Cragforge was split into

  three, each part carved into the niches of the canyon. The trade sector was the

  largest of the three, divided into seven floors. Each was connected to the

  other by retractable metal stairs and pulley systems. The trade sector was a

  buzzing space of commerce, one of the life engines of the Forge. It generated

  revenue for the maintenance of the city and connections with the world outside

  the city. The floors were decorated in the colors of the many businesses spread

  all over the sector. It progressed steadily from the shanty shops at the lower

  levels to the multicolored domed buildings at the top where Sam could see major

  weapon stores and many technological marvels.

  Wexi guided him past

  stalls showing constructs made for all kinds of purposes. She led him into one

  such place filled with weapons where a stubby, grey-bearded man grinned at her

  as she approached. Sam moved around, too curious to stay while Wexi spoke to

  the man. He peered at a small ball, smooth except for the deep lines that

  sliced through like deep veins. Golden light shone from the veins. Sam leaned

  close to see that it wasn’t light but something liquid. It flowed about, slowly

  like an animated sea of melted gold.

  “Eternal light,” the man

  called from behind him. He had walked over with Wexi. He gave Sam a look over

  before sidling to stand between him and the platform where the construct was

  placed for interested parties.

  “You,” the man said, his

  face barely veiling the contempt. Sam frowned. “I have heard a few things about

  you, none of them good.”

  “Enough, Kallum,” Wexi

  said, her face still bright with amusement, but her voice carrying the steel of

  authority. The short man adjusted, still not moving from where he guarded his

  construct. He gave Sam a forced smile and nodded to Wexi. Sam cast a curious

  look from the man to Wexi, confusion on his face.

  “They call it Eternal

  light because the glow never runs out,” Wexi said. “Which is a lie, if we are

  being honest.” She chuckled, shaking her head at the short man. Sam took a step

  back away from him.

  “A lie?” He asked. “It

  doesn’t do what it says it does?”

  “It stores a spell,” Wexi

  said. “A light spell. The inside of the construct has a rune of longevity, and

  that lets it last longer than some light stones and constructs. But only

  slightly. The name, however, suggests that it lasts forever.” She turned to Kallum,

  giving him an icy smile. “I thought Alecsa banned all of Liam’s constructs?”

  “Yes, but only the

  unstable ones,” he replied. “And this is not from Cragforge, Wexi. Except you,

  and only if you are working with Fin and Henrich, I don’t think any other

  artificers in the Forge can come up with something like this.” He said proudly.

  Wexi snorted, but she

  didn’t contend his claim. Instead, she asked the question that had been in

  Sam’s mind.

  “Where did you get an

  eternal light then?”

  “Lohan,” he said with a

  grin, and Sam didn’t miss Wexi’s wince. “He brought this and something I think

  you will find interesting. Wait here,” he said and ran down the narrow path of

  his crowded stall. Sam walked over to a dark, long cloak. He stretched to touch

  it, but Wexi pulled him back shaking her head.

  “Most traders don’t like

  their wares touched,” She said, shrugging. “Which makes sense. Many of these

  things are set with strict conditions for usage. You don’t know which you’d

  ruin by touching the wrong part or the influence of your essence. But that is

  called the ghost cloak. Low-grade crafting. But incredible nonetheless. You can

  see the skill of the craftsmanship in it. It has other attributes, but its main

  use is for stealth. As the name implies, you become invisible for a short

  period.” Her face hardened as Kallum returned.

  He looked super excited

  carrying some kind of canvas over his shoulder. It was longer than his entire

  body, but he carried it effortlessly, bringing it before Wexi. They shifted,

  giving him space to put the canvas upright.

  “Lohan has sold you one

  of his old maps, hasn’t he? How much did you pay this time? I bet it was muc—”

  She stopped talking and

  focused on the large parchment Kallum had unrolled halfway. Most of it was

  blotted out by brown stains that looked like the parchment had once been folded

  but now repaired. She moved forward as though unconscious. Her hands stretched

  for the diagrams drawn in black on tea-brown surface. Sam couldn’t tell what he

  was looking at. Most of it was still covered. But he could see spires and

  towers.

  “What is it?” He asked,

  still unsure. He saw specifics and measurements. Wexi ignored him, totally

  absorbed in it. Kallum grinned, looking from Wexi to Sam.

  “Old city plans. Wexi is

  into things like that. Grand systems, ancient thoroughfare designs. I am

  surprised she hasn’t suggested a redesign of Cragforge’s roads and sector

  pattern.”

