Chapter 2 — Undeserving
After almost falling out of his chair, Ren recollected himself from the reverie of awakening.
To simply describe the sensation, it felt amazing. Almost like a part of him finally woke up—which, in a sense, was true.
With a simple gesture, he waved his hand and a window appeared in front of him.
That's so cool. He grinned, opening and closing the window a few times for the hell of it.
It didn’t even block his vision, somehow. Hell, he didn’t even have to look at the window to be aware of exactly what was on it.
Now, let’s see what I got… He expanded the only essence he had into a full window.
Ether! I totally forgot about ether! Ren realized as he looked at himself and finally noticed the sensation of ether flowing in his body.
Turbulent yet weightless ether flowed throughout his body. Ren knew it was possible to control ether, but he had no idea how.
Putting aside the topic of ether control, there was the advent of his essence ability. His very first essence ability!
Random temporary ability… He read, putting a hand to his chin. It was an interesting ability, yes, but it sounded… unreliable?
Ren sighed as he figured testing it was probably the only real way to tell. With a command of his spirit, the Essence began pulling in Ether.
Oh wow, I can feel it flowing. Ren observed before letting the ability trigger with the small amount of ether it had gathered.
The next moment, all sensation in his right arm vanished.
Immediately raising the limb, he saw that his arm had been turned entirely into water, the motion making it ripple, warp, and distort from its rough arm-like form.
Staring at the limb in awe, he tried touching it with his still-solid left hand, watching as the liquid of his right was displaced around it.
Examining it further, his right arm simply ended in a painless stump where the water arm began. The sight gave Ren pause as the prospect of losing his arm shocked him for a moment.
It did say temporary… so this might not be permanent. He reasoned, hoping that he hadn’t just become a sudden—and involuntary—amputee.
Aside from his concerns about permanent bodily alteration, his water arm was able to be moved just like his natural one. Though, he did notice that the end whipped around if he moved it too fast.
Just as quickly as it appeared, his right arm transformed back with water giving way to flesh and blood before his very own eyes.
The childish part of him wanted to giggle with glee, but his slightly more mature side won out as he considered this test of his.
It didn’t last very long, nor transform very much of his body. Though, that could probably be attributed to the small amount of ether it had been supplied.
After all, the description did say “potency and duration scale with the ether provided,” which tracked with his one and only test.
As for his arm not being permanently missing, he could probably thank the stabilizing aspect of it. Otherwise his arm might not have transformed back—or the stump would’ve been a gaping wound, bleeding like crazy.
Which means I’m safe from the worst of what a random effect could be. He concluded, assured in his safety using Scramble.
Raising his arm, he tried triggering Scramble for a second time. This time allowing more ether to fill the ability until it took no more. Now let’s see how powerful you can be! He cackled internally.
Releasing his full-power scramble, for a moment, nothing happened. Perhaps it was a dud? He questioned.
Then, the light of a million suns flashed across the room, searing into his retinas before he could even blink.
Reeling in pain, he stumbled backwards, knocking over his chair along with several items on his desk.
“Fuckin’ shit!” He cursed, trying to not stumble around any further lest he damage something. Blinking as the lingering spots in his vision took far longer to fade than he’d like.
A knock caused him to jump as a concerned Glenda stood worried outside his door. “Ren, are ya okay?”
“Gods dammit… Yeah! I’m fine!” He shouted back. “Don’t worry!” He quickly added.
“...Okay.” Glenda replied through the door, clearly unconvinced but not touching the subject any further.
With his vision at least partially returned, he moved to pick up the chair. “Fuckin’ hell, stupid… Scramble.”
Sure, it SEEMED fine on the second test, but then it fucking blinded him?! Part of him wanted to throw the chair but he settled on firmly planting it in front of his desk with an audible thud.
Sighing, he kneeled and scooped up his bag before collecting the spilled coin. Coppers only of course, he didn’t store anything more valuable than a silver in his bag.
After all, bags are the first thing a thief steals. No, he kept his most valuables in his scarf. Who the hell would steal his scarf? Nobody, that’s who.
