I had to trigger Fabricate a second time and felt the strain on my ability. Technically speaking, it wasn’t a spell—rather being a racial ability which I had awoken. Each species of dragons has things they are good at. There might be some overlap, but no two dragon types have the exact same set of racial abilities.

  Blue dragons tend to specialize in things related to the desert and water, which are contrasts, of course. We also have a knack for what some might think of as illusions, but which are really phantasms—the difference being that our illusions can take on limited physical properties.

  If I had to guess, this was why Fabricate was within the range of abilities that a blue dragon could manifest as part of their heritage. If I’d had the mental energy at the moment, I might have wondered why the DKP cost for it had been so low. It was taking all of my focus, however, to create ingots of cold steel.

  What a stupid name. Since making steel was actually a process of smelting iron with charcoal, this wasn’t even steel. I pulled back from that particularly tempting dessert hare hole before losing my grasp on the ability. Best to focus so I didn’t embarrass myself before my friend. I blocked everything else out.

  A few seconds later, another ingot dropped from the air next to the first. It was becoming harder by the moment to pull out any additional cold steel. I began to think it was all used up when suddenly the ability stopped working and a partial ingot—maybe a third the size of the others clunked to the ground. I tried to activate Fabricate once more, but it seemed there was no more cold steel in the barrel for me to work with.

  I took a deep breath to gather my bearings and then bared my teeth in a large grin at the flabbergasted blacksmith. “That’s all of it.”

  Daggin stared at the two plus ingots on the ground and took a moment to find his tongue. Eventually he said, “How? No… no, never mind. We can talk about that in a minute. Give me a second.”

  Then he began casting his own spell. I paid attention to the form of the spell and found that it was fairly low level—or at least it wasn’t complex enough to be beyond my reach. I also got the sense that it wasn’t really part of my strong suit as far as magic went, but I could still cast it.

  Thinking about that made me realize how much easier it had been to learn Lesser Regeneration than Identify—despite the second one being a higher tier spell. I supposed that had to do with the pursuits which came most naturally to me, as evidenced by the images in the testing orb.

  You may choose to add the spell Metal Assessment to your Tier 1 Innate Spells. Do you wish to do so? Note: You may only ever know six Tier 1 Innate Spells, and while it is possible to change them out later, it will cost you DKP to do so. Currently, 2 of your 6 Tier 1 slots are full.

  I quickly rejected the option. The spell might be useful, but I didn’t want to clog up my limited number of slots with divination type magic. I could always hire a servant to assess metal for me. Truthfully, I had a nose for quality to begin with, so I wasn’t overly worried about it.

  Daggin started shaking his head. “I had to cast the spell twice, just to be sure. This is 100% pure.”

  “Of course it is pure. What else did you expect?”

  “I told you that we can never get all of the cold steel out of the ore, but we can also never get every impurity out of the cold steel. Typically, it is 90 to 95% pure if a skilled smith makes it.”

  Cami asked, “Is an extra few percent that important?”

  I wanted to growl at her never to minimize what you have to offer. She was undercutting our bargaining position. I managed to keep it in, though. It wouldn’t do to show any dissension between us.

  Daggin took the question as an opportunity to provide instruction. “That is a common misunderstanding, lass. In the hands of a talented smith, every percent of purity matters. It makes the weapon better able to hold enchantments and allows for more spontaneous boosts.”

  “Spontaneous boosts?” I asked, eyebrow raised.

  “Yes,” he answered, “when a skilled enough smith works the metal—one that possesses a degree of inherent magic, at least—there is a small chance for a boost to something like the durability or sharpness of the weapon. You’ll never spontaneously make a flaming sword or anything like that, of course, but you can boost the natural aspects of the weapon.”

  “Ah, that makes sense I suppose.” I frowned at the man. “But what I don’t get, is how you use magic if you never attended the university.”

  Daggin tilted his head back and laughed. “Now that was you just assuming things. I never said I didn’t spend some time with those stuffy robes. I just said I had no use for the place.” He rolled his neck to the side, cracking it expertly. “I spent the least amount of time there possible and then left. I don’t exactly have a great gift or anything—just a bit of aptitude for fire and metal.”

  “Are you interested then in making a deal?” I pressed.

  He nodded but then said, “What I am most curious about, is how a student who is allegedly on their way to the university for the first time is casting magic of a tier I can only guess at. That spell must have been quite powerful not only to pull the particles of metal out of that mess but then to form flawless ingots…” His voice drifted off when I simply smiled.

  “We all have our secrets,” Cami chipped in. “Maybe we just have powerful mentors?”

  He pursed his lips before blowing a raspberry. “That might explain you having good gear and all, but it doesn’t explain personal power. Magic can’t be gifted, young lady. It has to be studied and then mastered. If I hadn’t seen your friend here use two spells which I can’t explain, I would have thought you were some kid fresh off the farm—you act like everything you see around you is brand new. Not that the lad is much better, mind you.”

