“That’s… a really nice sword,” Olive said, swallowing heavily. “Yeah, it’s nice,” Arwin agreed noncommittally, watching her carefully. There was a very, very small chance that she would be stupid enough to try and take someone captive to claim the sword for herself. It wasn’t one he suspected she would take, but it never hurt to be prepared. “If Rodrick doesn’t want that… would you be willing to sell it?” Olive asked. Arwin blinked. “What?” “I know I can’t afford it now,” Olive said hurriedly. “But an elemental weapon… that would let me fight so much more effectively. If it’s less than a thousand gold, I’d give you all the money I earn from the dungeons until I pay it off. If nobody else wants it, that is.” Arwin tilted his head to the side. There was some significant desperation in Olive’s tone. She wanted it for more than just because it was a fancy sword. Are magical items actually that ridiculously rare? A thousand gold? That’s… “I know a thousand is cheap. I could maybe try for higher,” Olive offered weakly. “We’ll discuss loot later, once we’ve seen the rest of it,” Arwin said – half just to see how she would handle the rejection. “Is there a reason you want this sword so badly?” Arwin asked. “It’s not the strongest magical weapon I’ve ever heard of.” Olive snorted. “Yeah. Legends are great, but you can’t kill things with them. I’ve seen a few magical weapons before, but it all boils down to the fact that it’s an advantage. I need every single one of those that I can get. It’s a rolling stone, you know? A little bit of power leads to a bit more, and then that leads to more. It’s always worth trading money for it.” “It’s not just money,” Arwin pointed out. “It’s time. You’re offering to dedicate months of your time to us.” “It gets me stronger, doesn’t it? That’s my only goal. I’d be paying just as much if not more if I was trying to buy a magical item from another adventurer or merchant but I’d have to earn all the money beforehand and then carry it around with me. That’s basically asking for something to go wrong.” Olive made a good argument. It was a bit invalid for Arwin, but it did give him even more of an idea as to just how rare magic items were. Olive really wanted this sword. He could tell from her voice that she completely meant every word she said. It wasn’t that the blade was secretly the key to something stronger or it was more than it seemed to be in any way. It was just a slight edge. A tiny step forward. And, to Olive, that was enough to trade away months. Power begot power. A logical decision – for anyone that didn’t know about what he could do. Arwin spun the sword around so that he was holding it by the sheath and held it out to Olive, hilt first. “I’ll make you a sword later,” Arwin told Rodrick. The former paladin shrugged in response. He didn’t seem all that torn up about the loss of the weapon. Arwin got the feeling he was probably already envisioning the weapon he’d ask for. Olive swallowed. Her eyes were transfixed on the sword like it were made out of pure gold. “I can really have it?” “Two months of running dungeons or whatever else it is we need you to do. Not gold, just the time. We’ll split shares equally as we have been.” Olive tore her gaze away from the sword as a suspicious frown crossed her lips. “What? No gold? Even shares? What are you aiming for here? Those terms don’t make sense at all.” If I’m actually going to recruit Olive into our guild at some point, I can’t scam her out of a thousand gold when I’ll be making weapons for the others for either free or the cost of materials. I don’t exactly have much choice without giving away more than I want to. “Those are the terms. Take them or leave them.” “What kind of things would you be making me do?” “Nothing that a normal adventurer wouldn’t,” Arwin said with a dry laugh. “There isn’t anything hidden in the deal. We’re not going to try to turn you into an indentured servant or some shit like that. I won’t say it’ll be safe, but it’s going to be more of what we were doing today. Just… probably bigger enemies.” That proved too much for Olive to resist. She reached out and took the sword from Arwin. Her thumb ran along the plain sheath and she stared at it for a second before shaking herself out of the stupor and attaching the sheath to her belt just above the other one. “Done,” Olive said. “Looking forward to working with you. That might have been the cheapest magical weapon ever sold. Now that I’m trapped, was there really no trick? Was the sword damaged or something in a way that only a smith could see?” “Trapped?” Arwin raised an eyebrow. “Not that I disagree, but nobody’s forcing you to carry through the deal. It isn’t magically enforced.” “I gave my word. As long as you act according to what you promised, then I’ll do the same.” Arwin inclined his head in respect. It was looking more and more like he’d made the right choice in looking to recruit her. “There’s nothing wrong with the sword as far as I can tell.” “Then why…” The befuddlement on Olive’s face was so thick that Arwin couldn’t help but laugh. “Does it matter? Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth.” Arwin jerked his chin over his shoulder. “Now, let’s get going. I have things to craft, and I’ve been sitting around in this dungeon for long enough. And Olive, needless to say, keep that sword sheathed.” “Logically,” Olive said with a nod. “Great. Then let’s get out of here.” Between his bow, learning how to make gauntlets and boots, and figuring out the secrets of [Molten Novice], he had a lot ahead of him – and he wanted to get as much of it as possible done in the next few days. The chunks of metal in the forge were far too large for Arwin to actually try and bring back, though it wasn’t for lack of trying. They felt like they’d been welded into the ground and they stubbornly resisted any attempt to break chunks off them. After working at it for a few minutes, Arwin was forced to give up and follow on his earlier promise to head out.