Vivi was rusty. She immediately noticed sluggishness in her movements. Her hands didn't flow with the root's stalk like they used to. Holding a crochet hook felt awkward. The last time she'd worked with one was on the surface back in Grandpa's smithy.

On the surface, Vivi had carved her first three-runed sword just hours before being sent to the underground. The project had taken her attempt after attempt, wasting countless ether roots on failed sets of veins. Three-runed swords required impeccable concentration for the whole process, leaving little room for errors. Vivi had been in the zone for many hours straight until eventually completing one lucky attempt.

Right now, the skill she'd had back then felt like a distant memory. I'm never taking a break like this again. Even one day away from the smithy is enough to make my hands slow.

Lucius sounded concerned. "You mean, you've forgotten how to be a runesmith?"

Vivi smiled. Not in the slightest. I'll just need a good warm-up.

In this situation, Grandpa would have told Vivi to spend a day or two performing rudimentary exercises, such as shaping artwork and tying knots with inexpensive plant roots. Rudimentary exercises were a great way to gain a feel for how veins were supposed to be handled.

In Zand, Vivi didn't have time to practice. She needed results. Lucius, slow the tempo a bit. White obsidian roots don't need as much ether as iron or adamantite.

Lucius followed the order, and the vein-shaping process continued. Vivi formed a vision of a katana in her head. She let the main stalk grow and started separating it into sharp but simple branches.

Two-runed swords are easy enough that I shouldn't mess up. I can use Ven's sword as a warm-up.

While shaping the core stalk, Vivi had to plan ahead. She made the core stalk thinner than she would for a single-runed sword, and she left the branches short. This was done to leave enough room for the next step of the process. The second set of veins. For a two-runed sword, two sets of veins had to be interwoven together inside one sword. Space was often the limiting factor.

Forty or so minutes later, Vivi finished up the first set of veins, cauterizing growth. The process was a lot less stressful without a dwarf and an ether hunter eyeing her every move. She cut off the stalk from the root and assessed the project so far.

She was quite happy with the result. With a crochet hook, Vivi had a lot more control over the shapes she wanted to form. The branches formed half-squares with sharp angles. The half-squares formed together by connecting with the next branch above.

"A simple Hank's pattern," Vivi said. "That's what I promised Ven. He probably didn't understand what I was talking about. But the pattern will work well."

"What's a Hank pattern?" Lucius asked.

"The half-square vein-pattern is named after its inventor," Vivi said. "Hank was a legendary runesmith during the age of typhoons. He always worked drunk in an age where runesmiths were competing on who could carve the most beautiful patterns. Hank struggled to compete, drunk as he was. He always just carved simple half-squares into his sword. They called him the Beer Carver."

"So he was an idiot?" Lucius asked.

"He was a drunkard," Vivi said. "But his runeswords kept outperforming everyone else's. It's a seriously efficient pattern. Hank proved that runesmithing isn't all about beautiful patterns. His pattern works well in inside-carving as well."

"Sure, Vivi," Lucius said. "That's cool. Can we make the sword now?"

"A small break in between phases never hurts," Vivi said. "The difficult part starts now."

"You said two-runed swords were easy, did you not?"

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"They're easy compared to three or four-runed swords," Vivi said. "But I still needed over three years to get from a single-runed sword to a two-runed sword."

Vivi stretched again. Breaks were good, but she was still warmed up. If she sat around for too long, a break would have the opposite effect.

Before moving to the next ether root, Vivi had to set up the path that the second root would follow. She picked up her project and carved a hole inside the bottom of the main stalk. The hole extended vertically from the bottom of the hilt up toward the branches. Essentially, she made the hilt of the veins hollow.

Just before the hole reached the first branches, Vivi carved two horizontal holes on each side of the main stalk. This revealed the vertical hole inside. Additionally, Vivi carved four smaller horizontal holes across the hilt of the main stalk. These steps were essential for carving swords with multiple runes.

Choosing the next ether root was important. Vivi couldn't use another white obsidian root, since roots of the same material would combine, making all of Vivi's preparations useless. The two stalks had to be different enough that ether would flow separately, not combining together. The powers of the two different runes were not allowed to mix within the veins, before making it to the metal. The reaction would ruin a sword.

The locium root would work… Vivi thought. Yet, she was reluctant to pick the root. Locium was known amongst scientists to be insanely erratic and difficult to work with. Grandpa had never tried it. If Vivi used the locium now, she could very well ruin it.

"Let's use it!" Lucius said. "We're not here to mess around."

No, using it for Ven's sword would be stupid, Vivi thought. We'll use the locium root for a three-runed blade. Let's save it for a powerful sword.

"Fine," Lucius said. "What will we do, then?"

Hide the locium root in spatial storage, Vivi said. We'll steal it and use it later.

Lucius gave a wry grin. "I didn't know you were a thief."

If the demons ask for it, we'll have to give it back. Let's use the red mithril root for their sword. It's conductive, and it holds a lot of power. I used one for my three-runed sword on the surface. Red mithril will work phenomenally with a sharpness rune.

Vivi picked up the mithril root and placed it in the vise. "This next step is probably going to look a little silly…" she said.

Vivi held the first set of veins above the mithril root so that the tip of the root poked into the hole at the bottom of the veins. The root was secured to the vise, but Vivi balanced the veins with her hands.

"I'm starting a serious attempt now," Vivi said. "Please refrain from questions. Initiate the root when you're ready."

Ether flowed into the mithril root. The tip cracked open, and the stalk grew. Vivi felt pressure below her hands as the growing mithril root attempted to push the veins out of the way. She held it there firmly until the mithril root found its path. The stalk of the second root grew inside the hole she'd created. After a few inches of growth, Vivi no longer had to hold the veins for balance.

The mithril root grew inside the veins. As it reached the first four horizontal holes, the pressure guided the root to grow outward through the holes. Vivi let the branches grow half an inch outward before cauterizing each one. Excess growth would all be cut later to create a smooth surface where runes could be carved.

When the mithril root reached the last two holes, two stalks extended upward alongside the branches of the first set of veins. The shaping process started.

Vivi juggled guiding both of the mithril stalks through the pre-planned route. Her preparations with the first root came in handy. Vivi had left enough space for the second root to fit, neatly intertwining with the first set of veins.

The mithril root would house a sharpness rune when completed. For the best effects, the ether root had to strengthen the edge of the blade. There was no need to make the core of the blade sharper. Thus, Vivi directed the mithril root only to the very edges of her sword, where the branches would strengthen the blade of the weapon.

Vivi quickly fell into concentration. Shaping two runes was a lot more difficult compared to just one. If any of the branches she was shaping turned out the wrong shape, all of her work so far would be wasted. She'd need to start from scratch. Very little could be done after the fact to fix screwed-up veins.

Vivi's touch wasn't impeccable. She made minor mistakes, shaping branches ever so slightly off. Not so off as to render the sword nonfunctional, but her work was far from a perfect runesword. Her two-week break still showed. Nevertheless, she let practice guide her movements, shaping the branches like a master artist painted a canvas.

Two-runed swords were difficult, but they also had double the runes. A swiftness and a sharpness rune combination created a powerful duelist's blade that a single-runed variant could never match. The best rune combinations could negate each other's weaknesses, while strengthening a sword with the benefits of both runes. Swiftness made a sword incredibly smooth to swing, often improving a wielder's accuracy and instincts, while a sharpness rune ensured that anything hit would be cut down.

For the next week, runesmithing was Vivi's life. She had Zand's full cycle all to herself. Ten hours later, the warm-up sword was completed.

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