Vivi gave her sword to the organizers and waited for the next phase of the competition. Testing and judging.

Workstations near the stairs were moved to make space. Each sword was lined up in a large gallery near the judges. One sword for each of the sixty one contestants. Vivi's sword shone amongst the outside-carved blades.

The audience had around a hundred people. Mostly family members from the looks of it. Vivi spotted Frewell's wife and daughter waving at him from the front rows. A bit behind them, Vivi spotted Eli, Owyn, and Arganth. The three looked nervous more than anything.

Low split didn't have an announcer. There were three judges, who were silently examining the swords while writing details on their papers. One of the judges faced the runesmiths and stood confidently. "My name, as all of you should know, is Fulrad Evang. I am a second elevation hunter with thirty years of experience swinging runeswords, having wielded and tested thousands of blades. I have been given the honor of judging the pure strength of your swords today."

A few people in the crowds clapped. Mostly, however, Fulrad's voice was overpowered by the cheers and announcements resounding across the square from top split. Each one of the top contestants was being welcomed, their swords showcased one by one. Every contestant also had a moment to speak to the crowd. Mostly, everyone thanked their families and supporters. The braver ones made sure to pick fun at their opponents in some funny ways.

Vivi sighed listening to it. The announcer's voice was merely an echo, and the cheers weren't for her. Hurry up! she thought. Perform the tests!

Fulrad picked up one of the swords. "Testing begins with Marton Watkins!"

Low split's tests moved quickly, and the testing wasn't anything complex. One of the judges gave a beauty score, and Fulrad took test swings. Each sword was tested on a thick column of stone. It seemed to be just ordinary stone.

Vivi was thinking that stone wasn't strong enough to measure a runesword's strength, as any proficient sword would cut through like butter, but the first sword being tested barely left a dent in the stone. If anything, the sword's blade was what sustained damage. A smith near Vivi bit his lip.

"What a pathetic sword," Lucius said. "This is a waste of time. Just test our sword already and tell us we won!"

This is a big moment for these people, Vivi thought. Let's not get impatient.

The next four swords were similarly awful. Each one was a single-runed outside-carved sword. In Vivi's opinion, the swords had no special qualities. Vivi was surprised by how weak her competition was. Some blacksmiths created swords strong enough to cut stone even without runes.

Frewell's turn came next. His sword was better than the competition's. Mostly thanks to a stronger base sword. He stood nervously while his sword was tested.

His sword cut halfway into the stone column. Fulrad nodded. "Very good. Frewell Ainhard has taken the top spot!"

His family cheered. Frewell grinned. He glanced at Vivi. "What do you say, Slum Smith? You think your sword can beat that?"

Vivi shrugged. "Maybe."

Testing all the swords took over twenty minutes. After every five swords or so, a new column of stone was brought in. Not that there was any need for that; most of the swords were total trash. The better swords managed to create a small dent in the stone. The worst sword came from a young demon a little older than Vivi. The sword's veins were only halfway completed. Before the examiner could even swing, the blade fell from its poorly attached hilt. The poor boy received laughs and snickers before taking his sword and exiting the scene.

There were a few decent ones. Frewell was defeated by the thirty-third sword, which managed to cut two thirds through the stone column in one swipe. Angall's sword also beat Frewell's though lost to sword thirty-three.

Vivi's sword, fittingly, was dead last. When her turn came, the column had already been tested by six swords with dents all over.

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"Vivian Runeblessed from the Lost Raindrop," Fulrad said. "Competing with Blossom!"

The crowd went silent. The sword was such an oddity that everyone wanted to take a look at it.

Fulrad picked up the sword with a bored expression. He pushed ether through the runes.

And suddenly, he froze in place, eyes opening wide.

Vivi grinned. Fulrad stood in place for over five seconds, until his colleague tapped him in the shoulder. His haunted expression remained. He eventually managed to waddle to the stone column, going into stance, and swinging at the column.

The sword made no sounds. Its blade passed through the column as if it was made of air. The column stayed perfectly in place like two blocks stacked on top of each other.

Fulrad didn't seem to have noticed what happened. He blinked. Then he took another swing.

