Ember of Invention

Well, that was ominous wording. Lindle recalled stories of less savory adventuring groups attempting to threaten or attack Glacerian guides in order to avoid paying, usually survivors of said experiences simply abandoned them to freeze or starve in the Reach.

Obviously that wasn’t the case here, he trusted Rosato and his group after spending the last two days with them, and even if he didn’t there was clearly no good reason to risk anything this close to town. Still, Lindle raised an eyebrow at the phrasing, and Dorothea sighed behind Rosato and gave him a light shove. The knight looked confused before he realized how he had sounded and winced.

“No it’s not anything bad, it’s about everything we found. We’re going to call in the guild to explore the dungeon and get everything inside, but we think it might be a good idea for you to stay quiet about your new class and Nothing.”

“What? From how Dorothea talked it had sounded like people would be interested in learning about what Ethos and my new class can do.”

“That’s true,” Dorothea responded, “but they might be too interested if you know what I mean.”

Lindle didn’t, and his confusion showed on his face, so Dorothea continued.

“The big thing is your class. If I was right and your class really has something to do with Artifacts, it’s extremely valuable, maybe dangerously valuable. If the wrong people learned about that, I can think of a few who wouldn’t mind doing some unpleasant things to keep that kind of power to themselves. Even if they can’t have it, it’s very unlikely they would let you live in peace, especially with you being so young.”

Lindle frowned. “Well, no one like that lives in Glacerhine. Shouldn’t I be safe then? And we don’t even know for sure my class works like that. All I know is that it’s a crafting class that should let me work with Nothing, and he isn’t an Artifact.”

Dorothea hummed. “Honestly? He might be. There’s no telling with Artifacts.”

“But that isn’t the point.” Rosato cut back in. ”As long as there’s a chance, you shouldn’t risk calling attention to yourself about it. Nothing and Ethos are both things people might be interested in, but the fact that they’re unknown means they don’t have a reputation to catch the wrong sorts of power-hungry attention in and of themselves, but they will draw attention to you, especially once Glacerhine starts filling with researchers. Do you understand what I mean? It’s probably best to let everyone focus on the dungeon until you have a better understanding of what your new class and Ethos are capable of.”

Lindle thought about what they said. He couldn’t deny the urge to go around and tell everyone he could about his success had been powerful, but if he had found something valuable, that probably wouldn’t have been a good idea. Glacerians were a very communal people, sharing resources and capabilities as efficiently as possible was how they survived each migration through the Reach, but his mother had told him people who lived in cities like Soarstrum acted differently. She always seemed very contemplative about her experiences before she lived in Glacerhine, so Lindle knew little, but it hadn’t seemed like many of her experiences had been positive. Things were already going to be chaotic enough. Lindle didn’t want dangerous people setting their sights on his home because of him on top of that.

“Okay. If you think I should keep quiet about Artificer, then I won’t spread it around.”

Rosato smiled and put a hand on Lindle’s shoulder. “Thanks Lindle. I’m not saying you can’t tell anyone, but just try to keep it on the down low. None of us want to mess up what should be the biggest moment in a young man’s life.”

Lindle nodded. As they continued back home, his thoughts switched back and forth between excitement and anxiousness. A lot of things were going to change in Lindle’s life now, but the first thing that was going to happen he knew for sure. He had a lot to tell his mom.

***

Lindle felt weirdly nervous walking up to his front door. The moon above nearly dimmed all the way as night fell. He had only been gone for about two days, and he had done nothing wrong, but he still felt nervous.

Their group had separated after they had gotten back to Mr. Dalton’s Inn. They had a lot of reports to make and send back to Soarstrum to get their plan started. Lindle didn’t actually know much about how adventurers worked when it came to being organized. They had seemed like they were just wandering bands of people who took quests and explored to Lindle, but there was apparently some level of oversight in the form of an adventuring guild that directed jobs from people and other guilds to parties, and managed adventurers regarding larger scale events like a dungeon raid.

Lindle had gotten his pay, but he hadn’t even bothered to count it before heading straight home. Now he was just looking at the familiar door of ice. Before he could hesitate anymore, he threw the door open.

“Mom! I’m home!”

Lindle heard his mom in the other room before she came rushing to him, wrapping him in a big hug as he leaned down and hugged her back tightly.

“Lindle! You’re home! Earlier than I expected too. How did it go? Were you hurt?”

She leaned back and inspected him, searching for injuries.

“I’m fine Mom, but a lot happened. I have a ton to tell you.”