  I ignored the implications of what he said. “But are you interested in making a deal with us?” I repeated.

  He rubbed the back of his neck. “Depends on what you have in mind.”

  “Come with us to Urgoi.”

  He burst out into laughter again. “What in the nine hells would prompt me to do that?”

  I shrugged, as though it didn’t matter. “You said you are on the verge of losing everything here. I’ll help you condense everything down and then you can travel with us. You’ll be safe, as our mentors really are quite strong. They also have some pull at the university, so we’ll get them to help you set up shop in Urgoi. Of course, they’ll want to see a sample of your work, first.”

  “And what’s in it for you?”

  He’d taken the bait, now to swoop in for the kill.

  “Two things,” I admitted. “I’ll help you purify your metal and, in turn, you’ll be able to craft better weapons. You’ll sell us what we need at a discount and cut me in for a small share of the profits you make from having such pure metals to work with. Oh, and you’ll let Cami apprentice with you. She has the pursuit of elemental fire, so she should be able to learn smithing easily enough.”

  “Wait, what?” Cami asked, but I ignored her.

  I was in full negotiation mode and while Cami might be more than just my servant, it wasn’t hard for me to slip back into thinking of her like that. I held up my hand for her to stay quiet.

  The half-dwarf started shaking his head. “There is just… just so very much wrong with that. You speak like you can make your mentors do as you wish. For those who had mentors when I was at the academy, ‘twas the other way round.”

  “Leave that to me,” I said.

  “Okay.” He pinched the bridge of his nose. “Then there is the fact that you just up and told me what the girl’s pursuit was. That just isn’t done at the academy—least not most of the time. Either people keep it a closely guarded secret, or they run around boasting. Those doing the latter are either fools or so gifted that people knowing the pursuits won’t matter a whit.” He spit to the side. “Not that their fellow students won’t eventually figure out what their competition has—even if they can’t be certain.”

  I tried not to seem too eager. “You paint the image of a place where everyone is fighting to survive.”

  “I wouldn’t put it that way, but they’re all definitely trying to claw their way to the top of the heap,” Daggin said.

  I smiled. “Now I’m even more interested in going there.”

  He shook his head again before we got down to serious negotiating. We went back and forth about percents, but in the end—because he was having to uproot everything and because he agreed to train Cami—we settled on me receiving 10% of the profits since I would be providing him top notch supplies. He would also create the best gear for us at cost.

  We left the shop with a dagger for each of us and the spear I had identified for Cami. I picked it because the range would be good for her. I didn’t want her to have to be a frontline fighter. And I had selected a mace for myself. Its durability was boosted, and that type of weapon would be ideal, given my draconic strength.

  I was greatly satisfied with the results of our bargain. Only one thing tainted my elation. What I felt from Cami across our connection was not excitement at the opportunity I had just seized, but frustration.

  When we got a block away from Daggin’s smithy, heading back to the inn, Cami asked in a voice with a deadly tone that sent a shiver down my spine, “Are you going to make all my decisions for me, Da?”

  Chapter 33 - A Dark Alley

  At the time, I blamed Cami for distracting me because I didn’t even notice the people sneaking up on us until the clap of their footsteps on the paving stones was a few dozen feet from us.

  A shout from a nearby rooftop sounded off. “Look out!”

  An instant later, I saw a glint of moonlight on the blade which thrust at me. I reacted just in time by pivoting out of the way and sweeping Cami up with one of my arms. My superior strength allowed me to jump back, creating a dozen feet of space between us and my assailant.

  That was when I saw what level of danger we faced. There were at least a dozen men and women all dressed in black meant to make sneaking about easier. Some of them wore leather vests, but for the most part they were unarmored. I was about to pull my mace from my soul space when a recognizable figure leaped down from the rooftop.

  I thought the shout had sounded familiar.

  Modessa flashed a smile over her shoulder at us as she said, “Stay behind me.”

  Then, she turned back to the would-be thugs or assassins. I wasn’t really sure which they were. Weapons appeared from whatever spatial storage device she had. In one hand, she held a short sword that glowed with bright flames. This was a weapon I’d never seen her use before, and for just a moment I wondered why she’d use a weapon which would destroy her own night vision. It then occurred to me that she might have some other way to sense her foes and sought to gain an advantage by blinding them.

  In my dragon form it wouldn’t have been a problem, as both my nose and ears were far more acute than my eyes. In this frail human form, however, I was now as blind as our foe—well, not truly blinded, but any night vision I had acquired was gone. I managed to note a dagger in Modessa’s other hand before she began fighting.

  Instantly, I was surprised at how well the thugs were holding up. She danced amongst them with deadly precision, but they managed to keep her from landing any fatal blows by virtue of their numbers. A mage in their rear ranks cast a spell and suddenly it looked like Modessa was moving through water, and her foes started keeping up with her.

