It takes about ten minutes for Gabby to open the door. I stand with a sigh. Gabby is a few inches shorter than me, with bright blond hair and deep sapphire-colored eyes. She has a scar on her right eyebrow that spits it in half, and freckles dot her cheeks. Honestly, her face doesn't fit her craft at all. All soft and squishy-like. Even though she's in her late thirties, she could pass as an early twenty-year-old—a direct contrast to Sal's rugged looks. Gabby even sailed with Sal as her onboard blacksmith a few times.

"Finally decided to get off your lazy ass and come get your sword, eh?"

I shake my head, "You know it isn't as easy as that." She grunts and holds out her hand. I hand over the core, and she purses her lips and nods in appreciation.

"That's a dark shade now, isn't it? Musta cost you an arm and a leg." She says.

I shrug. Neo cores are a pain to get, but even if you get one, there's no guarantee it'll be good. They aren't color-coded like P-cores, so you never know what you're gonna get. The only surefire way to tell if it's good is how dark the shade is. The core I got is a dark gray, and It's only a few shades from black. Who knows what it can do? All I do know is that it's definitely strong.

Gabby starts muttering to herself and waves me into the shop. Walking inside, it's as messy as it was the last time I was here. Tools are strewn all around with no order whatsoever. The various tables scattered about have all kinds of metal scraps and incomplete weapons on them. In the center of the room is a steel barrel? Drum? Used to smelt stuff... I guess. Beside the smelting... thing, is a sword covered in a white cloth. It must be my sword. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't excited.

Gabby stares at the core for a few more seconds before nodding, "Unfortunately, the core is a little bigger than I had anticipated, so I'll need to make some adjustments to the sword, but they'll only take a few minutes." I felt my heart drop. I've had this sword in development for six months and spent a lot of money on it. I could have bought a house in the city with that money. It was damn near a small fortune.

"Oh, don't give me those sad eyes. I'll still let you hold it before I put the core in." Gabby says, exasperated. At that, my eyes perk up, and my blood starts racing. A pressure builds in my chest. I don't think I've been this excited since... well, I'm not really sure when. Gabby puts her hand on the cover," Now, feast your eyes on my masterpiece." As the sword comes into view, I gasp slightly.

It's beautiful. The blade is roughly three feet long and double-edged. It's a dark gray, almost black, with silver lines traveling through it. It kinda looks as if black glass was broken and turned into a sword. Silver also makes up the center of the sword and extends from the hilt to about a foot past it. Three slots for orbs are placed at the base of the blade just before it touches the crossguard. One is implanted directly into the silver, while the other two slots are on each side. The left one is open as there isn't a core in it, but the other two are covered by silver.

The hilt itself is surprisingly simple. The crossguards are about an inch wide and extend a few inches out on each side, curving slightly down. The grip is made of simple black leather and bound by string that crisscrosses down the grip. The pommel takes the shape of a four-pronged star.

I stare at it for a few seconds, not really sure what to do. "Well, you gonna pick the damn thing up or not?" Gabby says, waving her hand in front of my face.

"Uh, yeah." I reach out and pick it up. I grunt in surprise, "It's pretty hefty." I say, holding it up. It's really top-heavy.

She scoffs, "Of course it is. It's made out of an extremely high-density meteorite ore. That ore is the best metal I've ever seen. Almost magical. Also, a real pain in the ass to work with too. On top of that, the steel in the center that you probably mistook for silver is Coresteel."

I gasp, "Isn't that military only?"

Gabby nods, "Yup. Not sure if you're aware, but P-cores are mined from rock, but every now and then, P-cores can be found in iron. Unlike rock which acts as a sealant for the P-cores elements, iron doesn't have those properties, so the core 'contaminates' the ore. It completely changes the metal. Makes it more durable than just about anything nature or humans can make. Though this shit right here." She taps the dark gray metal.

"I haven't seen anything like it. It puts Coresteel to shame. Almost melted my furnace trying to shape this. Not to mention that when I finished the edge, everything I tried to do to sharpen it broke." She shakes her head, "I had to heat the edges just so I could sharpen it. And even then, it took days to make it sharp. Blade gave you a hell of a weapon."

I stare at the sword. Right, this was supposed to be Blade's weapon. I wonder how he is? I shake the thought out of my head—no time to dwell on the past. "So, did you find out what the cores did?"

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

She gives me a devious smile, "You bet your ass I did. You got some real beauties there." She taps the core in the middle, "This is a heat core. It can be used to heat shit up to extremely high temperatures." She runs her hand along the silver veins of the blade, "These are also Coresteel. They are small tunnels that can be used to put liquids in. The Coresteel in the middle of the sword is a container that holds a liquid that can heat up to extreme temperatures without combusting. The liquid is expelled from the hilt into the middle, and from there, it travels throughout the sword. Then the core heats up the liquid, and voila, you have a high-temperature sword." I look at the weapon. That's pretty complicated.

"So what does it use as the liquid? Oil?"

