Chương 44: Chapter 43. Wam & Bam

As it turns out, an angry Stoneblood charging at you is a pretty terrifying sight. They're built like small mountains, and Fili, despite being one of the shorter ones, still had arms thick as tree trunks from all the smithing. Arms currently trying very hard to reach Adom's face.

"Wait- what- why-" Adom backpedaled, fingers sketching a quick pattern in the air. The levitation spell caught Fili mid-lunge, leaving him floating a few feet off the ground, still swinging.

"Put me down!" Fili's face was almost as red as his hair.

"You- you- do you have any idea what happened after you disappeared?"

"I can explain-""Explain? EXPLAIN?" Fili's boots kicked uselessly at the air.

"The guards came! They took Master Kern! They questioned us, threatened to shut down the forge!" From Adom's pocket came Valiant's muffled voice: "Why is everyone trying to kill us lately? What did you do to this one?"

"I didn't- I mean- I just ordered some armor-""Just ordered some armor?" Fili stopped struggling long enough to glare.

"You ordered enchanted gauntlets and vanished! Then Master Kern put in her order too, said you'd come for it, but you never did! We waited and waited and then-" His voice cracked.

"Then they came for her! Said he was somehow conspiring against the Empire! Do you know how long it's been since I've seen her? DO YOU?" Oh. Oh no.

"I'm... sorry?" Adom tried.

"SORRY WON'T BRING MY MASTER BACK!"

"Fili," Adom said softly, keeping the spell steady as the Stoneblood twisted in the air.

"If I could have come sooner, I would have. A lot happened to me too."

"Oh, a lot happened to you?" Fili's laugh was bitter.

"While you were off doing whatever, I was here watching them drag my master away! Do you know what that's like?"

"Actually..." Adom winced.

"I might have some idea."

"Don't trust him!" Valiant hissed from the pocket.

"He'll punch you the second you let him down!"

"Look," Adom continued, ignoring the mouse's protests, "I'll put you down if you promise not to do anything rash."

"Rash? RASH?" Fili's face started reddening again.

"I'll show you-""That's not helping your case." Fili stopped mid-rant, took a deep breath, then another. His lips moved silently - something that sounded suspiciously like some old mantra.

"Iron cools, water flows, anger passes..."

"Don't do it," Valiant warned.

"I'll go berserk if this little monster tries anything-""Not helping, Valiant." Fili's eyes snapped to Adom's pocket.

"Did that mouse just threaten me?"

"Iron cools," Adom reminded him quickly.

"Water flows..."

"... anger passes," Fili finished automatically, then scowled.

"Stop that."

"Ready to talk without throwing punches?" The Stoneblood's shoulders slumped slightly.

"Fine. But I'm still angry."

"Noted." Adom lowered him slowly to the ground, ready to reweave the spell if needed. Fili's boots touched the floor. For a moment, he just stood there, fists clenched, clearly wrestling with the urge to swing.

"How about we talk a bit?" Adom suggested carefully.

"If he moves funny, I'm zapping him," Valiant muttered. Fili took one final deep breath, his hands slowly unclenching.

"Yes," he said finally, voice rough but controlled.

"Yes, I think that would be a good idea." He gestured to a worn wooden stool near the workbench, then leaned against his anvil, running a hand through his red hair. The forge's warmth filled the awkward silence between them.

"I'm... sorry," he muttered finally.

"For getting angry. It's just-""You don't have anything to be sorry about," Adom cut in, settling on the stool.

"I totally get it. But right now I need to understand something - you said they took Master Kern?" Fili's shoulders tensed.

"Yeah. About a month ago. They just... showed up one morning, saying a student from Xerkes had placed an order here." He picked up a hammer, turning it over in his hands.

"Master Kern denied it, even when they said someone saw the student come in. She just... kept saying she had no customer named Adom."

"She denied knowing me?" Adom frowned.

"Why would she-""I wasn't sure either," Fili's grip tightened on the hammer.

"But she'd been saying things, you know? About the Empire being up to something bad. Especially after all those guards started showing up, and that business up at the mage school with the missing student and professor. It was quite the hot topic around here, actually-""Fili," Adom interrupted gently.

"You're trailing off."

"Right, right." The hammer made a dull thunk as he set it down.

"So yeah, they took her. Said they just needed to ask some questions, that it would only take a few days of interrogation." His voice cracked slightly.

