"What do you mean it shattered to pieces?" Andre asked with a frown on his face.

"I don't fucking know," Einord said. "Look."

Einord's little smithy was a total mess, even more so than usual. A broken crucible sat in the corner along with ten used ether roots. Finding those ether roots in Zand had been a pain, requiring serious searching. Eventually, Andre had managed to buy them from a cloaked demon for a serious price of a hundred ether each.

Einord had failed to use the first nine roots properly. He claimed that the process was far harder than it looked. He couldn't get the roots to grow into the same shape he wanted to. So Andre made him try again.

On the tenth attempt, Einord had finally showcased a good-looking grown ether root that resembled Vivi's work. From there, Andre moved him to the next step. Carving the runes.

He'd visited Zand's library, searching for all sorts of books. There was nothing directly about runesmithing, but Andre had found one interesting book about the science of ether. The book included a depiction of a strength rune that Einord could use as a reference for carving.

After all that, Andre figured that Einord should have been able to craft a runesword. Despite his tongue and his complaints, Einord was good. He'd been a blacksmith for most of his life. The swords he crafted for the blue cloaks were masterful.

However… "Where's the sword?" Andre asked.

"Right fucking there," Einord said, pointing at the floor.

Bits of cracked metal were spread out on the floor, as if a glass had shattered. A hilt with runes carved onto it was sprawled amongst the mess.

"I did everything exactly like the girl," Einord said. "I shaped the ether root, and I carved the runes on the hilt. I made sure to add ether to the runes while the sword was brewing in the crucible. Everything worked, and I smithed the blade."

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He frowned at the mess. "Then I pushed ether through the runes of the finished blade. It shattered on the spot. The bits of metal exploded everywhere. I'm lucky none hit my eye!"

Andre stared at the floor with his eyebrows raised. That mess of shattered bits of metal was once a sword? "How is that even possible?" Andre asked. "What went wrong?"

"I have no idea," Einord said. "I did everything exactly like the girl. I'm certain I didn't skip a step. She was faking it, somehow."

"Her sword was real," Andre said. "And it was powerful."

"I saw it," Einord said. "But she was hiding something. Otherwise, I don't know how it's possible that my work shattered to bits."

Andre crossed his arms and sighed. "We will need another ether root, then."

"No," Einord said. "I'm done. I don't know how this works."

"What?" Andre asked.

"I'm saying that this is impossible," Einord said. "I'm a blacksmith. Runesmiths require years of practice, you know."

Andre tapped his foot with his eyes closed. He breathed in.

Then he slammed his fist on the wall. "You're telling me that the girl's technique can't be replicated?"

"I'm not a runesmith," Einord said. "If you're going to try again, I will need the assistance of a runesmith. I'm sorry, but crafting a runesword will be an impossible task."

You useless sack of shit, Andre thought. Nobody in his gang showed results when it mattered. The demons were eager to follow him, but they were all as valuable as an army of ants.

"Very well," Andre said. "I thank you for your efforts. Get back to blacksmithing."

He left the smithy, feeling like he wanted to punch something. Vivi's sword hadn't just been powerful. It had been stronger than Andre's spirit blade.

"We should calm down and reassess…" his spirit tried to say.

Keep your useless mouth shut, spirit, Andre said. You lost to a runesword. That's shameful.

"I am sorry, master…" the spirit said. "I was not in my best form. We will get her next time."

Andre grimaced. That was a sack of lies. The spirit had controlled its ether perfectly. Yet, Vivi's sword was still stronger.

How was it even possible? Runeswords were outdated. On the surface, Vivi and her grandpa barely stayed alive. Runesmiths were poor for a reason.

Andre wanted to head to Paradise and ask the hunters if he could talk with Vivi's grandpa. The old man was undoubtedly an even better smith than the girl. But how was Andre supposed to explain what happened?

He'd lost to a runesword.

We need to find Vivi, Andre thought.

"We won't lose again," his spirit said.

No, we won't fight her, Andre thought. We need her swords. I'll have to think of something to lure her in. If she still doesn't bite… We'll have to get rid of her.

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