"What the!?"
Feeling something collide against my head, I instinctively moved to get rid of the assailant before I was harmed.
Ripping off the cloth that hit my head suddenly, my eyes darted here and there all the while my ears listened for even the faintest of breaths.
'...'
'...'
'...Nothing?'
However, despite my instincts and preparations for what had seemed like the inevitable ambush, time passed by just like that without anything happening.
'...They're probably waiting for me to let my guard down.'
Feigning the tension leaving my body, my shoulders slumped as my eyes were dragged to the cloth I had thrown onto the floor.
My feet were still firmly planted on the ground.
And despite what it seemed, my eyes were unfocused as my ears listened for any little disturbance.
'...'
'Damn, still nothing?'
Now extremely confused, I moved my legs so that I could observe all three hundred and sixty degrees around me.
Still nothing.
'Then why...?'
Tilting my head in abject confusion, my eyes were dragged to the cloth like item that had hit me in the first place.
It was one of those heavy cloaks that you would expect assassin's or shady figures to wear in a dark blue color scheme.
With a thin outline of gold around the ends, I raised an eyebrow at the cloak that seemed more fitting in a religious environment than this...
Place.
'It also looks relatively intact compared to this place.'
Carrying a navy blue color, the color hadn't even faded the slightest bit, still retaining a striking blue.
Something that shouldn't have been possible when considering how the entire kingdom seemed to have been stuffed into a blender before being mixed with the deadliest disease of all time.
You really couldn't get worse than an above 100% death rate.
Picking up the cloak, I felt its fibres and noted that it was pretty smooth to the touch.
'But where the hell did you come from?'
Looking upwards, I saw no signs of where the robe could've fallen from.
And upon closer inspection, the robe was to put it bluntly, immaculate.
A bit to immaculate considering my previous description of this island.
'This doesn't look like something that's just been left here to rot.'
Looking it up and over, everything screamed outside forces.
But the question here was why? An even better one would be who, but I was more confused about the why part.
'I guess I can wear it, I've been feeling a tad grimy lately.'
Pulling at my shirt that I had kept on my body for roughly two to three weeks now, although it looked clean, I felt dirty.
You could argue that I was actually very clean since I've been covered in so much blood to the point that it shouldn't be possible to wipe off, but it was the principle of the action.
'I wonder if there are days when it rains?'
Changing into the cloth, I placed the rest of my clothes into my inventory.
And despite the striking lack of undergarments, due to experience, I was going commando.
'The brain is weird.'
Self evaluating how I suddenly felt much lighter and cleaner, my eyes twitched as I turned to the sound of a wall opening up.
Shifting away the bricks just like the alleyway in a certain magical book, they packed themselves to the side revealing a glowing yellow path beyond.
'...Well you're new.'
Staring at the yellow door, I dragged it to the two other paths heading two other directions.
Coincidentally enough, the yellow door was directed right where I wanted to go.
'Except it isn't a coincidence.'
Staring at the yellow door, I pulled at the blue robe on my chest.
'Did you do this?'
Seeing as this doorway only revealed itself when I put this robe on, it probably did.
And after a few experiments where I took part in the extreme caveman experience, I confirmed that the robe did indeed do this.
'I wonder how it knows I put this robe on though.'
It certainly didn't work when I just held it in front of where that doorway previously was.
'Why is it that even here there are so many goddamn questions?'
Walking into the yellow door, the light in front of my eyes bent imperceptibly causing my eyes to twitch from the uncomfortable sight.
Returning to its previous state, a hallway similar to the ones I had seen when with the collector spread before me.
Rubbing my fingers against the dirty stone walls, I paused in front of a metal door different from the one in front of the Collector.
If the Collectors metal door was blue, this one was orange.
And seeing as everything associated with the color orange on this island involved things vying for my life, it wasn't a good sign.
'Now that I think about it, wasn't there an orange glow in the twins eyes when they were trying to kill each other?'
Pushing at the door, I kept my hand besides each other, dead set on pulling out a weapon at the slightest hint of trouble.
"...Slade?"
I wasn't expecting the one before me though.
With lizard green features, an orange mask and a pair of red goggles, a familiar lizard's beady eyes blinked from beyond the red tinted glass and raised their arms.
"What are you doing here? How did you get past the Concierge? Hell, how did you get past the Captain? Is there another hidden patht hat I'm unaware about?"
"...Hidden path?"
"Ah you didn't-" Murmuring something underneath his breath, the Blacksmith suddenly changed the subject.
"So I see that you're still alive, and since you're still alive I can trust that the twins are still alive and well?"
It was very effective however as I recalled the only twins I have encountered on this island.
"Well..." Recalling Cherry and Ella, the sisterly twins, I pictured my last memories before I was stabbed.
