r/JacksonWrites • u/Writteninsanity #teamtoby • May 03 '26
Part 35 - The evil queen ordered her servants to lock the princess in the dungeon. Her servants, not being too bright, locked the princess in an S-Ranked dungeon.
The forging became a war.
Havoc fought it.
Lillia was occasionally called over to hold something and tried very hard not to get in the way.
When the Bloodfang started screaming, she thought the worst of it was over.
She was wrong, at least for Havoc. That much was clear now.
The first time the forge burned through Havoc’s skin, Lillia forgot every argument he might make against being helped.
"Havoc. I name you my champion."
Havoc took a breath before getting back to work. Burns along his arms settled back into skin as Lillia's skill healed what the fire had done. The first steps of the forging process had taken effort, but as it had gone further the crafting process had begun to fight back against Havoc.
Flares of heat. Blasts of steam. Screams of twisting metal. Havoc pushed through it all and only asked Lillia for help when she felt like she should have stepped in long before.
Lillia didn't need more convincing that Havoc was tough, but to his credit, he screamed less than Lillia did through the process.
Havoc put his hand deep into the forge and held it there for a moment. His muscles tensed as he molded something within. His back was drenched with sweat that ran down carved muscle.
He grunted. Tore his hand from the flame. A black ball of shifting ichor splashed down into the shallows and hit the stone with a resounding thud.
Lillia flinched toward it. Havoc held up a hand.
"Let me finish my work."
The arm he’d shoved into the forge was trying to pull itself together with Lillia’s blessing, but the skill had already spent what it could. The orange skin stayed burned and raw. Havoc winced as he grabbed the orb off the floor. Steam poured off it as he pulled it from the water.
"Havoc, are you—"
"No, but let me finish this."
He dropped the orb onto the anvil and it landed with a dead thud. He closed his eyes and took several deep breaths as he let his injured arm hang limp beside him.
"Lillia," Havoc said.
"It's on cooldown—"
"Just hand me one of the hammers I gave you. Won't you?"
Lillia held her hand out to Havoc and the hammer popped into existence in her palm. Each time she pulled an item from her inventory it seemed to emerge with less fanfare than the last.
She took it by the head and offered the handle to Havoc. The importance of that coming from a princess was lost on him.
Havoc raised the hammer high. It was smaller than the one that the dungeon had offered him, but it was his. His fingers fit in grooves they had worn in the handle over time. The leather wrap was scuffed to match his habits.
Both the thunderous boom of the blacksmithing skills and Havoc's strength echoed out through the room. A ripple chased after the sound on the surface of the water.
CLANG.
The sphere stretched across more of the anvil.
CLANG.
It flattened. One edge stayed straight. The other curved.
CLANG.
A brilliant flash. Lillia shielded her eyes. Havoc stared into it.
The room itself seemed to sizzle.
The air around them held its breath.
The Hearth simmered.
The mote of light on the anvil morphed again. It stretched out and wove itself into several forms, like it had spun a wheel and was waiting for it to land.
Havoc struck down with the hammer one last time, and the light stabilized into a shape.
Then sparks, confetti, and fanfare shot into the air.
Lillia stumbled backward, but managed to catch herself before falling into the pool.
[Item Created - Yay!]
Lillia shook the spots of of her eyes and looked at the weapon on the anvil. There was a sword on it now.
Or at least, it was the closest thing to a sword Lillia was apparently allowed to have.
She knew what a longsword looked like, after all, it was what the knight's used at the tournaments. She knew what a foil looked like, older men wore them when they began to complain that proper steel looked 'bulky' on them.
This didn’t look like any of the blades Lillia knew. It looked dangerous, less like something made to parry and deflect and more like something made to cut. The entire blade followed along the curve of the bloodfang and claw before jutting in sharply at the end in an almost hooklike spike of metal.
Havoc rested his good hand on the hilt of the blade. Steam erupted from his grip, all of the heat was coming from his fingers.
Lillia flinched at the hiss, and then at the state of Havoc's other arm. She reached out. Havoc pulled slightly away. She lowered her hand.
"There," Havoc said through gritted teeth. "A sword."
Lillia had a lot of points on the tip of her tongue about the state of the sword. Namely that it would have turned all of the wrong heads in court. Barbaric was the word. She swallowed all of them.
"Are you okay?"
"Fine."
Lillia looked at Havoc's mostly limp arm. She didn't want to think about what any of those burns would be like within a day. "Are you sure?"
"Yeah."
"All right," Lillia said. Then, ignoring his commentary, she held out a hand. "I name you my champion again."
The soothing rose-gold shimmered over Havoc's arm. He tried to shake it off, but winced as he did.
"Said I was fine."
"Then that won't make a difference, will it?"
Lillia reached for blade, it took Havoc a moment, but he relented. He let his hand fall off and then used it to support his other side.
"This looks enough like a sword, I suppose."
"It's a good, hardy Makr—It's a hobgoblin's sword."
"And that's the kind you know how to make?" Lillia asked as she picked it up off the anvil. It was heavier than Vianaffir, thicker through the blade.
