Eem flailed her legs like a total idiot. The armored man held Eem from her collar. His visor was down, hiding his face, but he held Eem the same way Grandpa once held their neighbor's cat that he'd found in the trash: with an awkward smile, afraid that Mr. Han or his wife might come yelling at him for mistreating their cute little garbage-paw.

"Eem, what are you doing here?" Vivi asked.

"Ivwi," Eem said. She had a serious look on her face. She was squeezing her arms tight to her chest, as if something was hidden underneath her clothes between her elbows.

"Ivwi? Is that your name?" the armored man asked.

"It's Vivi," she said.

"And what do you suggest we do with this little one?"

"Um, you can leave her here," Vivi said. "Has she caused trouble?"

"Annoyances, yes," the armored man said. "A disaster, no. If she won't hinder your process, I am glad to leave her here."

"Sure," Vivi said. She tried to smile at Eem, but the gesture came off awkward. Eem would get impatient in the smithy, Vivi already knew. The smithy was too closed in.

The armored man nodded. He placed Eem on the ground. "Has everything progressed well?"

"Yes," Vivi said. "Expect to hear from me in a day or two."

He glanced at Vivi's failed set of veins laying in the corner of the room. Perhaps she should have hidden that in spatial storage…

"We will await you then," he said. He closed the door.

"Ivwi!" the enthusiastic little fiend said.

"Eem, you idiot, what are you doing here?"

Eem looked focused. She reached underneath her ragged cloak. She balanced the two shiny ether roots on each of her palms, holding them up for Vivi.

Vivi's eyes opened wide. Eem carried another locium root on her left hand. A particularly shiny one. The one on her right hand was even more awe-inspiring—a darker root with a glowing surface. Vivi had never seen a root like it before, but she'd read its description. She recognized mithril's wavy pattern on the dark surface right away.

"No way," Vivi said. "Grandpa always wanted one of these!"

"What is it?" Lucius asked.

"A dark mithril root!" Vivi said. "These are so rare that Grandpa only ever saw one on the market. It was listed for over nine hundred ether!"

Eem was hopping up and down, the roots wobbling dangerously in her arms. Vivi picked them up, placing them safely on the ground. She hugged Eem tight. The fiend's hair was full of new weird smells.

"Eem, where did you find these?" Vivi asked.

Eem laughed, returning the hug.

"You little treasure hunter," Vivi said. "You better not have risked your life for these. The demons were supposed to keep you safe!"

"Mmmmm!" Eem said.

Vivi grinned. This goddamned fiend.

"I promise I'll pay you back later," Vivi said. "I'm sorry for leaving you. I'll put these to good use right away. Will you guard the door while I work?"

Eem nodded three times.

Vivi smiled. Somehow, she felt like she was scamming Eem. She'd gained a dark mithril root worth nine hundred ether, trading it for nothing at all.

It didn't look like Eem cared. She was happy just to receive hugs in return.

"Well, we have more ether roots now," Lucius said. "Should we craft a three-runed sword?"

It's still stupid to try, Vivi thought. I've never worked with ether roots this rare. But Eem did bring them to us…

"Let's take the risk," Lucius said. His tail moved back and forth in excitement. "If we fail, we can use the bad roots."

Vivi watched the shiny roots for a moment. She had two locium roots now. Even if one of them failed, she had another attempt. Wasting a locium root would hurt her like a crack in the soul, but if she managed to succeed… The sword would be insanely strong.

Stolen novel; please report.

Thinking about it only made her more nervous. "Eem," Vivi said. "I'm going to craft something big now. I will need absolute concentration. If someone attacks us through this door, I'll need you to protect me. Can you do that?"

Eem's face turned serious. She nodded once. Then again, now more confidently.

"Good," Vivi said. "You're my big assistant. Please stand there and guard the door."

Eem did as told, saluting. She looked determined.

That should keep her occupied, Vivi thought. Hopefully she doesn't bother me.

She picked up the first locium root and tightened it in the vise. She stretched her fingers. A vague vision of what Vivi wanted to craft was in her head, but she wasn't yet fully certain. Once the locium root grew, Vivi hoped to form ideas on how the rest of the sword would look like.

Lucius, initiate the root.

"Got it," Lucius said. He added ether into the locium root at the same pace he always did.

This turned out to be a huge mistake. The root cracked open and immediately grew at three times the speed Vivi was used to. Lucius panicked, feeling the sudden growth, and slowed down the pace. Even still, the root grew far more erratically than she could have anticipated.