Lindle walked inside and unpacked all of his things. He left most of it in his room, but he took his pack with Nothing sleeping inside with him as he sat down at the dinner table, mom bringing him a muskox sandwich. After he had happily filled his stomach, they sat down together as Lindle started telling her about what had happened from the beginning.

His mom was a good listener, attentive and not interrupting him as he told her about all of the adventurers and the trek to the dungeon. When he told her about the razorbacks, she smiled proudly.

“Clever boy, that halfling is right. Let the muscleheads soak up the injuries, you can get better prices selling them healing potions.”

When Lindle got to telling her about the dungeon, she seemed just as interested as Dorothea had been, which had surprised Lindle. He never knew his mom had any interest in dungeons, but he tried to answer all her questions with as much detail as possible. He skipped ahead in the story to tell her that they were putting together a big expedition to raid it, gauging her reaction, and he didn’t miss the hint of interest in her face. Lindle didn’t know how he felt about the idea of his mom taking part.

Pulling back to what happened in the library, Lindle took a deep breath and told her about everything that happened with the Librarian. Well, almost everything. He left out the part where he had almost died. If she noticed his slight hesitancy when he decided that, she thankfully didn’t comment. The next part was a lot more important anyway.

Lindle described what had happened when he was taken away by the stone door. He grabbed the pack from the ground and opened it up.

“When I was in the workshop, I met someone.”

“You met someone? In a dungeon?”

“Yeah, they’re great! You’re going to love them.” Lindle reached inside and cupped Nothing’s sleeping form. Their form was a lot more solid and lacking the shiny fluidness they had when awake, they resembled a hardened clay sculpture. She looked at him in confusion as he pulled them out and held them out to her to see. “Meet Nothing Mom.”

His mom looked at him silently for a few seconds, unimpressed, and Lindle stayed quiet, holding back a smile. Just as he was about to crack and explain, his mom’s expression suddenly changed, her eyes narrowed and she focused on Nothing.

“What the… Lindle are you messing with me? Because if I’m not wrong, you’re holding some kind of homunculus.”

Lindle blinked. “What? I… Okay I was, but I didn’t expect you to be able to tell they weren’t a sculpture. What’s a homunculus?”

His mom studied Nothing, leaning over the table. “They’re artificial beings, like golems and constructs, but unlike those things, they’re also living creatures at the same time. I’ve never even seen one before, just stories. I wouldn’t even know this was one if it wasn’t for my skill.”

“That makes sense. I didn’t know that, but I found them in the dungeon. We talked and he helped me escape, and some other things too.”

“Talked?”

“Oh yeah, one second.” Lindle cast [Produce Flame] and flames burst to life in his hands. She flinched back.

“What are you-” She stopped herself and watched in wonder as Nothing unsolidified, turning back to their awake inky form, seeming to stretch before looking around.

Hello. Where are we?

“Hey Nothing, we’re in my house. This is my mom, say hello.”

Nothing turned to his mom and gave her a little wave.

“Amazing,” His mom whispered. “He understands us?”

“Not exactly, Dorothea said we might have some kind of psychic bond, so we can understand each other, but they don’t seem to understand anyone else.”

When dreaming, I focused on language you think in. Think may be able to learn with practice.

“Really? That’s good. Nothing says they might be able to learn the language from me with some practice.”

His mom rubbed her chin, a wide smile blooming over her face. “This is incredible Lindle, being bonded to a homunculus is said to be incredibly rare and valuable. They’re said to be powerful companions to crafters. With a homunculus, I think you can finally get a class you want.”

Lindle smiled even wider at her, trying to keep his voice casual. “That makes sense since Nothing already helped me unlock one.”

His mom stared at him for even longer this time, jaw dropped. “You… did?” She leaped from her chair and wrapped him in a massive hug. “Lindle! You say that first next time! I’m so happy for you!”

Nothing yelped and held onto his palm as Lindle slid backward in his chair, laughing, hugging her back.

Careful, please!

She let him go. “Tell me everything! What class did you get?”

"Okay, it’s called Artificer, but I don’t actually know much. I need to ask Nothing more, but let me start from the beginning.”

Lindle told her about how Nothing had shown him Ethos and helped him use it to escape, and how he had gotten a feat for it. He tried to explain it a bit more, telling her about what he could figure out from testing it on the trek back. Artificer, he knew even less about, but he told her about what the adventurers had speculated, and that they recommended keeping it secret with the guild coming to Glacerhine, which his mom approved of. He also mentioned what Nothing had told him about being unfinished and how being an Artificer meant he could finish him.

“Speaking of,” Lindle trailed off and turned to Nothing. Now that you’re awake, can you tell us what you know?”