Clang! Clang!

The steady percussive sound of a hammer crashing down on hot metal boomed through the room. The dull roar of the forge fire drowned out any other sounds as the magical fire raged inside the small area.

Ursula was standing tall amidst the flames, a thin film of magic being the only protection between her bronzed naked body and the intense heat. Yet her face was a mask of stoic determination, as each mighty swing sent a wave of sparks shooting out which were then swept up in the spiralling inferno flickering past her eyes.

She picked up the white-hot piece she was working on and inspected it. With a tired grunt and a half nod she stepped out of the forge. A few thin wisps of fire remained to lick at her skin but were soon snuffed out.

The blacksmith placed the simple thin wire on a workbench and with a thought it split into tens of small segments.

Now that she was clear of the fire, sweat began to bead on her forehead as she focused on the small lengths of wire causing them to float up and loop around others on the chainmail sitting above the bench.

With one final mental push, the small loops seamlessly closed and then rapidly cooled, briefly superheating the surrounding air.

“Done.” Ursula exhaled, her shoulders drooping in relief. “I’m glad you’re small Soph, because chainmail is fucking annoying.”

Sophia was sitting at another workbench hunched over a thick slate of clear crystal which she was in the process of etching small runes into with a conjured crystal tipped stylus. Nearby on the table was a set of ethereal plate boots, small wisps of colour occasionally siphoning back and forth between them and the diamond plate.

After the girl did not respond, Ursula raised her voice a touch, “Yup, really annoying, over twenty-thousand interconnected rings…”

“Do you know it would take about five-hundred-man hours in the dark ages to make one set of chainmail?” The blonde teen scoffed, “You did it in twenty. Stop complaining.”

The tired metalworker huffed, “It still sucked.”

“You know what would suck?” Sophia sighed, “If I stopped concentrating on this enchantment and caused it to explode.”

Ursula wisely kept quiet.

After a few minutes, the tension on Sophia’s face softened as the crystal slate was absorbed back into the boots. Both women held their breath as the footwear began to glow softly, only when nothing happened for a full minute did, they finally let it out.

“There, your set is done – now I need to do the chainmail shirt and I’ll be good,” Sophia wiped the sweat off her brow and went to reach for the recently finished equipment, but Ursula’s warm hand gently stopped her.

“We’ve been going hard for two weeks now; you need to take a break. Your armour won’t be going anywhere.” The tall blacksmith urged.

“But I’ve got it down pat now – the chainmail will only take an hour at most to enchant it all. Then we can relax until school starts up again.” Sophia pleaded.

“Even with the stupidly short holidays between school sessions we’ve got a few weeks Soph. We’re not going to need the armour for a while, and you shouldn’t enchant while this exhausted.” The auburn-haired teen said firmly.

Sophia chuckled, “I’m sorry but you trying to look serious while completely naked is just amusing.”

“Oh, I forgot.” The nude woman blushed as she picked her clothes that had been piled up beside her bench, making sure to show off her ass in Sophia’s direction while doing so, and adorned them.

“Either way,” The green-eyed girl crossed her arms underneath her sizable chest, “I want to get the last one done.”

Ursula copied Sophia’s stance, a frown marring her features.

“You can try out your armour while I do it.” The short enchanter suggested coyly, pulling a necklace out of one of her pockets and twirling it around her finger.

Ursula’s eyes tracked the object as it circled around.

“Alright, fine. As long as I can try out the armour.” The blacksmith conceded, her eyes remaining locked on her counterpart’s finger.

Sophia smirked victoriously and tossed the band over, Ursula snatching it out of the air with startling speed.

In a fraction of a section the necklace was sitting around a bronzed neck, the girl almost vibrating from excitement.

“So how does it work?” She uttered quickly.

“Why don’t you inject some mana into it and find out?” Was the reply, the girl leaning forward out of her seat.

Ursula closed her eyes and focused on her magic dwelling within her. Following her careful guidance, it flowed out and then into the necklace.