  “I have. But Alecsa

  thinks this is better. I am hoping to wear her down someday,” Wexi said, taking

  a huge sigh as she fought to take her eyes off the diagrams. Kallum rolled it

  back up, placing it on the floor before her.

  “What do you want for

  it?” Wexi said. “No, before that. What city was that? Whose work were those? I

  wonder how Lohan could find something like that. It must have taken a great

  deal of dedication or many lives to retrieve. I don’t assume he told you where

  he found it?”

  “No, and the price was

  pretty steep, but I knew you would want it,” Kallum said, a grin creeping up

  his face.

  Wexi scoffed, shaking her

  head. “You still haven’t answered my question.”

  Kallum nodded. “There is

  an insignia at the end. V. You know what that means, Wexi?” Kallum asked with a

  smile that told Sam that he’d just pulled Wexi into buying the parchment. Wexi

  nodded.

  “Ruden,” She said. “Grand

  mage of the lost realms” She grinned, suddenly giddy. “How much, Kallum?”

  “A silver seed,” he said.

  Wexi made to haggle, but the short man shook his head. “No negotiations, Wexi.”

  Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

  They walked out of the

  shop some minutes later with Wexi tasking him to deliver the parchment to her

  home. They continued down the road, Wexi’s feet flighty as she led them

  wordlessly. There was an excitement to her, something Sam had come to realize

  was almost always there. She was an aging ball of joy. Very little took that

  happiness away. Not even the possibility that she’d just overpaid for the

  parchment. But Sam had his own problem. Much of what they’d just talked about

  had been confusing for him.

  “What was that about?” he

  asked. “Ruden? Grand mage? Lost realm?”

  The market was not as

  noisy up on the first floor. But it was mind-boggling and colorful. Canopies of

  different colors covered most of the road from the glare of the sun. The air

  was warm, but just enough to feel, not suffer. Wexi pushed in down a thinner

  path to their left.

  “Ruden was a master

  builder. He worked with stone and essence. He built forts and castles and other

  such things. There are stories that some of his works are here, in the world.

  He created battle constructs too, but those are lesser-known works. There are

  stories that he was from one of the forgotten realms, but that might also just

  be tales for depth. I don’t care, really. I have some of his blueprints. Many

  of them have his signature stroke pattern without his insignia. But this will

  be the first time I have seen something of that scale…and with minimal damage.

  I should thank Lohan.

  “I thought you hated

  Lohan. Whoever he is.” Wexi nodded, and Sam waited for the explanation he knew

  was to come. He wasn’t sure where they were going, but the road sloped down,

  leading them to a series of stone steps. Sam felt they were going underground,

  but it only led to a lower floor within the first floor. This one was

  significantly different from the one above, in the sense that no one sold

  anything here.

  Sam heard the hiss and

  clang of machines. There were small factories here, independent crafters and

  artificers. It was beautiful.

  “Lohan is a cutthroat and

  thief. He extorts people for crap they can’t use. You are right that I hate

  him. But Ruden’s works are hard to get. People usually find them in caves or

  rob them from nobles. Lohan sells to Cragforge because it is far from wherever

  he is from. There is no fear of being caught and no reprimands.”

  Sam quietly wondered how

  their language had something for crap, but not rifle.

  “But you will keep the

  Ruden?” he asked and she looked at him like he was stupid. Sam grinned, shaking

  his head. He’d seen hypocrites before, but she was altogether a different kind.

  He decided to leave the matter of the stolen blueprint and asked her the

  questions been wondering about. “Where are we going?”

  “You don’t know how to

  take surprises, hmm?” Sam shrugged. “I am taking you to one of the best

  crafters I know. She might want to help you, or not, but she won’t turn you

  away if I ask her, but I imagine she wouldn’t do that either. She is a curious

  affair and she has a good number of Forge’s eligible men wracking their minds

  for a way to get close to her. So, be careful?”

  Sam nodded. He wasn’t

  sure why she was warning him. He had no interest in romance. He hadn’t even

  thought about it since he landed in this world. But he nodded. Most of the

  people they passed waved at Wexi. Some politely nodded a greeting to him, their

  faces folding into a frown as they tried to figure out who and what he was. Sam

  walked beside Wexi obliviously, pushing them to the back of his mind.

  “Why can’t you teach me?”