"It's been weeks now. They won't let me visit, won't tell me anything. Just keep saying the investigation is ongoing." Valiant poked his head out of Adom's pocket.

"That's not normal procedure."

"No," Fili agreed, eyeing the mouse warily.

"It's not. And the thing is..." He glanced at the door, lowering his voice.

"The night before they came, she was working late. Really late. Said she had to finish something important. When I asked what it was, she just smiled and said sometimes the best thing a smith can forge is trouble."

"Forge trouble?" Adom leaned forward.

"What does that mean?"

"I don't know! She was always saying stuff like that. But the next morning, when the guards came, she looked... ready. Like she was expecting them. And before they took her, she looked at me and said 'Remember what I taught you about tempering steel?'""Which was?"

"That's just it - she taught me loads about tempering steel. Could mean anything." Fili kicked at a stray piece of coal.

"Haven't touched her workbench since then. Keep hoping..." He trailed off again, staring at something in the distance.

"I might be able to help with this," Adom said slowly.

"Maybe even free your master." Fili's eyes widened.

"How?"

"First, I need my gear. The armor and gauntlets you made."

"The armor?" Fili straightened up, heading to the back of the workshop. Metal clanged against metal, followed by the scraping of heavy boxes being moved.

"Where did I... ah!" Adom and Valiant exchanged glances as more shuffling sounds came from the back.

"Should we trust him?" Valiant whispered.

"Do we have a choice?" Finally, Fili emerged, struggling with a massive wooden box. He set it down with a thud that made the tools on the nearby bench rattle.

"This," he said, pride creeping into his voice, "might be my best work yet." He unlatched the box, lifting the lid to reveal gleaming pieces of armor. Runes traced elegant patterns along the metal, flowing like water frozen in silver. The craftsmanship was extraordinary - each piece fitted perfectly with the next, creating a complete set that seemed to catch and hold the forge's light.

"Wow," Adom breathed, lifting out the breastplate. The metal felt almost warm under his fingers. Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.

"Reinforced steel core with an outer layer of enchanted alloy," Fili explained, practically bouncing on his feet.

"The runes are Master Kern's design - they'll help channel magical energy while dispersing harmful effects. The joints are double-layered for flexibility, and I added extra reinforcement around the vital areas. The pauldrons can-""This is incredible," Adom interrupted.

"But before we can use it, we need to fix what's going to wear it."

"What do you mean?" Adom reached into his inventory space - that pocket of nowhere that mages used for storage - and pulled out the golem. Fili screamed, stumbling backward into his anvil as the construct materialized. It stood nearly eight feet tall, its remaining arm hanging limply at its side. The chest cavity gaped open, showing the transport crystal and talisman near the core mechanisms within, and various other dents and scrapes marked its metal skin.

"Sweet mercy of the forge," Fili whispered, clutching his chest.

"What... how..."

"It's a long story," Adom said.

"But right now, what I need to know is - can you fix it?" The golem's head turned slightly, its dim eyes focusing on the Stoneblood. Fili swallowed hard, but Adom could already see the craftsman's curiosity overtaking his fear as he studied the damaged construct.

"I've never worked on anything like this before," he admitted.

"But..." He stepped closer, examining the torn metal around the missing arm.

"These connection points... the metal composition..." A small smile crept across his face.

"Yeah. Yeah, I think I can work with this."

"How long would it take?" Adom asked, watching Fili examine the golem.

"Two days," Fili said, already measuring the chest cavity with his fingers.

"One full day to understand how it works, another to repair it. Won't need sleep, or food, or-""Wow, wow, Fili," Adom raised his hands.

"Don't hurt yourself. We need you in one piece."

"At least he's passionate," Valiant muttered from the pocket. Fili barely seemed to hear them, running his hands over the damaged metal.

"If we're going to break into the prisons to free Master Kern, I'll need to make sure the joints are perfect. Maybe reinforce the-""We're not breaking into any prison." Fili's hands stopped moving.

"Oh." He looked up, confused.

"But... you said we'd free her?"

"There's a better way to do it." Adom glanced around the workshop.

"Also, I need those gauntlets."

"Oh!" Fili's eyes lit up. He headed back to the storage area, voice carrying over the sound of moving boxes.

"Master Kern spent more time on them than expected. Said something wasn't quite right with the enchantment matrix we bought from the mage association. She was still working on them when the soldiers..." He emerged with a smaller box, ornately carved with runic patterns.

