It was only by the flickering light of the lamp in my room that I could see at all.

But…that was fine, these days. Ever since my transformation at the tail end of the Elderwyck campaign, my eyes had been altered by the curse of the Rhazal the Harrower. They were more sensitive now, and it was far easier to see in low illumination. But as a consequence, they glowed ever so slightly through the dark of my study, though thankfully not enough to cast their own light.

I had actually grown to enjoy dimmer light, in those months since I and my compatriots had fled the Herztalian Civil War.

Thankfully, none of that prevented me from enjoying my newest hobby. With as stressed and fraught as I had been, just after we had landed on the shores of Kawamara, I’d needed something to distract myself. I hadn’t wanted to practice any of my martial skills or Skills, since they reminded me of the conflict I had gone so far to escape. At the time, I hadn’t wanted to learn any true Magic either, despite the fact I had just gone through my Ascension Ritual. As wondrous as I had found possessing my own decidedly odd Mana had proven itself to be, I knew…

Well.

I had just needed a break, that’s all.

That feeling towards Magic had faded with time, but I'd still picked up something new

And so I had learned calligraphy of all things.

I studied the small length of practice parchment in front of me thoughtfully for a moment, and the characters I had painstakingly inked onto its surface. After a moment, I clucked my tongue, shook my head, and set down the brush in my right hand. Picking up the piece of parchment and crumpling it up, I threw it over my shoulder carelessly to join the rest of my failures. I’d messed up a crucial brush stroke halfway through, and so I’d need to start over.

But that didn’t bother me.

Caligraphy was…calming.

While it was an art that was covered by the actual Profession of Artistry, I didn’t have that anymore. I had my Aetherial Melding, and I wasn’t using that in the slightest. I’m not sure I ever would have even thought twice about the art itself, if I had tried to use my Profession for it. To me, it would have…tainted the motions. At that point, I would have just been using the hobby for the Impact it would generate towards picking my next class.

I didn’t want that.

I wanted something I could just sit down and…do.

No expectations of advancement.

No progression towards a higher tier of power.

Just…relaxation.

And it had both worked, and continued to work for me.

I idly studied the collection of brushes, inks, and pens I had accrued in the four months since I had arrived in the Land of Rivers and made an entirely consequence-free decision.

I do believe I would try the green ink I had picked up earlier today. I opened a lower drawer on my work desk and withdrew another sheet of parchment, picked up a pen this time, and broke the seal on the small jar of shining green ink. Dipping the pen inside, I made a test stroke.

“Hmm,” I muttered to myself softly in the quiet room, at the feeling of the ink. “A bit dry.”

I shrugged after a moment.

Eh, whatever. I’d try another pen on the next attempt.

I had plenty of time for experimentation.

At least…that’s what I thought.

A knock on the doorframe of my rented room caused me to make a small mistake in my penstroke, ending my current attempt early. I felt my eyebrow twitch slightly at the interruption, looking up from my desk to stare at my door.

I wasn’t expecting anyone tonight. I’d already had my dinner, and I wasn’t expecting any of my friends and compatriots at this late hour. I rarely saw Venix these days, considering how in demand he was from the local military forces. Even with as reduced in strength as he was from his extended coma, the Antium was still a high-level Cultivator. He had been taking quite a number of contracts directly from the military forces of Kawamara to cull Primes all across the isles. When he wasn’t busy with that, he was out challenging local swordmasters to duels to ‘hone his blade’, in his own words.

He even won some of those.

Sometimes.

Azarus, Liora, and Renauld should still be off with the Oni Hunters tracking down a new spawn of the little bastards. They’d offered a spot on the team to me, but I’d declined considering the…business I had these days. I didn’t want to abandon it in the cradle. Not with how proud I was of it.

And Bella?

Well…

My core ring sighed to itself at the thought of the pirate woman, even as my outer leveraged my body up to go and see who was at my door.

Bella came and went on her own time, considering her work with the Bluebacks. I hadn’t seen her in over a month now, ever since a particular…incident between us.

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I smoothed down my plain evening robe and ran a self-conscious hand over the barely-there hair. Annoyingly, I’d found that after my transformation due to Vis Maledicta Exactoris, my hair grew in much, much slower than it used to. I’d expected to have a full head of hair by now after it had been shaved for my Ascension Ritual.

But no. Irritatingly enough, I still looked like a brunette tennis ball.

I shook those thoughts off and reached out, sliding back the rice paper door that separated me from the rest of the high-class inn where I rented a semi-permanent room. On the other side of the door was a fairly…irritating sight. A man dressed in servant robes belonging to a particular noble house, here in the capital city of Hinaga. The greens and yellows clashed horribly with the understated, earthen hues of the inn, but that wasn’t what was so irksome about them.

It was that I had already shooed this particular servant away, earlier in the day. They must have known how unwelcome I would have found the sight of them because they were already bowing at the waist in apology.

I sighed, reaching up to massage my brow. “As I’ve already said,” I groaned. “The sword is not ready yet. Please inform Lord Ashiwara that, no matter how many times he pesters me, the forging process will not accelerate.”

The servant bowed deeper. “A thousand apologies, Kuroshō,” He murmured apologetically. “But my Lord is insistent. His firstborn son and heir leaves for his first hunt in a fortnight. The young master deserves nothing but the best, and you can provide it.”