Again, Vivi's sword passed through the column, leaving no mark.

"Huh?" Fulrad said to his colleague. Vivi added ether to her ears to hear what they were saying. "I did just swing at it, did I not?"

"It looked like the sword passed through?" the beauty judge said.

"Something is wrong with this one," Fulrad said. "I don't know what it is. This can't be a runesword."

The beauty judge frowned. "Swing again. I'll watch closer."

Fulrad took a swing, looking genuinely concerned. He slashed at the column.

Finally, the column couldn't withstand all the cracks. A bit fell off from all the cuts. The rest of the column followed, tipping over. Each cut the sword had made showed themselves as perfect slashes through the stone.

The judges stood there in shock.

It's just a stone column, Vivi thought. Any one of my swords would have done that. Don't they have any real tests?

"Like what?" Lucius asked.

Like cutting hardened obsidian, Vivi thought. Or placing ten thousand pounds of force on the blade to test durability. That's what Grandpa used to do before he sold any of his swords.

"Uh, I hope they don't do that," Lucius said. "I'd like to actually sell this sword."

My first three-runed sword survived the test, Vivi thought. This one could probably pass fifteen thousand pounds without damages.

The judges took turns testing Vivi's sword, passing ether through it, gawking at it. They brought in another column and swiped it down as easily as the first. Nobody seemed to know what they were looking at.

Eventually, however, they were forced to face the contestants. "Vivian, um, Runeblessed with Blossom… Takes spot number one. Vivian Runeblessed wins low split!"

Nobody around her said anything. The runesmiths were just as shocked as the judges. They'd seen what her sword did to stone.

Eli and her customers cheered. "Go Raindrops! We aren't lost anymore!"

Angall laughed beside her. "You bloody witch. You actually plan on heading to top split, don't you?"

Vivi nodded. "Thanks again. You saved me."

Frewell looked like he had seen a ghost. "Seventh place…" he was muttering to himself. "That's not bad…?"

Vivi walked up to the judges. "I'll move to middle split now, correct?"

"Uh, yes," Fulrad said, voice shaken. "Testing for mid-split is currently ongoing. You will be added into their queue. You have secured a place in middle split for next year's competition. If Blossom wins middle split as well, you will move up to top split." He was silent for a moment, then said, "If you don't mind me asking… What exactly is this sword?"

"A three-runed inside-carved sword," Vivi said. "Nothing too complex."

He blinked. "Seriously?"

"Well, maybe it's just a little bit complex," Vivi said.

"Oh," Fulrad said. "I, uh… Well, regardless, you're moving to middle split. I will be your guide for the remainder of the competition. Congratulations."

***

Middle split, despite involving cash prizes for winners and a slightly larger audience, was not all too different from low split. The tests were performed by different judges, but the criteria were still the same. A beauty score, and a quick test swing at a column.

The column had turned from stone to steel, and some of her competitors had two-runed swords with more colorful metals. As Vivi entered, she immediately received weird looks from middle split's runesmiths. They wondered what someone so young was doing up here. Around her, the usual murmurs quickly spread.

She stood at the end of the queue before testing for another fifteen minutes as middle split's swords struggled to cut through the steel column. The results weren't any different from low split; middle split just had a stronger test column. The better swords managed to create hefty dents in the steel, while the lesser swords became dented instead. Nobody managed to fully cut through the steel column.

Blossom's turn finally came.

The sword cut through the steel column as easily as it had the stone version. The testers expressed their shock, wondering how a sword without veins could be so strong, wondering if the sword was somehow cheated.

In the end, they couldn't figure out just how Vivi had cheated. They were forced to give her the victory, congratulating her on a rise. They offered her a cash prize of ten thousand ether for winning middle split. The celebration was more so just confusion all around her.

"Yes!" Eli shouted from the crowds. "Fuck, I'm rich! We are not lost anymore! Go raindrop!"

Vivi smiled awkwardly. She didn't really care about the celebration. She was waiting for one thing only.

After a few more arrangements, she was finally escorted by Fulrad, her guide, into top split.

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