"She couldn't finish them properly, but..." He set the box down carefully and opened it. Adom's eyes widened. Inside lay a pair of gauntlets that seemed to drink in the forge's light. They were sleek, almost artistic in their design, with plates that overlapped like scales. Crystalline lines traced their way from fingertips to wrists, pulsing faintly with stored magical energy.

They weren't as bulky as traditional armored gauntlets - instead, they looked more like extensions of the wearer's own hands, deadly and beautiful at once.

"What's wrong with them? They look amazing," Valiant squeaked, peering at the gauntlets.

"Try them on!" Adom lifted them carefully from the box. The moment his hands slid inside, text flickered in his vision: [Starfallen Steel Battle Gauntlets] [Rank: S] They fit perfectly, like a second skin. The metal was cool against his hands, but quickly warmed to his touch. In each palm sat a mana crystal, different from his original design but somehow... better. The crystalline lines pulsed in sync with his heartbeat. Adom closed his eyes, breathing in deeply.

[Fluid Control] The familiar blue fire of his Fluid energy spread across his body, but when it reached the gauntlets, something changed. The crystals brightened, the lines glowing intense azure.

"Here," Fili dragged a heavily reinforced training dummy into the center of the workshop.

"Master Kern tested them on this. The mana crystals are set up in a resonance pattern - see how they're linked?" He pointed to the intricate network of lines.

"When you channel energy through them, they don't just amplify it - they create a feedback loop that disperses the impact force away from your arms. You can hit as hard as you want without breaking your own bones." His fingers traced the crystalline patterns.

"The crystal matrix absorbs the recoil and redirects it. Master Kern spent three days just getting this part right. The Fluid channels through these lines here, amplifying your strength while protecting you from the backlash." Adom tuned out Fili's technical explanation, focusing on the dummy. The gauntlets felt alive on his hands. He shifted his stance, drew back his fist- The impact rang through the workshop like a bell.

The dummy didn't just fall over - it shot across the room, smashing into the far wall with enough force to crack the stone. Wood splinters rained down as Fili yelped and ducked. Adom stared at his hand. He hadn't even used his full strength.

"Was that..." he started.

"That was about a quarter of what they can handle," Fili said smugly.

"Want to try again?" He scratched his head.

"Master Kern said they weren't quite ready, though I'm not sure why. She did say they were safe to use..."

"Are you kidding?" Valiant poked his head out.

"These things are perfect! We're going to kick so much ass!"

"They're made of starfallen steel," Fili said proudly.

"Rare stuff. Tradition says you should give them a name."

"Oh! Oh!" Valiant bounced excitedly.

"Call the right one 'Wam' and the left one 'Bam' - the Wam-Bam Gauntlets! Get it? Because when you hit things it's like-" Text flickered in Adom's vision: [Item Name Updated: Starfallen Steel Battle Gauntlets "Wam & Bam"] [Rank: S]"Wam and Bam," Adom repeated, grinning. It was perfect - simple, memorable, and exactly what they did.

"I like it."

The waves crashed against the shore, spraying frozen mist into the winter air. Adom sat on a fallen log, watching the ocean meet the sky at the horizon. Three hours had passed since he left the forge, where Fili had dragged the golem through a door hidden behind stacked crates and old equipment.

"Secret passage," Fili had said, grinning.

"Where Master Kern and I work on the important stuff. Runic concealment - can't find it unless you know it's there." He'd tapped his nose knowingly.

"Few days, and your metal friend will be good as new."

"Are you absolutely sure the angry leprechaun won't get caught?" Valiant paced back and forth on the log beside Adom, his tiny feet leaving prints in the snow.

"Because if he gets caught-""He won't. And Sam's coming too." Valiant stopped pacing.

"Why are we dragging another kid into this mess?"

"Because there's a crystal in our dorm that I need." Adom rubbed his hands together, breath fogging in the cold air.

"The golem needs new power crystals, and I can't exactly walk into the academy right now. Not with everything going on."

"You mean with the Archmage breathing down everyone's necks?" Valiant's whiskers twitched.

"Yeah, heard he's in the city personally because of the Professor Kim situation. And those Children of the Moon creeps."

"Exactly." They sat in silence for a while, watching seabirds wheel overhead.