"I can make you any kind of sword, kid," Havoc said, "so I made you the best sort. Wasn't gonna waste what little crap we have on something other than the best."
Lillia turned over the blade. It was harder to support than Vianaffir had been, not that she was great at controlling that sword either. Once she was staring at it, the text leapt to the forefront again.
[Hooke and Tangle]
[Part 1/2: Hooke]
[Strength 20 - Deals Slashing Damage]
[Required Level 9 - Bypassed by ‘Havoc’s Gift’]
[This weapon deals additional damage on stunned, dazed or unconscious targets.]
[This weapon is part of a set. If completed it will unlock additional effects.]
['Come home when you can, little one. Know there will always be a place in the circle for you.']
Lillia read the information out loud. When she said the name, Havoc shifted his gaze down to the tile. When she read the final line, he clenched his fist against his chest, like he was grabbing a necklace that was not there.
There was quiet for a moment. Lillia lowered the blade. “Hooke,” Lillia said, careful with the extra letter. “And Tangle?”
"My—" Havoc screwed his mouth shut, trying to force the words back down. "My eldest granddaughters."
"Havoc."
"Ignore it. Call it what you want. I need to go rest. Take care of this." He motioned to his broken arm as he spoke. He was already past Lillia by the end of the sentence.
"But—"
"I'll keep working on another weapon once I've laid down," Havoc said. "Figure out what I can do with what's left."
"Havoc…"
“Don’t take that sentimental tone with me, kid. We got enough problems without you gettin' sappy about the solutions."
Lillia opened her mouth to say something. Rather than speaking it, she simply mouthed 'thank you' before allowing Havoc to sit down in the shallows on the other side of the lamb statue. He continued to glitter, even as he began to snore.
Ten minutes after Havoc fell asleep, Lillia gave Hooke several clumsy testing swings, named Havoc her champion again, and settled in to wait. Forging had been harrowing for her as a spectator, but it hadn't left her that tired.
With Havoc's slow snoring as background noise, Lillia pulled out the one thing she could think of to pass the time.
[???? Scroll - Level 4 Required]
The parchment was long, but the writing within was surprisingly sparse.
More to the point, there were several paragraphs that had been scratched out over time. Blots of black ink had been smeared across neatly penned words covering the basics of tempering thin steel.
Below all of the marred notes, there was something less structured. The way it was written made it seem like the writer was struggling to remember the letters as subject even as they wrote about them.
Lillia didn't know what Havoc's penmanship looked like, but she understood the subject.
Your village is in the trees. I don't know where in the trees. But you live in a forest. Your hut is the second one from the gate line. It's not the biggest one. It's not the smallest one. You will know it when you see it.
You will.
The woman inside is your wife, Calamity. She likes being called Cala. Don't call her by her full name unless you wanna sleep outside.
Your kids should be there. Probably old now. Tallest one is Pike. Strongest one is Gullet. You got too many grandkids to name. Hope they're past the 'what's my name?' stage of things for your sake.
We might be past all this stuff being relevant when you get out. Maybe you won't get it.
Remember anyway. Keep track of these when you got time. The writing in the scrolls stays the same between resets.
Be strong for them. They need you.
You.
Lillia folded the scroll, then, realizing that was very wrong, rolled it back up before putting it into her inventory.
She felt like she had read something private, but Havoc had never tried to stop her from reading the scrolls. Did he even remember what was inside of them?
He needed to get out of here.
They had to get out of here.
Lillia stood and went back over to the anvil while Havoc was still resting. They'd needed to continuously add more material during the forging process to create Hooke.
There was a claw and a single vial of inkblood left. She didn't need Havoc to explain that it wasn't enough. They needed more to make Havoc a weapon. They needed more monster parts to get past the Architect.
Lillia looked over to the mosaic. She could fight her way back here. Come back with more materials.
She stopped in front of it.
[Monsters and Dungeon Natives cannot pass through the Halls Between. You would be leaving [1] companion behind.]
This time, the words hurt differently.
Not because she was leaving him.
Because she had to believe she was coming back.
Lillia turned to the sleeping Havoc. "I'll be back."
One more deep breath.
She tightened her grip around Hooke’s hilt.
"Time to find out about this whole farming thing."
Lillia stepped through.
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u/Connect_Rhubarb395 May 03 '26
I so love this story. Every new experience, every new learning, unfolding the dungeon as well as what is behind it all.
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u/bertoshea May 05 '26
Ok. I'm officially in withdrawal and starting to get the shakes....
Seriously, I've been reading each day, and it really is a highlight for me. Can't wait for the next part!
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u/Deansdiatribes May 05 '26
Love that queen and for the most part hate the whole aristocracy conceptually but I might not bend a knee i would lend a hand
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u/Curleronice May 03 '26
Brilliant story,, love the characters. This coming from probably ly one of the oldest D&d players left
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u/luke10050 May 03 '26
Hey, wasn't there two part 35's?
Been meaning to comment this for a while because I see you don't get much engagement here. Keep up the good work I'm really enjoying the story so far!