Vivi faced Andre with her dark mithril greatsword, thorn sword active. Her runesword was strengthened from the inside as well as from the outside. An aura of red ether coated the sword, matching against Andre’s blue. The coating was inefficient, leaking ether, but its presence certainly made Vivi feel powerful.

  She wasn’t supposed to reveal her strengths… But Andre had asked for it.

  Vivi initiated her attack. Her feet moved like she wanted them to, exactly as Rohan had instructed. Wisps flowed in her body. A lot leaked, exhausted for nothing, but her core was strengthened, and her senses were sharp.

  Andre’s spirit sword loomed ahead like a rampaging storm. Vivi stepped in, invading the storm with a surge of her own.

  She slashed at Andre with her claws, throwing two attacks between each step she took. The hunter cut down each attack. He grimaced, clearly wanting to counter-attack, but having no opportunity.

  Andre took her seriously now. He felt Vivi's aura. And his eyes said it all.

  Vivi threw one last claw swipe, prompting Andre to block. She placed her foot on the ground, grabbed her sword with two hands, and cast down her thorn-coated greatsword.

  Andre’s spirit blade turned into a shield. He placed both arms into the block, bracing the attack with a strong footing. Andre invested everything into defense.

  A shockwave erupted, the ground below vibrating. The impact was fully clouded by red and blue ether as Vivi’s greatsword crashed into the shield.

  The shield cracked. Vivi’s sword cut into its surface. The crush rune activated, casting its destructive force right into the cracks.

  The shield exploded into bits, disintegrating to ether. Andre’s eyes opened wide.

  Vivi couldn’t stop her swing. After cutting down the shield, the hunter came next. She slashed Andre in half.

  She stood there in shock at the destruction of her swing, watching as Andre disintegrated into ether like the monsters of the lower levels. She’d expected to need a few more swings before his spirit truly cracked.

  She’d destroyed his defense. In one attack?

  Lucius appeared from Vivi’s core with a grin on his face. “That’s more like it.”

  Vivi called off her skill, calming down the storm of ether within her body. She watched as the last wisps of Andre’s body disappeared. She was lucky she was in Paradise. Otherwise, she would have probably been covered in blood.

  “We did it?” Vivi asked. “He wasn’t holding back?”

  “I don’t think he was,” Lucius said. “That’s just the difference between a fighter with skill wisps, and a fighter without. Andre is more skilled with the sword; he’s faster, and he has more experience, but your weapon is that much more powerful. Weapon enhancement skills work phenomenally with your runesword.”

  “Are we really strong enough to defeat ether hunters now?” Vivi asked.

  “Well, admittedly, Andre is on the lower tier of hunters,” Lucius said. “He could be strong with rare skills, but his spirit isn’t special. Their control over ether was far from perfect. It’s a secret amongst hunters, but spirits have their own ranking of importance as well. The most powerful spirits would never be offered to lesser hunters. Andre’s spirit is below average.”

  “I see,” Vivi said. “That does make sense.”

  A question immediately popped up in her head. Where did Lucius rank on the scale? Serena would have offered him to Tara Fellwater. A practiced newbie from the surface. Nobody in the village was as proficient in combat as her. Still, looking back, Tara would have likely turned into an average ether hunter.

  Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

  Lucius pouted at her, as if he sensed what she was thinking. “I used to be high on the list. But after what happened with my previous wielder, they placed me lower. Not because I’m not powerful, but because they don’t trust me.”

  “Are you ready to tell me what happened with your old wielder?” Vivi asked.

  Lucius looked away. “Like I said, it’s nothing that concerns us. You just need to know that the hunters don’t like me for what we did.”

  “I can tell,” Vivi said. “If you made a deal with Ingfried, that must mean you visited the lower levels. At least level five or below.”

  “We did,” Lucius said. “It started as an accident. Then we just kept descending. During the journey, my old wielder grew into one of the most powerful ether hunters alive. He defeated almost everyone in Paradise.”

  “Who was he?” Vivi asked.

  “I’m not telling you,” Lucius said. “You’ll start searching for rumors, and you’ll start believing lies.”

  “You can just tell me what happened, Lucius,” Vivi said.