"So," Valiant said finally, "when are we going after Marco and his cult buddies?"

"When everything's ready." Adom flexed his fingers in the new gauntlets.

"When we have all the pieces in place." Movement caught his eye - two figures approaching along the beach, their boots crunching in the snow. He recognized Bob's frame first, then Sam's form beside him. Bob was talking, gesturing with his hands while Sam stared straight ahead at Adom, expression unreadable even at this distance. Adom stood, brushing snow from his clothes, and started walking to meet them.

As they drew closer, Adom could see the dark circles under Sam's eyes, the way his friend's clothes were slightly rumpled like he'd been sleeping in them. Sam's face cycled through emotions - disbelief, confusion, relief, and something else Adom couldn't quite read. The distance between them closed step by step, snow crunching under their feet. Bob cleared his throat, breaking the silence.

"Found the wee lad just like ye asked," the leprechaun said, adjusting his green coat.

"Though next time, maybe give a bit more warnin' before sendin' me on a fetch quest, eh?"

"Thanks, Bob." Adom's eyes hadn't left Sam's face.

"You missed my birthday." Sam's voice was quiet.

"Oh." Adom blinked.

"Was it last month?"

"Yeah."

"Sorry about that." Adom shifted his weight.

"What, uh... what did you do for it?"

"Went around town. Put up missing person notices with the club." Sam's hands were stuffed in his pockets.

"For you and Professor Kim."

"Oh." Adom winced.

"That doesn't sound like a very fun birthday."

"It wasn't." Sam kicked at the snow.

"I told you not to get into trouble, didn't I? And then you just... disappeared."

"I know. I'm sorry."

"I was worried, man."

"Yeah." Adom smiled slightly.

"I'm glad you're okay."

"I'm glad you're okay too." Sam squinted at him.

"New style?"

"Hmm?"

"Your hair." Adom's hand went to the white streak.

"Oh. Right. Long story."

"Right then," Bob cut in, rubbing his hands together.

"As touchin' as this reunion is, perhaps we could continue it somewhere less..." A gust of icy wind blew in from the ocean.

"Less bloody freezin'? The camp's not too far." The walk back to camp would take nearly an hour. Bob led the way, grumbling about the cold, while Adom told Sam everything - well, almost everything. He explained about the golem, about Master Kern's arrest, about Marco and the Children of the Moon. He left out the time travel and his real reasons for needing certain ingredients, but everything else came pouring out.

Maybe it was because he was tired of keeping secrets, or maybe because if anyone deserved to know the truth, it was Sam. Adom kept waiting for the freak-out, for Sam to tell him he was crazy or that they needed to go to the authorities. He'd already prepared a whole speech about understanding if Sam wanted nothing to do with this mess.

"Well," Sam said when Adom finally finished talking, "that actually makes a lot more sense now." Adom nearly tripped over his own feet.

"What?"

"I mean, the missing professor, the weird stuff at school, those creepy people hanging around town..." Sam counted off on his fingers.

"Plus that thing in the market district where we almost got killed. I knew you had something going on. I jst felt like you'd tell me on your own when you felt like it."

"And you're... okay with all this?"

"Okay with it? No. We're literally going against the Crown Prince here." Sam shook his head.

"But you're my best friend, and you're clearly in trouble and I believe you when you say you have a way to get out of it. So what do you need me to do?" Adom stared at him for a moment, then smiled. He was actually sorry, really. As he'd severely underestimated Sam it seemed. Maybe all those early morning workouts had done more than just build muscle.

"Remember those transportation crystals we were working on?"

"Yeah." Sam patted the dimensional bag at his hip.

"Brought the big one too, like you asked."

"Finally!" Valiant poked his head out of Adom's pocket.

"Someone competent around here."

"Who's this?"

"Oh right - Sam, Valiant. Valiant, Sam," Adom said, watching as his friend and the mouse beastkin sized each other up.

"Nice to meet you," Sam said with a small wave.

"I read about mouse beastkin in class. You can sense magical disturbances and energy fluctuations, right? That must be really useful with all the... well, everything that's been happening."

"I like this kid," Valiant declared, whiskers twitching with approval.

"At least someone's been paying attention in class."

"Sam." Adom's voice grew serious.

"I'm going to need your help with those crystals again. And... there are some things we need to handle with the academy. With Headmaster Merris."

"What about the headmaster?"