“Fuck yeah!” Sophia screamed.

The tall elf opened her eyes and looked down. Her body wearing a full set of plate armour was revealed to her eyes, her left arm already looped through her kite shield and her right grasping her giant two-handed sword.

“Holy shit!” Ursula’s voice boomed out from inside the armour. “Um Soph, where’s the helmet?”

“It’s on you silly.” The blonde giggled.

The armoured woman let her shield, rest against her leg. Her plated hand now free, she reached up towards her face but was stopped by an invisible barrier.

“That’s so cool!” Ursula squealed.

 Sophia smiled proudly, “Full view enchantment, they can’t see in, but you can see out. Not to mention a whole host of protection stuff.” Her smiled dimmed slightly, “I’m still only an apprentice so they’re not super powerful, but it’s the best I can do right now.”

“Soph. This is fucking amazing.” Ursula uttered in awe.

The teen ducked her head from the praise, “You made the armour.” She deflected.

Ursula sent mana through the trinket around her neck and felt the armour disappear from her frame. She reached out and grabbed her intelligent companion in a bear hug.

“I mean it. I just used a formula from Axia but you actually made a unique enchantment.” The tall elf whispered, nuzzling her face into her lover’s soft cheek. “How’d you overcome the fact that it’s several separate pieces of armour?”

“Well, if you look closer at it you can see there are six small mana gems, each one holding one enchantment to recall each of your pieces of equipment. Helmet, chest plate, leggings, boots, sword and shield. Infuse your mana into the corresponding gem and bam, it will appear on your body.” Sophia explained, her chest swelling with pride. “Also, the actual chain holding the necklace together is mana conductive, so that’s why all the pieces appear all at once when you put mana into the metal.”

“Wow, you’ve done well Soph. Really well.” Ursula praised her armour’s maker, a small smile stretching her lips and her brown orbs sparkling as they focused on her lover.

“Indeed, you have.” An aged and slightly breathless voice interrupted them.

The girls looked over and saw Headmaster Arne standing at the portal’s doorway, they briefly saw a red book floating behind him just inside the doorway before it ducked behind the archway, out of sight.

“While most people keep their armour on their person at all times due to comfortability enchantments which are usually done for free, you could market a cheaper alternative for those without the means to pay for such enhancements.” The old man advised.

 Sophia’s eyes widened, “Sir, do you really think it would sell?”

He seemed to think for a moment before finally nodding.

“We’d finally have a legal source of money!” Sophia announced, a smile beaming from her face.

Ursula absently stared out a nearby window, her mind awhirl, “That means we could buy food for the orphanage, maybe fix the place up a bit. Then some actual cooking lessons-”

“-Rosalind’s didn’t help much?” Sophia interjected with a smirk. Ursula gave her a quick glare and resumed.

“And we can start feeding through the money stolen from the bat idiot as well!” Ursula crowed, her eyes glittering like tiny suns.

“While I don’t want to dampen your mood love, let’s not get ahead of ourselves here. We still need to actually sell something.” Sophia spoke softly.

“Right,” Ursula bowed her head, and then groaned, “That also means that we have to make it as well…”

“Well, yes…” Sophia replied, a look of confused amusement on her face, “You usually have to make something to sell it.”

“I know that” The tall woman said waspishly, before turning to the eagle animan, “Sir, where do you sell this kind of stuff if you’re not well known?”

 He smiled enigmatically, “Where do you think you might go and sell your wares?”

“Oh – of course, the markets,” The blacksmith answered, palming her face from her ignorance.

“Precisely.”

 

<-{|}->

 

Four days later, shoppers at the marketplace found a new stall had set itself up almost overnight. It’s two owners were sitting behind a small counter with heavy dark circles under their bright eyes. Standing imposingly behind them were two sets of armour.

“Now are we sure about the price?” Sophia whispered to her lover.

“Yup, after our investigations a regular set is about ten gold, twenty if sized properly, enchanted is minimum one hundred so about fifty will do. Raw materials were only five so we’re going to be set!” Ursula chirped.

