Chapter 83 - Last Chance

Vivi had no time for warm-ups. She stretched her fingers and closed her eyes to clear her thoughts. Too many worries and doubts lingered like a plague in her head. Concentrating would be impossible if she was worrying about fighting and time for the whole process.

Trying to clear her head only made her more nervous. Let’s just start it, she thought. Initiate the root. Let’s move swiftly.

“Got it,” Lucius said. He added ether into the locium root at a slightly faster tempo than usual.

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 as Vivi gave them some sort of shape. She didn’t even know what rune she was trying to accommodate.

Should she have made loops? With smaller swords, she had even less space to work with. The process wouldn’t take as long as with a greatsword, and she had less branches to deal with, but those branches would be tighter, more difficult to form together. It was sometimes good to form looped branches on the core root already.

But Vivi had already shaped a branch without loops. She’d continue the same way.

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, lost in endless worries, 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. Vivi’s eyes lost focus as she stared at the failure. Lucius stopped flowing ether.

What am I doing… Vivi’s head drooped low. That was pathetic. Failed on the first attempt… That locium root cost more than what Grandpa’s smithy earned in months…

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

Vivi’s forehead rested on her anvil, eyes staring aimlessly at the ground. “No, that’s my fault. 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. “I can’t do it… 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 this 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 said. “I’ve only crafted one three-runed sword in my life, and that was with easy ether roots. I was a fool to think I could do it in fifteen hours with locium roots…”

“Vivi, I—” Lucius began.

“But you’re right,” Vivi said. “We still have time. One last root. We can at least try.”

Lucius watched her suspiciously.

She untied the failed veins from the vise and tossed them aside. “We won’t have time to craft a greatsword to bludgeon skeletons with,” Vivi said. “Our two-runed greatswords are already good at that job. A shortsword won’t be better at defeating skeletons. What if instead we craft a surprise backup weapon?”

“I like that,” Lucius said. “A throwing weapon, perhaps?”

“Yes, that would be perfect,” Vivi said. She thought for a moment. “The core root will have to be for a swiftness rune. Locium does best with the lighter elements of ether. A swiftness rune will also make the sword easier to throw. 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. “Our two-runed swords already have crush as the outer layer. It can’t be as bad as you claim.”

“You’re right,” Vivi said. “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.

“I’m ready.”

Lucius nodded, then initiated the root. This time, he approached with a lot more caution. Vivi felt his concentration. He had never paid so much attention to runesmithing.

The locium root still grew fast, but its growth wasn’t erratic. Lucius controlled it with all his focus, making sure the stalk grew at a steady pace.

The core root won’t need loops, Vivi decided. A swiftness rune doesn’t need to extend to the edges. Just strengthening the core of the blade will be enough. The branches can be left short.

The stalk grew straight and nicely. Suddenly, controlling its growth felt a lot easier. Vivi knew what she had to do. She wasn’t reacting to sudden movements anymore. She felt like she was in control of the process. She trusted Lucius to keep its growth stable. So far, he had controlled it perfectly.

She continued shaping the branches, guiding the root straight. The locium root still required constant attention and concentration. Shaping the root required precision and concentration. Vivi wavered on both.

But she did have years upon years of practice. She shaped the branches, forgetting her worries as habit took control. Slowly, concentration began to overpower the bad taste in her mouth.

Twenty minutes later, Vivi finished the last branch. She cauterized the main stalk.

Glancing at Lucius, the spirit had closed his eyes. He stayed focused, until sensing that the root wasn’t taking in any more ether. He opened his eyes and saw their work.

Lucius grinned. “We did it.”

Vivi smiled. They’d completed the first ether root. Why did that feel like such an accomplishment? “The hard parts are still coming, Lucius. Let’s not celebrate yet. We still have two more to shape.”

“Of course,” Lucius said. “What root will we choose next? A simple mithril thingy? Or the obsidian? Those are easy to control.”

Vivi turned to her root gallery. The options were all boring. Any roots would have sufficed, but none were perfect for what she was looking for. She would have loved another adamantite root. “I guess we’ll have to go with an iron root. Just add more ether to make it grow faster.”

That was when Vivi paused, hearing something outside the door. A slight tapping noise, as well as scratching. What was going on?

She pushed the door open hesitantly and peeked out.

“Iwvi!” an enthusiastic little fiend said. Eem held her hands out, balancing two shiny ether roots on her palms.

Vivi’s eyes opened wide. Eem carried another adamantite 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 four 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, you’re the best,” Vivi said.

Eem laughed, returning the hug. Vivi kept grinning. “Lucius, could you bring us one of the fishes?”

Lucius was pouting again, as he always did when Eem was present. But he complied, grabbing a fish from the smithy’s small food basket.

Vivi handed it over to Eem. “I can’t pay you back with just some food, but this is all I have for now,” she said. Eem gladly took the fish and started munching on it.

Vivi picked up the roots. “I’ll put these to good use, Eem. I promise. Will you guard the door while I work?”

Eem nodded three times, fish still in her mouth.

Vivi smiled. Somehow, she felt like she was scamming Eem. She’d gained a dark mithril root worth four hundred ether, trading it for a fish.

It didn’t look like Eem cared. The Hollows were a team. They helped each other regardless of price. And Eem was a part of the team.

Lucius, Vivi thought as she closed the door, returning to the smithy. Heat the furnace. We have a few more adamantite ingots remaining. We’ll need to melt them all.

“Got it,” Lucius said. He heated the emberstones. As they worked in the smithy, he was also getting used to heating the forge to the correct temperature.

Vivi carved the holes into the hilt of the first veins. Then, she took a deep breath and picked up the dark mithril root. She felt good. She knew what she wanted to craft. And Eem had brought her the perfect materials.

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