Brown eyes tinted in orange, brown hair strands frayed at their ends, slick with black crimson blood, holding a sharp blade covered in several self imposed images.
'I shouldn't mention that they tried to kill each other.'
"They're fine, I wasn't though."
Touching my waist, the sensation of raw flesh rubbing against the cloth caused me to flinch.
"Ah, you got nicked by the Captain's blade? Figures, someone like you couldn't have subdued the Captain without getting injured in the process."
"Well excuse me...?"
Raising an eyebrow at the statement that sounded strangely insulting, the Blacksmith as if understanding how demeaning his tone of voice sounded hurriedly made an excuse.
"Ah, that's not what I meant, I was just saying that it's surprising you are still standing when facing a warrior of the captain's calibre."
'That's definitely not what you said but sure.' Shaking my head, the Blacksmith continued, turning back to his forge belching orange flames.
"Anyways you don't got to worry about that wound on your stomach, it should be healed by the next cycle, and the cycle after it would be as if it never even existed."
"...That's not what you told me though?"
"Hm? Ah, I get where you're confused."
Taking out a pair of tongs, he used them to take out a heated sheet of metal.
"Well that's because you're still alive."
"Elaborate."
"Well when you get hurt, if you're still alive, you eventually heal from it."
Grabbing his oversized hammer, it swung onto the sheet of metal placed on the anvil, using the tongs to balance it out as sparks flew into the air.
"And...?"
Hearing my question, the Blacksmith continued while swinging his hammer against the sheet of metal, curving it.
"It's the same principle with timebroken wounds, its just that the damage is just passed on to the next cycle."
Heating it once more, the Blacksmith, satisfied with his creation seemed to smile underneath his mask before dumping it into a barrel filled with black oil.
"...So you don't just permanently have a cut to the gut when.. the next cycle comes?"
"You get it."
Taking out the bent piece of metal from the oil, it seemed to have cooled down significantly, allowing the Blacksmith to handle the metal with nothing more than a pair of thick leather gloves.
Pulling out several leather straps from somewhere, a flame formed on the tip of his finger as they welded thick C shaped metal strips to the flat sheet metal.
Connecting it to another prepared curved metal sheet, I was now able to fully realize that it was a piece of armor that the blacksmith was forging in his forge.
"Anyways, this is for you... what the hell are you wearing?"
Pausing his movements, he pulled back the silver colored chest plate in his hands while staring at me in surprise.
"...Oh this? Uh... You might not believe it, but it just dropped onto me and I just wore it since I've been wearing my old clothes for quite some time."
"...You just found it?"
"It fell onto me but yeah, basically."
"...Okay"
Staring at me warily, he gestured for me to take the chestplate.
"Take it..."
"Thank you."
Although I was curious about the Blacksmith's sudden wariness, I glanced at the piece of armor I had just received and gladly equipped it onto my body.
It was surprisingly snug for something that was made without my measurements.
'...He didn't measure me did he? I don't think he did... did he?'
Suddenly confused on how it coincidentally fit my body as snug as a rug, the Blacksmith spoke up.
"About that robe you're wearing... it belongs to those Snake Worshippers."
"?" I tilted my head. "What?"
"A word of advice Slade, if you meet anyone else while wearing those robes, just be prepared, now leave, I want to return to my forging."
Waving me off, the Blacksmith took out another bar of iron from the small bag on their waist, its insides seemingly bigger than the outside.
"Blacksmith?"
Blinking at how suddenly I was cut off, the Blacksmith ignored me
"Blacksmith." And ignored me
"Hello?" And ignored me.
"What do you mean by that?" And ignored me
"..."
"..."
'Welp, he's not answering anymore.' Shaking my head, I glanced back at the Blacksmith that appeared to be hyper focused on the piece of metal heating in the midst of the giant furnace billowing black smoke.
"Not going to answer?"
"..."
"He's not going to answer."
Answering my own question, I walked away from the Forge.
If he wasn't going to talk then I couldn't force him to, exiting the forge, I felt the piece of armor on my chest and simultaneously opened my inventory to stare at the rune within.
'Since this should be a safe place, I should probably use this here huh?'
Staring at the symbol inscribed on the stone and the tag that the screen gave it, I could already guess what it was going to give me since I already had one of it on me.
'I wonder if it'll do anything to my rune though?'
Staring at the Inferno rune which was of a similar naming stance of the Blaze rune, I let mana flow into it and felt it moved in response.
+++
About the oil blacksmith part, if you put a heated metal into water, it'll evaporate very quickly causing bubbles to form.
Bubbles that if not in small amounts can deform and shift the metals composition, making it weaker in certain parts, a bubble shaped achilles heel so to speak.
Tree