Though… readjusting his scarf, he realized that currently—there were no coins there. He was broke.
That’s right… He picked up the unsigned slip. The job was suspicious as shit but also would’ve made bank—Enough money to skip town, even.
“Fucking Merchant Association…” he cursed under his breath, remembering exactly why he needed to skip town.
When he was first trying to get a job he found himself blocked out by literally every employer. He didn’t realize why for a long time. For years he thought he was just undesirable and unhireable.
But no. No, it was something far more insidious. He was blacklisted. By who? Those motherFUCKING COCKSUCKING MERCHANT ASSOCIATION DICKWEEDS-
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Ren stopped himself, taking a breath to calm down for a moment. Oh, he made it EVERYONE's problem when he first found out. It was actually what got him kicked out of the orphanage.
Was beating the shit out of the merchant association representative cathartic? Fuck yes. Did it put the orphanage in a bad enough spot to have to expel Ren? Also yes.
Could you blame him? Being told to your face you’re blacklisted for nothing? Yeah, they didn’t even LIST a FUCKING REASON-
Again, he had to take a breath. He had to stop thinking about it or he’d really throw his chair. Poor Glenda didn’t deserve to have her furniture destroyed.
Finally picking up the Essence Container that previously held Scramble, he stared at the clamshell box. Wonder if I could sell this.
Though it did remind him, he did have an essence now… What exactly did it change when the damn thing just blinded him?
It did mean he was awakened, which supposedly made people naturally stronger. While he didn’t feel stronger it didn’t mean he wasn’t.
Then there was another association he had to consider. The Delver Association. They only had two conditions for registration.
One was to be awakened—which he now was. And the other was to be assessed by an existing and partnered party in your first delve.
As for why that even mattered? Well, it meant he could go to the place where the confident and desperate go.
The Dungeon.
Well, specifically the dungeon in Wilmshire. Dubbed the ‘Metallic Depths’.
It was notorious as it was the center of the Wilmshire economy. Who knew magical metal was a good export, right?
If he were to delve it a couple times, perhaps he could build up the funds to skip town. Oh! Or he could just live here without needing to leave? It would mean he’d have a consistent source of funds after all…
Setting the essence container on his desk, he felt like he had hope again. As if the funk he’d been in ever since he learned about the merchant association was coming to an end.
Jumping into bed he couldn’t stop grinning. He had a path again. No longer just an idle hope that the merchant association hadn’t banned him elsewhere. No, he might be able to live here!
It was a dream come true as his eyes lidded close, and he drifted off to dreamland proper.
Ren stood in front of the “Rodrigo’s” smithy. The man wasn’t creative but Ren knew he had good work from the glimpses he'd caught during deliveries
With the very few coppers he had left he was hoping to maybe get a scrap knife he was unsatisfied with or something. Anything to defend him from the monsters of the dungeon.
Passing through the curtain with an attached bell jingling, he was met by merely the displays the store had to offer. The man himself wasn’t present as the grinding of metal could be heard, like the sharpening of an axe, perhaps.
Looking over the smithy’s stock he stared in awe at the beautiful blades on display, with their ornate decorations and shining edges.
One set caught his eye as they were a sibling pair of daggers, ‘Sol and Noct’, apparently both were infused with an Essence ability each. Add onto their beautiful sun and moon designs? They were so cool looking. Just imagining himself holding them was epic.
Though the price tag was… quite outside of his budget. I am never, EVER affording those, god damn.
“I see my work has yer rapt attention.” A gruff voice called out from behind as Ren leaped back and collided with the brick wall of a man.
“Oh shit, sorry!” He quickly apologized, back pedaling into the display stand—Thankfully not knocking anything over.
“Don’t sweat it, kid.” He scratched his neck. “...Anyways, what’re ya doin’ here? I ain’t ordered nuthin’ so that clearly ain’t it.”
“O-Oh! Yeah, um…” Ren looked back at the sibling daggers. “I was looking for a weapon…?”
Rodrigo peered around Ren with a raised eyebrow. “A bit outta yer price range, ain’t it?”