  She shouted again, but this time her voice had a hint of fear in it. “Run! I’ll buy you as much time as I can.”

  My mind twitched, but Cami was trembling as she clutched onto my arm. I might just have acted like I could make decisions for her mere minutes ago, but now I couldn’t bear the thought of her getting injured. I didn’t want to run, but run I did—or at least I started to.

  Cami was slow to start, but then she was the one pulling at me and we ran down the narrow alley between two buildings. My companion regained her bearing quickly though. I could feel her fear, but a spike of determination popped up through it and a few seconds later she flung her hand back the way we had come and a Force Dart blasted off of it to strike one of the thugs in the back.

  I berated myself for not thinking of that, but now we were running in the dark and I needed to concentrate. This narrow street was different than the others. It smelled bad enough that even my human nose wrinkled up.

  Between heavy breaths Cami gasped, “Will she be okay?”

  “She’s strong, but if she falls to protect you, I can live with that.”

  Cami stopped and spun, slapping my arm. “I don’t get you, Nico. Sometimes you are so nice, but then you go and say something like that. You may be able to, but I can’t live with it.”

  We looked back the way we had come, and I saw some of the thugs running at us. I didn’t know if they had taken Modessa out or if they had somehow gotten around her. That seemed unlikely, but maybe there were enough of them that some broke away to pursue us.

  They had to come at us single file. The space between the buildings was only about four feet wide. We couldn’t even properly fit side by side.

  I thought to pull my mace out again, but the limited space wouldn’t work for that. Maybe Cami could thrust with her spear, but it was still in my soul space. Daggers, it would have to be, though truthfully that was a weapon which didn’t feel natural to me.

  Three thugs slowed down as they got closer. They all had short blades in their hands and didn’t seem to share my dislike for using them. I muttered, “I wish I had my claws.”

  Cami asked, “Why can’t you?”

  I had never considered that possibility. It was a stroke of genius, and here in the dark alley it wouldn’t matter if I tried it out. No one could see me—or, if they did, either they’d be dead soon or I would be.

  With that in mind, I activated my racial ability, Shape Change. Fully transforming into my dragon form would take thirty seconds, which was much too long. There also wasn’t room between the buildings on each side of us for my draconic form. Even though I’d survive the buildings collapsing into the alley, Cami would likely be crushed to death. And that was completely unacceptable.

  I was oddly more angry at the fact these fools were threatening Cami than that they had attacked me. She was mine, after all. And no one takes from a dragon and lives to tell about it.

  This time I wasn’t trying to make a full change, just a partial one. I willed my soft squishy human arms to take on draconic properties from the elbow down. The pain was swift and shocking.

  I gasped. I hadn’t expected that. Shape changing had never been pleasant, but this felt like I was trying to force ten pounds of entrails into a five-pound sack—it simply couldn’t hold it.

  My skin shifted as my forearms expanded, shredding the sleeves of my shirt. It only took about three seconds or so, but that was enough for the others to close with us. My mace would have been awkward to wield in these narrow quarters, but I had no difficulty wielding my claws.

  This was the perfect fusion of my monk class and its unarmed fighting skills with my ability to wield natural weapons as a dragon. The first dagger came down, but I raised my left arm to block it. The blade must only have been normal steel because it skittered off my arm without so much as denting my scales. Its wielder was shocked—but not nearly as shocked as he was when the talons of my right hand drove into his chest.

  He wasn’t wearing armor, but I wasn’t sure it would have mattered. The damage I did was magnified by a critical hit and when my fist came to a stop, my claw-tipped fingers were buried deep inside his chest. I squeezed my hand and made a fist. Whatever grunts of pain he had been making up to that point changed to something more akin to the squeals of a stuck pig.

  For a brief instant, I felt a great desire for bacon—something I’d never eaten before, but which had filled more than one memory in the dragon dream. Then, as I yanked my hand back, ripping open his chest cavity and exposing his lungs and heart to the moonlight, I lost my appetite. The smell of blood was refreshing, but whatever he dropped into his pants was absolutely disgusting.

  My thoughts and actions were moving at blazing speed, even as our attackers all seemed shocked by what they just saw. I raised a foot and drove a thrusting front kick into the eviscerated man before me, sending the foremost attack and his soiled trousers flailing backwards into the man behind him. They both crashed to the ground.

  The third attacker was suddenly trembling but, to her credit, she still leaped forward to attack. Before I could intercept her attack on the scales of my forearm, she ate a face full of Force Darts. Her nose must have been shattered and teeth went flying everywhere.

  I would have chuckled, if things weren’t happening so quickly. Humans already have such flat smooth teeth that they’re almost useless. Now, she wouldn’t even have those. Not that she had any more need for teeth as I slid forward, grabbing the wrist of her hand which now just barely managed to hang on to her dagger.