I took a deep breath to try and tamp down on my frustration, because this guy didn’t deserve it. The busybody Lord I had taken a commission from did.

You see, there had been a problem with my decision to flee from the war. For the first time, I had been separated from the seemingly endless coin purse of my mentor, Headmaster Greycton of the Shadowed Sun. I could no longer depend on his financial assistance in…pretty much all things essentially. All the coin I had to my name was the backpay I’d gotten for my work as part of the clandestine Nocturne Division. And while that had been significant at the time, it’s not like it was infinite. I’d realized on the trip over the waves to Kawamara that the gold would run out eventually.

So, I’d hatched a plan to start slinging my talents as an artisan here in the capital city. The intention had pretty much to only do it as a side gig while I stuck to the original one of adventuring in the rolling hills and forests of the Land of Rivers with my friends. Once here, I’d discovered a pretty surprising thing.

The metal that comprised my own personal weapons, Oninite…wasn’t really used much here. It was pretty common here in Kawamara, but it was notoriously difficult to work with. Piles and piles of the ore sat around in warehouses galore here in the city, entirely unused and unwanted by the locals. Pretty much only the best of the best smiths in the country were capable of working it into cutlery, much less weaponry. But they tended to charge an arm, a leg, and a few other assorted body parts to do that.

I didn’t.

It was much easier for me to work the metal with my cheaty cheating cheater Profession than a good old-fashioned smith. I’d capitalized on that and started out by ‘flooding’ the market with a number of Oninite weapons to get my name out.

That had very rapidly caught the attention of Hinaga, and eventually the high houses of the nobility. From that, I’d been given the smith name of ‘Kuroshō’ by the locals. When I tuned Language Adaptation down a bit for a direct translation, it seemed to mean something along the lines of ‘Black Artisan’.

Possibly a play on both my now signature metal, and the black trails of scales that lined my battle scars. A truly wonderful gift from the now-deceased Rhazal.

Bah.

I may not be as skilled as the master smiths of this country, but that didn’t matter when I was working with higher-quality material. Just the fact that I was offering cheap Oninite weaponry at all was enough to grant me both clout and a number of very lucrative contracts.

Like the one from Lord Ashiwara.

More than enough to both fund my lifestyle here in this inn, as well as my new hobby.

Well, hobbies.

“My answer remains the same,” I said tiredly. “The sword will be finished in a weeks time. If my knowledge of how time functions is still correct, then the sword will be ready for the young master’s hunt with time to spare. Good day, sir.”

The servant raised his head just enough from his bow to look at my face. I noticed that his eyes lingered on my ears, but not for an excessively rude amount of time. “But-!”

“I said good day, sir,” I said firmly, sliding the paper door closed deliberately. Any further protest from the servant was cut off, and thankfully, he took the hint. I heard the servant sigh wearily from outside the door and then shuffle away on sock-clad feet.

I let out a breath now that the interruption was done, rolling my shoulders as I did. They were a bit tense from hours of hunching over the small work desk I’d bought for myself with my smithing work. I eyed said desk for a moment before deciding to call it a night. The interruption had broken my flow, and I didn’t think I had it in me to get back into it.

Time for bed, I think.

As I shuffled my way over to the Kawamaran bedroll in my room, I let my eyes drift over to the opposite corner from my sleeping quarters.

The one filled with weaponry. Spears, and swords, and maces of all shapes and sizes lay carelessly piled on top of each other.

All of them made from the blue and black of Oninite.

It, uh. It didn’t take me long to actually forge a weapon from the metal, and so during my work sessions, I tended to make…a number of them. In point of fact, Lord Ashiwara’s commission was actually finished and resting in that pile, no matter what I’d told the servant.

Somewhere.

I just hadn’t told the servant because his master was being kind of a rude asshole.

They could wait for a few days.

Frankly, I only tended to take a long time on weapons that I personally forged for my own use these days.

And I had certainly made more than a few.

With that comforting thought, I slid into the bedroll and almost immediately felt myself start to drift off to sleep.

It was coming much easier for me, these days.

A little rest worked wonders.

…………………………………………

The next morning, I ventured down to breakfast before the break of dawn. Since my Ascension, I’d found that I needed even less time to get the equivalent of a full night’s rest. I’d been up late into the night working on my calligraphy before the interruption from Ashiwara’s servant. All told, I’d probably slept for only about three hours.

And yet I felt completely fine. Rested, even.

I returned the slight bow that the proprietress of the inn gave me as I reached the ground floor. At her wordless gesture, I sat down at one of the small, low tables in the dining area. I was the first one down here, considering the time, but that didn’t seem to stop the service here. I swear, they seemed to operate at all hours. Minutes later, one of the waitresses kneeled next to my table with a tray carrying my breakfast and a cup of steaming tea. She placed it in front of me and then backed away with a quiet bow.

I picked up my tea and leaned back on one hand, sipping at it as I looked out of the large, open sliding doors displaying the skyline of Hinaga. Just outside of them, I could see a slight hint of light on the horizon as Tarus began to peak over the horizon, casting a wave of emerald light over the spires and temples of the city.

I took a deep breath and smiled.

Yeah…

This had been a good decision.