“Good, now let’s sell some armour!” The short elf declared with enthusiasm, holding her hands out.

Ursula slammed her hands down to complete the high-five and then turned towards the throng of market goers.  

“A full set of enchanted plate armour for sale!” The taller of the pair shouted over the racket.

Several people rushed over and began rapid-fire asking questions, “How skilled is the enchanter? What enchantments have been added? What metal was used for the forging process?”

“Slow down! I’ll answer the questions one at a time. The armour is made of steel, and the enchanter is an apprentice-” most of the crowd swiftly walked away, “-But we have a new enchantment that has never been seen before! I am proud to present – Instant equip!”

The moment Ursula finished the sentence she sent a pulse of magic through the accessory sitting around her neck and in an instant, she was fully clad, head to toe, in plate armour.

A smattering of people looked impressed but the majority of those who remained left as well.

“How does it work?” A young man asked.

“Just channel your mana through the necklace that comes with it.”

“Alright, how much?”

“Fifty gold.”

“If I lick your pussy real good, can you go down to forty?”

Ursula sighed, muttering, “The first person?”

“Sorry, we’re still below age. And for an enchanted set of armour the price is more than fair.” The armour smith answered, trying to sound contrite.

“Does it have a resize enchantment?” The man continued, nonchalantly.

At their stall owner’s nods, he forked over fifty gold coins, grabbed one of the sets of armours, and began to walk away.

“Hey man, are you sure you want to trust two apprentices like that?” A cat animan asked the purchaser with a gruff voice.

He shrugged, “I go through armour pretty quickly and it’s not that expensive, if it’s shit then I have spares.” He said, and then adorned the necklace. A second after the armour transported itself onto his frame.

“Hmm, not as much mana as I was expecting,” he mumbled loudly, the enchantments on the armour amplifying the sound.

Without another word he left, his form easily slipping into the horde of shoppers, the remaining shoppers swiftly followed him, leaving the pair alone in a sea of people.

Every so often they would be approached by curious onlookers, but soon the novelty of a new stall wore off and it swiftly became just another shop in hundreds.

“It’s been five hours and we haven’t sold anything else. This sucks,” Sophia whined, resting her head on the bench before her.

Her partner glumly nodded, “I didn’t realise how much effort there is in manning a stall.”

“Sophia, Ursula!” A voice shouted from the crowd.

A few seconds later, Eyvor popped through and ran up to them.

“Rosalind just told me that you guys were here. I thought I’d come see how you guys are going.” She said exuberantly.

“We’ve sold one set Eyvor.” The blonde uttered, her voice coming out muffled from between her arms.

The older girl winced, and her smile grew tender, “You guys know that it takes months to years to build up your reputation. It just doesn’t happen in a day. Who was it that organised all this?”

“Headmaster Arne, why?” The tall teen answered, her brow furrowed.

Eyvor’s expression quickly matched Ursula's, “I’m sorry to say that it’s because it’s unlikely you’ll sell anything. Although you guys are far ahead of other kids your age in the end, you’re both apprentices. But Arne should have known that.”

“So why did he tell us then?” Ursula quickly followed up.

A sudden thought crossed Sophia’s mind and then her face scrunched up in disgust, “Nope. Not even thinking about it.”

“What?”

“Well, you know that book he’s had with him the last few days?” Sophia asked, a grimace still weighing on her visage.

“Well yeah, why- Sophia!” Ursula shouted scandalised, “H-He could just take it home.”

Sophia’s grim expression deepened, “You can’t take books out from there.”

A small wave of magic interrupted their conversation as it formed a barrier around them.

“It’s just a noise cancelling spell. You guys know about... you know what?” Eyvor interrupted.

“Oh. Um, yeah. We do.” The short elf replied hesitantly.  

“I was only told last year.” Their pair’s sister huffed and then shook her head. “Regardless, what does a book have to do anything?”

