wear and tear’ll do nothing to it. My thanks for getting my man back. Speaking of…FRED! What took so long!? You missed it, even if you had drake claws we couldn’t use ‘em!” she shouted up the stairs.

“Sorry! I didn’t have any drake claws, to be honest-” he explained, coming down with a box.

“WHAT! We have a contract to fill with the Raucous Rats in two weeks, we need those claws!” Maulgor exploded.

“Plenny’a time t’get ‘em, plenny’a time!” he said desperately, then turned to Alex. Since I can’t really give yah any weapons as personal thanks, yer welcome to look through my extra inventory for any gear or junk that yeh need.”

“Are you sure? This is qvite generous.” Alex asked, eyebrow raised.

“Nag, dunnae worry ‘bout it. This’s all gear that were duplicate drops or too low-level, was just gonna sell it for pocket change anyway. And, forgive me, you look like you could use it.” Fred said, eyeing Alex’s nonmagical garments up and down, nothing providing stats. Alex frowned, eye twitching.

“Very vell. Thank you for your generosity.” he said, unflinchingly polite even as he rummaged through the contents.

“You guys’re welcome to help yourselves as well, if you see anything you like.” Fred offered to the other two.

“Ah, thank you, I’ll check but mages don’t really get stats from armor…” Jamie said, casting a doubtful look.

“I’m good with my current setup, thanks. ‘Sides, I didn’t do much. He’s the one who risked his butt to free you.” Lina said.

“At last, something that’s vaguely stylish.” Alex held up a long, black, plain-looking coat.

“Ah, a Dash Coat. +10 TGH, +5 SPD. Not a bad choice, but I’m a tank.” Fred said. Alex threw it around his shoulders, but couldn’t roll the tight sleeves around his bracers. Sighing, he unequipped then reequipped the Shadow Bracers, but then shifted uncomfortably. “Blast it!” The bracers tugged at the sleeves, either dragging his shoulders down or pulling the bracers into his elbow. “Too much nonsense.” Taking his knife, he ripped the sleeves off and tossed them into the trash can. “Forgive me, but this vill suit me more than any of the other armor I’ve seen. Apparently I am to focus on STR and SPD, everything else is too uncomfortable or cuts SPD. This vill suffice. And these.” he added, pocketing a couple of common +1 knives. You could never have too many knives.

“Hey man, yours now.” Fred said, shrugging.

“Looks good.” Lina said.

“The black coat and red eyes suit you, though a little too edgelord for my tastes.” Maulgor dismissed. Alex blinked.

“Edgelord?” He shook his head. “Anyvay, thank you very much for the veapons and the Dash Coat. I promise to use them vell.”

“No prob, least we could do. By the way, you come from Transylvania or something? You’ve got a strange accent for an American server.” Maulgor said. He sighed.

“Yes, I am originally from Europe. A small village near the Romanian border, I have heard all the vampire jokes before.” he said tiredly. He really had, especially from that jerk Tarkov. That idiot did it to annoy him, he was sure of it. How the years had not ground that fool’s sense of ‘humor’ to dust Alex would never understand.