The Mauve Crown's blade did not consist of a single piece of metal like traditional swords. Rather, the blade was a collection of dozens upon dozens of smaller knives grafted together. The knives jutted out across the blade, making the blade look like something a surge would spawn for a ravening troll.

Except, nothing about the Mauve Crown was random. Each tiny blade was covered in outside veins. Some were connected to crush runes, others to swiftness or strength runes. In total, the sword seemed to have four runes with a few of the outer knives having flow runes.

"Looks like quite the freak, doesn't it?" Lucas said. "Piaro Vanhammer calls this invention a grafted greatsword. Grafted swords are supposedly ten percent more efficient than regular runeswords, and with the knives technically disconnected from each other, runesmiths can add more runes to the surface."

"How much does it cost?" Vivi asked.

"The current bid is four million ether," Lucas said. "My friends and I are discussing if we're crazy enough to bid in."

Vivi raised her eyebrows. Lucas was smirking, but he seemed to be serious.

"You'd pay four million ether for this?" Vivi asked.

"For one of the best swords money can buy," Lucas said, "four million is a low price. The auction is still up. If the price stays where it is, we'll definitely buy it."

"Mhmm," Vivi said, frowning at the sword. Four million. For that sword…

Why was Grandpa born as a human? He would have been a billionaire down here.

"We can take his place," Lucius said with a grin. "You know his technique. He tasked you with keeping the smithy alive."

Four million… The number was so huge Vivi couldn't even think of what to do with so much ether. This was proof that runesmithing was still in its prime days. Runesmithing had a future.

The Mauve Crown was certainly the best sword Vivi had seen from the demons so far. The grafted knives were an interesting solution to overcome outside-carving's limitations. Vivi wouldn't want to fight Lucas wielding that thing. Each knife had been given the effort and care of a full runesword.

But the sword was still outside carved. It would leak ether. Vivi knew Grandpa's five-runed swords were far stronger.

The question was, what about Vivi's swords? How would Abyss Destroyer fare against demonkind's best runeswords? Was she good enough to make a name for Grandpa's technique?

"This work of art," a dwarf was saying behind them, "is the sword my father spent four months perfecting. It is what you've come looking for, Lord Estavan."

The new group that entered was another intimidating clump of richness in demon form. The bodyguards alone were clad more extravagantly than Vivi. The nobleman, Lord Estavan, had white horns and a wise plump face. His golden robe had outside-carved veins on it, coating the air around him with ether.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

The dwarf beside him was clad in a more casual noble vest and a jacket. His hands were callused and fingers blemished with metal particles. He had rough curly hair and a sharp shaved face with a thick nose. He didn't seem to have horns, and his dark skin didn't have scorched spots. Was this dwarf not a demon?

"That's Zack Vanhammer," Lucas said. "Piaro's son."

Vivi and Lucas stepped aside. Lucas lowered his head as the two passed, though only the bodyguards even glanced in their direction.

Zack began explaining the intricacies of his father's craft to Lord Estavan. He explained how the grafted runeswords could theoretically allow more than five runes to fit into one sword. He also claimed that grafted runeswords could mimic inside-carving, as any ether that escaped from inner knives would make it to the outer knives.

His speech continued with jargon and impressive-sounding terms, none of which actually meant much. Estavan looked impressed nonetheless. He definitely wasn't a swordsman, and he didn't seem to know what actually made a sword good. He reminded Vivi of Ellandor on the surface—that noble just wanted to spend his money on something he could show off.

"Looks like we're not buying this one, after all," Lucas said with a sigh. "There's no way we're outbidding a literal lord. Four million ether is pocket change for Estavan. He'll bump the price up to ten million if it comes to a fight."

"There's no way that sword is worth ten million," Vivi said.

"It could be," Lucas said. "Shivenar's best runesmith spent months crafting it. It's a shame it will probably never see use. Nobles are too afraid to actually slash monsters with top runeswords."

One of the guardsmen frowned at Lucas, hearing that. Lucas smiled back.

"Lucas…" Vivi said. "You should wait for a few weeks before buying a runesword. I believe Vanhalla might have competition soon."

"Sorry?" Lucas asked.

"Nothing." Vivi bowed. "Thanks for the tour. I think I've seen enough now. See you, Lucas."

The swordsman only looked more confused. Vivi turned for the exit. She walked downstairs, past more rich customers, and exited Vanhalla, back to the extravagant streets of upper tier Shivenar.

By the time Vivi made it outside, her head hurt from the amount of shiny richness around her. She paused to gather her thoughts, watching the street moving. More shiny palanquins carried gowned women. Men looked like lords. Everything around here was just so insanely expensive.

She sighed, then began walking back down.

"You should have shown one of your swords to Lucas," Lucius said. "He could have paid over a million ether for one of your three-runed swords."

I know, Vivi thought.

"You could probably walk into any smithy in the city, and they'll instantly hire you," Lucius said. "If we find this Piaro guy, we could probably challenge him into a runesmithing duel and take his place."

Maybe, Vivi thought. But I don't know if I like that idea.

"Why not?" Lucius asked, confused. He observed her emotions, then said, "Vivi…? Is everything okay? You don't look happy."

Everything is fine, Vivi thought. I just don't think I like this city… At least not the upper levels. This dress doesn't fit me at all. We need to find a store that sells proper raincoats.

"You need to stop with this raincoat obsession, Vivi," Lucius said.

Vivi ignored him.

Lucius sighed. "Did something make you upset? You're more than good enough to become rich, you know. This is how all rich cities are."

Vivi continued walking back toward the lower levels. She struggled to explain herself. Everything about the city was perfect on paper. There wasn't much to complain about. Shivenar was the runesmithing city she had always wanted to visit. Something just felt off about it.

I haven't been runesmithing for months, Vivi thought. I'm definitely rusty. We need to get back to practice quickly. I also need to hone my craft and catch up to Grandpa. Four and five-runed swords are easily possible. Grandpa thought six-runed swords were possible as well.

"So what are we doing next?" Lucius asked.

We're going to fulfill Grandpa's dream, Vivi thought. Let's start from the ground up and build a business. We'll open our own smithy.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.