"So this is the fabled Lost Raindrop?" said a voice accompanying the door chime's cling.

"Fabled?" Lucius asked, eagerly greeting the customer. "Yes, fabled! Doesn't that mean famous? Are we famous?"

Vivi rolled her eyes while working behind the curtains. A week had passed, and Lucius's way of dealing with customers was distracting at the very least. Shaping veins was difficult when, even a week after opening, the door chime still made Vivi flinch. If only she could use ether to block her ears instead of enhancing hearing.

"Famous?" the customer asked. "Sure, I've heard a lot about you. Some asshole stole my boss monster before immediately informing me that they bought a sword from here."

Lucius laughed exaggeratedly. His new marketing strategy was working well, it seemed. For each sword that was sold, Lucius offered a discount ranging from one to five hundred ether if the buyer agreed to brag about each victory they achieved with Vivi's sword, mentioning the name of the smithy. Vivi had disagreed at first, thinking that the idea was far too brutish, but it had shown results. Just a week after opening, Vivi's ether reserves had risen back to 19892.

Vivi tried to focus on her work while Lucius persuaded, or rather, pressured, the customer into buying a runesword. The customer seemed to be interested, and it sounded like he had ether.

"That's a great sword," the man said. "But I don't know if I can pay fifty million ether for it."

"Fine, we'll go with seventeen thousand instead," Lucius said. "That's a fair price for the two-runed thingies, I think. And it's made of a rare metal. Crystal mithril."

"A single-runed weapon will do," the man said. "I'd like a pair of daggers, in fact."

"Uh," Lucius said. "A shortsword is kind of like a dagger, right?"

The man laughed. "I heard the runesmith here is a scary girl. I'd like to meet her and discuss a specific request."

"Vivi is the scariest runesmith you will ever meet," Lucius said. "And she's very cute. She doesn't like when you say that, though. And she definitely won't be flattered by your kind words. She's already married to her anvil."

I can hear you, you know…

Lucius chuckled in her head.

"Anyway, Vivi is working," Lucius said to the customer. "She can craft daggers, I think, but custom offers will cost you an additional three hundred ether."

Vivi sighed, stood up and pushed the curtain aside. She entered the store while still wearing her smithing apron. I can't focus, Lucius. Crafting a three-runed sword requires too much effort and concentration.

Lucius's smile fell for a second, but he quickly went back to his sales spirit persona. "Well, lucky you. Here she is! Vivi, do we make daggers?"

"Sure," Vivi said. "But daggers will cost the same as swords. Daggers are tricky to shape properly with inside-carving."

"The budget is three thousand ether," the man said. "Nothing complex. I need two heavyweight asmite daggers. One with a crush rune and another with a sharpness rune."

The demon was one of the wealthier customers Vivi had seen, judging from his outfit. He was around thirty years old, wearing a rogue's cowled cape. Gauze covered his left arm. Everything he wore was well used and ready for battle. Yet the outfit was still well styled with embroidery and a nice undershirt. He had sturdy black boots.

He was far from an actual noble; none of Vivi's customers so far had been truly rich, and none held themselves as confidently as Lucas. Her store had grown popular with lower level hunters—the type of hunters that were maxed out, having perhaps reached the first elevation. Vivi didn't think she'd lose to any of her current customers in combat even without void wisps.

"Asmite is expensive in Shivenar," Vivi said. "Three thousand for two daggers is cheap. I have better offers from other customers."

"Well, damn," the man said. "Let's bump it to five thousand, then."

Vivi thought about it for a second. That was starting to sound like a decent price. "Do you have a preferred shape?"

"Old Fimian with a hooked top," he said.

That will be a pain to craft, Vivi thought. Old Fimian had a curved blade, meaning the stalk of the veins would need to be curved as well. The hooked tip would make it even more difficult. But it would be good practice.

"Sure, that works," Vivi said. "I'll have it done in two or three days. Visit back and I'll have them done."

The man lowered his head. "Three days? So soon?"

"Inside-carving is far faster than traditional methods," Vivi said.

The man watched her with the same look of curious awe most customers kept giving her. "Is it real, then? Inside-carving has actually been invented?"

"My Grandpa invented it," Vivi said. "Thomas Warren's Son."

"Why does nobody know of it?" the man asked. "Why is this little smithy in the worst district in all of Shivenar the only smithy that uses inside-carving?"

Vivi shrugged. "I like little smithies, I guess."

The door chime clinked again, and two more customers stepped in. One of them was Arganth. Her first customer. The second was his hunting companion. A man named Eli. A tall and slim demon who bought Vivi's first steel sword for a thousand ether after hearing of the store from Arganth.

"Hey, Vivi," Eli said. He grinned at the new customer. "And hey Owyn. You decided to join the raindrops as well?"

Owyn snorted. "Don't got much of a choice, considering these damned raindrop weapons have been dominating every surge that spawns. I have a family to feed as well."

"We apologize," Eli said. "It's hard not to steal everything when Vivi's single-runed swords cut desert scorpions in one swipe."

"Have there been any problems with the swords?" Vivi asked. "Are you here for a sharpening?"

"Not at all," Eli said. "The sword has been perfect. Already paid itself off with the monsters we killed. It's a phenomenal sword. I could hunt all night with it; the runes don't seem to tire out ever."