  Lucius wore a serious look. “I can’t. There are truths that I just can’t tell you.”

  She met his eyes. His words were stern, and his tone was entirely different from the typical goofy enthusiasm that Lucius radiated around himself. Every now and then, it almost seemed like thoughts ran in his head.

  Vivi sighed. “Let’s get out of here, then. We’ve completed what we came here for.”

  “We could keep practicing swings if you want,” Lucius said. “You’ll wake up rested.”

  “Humans are not designed to stay conscious for as long as I have,” Vivi said. Really, she wanted to crash out. So many things had happened lately. Proper sleep for just a short break from it all was almost a necessity. “If I keep practicing swings now, I’ll be mentally out of it for the next session with Rohan. Sleep will benefit me more.”

  “Very well,” Lucius said. “We’re heading back now.”

  Vivi’s vision went black, and a dreamless night led her to the next day.

  ***

  The smithy was dark and quiet.

  Vivi sat up with a slight headache. Not as bad as when she’d crafted the nix sword, but the signs of overworking were still there. Vivi had been runesmithing for over ten hours after already fighting two bosses earlier that day.

  I really need to start sleeping on a bed… Vivi thought. Lucius, are you there?

  “Good morning,” Lucius said. “I’m always here, Vivi. I don’t just disappear.”

  Vivi smiled. A weak smile. She still wasn’t accustomed to waking up anywhere that wasn’t Grandpa’s old shack of a smithy. Every morning, even after weeks in Zand, her first morning instinct was still to see if Grandpa was at work. If he was, Vivi would spend her morning assisting him. If he wasn’t, she could continue her own projects.

  Collection day is coming up… Vivi thought.

  Lucius floated in circles with a grin on his face. “We’ve had good progress so far, Vivi. Less than a month in, and we have a skill, runeswords, and we’re working to clear your debts. I’d say we’ll be powerful enough to rival the Exalted Knights in two years.”

  “Lucius, we’re trying not to die in Zand,” Vivi said with a sigh. She stood and pushed open the heavy stone door.

  Eem and Alisa were playing in the central chamber. Alisa held a stick with a string, a piece of meat attached to the end. Upon Vivi’s arrival, she paused, and Eem jumped to catch the piece of meat with her mouth.

  “Oh, you’re awake,” Alisa said, giving Vivi a grin.

  “Have you been here this whole time?” Vivi asked.

  “I arrived half an hour ago,” Alisa said. “Emmy has waited here the whole time. She refused to leave you alone.”

  “Ivwi!” Eem said. She picked something up from a table and ran to Vivi. She held out her arms and showcased a shiny ether root.

  Vivi raised her eyebrows. “Another locium root?”

  “Mm, mm!” Eem said, hopping in place.

  Vivi picked her up and smiled. “You little fortune seeker. You can’t just give me something this expensive, Eem.”

  Eem held the root for Vivi, uncaring of her words. Vivi took it with a smile, placing it into spatial storage. She had two locium roots now. Now she had no excuse to attempt to use one of them.

  “I’m sorry, I haven’t played with you much,” Vivi said. “I’ve been busy. Will you forgive me?”

  “Iwvi,” Eem said, punching Vivi in the chest lightly.

  Vivi laughed and lifted Eem on her back. “You make no sense, Eem.”

  Alisa was grinning ear to ear. “I was about to wake you up. Collection day is starting in a few hours. Afterwards, the Hollows are meeting in Gaven’s kitchen. Ven has a lot he wants to add regarding the plan. We’ve figured out a lot of things while you were gone.”

  “Are we going to clear the boss finally?” Lucius asked.

  “Not yet,” Alisa said. “But Ven believes we can launch the plan much sooner than anticipated.” She turned to Eem. “But before we leave for examination day…”

  She grabbed an etherprint scanner and placed it on Eem’s forehead. Eem flinched as the runes lit up.

  “A thousand and six hundred ether,” Alisa said, frowning. “Emmy, you can’t be running around the hub with those numbers.”

  Eem showed her tongue.

  Vivi laughed. “Eem, are you the biggest breaker of all?”

  “Waa!” Eem said excitedly.

  Alisa sighed. “You’ll gain your ether back, Emmy. Offer it to me for a minute, and let’s go.”