Immediately, the locium stalk attempted to grow sideways. Vivi felt her heart thumping, but she had her tools ready. She guided the stalk straight.

It was already time to shape the first branches. They grew haphazardly. Any vision Vivi had for the branches was lost as Vivi desperately tried to keep the locium root in any shape at all.

The locium root kept trying to grow in its own directions. Nothing gave Vivi a break. She was already panicking, and this was her first root. How would she fit two more roots? She'd made the branches too long.

Was the sword a ruin already?

Vivi was shaping the third branch on the left side, when her attention suddenly flinched to the main stalk. The core of the locium root was swerving to the right. She quickly gave it attention, but it was too late. The growth twisted, and the stalk was no longer straight.

Vivi blinked, lowering her hands. The stalk continued to grow in the wrong direction. Lucius stopped flowing ether.

Well… that was quick.

"I'm sorry, Vivi," Lucius said. "I couldn't control the root. I didn't expect it to be so… unpredictable."

Vivi's eyes were unfocused as she stared at the failure. No, that's my fault. We were too hasty.

Lucius floated still. "Uh, we still have another attempt?"

This is stupid. I didn't even know what rune the root was supposed to accommodate. I had no vision. I never craft good swords without a vision.

Lucius floated beside her. He looked determined. "We still have one more locum root thing. We failed early. We still have time. Let's try again. I'll control the growth this time."

Vivi bit her lip. It's too hard. I'd need a week for good attempts to show. It's impossible to just craft a three-runed sword when you need one. Unless you're Grandpa.

"What are you saying?" Lucius asked. "We still have plenty of time. You said the previous attempt failed because you lacked a vision? Let's get imagining, then. What runes are we going to use? What will the sword look like?"

Vivi lifted her head. Lucius crossed his paws.

"Or are you going to mope around and do nothing?" he asked. "I'll be disappointed if you give up."

Vivi gave him a weak smile. Since when did you get so invested in runesmithing?

"I'm invested in our success," Lucius said. "And it turns out, your runeswords are way stronger than they have a right to be. So let's get crafting. I know how the ether root behaves now. I promise to control its growth."

Lucius floated over to the second locium root. He picked it up, struggling to carry its weight in spirit form. He dropped it in front of Vivi and met her eyes.

Vivi breathed in. It's probably going to fail… she thought. Runesmithing is just too hard.

"Idiot," Lucius said. "I didn't know you were this stupid, Vivi."

I'm just being realistic, she thought. I've only crafted one three-runed sword in my life, and that was with easy ether roots. It's foolish to think I could do it with locium roots.

"Vivi, I—" Lucius began.

But you're right, Vivi thought. It's not like we can sell locium roots for a profit in Zand. We can at least try.

Lucius watched her suspiciously.

She untied the failed veins from the vise and tossed them aside. Then she got imagining. The two-runed katana for Ven was decent. But honestly, I don't think the katana fit my style. I'm good at overpowering an enemy's defense.

"A greatsword, then?"

Yes, something like our first sword, but bigger and stronger, Vivi thought. She closed her eyes and imagined the shape of her sword and the veins inside. The core root will have to be for a swiftness rune. Locium does best with the lighter elements of ether. A swiftness rune will make the sword viable in quick-paced duels. For the second rune… It has to be strength. Otherwise, the sword will be too weak. The second ether root will coil around the core to strengthen the insides as much as possible. And the third rune…

"Has to be a crush rune, right?" Lucius asked. "This sword needs to cause damage."

A crush rune on the outer layer is sub-optimal, Vivi said. Crush doesn't add sharpness or power to the edges. The rune will merely cause more damage if the sword does pierce its target.

"But if an outer layer of crush does pierce an opponent's defense, the destruction will be immense," Lucius said.

You're right, Vivi thought. If we spread the strength rune's powers far to the edges, we could add a crush rune as the outer layer.

Let's do it, then, Lucius said. We'll call the sword, Abyss Destroyer!

Vivi let out a chuckle. Fine. If this sword succeeds, I'll name it after you, Lucius.

Lucius grinned. "Let's get to work."

Vivi stretched her fingers again and squeezed the root between the jaws of the vise. She picked up her tools.

"Ready?" Lucius asked.

Vivi breathed in. She still thought this was stupid. There was no way she would successfully craft a three-runed sword in fifteen hours, working on roots she didn't have practice with. But it was her last chance. She had to at least try her best.

Eem had brought her the perfect materials for an absolutely insane sword.

Now she had to make sure she didn't waste it all on another failure.

"I'm ready."

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