  He asked her, as they came to a stop in front of a small wooden door. She

  knocked twice. No one answered from the inside, but minutes later the door

  groaned as it was pulled inward. Someone stood on the other side of the threshold,

  glaring at Wexi. Silence stretched between the two women until Wexi grinned and

  the other woman did so too. Wexi pulled her into a fierce embrace.

  “I heard you have a

  student now, Wexi,” the woman said, turning to Sam. She was younger than Wexi,

  probably in her late twenties. Her eyes were just as smoldering though, burning

  as though she was a living unit of life and vitality. “You didn’t take him just

  because he is good-looking, did you?”

  “He is?” Wexi asked. Both

  women turned to give Sam an appraising look. He smiled, too stunned by the

  progression of events to say anything. “If he shaves the beard and cuts his

  hair just a bit, I guess he’d look alright.”

  They both laughed when

  Sam frowned, glaring at Wexi. She turned back to the other woman, still holding

  her hand. If Sam hadn’t known Wexi didn’t have children, he would have assumed

  the other woman was her daughter.

  “Ro, I need your help

  with him but we can’t talk out here,” Wexi said. Ro gestured for them to follow

  her in. She wore a large robe, which she held up slightly. The room inside was

  small, scarcely furnished but comfortable. A blue, cushioned mat lay in the

  middle which the woman Wexi had called Ro settled into, her robe spread about

  her, covering her legs. Long strips of thin, black threads were arranged on a

  table behind her. She gestured for them to take the only cushioned chair in the

  room, which Wexi sat on gingerly.

  “You have cleaned up,”

  Wexi noted. Ro grinned.

  “I had to at some point,”

  she said, turning to Sam with a curious look. Her hair was tied back in a

  cinch, brown and curly. Freckles dusted her otherwise perfectly angled face.

  When she stared at him, Sam felt compelled to stare back, her eyes were inquisitive,

  searching, interested. Sam gave her a grin, one he hoped didn’t seem creepy.

  Wexi spoke, pulling Ro’s attention to her. Sam was grateful for the

  distraction. For a moment he was worried he’d created an awkwardness.

  “You heard of the man

  they saved from the D’Araks?” Wexi asked. Ro nodded. “This is him. His name is

  Samuel Ayer. Samuel Ayer, this is Rosaria. My friend and the only one I allowed

  to be my victim under the pretense of learning from me.”

  “I did suffer,” Rosaria

  said, grinning. She gave Sam a curt nod and turned back to Wexi. “And you want

  me to teach…what?” She asked, skeptical. Her hands ran along the surface of her

  robe. Sam wondered if she was anxious, or just displeased. He hoped it was the

  former. He was excited to learn, but he was also desperate. His last blunder

  had brought to the fore an ugly truth. He knew nothing about anything. He’d

  been using brute force for everything since he got to the island, and now he

  needed real knowledge. Something ordinary intuition and blind desperation

  couldn’t help him work through.

  “Crafting,” Wexi said,

  grinning. “Your crafting is one of the finest in the Forge. He has an

  interesting ability too.” She shrugged. “And this might help you with your

  other problem.”

  “Wexi!” Rosaria called,

  alarmed. “I don’t know if I am skilled enough to teach anyone else. And I can

  take care of…that, myself.” She looked about to redden and explode. She glanced

  at Sam, moving her gaze away when she saw that he was staring.

  “Don’t sell yourself

  short, dear,” Wexi smirked. “You make the fabrics for Sunni and Zel’s armor,

  yes? And Alecsa has one or two of your coats. The stitch, the padding, and the

  fact that they are all made from metals. They are completely durable and when

  enchanted or amplified with runes, they carry amazing attributes. You are

  perfect for what I need him to learn. And you don’t have to do much. I need him

  to learn the basics. His appraisal skill helps him with basic data, but I need

  him to recognize more than that. He needs to know about his material’s

  constitution, consistency, integrity, and properties.”

  “Why can’t he use the log

  in the archives?”

  “He will,” Wexi said,

  grinning. “Your teaching him will only be part of what he needs to know. And of

  course, he will pay.”

  “I will?” Sam asked.

  “Of course,” Wexi said,

  chuckling. “To pay, you will do jobs.”

  “Oh no,” Rosaria said at

  the same time Sam asked what kind of jobs.

  “All kinds,” Wexi said.

  “You need the tools to survive, don’t you? But first, let’s have Rosaria accept

  you.” Wexi turned to Rosaria. There was a brief look of intense contemplation

  on her face. Finally, she nodded, and Wexi clapped, startling the other two in

  the room.

  “Good! You begin

  tomorrow!”