The widest grin appeared on Lucius's face, hearing Lucas's proposal. "Ten million ether. For one sword."

Ten million! Vivi shouted in her head. That's insane!

"It's massive," Lucius said. "A good chunk of full hunting companies aren't worth as much. We'll never run out of ether during fights. We can buy whatever we want. All for one week of work."

Yeah, Vivi thought. "I'm ready. Wait outside. I'll get changed."

Lucas bowed and the two exited.

Vivi took off her nightgown and slid into her raincoat. Looking in the mirror, Vivi's appearance definitely got worse. The raincoat was as characteristically ugly as it always was. But right now, wearing it felt right. Comfortable. She put on her boots, which had also been cleaned, and met Lucas outside the room.

"I'm ready," she said. "I'll show your group the sword."

Lucas lowered his head like some servant. "Follow me."

The floor outside the hallway was made of see-through crystals. Ether flowed underneath, reacting to Vivi's steps, as if she was in a dungeon. "Is that… active ether?" Vivi asked.

"It's live ether, the same stuff that flows in runeswords," Lucas said. "The floor is crystal laminate, and what's beneath is a surgeway, as the engineers call it."

"A surgeway?" Vivi asked.

"The pipes are coated with conductive paste," Lucas explained. "The surgeways are a method of surge protection. The pipes redirect surges away from the building into a safer location if ether wells directly beneath. Surgeways are necessary for any safe building. The shiny effect is purely decorative. Keeping it active costs around fifty ether every day, but the floor is heated and it offers light. And it does look good."

Fifty ether every day for a floor… Vivi thought.

Breathing in, the air tasted fresh and cool, as if there was wind inside the building. The effect seemed to come from a bulb-shaped plant hanging upside down by the ceiling. It sucked in air from the ceiling, then pushed new air below. An air freshener of sorts? Even the air in this place was expensive.

She followed Lucas through three more hallways and a stairway, passing too many doors to count, until they entered a small but still insanely rich parlor. This time, it wasn't the chandelier that took Vivi's attention. Every object in the room was expensive, yet the group gathered around the table wore outfits akin to Vivi's raincoat.

The sheer amount of ether in the room was what made her pause.

Anthony Ailman sat by a table playing cards with two others. Vivi recognized Lortel, leaning her face on her palm. A tall man sat across from Lortel, and the last man was sitting alone in the corner of the room, on the floor. A small mound of ether orbs was stacked on the table. Each orb was filled with five thousand ether. There were around twenty orbs.

The tall man played a card. He wore a fluffy jacket with long sleeves that fully covered his arms. His face was wrapped in gauze, showing only his eyes. He seemed rather frail; if not for the terrific amounts of idle ether coating his skin, Vivi would have thought he was ill.

The man in the corner reminded Vivi of Bwern. He was a brute with a large underbite, wearing a tank-top and shorts. His right ear was partly bitten off, and his otherwise smooth demon skin was filled with cut marks from battle. By appearance alone, he looked like a mindless ogre.

Weirdly, the brute seemed to be meditating. He sat on the floor with his back straight and eyes closed. Wisps of ether flowed from his skin to his breath, back into his body. He channeled ether with insane precision. His aura wasn't hostile; it was like a powerful current flowing freely and harmlessly.

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Lucas crossed his arms, facing everyone. "The best runesmith in the city has just entered the room, and you're gambling."

"We are 'preparing for storm season' as the elders say," the tall man said. His voice was rough, as if it hurt to speak. Still, his volume was loud. "Not like I'll get to swing that sword even if we buy it."

Lucas glanced at Vivi and shrugged apologetically.

Anthony placed down his cards, abandoning the game. "Are you ready to discuss deals, Vivi?"

"Yes," Vivi said. "You said you wanted to make an offer."

He nodded. "Blossom was the best sword I have ever had the honor of flowing ether through. I'm prepared to invest and outbid everyone for a chance to work with you, Vivi."

The weirdos in the room had paused their card game. Everyone was observing Vivi instead.