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"I'm honored," Vivi said with a bow. "If you're looking for a better sword, that one will be easy to upgrade."

Eli laughed. "I can't believe this is your worst sword."

He glanced at Vivi's sword gallery, which was now loaded with far more colorful weapons. Vivi had gotten more comfortable crafting two-runed swords with complex and efficient veins. The best sword she made was a two-runed crystal mithril longsword at the top of her display rack.

So far, her two-runed swords were too expensive for most of her customers to purchase. She'd only sold one so far: Arganth's steel sword. Only one-runed swords were selling, and customers seemed to be happy with them.

Three-runed swords were still a work in progress. Vivi had thrown four attempts, and each one had failed at the vein-shaping phase, as most attempts did. She would still need more time and more attempts.

"I'm not quite ready for an upgrade," Eli said. "I'm here for different business. We visited the countinghouse to make our bets for the runesmithing competition. But the Lost Raindrop wasn't listed as a participant. Not in the top split, not in the slum split. Are you not competing?"

"Runesmithing competition?" Vivi asked. "What's that?"

"Shivenar's annual runesmithing competition?" Eli said, confused.

"There's a runesmithing competition?" Vivi asked, surprised.

Her three customers all looked surprised by her reaction. "Of course there's a runesmithing competition," Eli said. "We're in Shivenar. It's being held in two days. I planned on betting a few thousand ether on the Lost Raindrop."

"Oh," Vivi said. "Is there a prize?"

Eli sighed. "How does a runesmith not know about Shivenar's runesmithing competition?"

"Well, this is the Lost Raindrop," Arganth said. "She is lost. It says so in the name."

"Is there a prize?" Vivi asked again. "Where is it held?"

Eli had a funny smile on his face. "As per tradition, it's held on the Luminary's market square. For one week, everyone in the city is allowed to enter the upper levels to watch the competition, so long as they behave themselves. Every registered smithy in the city is allowed to enter. And everyone will be entering. Including Zack Vanhammer. Each runesmith has a week to carve the most artistic and beautiful, or the strongest and most practical runesword. The winning swords will be presented at an auction following the competition. Typically, the winner sells for millions."

"The Storm Devourer and his hunting group are in town as well," Arganth added. "If they're present for the auction, the price will easily exceed a million."

"The Storm Devourer?" Vivi asked.

"Anthony Ailman," Eli said. "The best independent modern day swordsman. His hunting group literally defended a town from a storm after Ingfried's Exalted Knights deemed the storm too dangerous to tackle."

"Oooh, I know that guy!" Lucius said. "My old wielder met him once. He's pretty good. He was dead broke back then and without skills, but he still matched us in combat. If he's loaded with skills, he's dangerous."

"I see…" Vivi said. "Is it still open?"

"For a day, at least," Eli said. "You better register. I'll bet a thousand on your victory. Considering you're a new smithy from the Lowmoor district, the underdog rates will be insane."

"Zack Vanhammer is competing, though," Owyn said. "Vivi is good. But to bet on her win? She'd be starting from low split, you know."

"No, I'm betting that she lands in the top five of middle split," Eli said. "Zack is unbeatable. He's the only creature that can carve a three-runed sword in under a week. A middle split top five bet finish would still more than double my bet. If Vivi crafts anything like that—" He glanced at the crystal mithril sword. "—rising from low split to mid split for a top five is possible."

"Top five would be embarrassing," Lucius said proudly with his paws crossed. "We'll win it. Right, Vivi?"

"I don't know," Vivi said. "I'll have to think about it."

Lucius tilted his head. "What do you mean 'think about it'? It's a runesmithing competition."

I don't know if I'm ready to compete against the Vanhammers yet, Vivi thought. I'm still rusty.

"There's a week of time," Lucius said. "That's plenty of time to forge a good sword. We'll join and we'll win."

I don't know, Lucius… Vivi thought. The smithy might get too popular if we win a competition.

"What do you mean too popular?" Lucius asked. "Isn't it our goal to sell swords for millions?"

Vivi didn't know how to respond. I like small smithies. It's not like we'll go bankrupt if we don't compete.

"Why would you not want to compete?" Lucius asked. "It's a runesmithing competition!"

Vivi shrugged. "I might join. But, Eli, don't bet too much on me. If I try my best, there's a good chance I'll end up forging nothing at all."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Eli asked.

"It means I'll either fail, or I'll win it," Vivi said. "I like my smithy the way it is now. There's no need to make things complicated. I think I'll skip the competition this year."

Eli blinked, clearly disappointed. "I see. A shame."

"That just means the Lost Raindrop will stay unknown for longer," Arganth said. "We'll have more time to buy runeswords for cheap."

"I suppose that's right," Eli said. "I have no right to complain. We'll see you after our next hunt, Vivi. Thanks for the swords."

The two exited with smiles, and Vivi was left with Lucius's confused and sullen stare.

"Is it because you're afraid?" Lucius asked. "Do you still think you're rusty? Do you believe that Vanhammer guy will beat you?"

Vivi bit her lip, uncertain how to respond.

"We are entering the competition, Vivi," Lucius said sternly. "And we will win."

She sighed. I'll think about it. Now, we have orders to complete.

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