Sophia started to wring her hands, “W-Well it’s a – you know. A sex book.” She finished her sentence at a whisper.

“Why does him reading a – Oh.” Eyvor abruptly stopped and rested a hand on her face, “He just wanted you out of there so he could masturbate in peace.”

The pair solemnly nodded beside her.

“Well fuck him.” Eyvor said blithely.

The pair looked worriedly at her, a hint of a smile twitching at the corners of their lips.

“I mean screw him!”

Their faux concern grew more pronounced.

“I mean-” The buxom woman stuttered, desperately trying to start her sentence, “-I mean he sucks and let’s go annoy him!”

“Alright! Let’s go do that and not the things before.” Sophia said, giving a sly smile to Eyvor.

“Shut up.” The curvy lady grumped.

“But first-” Ursula trailed off to concentrate, her palm resting on the stall, “-Let’s pack up.”

With a quick pulse of magic, the simple wooden stall started to fold in on itself. When it seemed like it could physically not get any smaller it continued to fold, compressing the wood, and then half again. Within seconds they were left with a simple wooden tile laying on the short grassy floor.

Sophia waved her hand and the two remaining suits of armour disassembled and then began to levitate behind them.

“Actually, do we really want to go near him if he’s…” The blacksmith trailed off.

“Jerking off?” Eyvor hummed, “Maybe not – but we can scare him.”

Sophia grinned cheekily, “Let’s frustrate him and leave him two strokes under par.”

“Oh, gods Soph, that was terrible. A golf pun – really?” Ursula whined, though she couldn’t stop the smile creeping onto her mouth.

“I saw the chance and took it.” Sophia replied, an infectious grin on her face.

“And hopefully never again.” Ursula muttered.

“Hey, you enjoyed it.” The short teen pointed an accusing finger at her lover.

“Regretfully, yes.” The auburn-haired woman sighed as she started to walk away.

Sophia quickly caught up and began to bicker with her leaving Eyvor standing there blankly.

“What is golf?” She asked quietly, but the two girls were already too far to hear her question.

With a rueful sigh the pair’s pseudo sister let the muffling magic fall before running to chase after them.

 

<-{|}->

 

The three women crept into Axia’s workshop, muffling spells and smirks in place. Sophia dropped off the armour before they opened the hidden door to the mountain base. Halting their movements, they could barely hear muffled moaning echoing out from beyond the stacks of books.

“Oh, fuck me Arne! Right there!” Someone screamed.

“I didn’t realise you could still have sex at the age,” Sophia commented.

“They make the best of the moments they can…” Ursula replied with a shiver.

“Fuck yes Arne! Right in my pussy!” The woman moaned again, “Oh what’s tha- Ah FUCK!”

Sophia frowned, “I guess he’s putting the book to good use.”

“Cum inside Arne!” The voice sounded out again a few minutes later, accompanied by a few escalating masculine groans.

“Now’s our chance!” Eyvor whispered, dragging them both out the mansion and into the smithy. With a mighty pull she slammed the door shut. The sound no doubt echoing through the halls of the manor behind it.

The trio looked at each other and giggled before running off towards the orphanage, only stopping when they reached its front doors.

“Hopefully he doesn’t find out,” Sophia said with a smile.

Ursula scoffed, “He probably will, the question is what is he going to do about it?”

“I guess we’ll find out. Hey, if you guys are up for a walk, I can take you to see my house, it’s only twenty minutes away.” Eyvor offered. “Oh, right I forgot, I got a guy renting a room so you may see him, he’s – odd.”

Ursula smirked, “Is he living with you?”

Eyvor’s lip curled, “No. I can barely stand him, but he pays well and he’s not too much of an asshole.”

“Sure, we’ll go with you.” The blonde said, grabbing onto her sister’s hand. “And we’ll make sure he behaves in the future.”

Eyvor chuckled, “Oh he behaves most of the time, he’s just a lot.”