Ren frantically waved his hands. “No, no! Absolutely not! I meant something uh… cheaper?”
Rodrigo put a hand on Ren’s shoulder. “Kid, if it’s for self defense, yer gonna want something ye can rely on. Not cheap or overpriced garbage.”
“Er, uh, actually…” Ren nervously looked down. “It’s… for the dungeon.” He shamefully admitted.
Rodrigo’s stare hardened as Ren felt a glint in his eyes. “...Yer kidding, right?”
“I uh… need the money.” Ren admitted, reaching into his bag and pulling out every copper he had. “Can this get me anything?”
Rodrigo closed his eyes and snatched Ren’s hand, causing the coins to fall to the ground. “Yer comin’ with me.” He declared as he dragged Ren away to the back of the shop.
Being shoved into the smithy proper, the sweltering heat caused beads of sweat to dot Ren’s skin.
“Euh… It’s hot here…” He complained while rubbing his wrist. “And you didn’t need to manhandle me…”
“Shaddup, brat.” Rodrigo fired back, walking up to a grinding wheel and picking up something before tossing it towards Ren.
“Wha-eh?!” He flinched as a blade was spinning towards him, only his awakened reflexes saving him as he caught it mid-air. “The hell was that for?!” He shouted.
Ignoring Ren, Rodrigo began to monologue. “Yesterday, I was inspired. Inspired to make somethin’.” He explained as he walked around to one of the numerous shelves in his workshop.
“It was somethin’ I felt would ease my heart. To redeem myself somewhat.” He sorted through the junk shelf by shelf.
“And now? Now ye hold my work. My finest work yet.” He walked back around to Ren.
Hearing this, Ren held up the knife. “Hey! If this is your finest work then I can’t just take it!”
“It’s yers.” He insisted, crossing his arms.
Ren held up another palm to the blade. “I mean, I couldn’t take care of it even if I wanted to. I don’t even have a sheath. I really shouldn’t have it.”
Rodrigo grabbed his empty palm and placed something in it without speaking. Bewildering Ren as he took a step back.
Opening his hand, his eyes practically leaped out of his sockets. A QUINTESSENCE?!
Quintessences weren’t as valuable as essences—usually—but it was still a much different matter to just be given a quintessence.
Ren immediately held out both back to Rodrigo. “I can’t take these! I can’t afford them!”
“It’s free.” Rodrigo countered.
“The knife and the quintessence, these aren’t things to just give away!”
“And that’s fer me to decide, ain’t it? And it’s not a damn knife. It’s a dagger. Roderick.”
“Regardless, they’re too valuable!”
“So? The coin I’d get if I sold ‘em wouldn’t be worth a lick to me.”
“Rodrigo!”
“Ren.”
The two stood there as Ren failed to convince Rodrigo to see any amount of sense.
Why am I refusing?! A part of Ren screamed. The part that told him that these’d be invaluable if he were to delve into the dungeon.
But Ren resolutely ignored that part. His whole life he’d been given things. He can’t just take it for granted! No way, absolutely not!
“Look, kid, I’m not takin’ either back. Unless ye give up on the dungeon but I doubt ye will.”
Ren looked down in indignation. Rodrigo was being so unfair.
This concern. This care. This gift… How would Ren ever pay this back?
Yet he knew Rodrigo would sternly refuse to ever take it back. He’d be so gracious as to ignore Ren’s lack of gratitude. It was eating at him.
Gripping the dagger and quintessence he let his hands fall to his sides.
“...What did you say the dagger’s name was?” Ren conceded.
“Roderick.”
“There a story to it?”
Rodrigo silently closed his eyes as if in mourning.
“...I see.” Ren gripped the dagger.
He thrust the blade in the direction of Rodrigo, pointing it directly at him. “I assure you Rodrigo. I won’t forget this Transgression.”
Rodrigo stared at Ren for a moment before giving a slight snort. “Hhh… Ye better live to make me regret it, ye hear?”
In the heat of the forge, Ren and Rodrigo stood in contention, embers marking the veiled promise.
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