She holds out her hand for the sword, and I give it to her. She unscrews the pommel to reveal a container inside, "It holds Bustal Levithian oil. Stuff that is used in airships to power heaters and stuff. It's unique in that it can heat up to extreme temperatures, but the oil almost flash cools as soon as the heat source stops. Real convenient. Be careful, though. If some of that stuff leaks out while hot, it becomes a deadly gas. Just a whiff can put you in bed for months."

I grimace. No risk, no reward, I guess. "And the other one?" I ask.

"It's a blood core." Hmm. Never heard of that. Then again, I don't know much about cores in general. "There's a few of them being used by the military. Not much is known about them, but if you drip your blood onto it, the weapon is kinda bonded to you. I couldn't tell you what that entails, but that's what those military men say." Gabby says, throwing her hands into the air. Hmph.

I press my thumb against the edge, making a little slice. It's so sharp. "Just anywhere on the sword?"

She shrugs, "Your guess is as good as mine. I made sure not to bleed on it just in case."

"How do you open this silver casing around the core?" Gabby reaches over and slides her finger against the casing, causing it to snap open, revealing the dark red core inside. Not color-coded, huh?

She gives me an annoyed look, "And it's Coresteel, not no weak ass silver."

I chuckle, "Sorry." I press my thumb against the core, and nothing happens. Just a little bit of blood starts drying on the core. Huh. I shrug and close the casing. Whatever.

"Now give it here and go outside. I'll bring it to you when it's ready." Gabby says, already heading to a workbench with the dark gray core and sword in hand. Kinda wish I could just take the weapon and go. I head outside and look at the sky. It'll be cutting it close, but I should get back before dark. I hope I do. It'd be bad if I got found in the night. I wouldn't even know what hit me.

*****************

Thirty minutes later, Gabby calls me into her workshop. "That was fast," I say, impressed.

She nods, "All I needed to do was make a few minor adjustments to the shape of the slot. Now come pick this thing up." She points at the sword on her workbench. I brace myself and pick it up, expecting it to still be heavy, but to my surprise, it's light. So light, I stumble and have to grab the table to keep myself from falling.

"What the hell? Why is it so well balanced now?" I say, swinging the blade around. It's perfect. It almost feels like an extension of myself.

"I thought so," Gabby replied, scratching the back of her head. "The new core changes the weight of the blade depending on who's using it. After finishing putting the core in, I spent several minutes trying to lift the damn thing. Couldn't even get it to wobble." Woah. That's pretty cool. Maybe it has something to do with the blood core?

"Hmm. So if the sword can change weight depending on who holds it, can it change at will?" Gabby shrugs. I stare at the blade for a few seconds and nod to myself. "Get heavy," I say to it. The weapon drops out of my hand and straight into the floor, creating an indent in the sturdy wood. "Holy shit!"

Gabby gasps, "My floor! You fucking asshole. Do you know how hard it is to make wooden floors out of the trees around here? Weeks!"

"Sorry." I reach down to pick it up, but it won't budge. Hmm. I dig my heels into the floor and strain, but it doesn't so much as wobble. "Get lighter." Suddenly it becomes perfectly balanced again. Cool. Kinda disappointed this is all it can do, but it can still be formidable. It put an indent in wood that is said to be harder than steel. Imagine what that weight can do with momentum.

Gabby sighs, annoyed, "Glad you figured out its abilities even if it did cost me a floor. Now get out. I have things to do." She pushes me out of the shop and hands me the final piece to the blade. It's sheath. Unlike the sword, the sheath is pretty simple. A black leather sheath with black metal crisscrossing down it. "This is the last thing. I know how you like to put your swords on your back." She shakes her head in disappointment, "Even if it is impractical as hell. So I went out of my way to procure some living metal for the scabbard. The leather you see there is actually living metal woven together with the outside acting as the structure to keep it solid. Real annoying to shape but well worth it."

Wow, she even managed to get living metal—pretty rare stuff. I remember using a sheath with some a while back. The sheath will actually open, grab the sword, and mold itself around it. Really makes it painless to put away and draw a weapon. Where'd you get that stuff? Last I remember, it's extremely experimental, and only a select few have access to something like that."

She gives me a grin, "I called in a few favors. Lots of people in high places owe me. Make sure you take care of that sword. It's a once-in-a-thousand-year weapon. Might even make the legendary blacksmith

Zacarias jealous."

I smile. Gabby's eyes widen as I clasp her hands, "Thank you, Gabby. I can't imagine how hard you worked on this. I don't know if I'll ever be able to truly pay you back, but I'll make sure this sword is put to good use."

Gabby's face flushes, and she turns around quickly, "Aw, man, there's no reason to get all emotional. You're gonna make me feel bad that you're leaving." She turns back around and gives me a big smile, " The pleasure was mine. If you ever need anything else done, you know where to find me."

I nod, "See ya. Also, don't go too hard on Simon. He didn't mean to mess up the garden."

Her face goes from happy to downcast in a matter of seconds. With a heavy sigh, she trudges to the house, "What the hell did he do this time?" I let out a chuckle. I look at the sword in my hands. Six months, huh? I toss my old sword into Gabby's workshop and head down the road to Calypso. I wonder what I should name it.