They all wanted to see Blossom. Right in front of her, a legendary warrior was praising her for crafting the best runesword he had ever tried. He was offering her a minimum of ten million ether.

Vivi summoned the sword. The tall man flinched, seeing it appear in her hands out of nowhere, but everyone else merely watched silently. Vivi, too, eyed her sword.

Blossom had saved her life once. When Anthony tried to kill her, in monster form, she'd summoned the sword and defended herself.

She ran ether through its veins again. The feeling within the ethereal realm was akin to a warm hug. Blossom didn't want to destroy and kill like Abyss Destroyer. It was her friend. One to protect her through dark moments.

She hesitated. Then she placed it back to spatial storage, and summoned her two-runed crystal mithril sword in its stead. The one that had been at the top of her display rack. It was far from a masterpiece, but still a solid sword.

"Uhm," Vivi said awkwardly. "What do you think about this sword?"

Anthony took the sword curiously. His eyes were just as intrigued as they were when testing Blossom. He took hold of it, ran ether through its runes, feeling its veins. Everyone in the room eyed the veins. Anthony sat still, pushing ether into its runes, feeling it extensively.

"Lucas, try it," he eventually said.

Lucas had a similar reaction, flinching when he first held the sword. He blinked, eyes wide. He held it carefully, as if the sword made him afraid of moving.

The group in the room took turns testing the sword. Everyone had similar reactions of disbelief. They didn't speak, just silently felt the runes for themselves.

Eventually, the sword made it back to Anthony. He handed it to Vivi. "It's not quite as insane as Blossom. But it would have still cut the surgestone slab in half. This one is the second strongest sword I've tested."

"I can sell this one right now," Vivi said. "I'm not ready to sell Blossom yet."

"What, why not?" Lucius asked. "Or are you trying to get other offers first? I guess that's smart. Someone will probably try to outbid these guys."

Yeah, maybe… Vivi thought.

"Three-runed swords are usually ten times the price of two-runed variants, correct?" Vivi asked. "I'll sell this one for a million ether."

"That's an absolute steal," Anthony said. "We have to offer two million at the very least."

The tall man rolled his eyes. "If she's selling it for a million, buy it for a million."

"I don't need two million," Vivi said. Then she thought, This sword cost a few hundred ether and ten hours to make. "One million is already a lot. Transfer that, and you can have the sword now."

The gang looked at each other. They seemed to reach an agreement, nodding to each other. Anthony began transferring ether for Vivi. The number quickly rose from the few thousand it had fallen to. Vivi's head spun as she passed fifty thousand ether. The number kept growing, surging right past a hundred thousand.

A minute later, Vivi had over a million ether in her reserves. She handed Anthony the sword in disbelief.

After the deal was done, the swordsman was the one to bow. "What is its name?"

Lucius? Vivi thought. Do you have any names prepared?

"Crystal Destroyer!" Lucius said.

Vivi smiled awkwardly. "It's called Crystal."

"Crystal," Anthony said. "A fitting name. Thank you. I will defeat a storm with this sword."

It's just a quick two-runed sword. Vivi already felt bad for selling Crystal for such a price. She had just earned ten times the amount of her old debt with a sword she created in under twenty hours. Sure, she had many years of experience prior to those twenty hours, but the deal was still ridiculous.

If her sword sold for this much, how much would the demons have paid for Grandpa's swords?

"Lucas?" Vivi asked. "I, um… I'm not feeling well. I think I need to sleep some more."

Lucas lowered his head. "Of course. You still need to recover. You're at a stage where you exhaust yourself quickly. I'll lead you back."

They exited the parlor back the way they came. While walking, Lucas said, "I was told that your smithy will take around two or three more days to repair. You're free to treat the Nemonn estate as your home until then. Rest as much as you need to. If there is anything you need, tell us. Every servant has been informed of your presence. They will treat you as a guest of the highest priority."

Vivi wondered if she should try to express how unnecessary this was, or if she should argue that she didn't deserve all this, but she knew Lucas wouldn't budge. So she just said, "Thanks," and crashed out back to bed.

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