 The two teens were led I the general direction of the markets, stopping at a small non-descript house with one floor. Through the door they were greeted with the quaint sight of a small kitchen.

“While you’re here I can rustle something up, you two hungry?” Eyvor offered.

Sophia wiped up the drool leaking from her mouth, “What are you thinking of making?”

“Just a beef stew.”

They both looked at her with stars in their eyes.

“A warm meal that isn’t gruel…” Ursula stared off into the distance wistfully.

Bang!

The front door slammed open.

Although he wasn’t a bear animan, his stature was bear-like. His huge bare chest and arms had muscles on muscles as he stiffly walked into the room.

“Greetings!” He boomed.

Sophia gave Eyvor a sympathetic smile.

“H-Hello,” Ursula answered.

His eyes wandered to where the young dungeon delver was cooking.

“Eyvor! Once more you grace me with your delicious food!” He bellowed, “And we have more friends to join us at the table!”

“We’ll just have a look at your room if you don’t mind,” The blacksmith said with a grimace.

The pair were waved towards the right-hand side of the kitchen and into their sister’s bedroom. They immediately spotted her sleeping bag rolled up and sitting against the wall near the doorway and the faintest whiff of cum.

Ursula went to sit down on the only piece of furniture available, the bed. But when she did the mattress let out a dry crackle, small bits of whitish powder breaking off from its surface.

“She hasn’t cleaned up much,” Sophia observed distastefully. “Now that I mention it, the floor is looking awfully glossy…”

“I better check my pregnancy spells,” Ursula joked, her eyes briefly catching a glimpse of the ceiling, “Don’t look up.”

The girl did exactly that, “Holy shit. It’s like those textured roof paints.”

“Let’s just not think about it.”

They huddled together and waited until Eyvor called them back in with a shout, “Dinners’ ready!”

Entering back into the kitchen they saw the huge man sitting at the table, his large body dwarfing the chair. In one of his thick meaty palms lay a carved wooden spoon, but it was almost comical how small the object appeared to be in his hand.

Eyvor laid out the bowls on the table, the mouth-watering scent of stew wafting up into the air.

“Many thanks Eyvor! Another feast worthy of the gods!” The man shouted as he dug in, his large muscles making him look stiff as he shovelled food into his mouth.

Sophia took a spoonful of the thin broth and lifted it up to her mouth. As soon as it touched her tongue tears began to bead out of her eyes.

Ursula lay a hand on the blonde’s slim shoulder, “Sophia are you okay?”

“I swear this is the food of gods.” The girl said in an awed whisper, her spoon quickly returning with another load.

“Haha, agreed!” The large man roared as he picked up the bowl and downed the rest. Then from one of his pockets, he withdrew some egg sized mana gems and began popping them into his mouth and cracking them with his teeth.

“Maybe you should calm down on those Tyr,” Eyvor smiled thinly.

“My mana has increased twofold this month alone!” he said jovially, his voice like the distant rumble of thunder. “You’re my good luck charm!”

Both Eyvor and Ursula winced as several gold worth of mana gems disappeared down the man’s gullet. The crunching sound dominating the rest of the meal, except the occasionally slurp from Sophia.

Their host’s face gradually got redder with each gem that disappeared until finally, she slowly lay down her spoon and turned to the teens.

“You two should head back, I need to have a conversation with Tyr.” Her warm expression did little to hide her frosty tone.

 Sophia shovelled the last few spoonsful into her mouth just before Ursula grabbed her by the wrist and dragged her out of the house.

“Thanks for the meal, Eyvor!” The blonde called out as they walked out the doorway.

Ursula did not miss the tell tail muted glow of magic as a silencing bubble was put up.

Oblivious, the green-eyed elf rubbed her stomach contentedly, “Damn that was good. I’m looking forward to when you’re able to do that.”

The tall girl ruefully shook her head, “Never change Soph.”

“What makes you say that?”

Ursula patted her lover on the head.

The blonde looked blankly up at the starry sky, “What did I do?”

Naturally, there was no reply.