Yuu and Gunter broke away from the pack, watching as the rest of the class went their own ways either to the lower plateaus or to other school buildings. When they were all out of sight, Yuu picked up the pace and made her way towards the artificing labs.

“We will be using my personal workshop, so you won’t need to worry about any seals,” Yuu explained.

“Understood Big Chief.”

“I also have received word you have been added to the imperial seal.”

Gunter paused midstep at this statement. He knew Yuu was aware he was on Alex’s seal for the light circle method. So it was strange she would bring up the subject. Noticing his confusion, Yuu began to chuckle.

“Not that one… I got you added to one of my own,” Yuu explained. Gunter once again froze midstep and could only gawk at Yuu.

“What’s with the look?”

“You have an imperial seal, Big Chief?”

“You really think I wouldn’t? Me and Alex have been friends since we were teenagers, and all that time, we have been doing crazy stuff the authorities kept having to block before it could spread,” Yuu explained with a chuckle.

“So I am now on two imperial seals?”

“Two? Sure I guess that number is accurate.”

“Does the chief know this one?”

“Alex? Yeah, he knows. I may not be as good at enchanting as he is, but I am still technically a grandmaster of artificing. A lot of my seals don’t even have Alex on them,” Yuu explained.

“You have more?”

“Yeah, a fair few,” Yuu replied with a nod. “I was blackout drunk when some were put in place, but definitely got a bunch.”

“Who has the most between you and the Chief?”

“Probably me…. But he is determined to overtake me again.”

“You make getting imperial seals sound like a game Big Chief.”

“I suppose we do, but that’s where the fun is,” Yuu replied with a big grin. “Just recognise the honour I’m giving you with this new trick.”

“Oh yes, Big Chief, I will do my best to honour it. The pride I will feel being amongst the greats like the chief and your father will be something I could brag to my grandchildren about.”

“Oh, my dad isn’t on the seal. I made a particular point to not let him on it.”

“Why?” Gunter asked, shocked as to why Yuu would block the Sinful Lord responsible for production from a unique production technique.

“Dunno, he kinda annoyed me that day. Me and my dad have been in a cold war since I was little… well, littler,” Yuu explained.

“May I ask why?”

“Bit of a personal question,” Yuu teased.

“I’m sorry, Big Chief, forgive me.”

“I’m teasing… My dad is scared that I will take his throne.”

“The seat of Wrath?”

“Yeah, since I was three, he has been scared I would take the throne from him. In his own words,” Yuu paused to puff her chest out and hold her hands to her face making a mock beard. “If you have any sense, I would give you the throne, but you have your mother's recklessness and my skill, and that terrifies me more than words could convey.”

“Isn’t there a rule to block you from obtaining the throne?” Gunter asked, recalling all the rules for hereditary inheritance of positions.

“Oh, a bunch. It is why so many in high society think he adores me as his baby girl. He refuses to disown me despite all the trouble me and Alex get into, and they get the wrong idea. He is just protecting his seat. No idea why though I honestly don’t want it; it looks extremely boring. I prefer the freedom to make what I want.”

“So you have no ambition for the throne?”

“I have as much desire for that throne as Alex does for the ebony throne,” Yuu replied with a chuckle as they arrived at the artificing lab.

Opening the doors, the pair walked in only to have a student rush up to them with a vial in his hands. Gunter instinctively made to try to protect Yuu, only for her to step in front of him.

“Swizzy!!” Yuu greeted the excited boy, who was practically vibrating.

“BOSS-BOSS-BOSS-I-HAVE-MADE-IT-I’VE-DONE-IT-AND-I-WILL-BE-A-GRAND-MASTER!!!!!” Gunter was impressed with the speed at which the boy was talking and amused when the boy took a very deep inhale to continue, only to stop when Yuu held out a hand.

“So what have you made this time?”

“I-MADE-THE-POTION-TO-LET-ME-WALK-THROUGH-WALLS!!!” Swizzy replied.

“A phase state potion?” Gunter said, looking surprised. They were one of the ultimate goals of alchemists, up there with the philosopher's stone. The problem, though, wasn’t becoming incorporeal as there were a few magi-botany plant materials that could grant such effects.

The problem was limiting the phase to not affect your feet. Many a skilled alchemist had died being trapped in floors. However, they should’ve known as the Whisperweaver maintains itself by having its victims eaten by its roots.

“So you can now walk through walls?” Yuu asked.

“YES!!!” Swizzy said, beginning to vibrate once again.

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

“Show me,” Yuu said, gesturing to a shield wall between two workstations.

“Big Chief, is this ok?” Gunter asked, looking at Swizzy nervously.

“It’s ok, watch,” Yuu said, gesturing to the boy who, without a moment's hesitation, chugged the entire vial.

“WOOO-WALL-HERE-I-COME!!!!!” Swizzy picked up a considerable pace narrowing his profile and keeping his head low. Gunter held his breath the moment Swizzy was a step away, only to watch Swizzy crash against the wall and collapse to the floor in a heap.

“Big Chief?!!!”

“Oh, don’t worry, that boy's skull is likely pure bone. I am yet to see a semblance of brains,” Yuu said as she went up and examined the unmoving boy. “Yep, only knocked out.”

“We need to call medical!”

“Nah, he’ll be ok; we just need to,” Yuu grunted as she lifted the boy and began dragging him.

“Big Chief?” Gunter asked, confused, only to see Yuu move Swizzy to the other side of the wall and prop him against the wall.

“Why did you move him to the other side?”

“Well, simple… it’ll be funny when he wakes up,” Yuu replied as if it was the most obvious answer in the world.

“That’s a bit-”

“He will also hopefully reconsider his approach, thinking his potion knocked him out,” Yuu added with a sigh. “If he tried anything really dangerous, I would step in.”

Leaving the unconscious boy against the wall, the pair proceeded deeper into the building to where Yuu had forged the bird cage for Niklas. Yuu opened the doors only to close and lock them behind Gunter the moment he stepped in.

“Ok, I am going to teach you a third enchanting method,” Yuu explained.

“A third? There’s a third?”

“Yes, there is the runic carving and painted method. There is a kinda weird mix that isn’t really a separate method where you fill in the divots of the carved runes. But my method takes a different route.”

“Big Chief, does that mean this method uses parts of the other methods?”

“Sharp on the uptake,” Yuu answered with a grin. “I named this method the mirrored cavity method.”

“Mirrored Cavity? Never heard of it.”

“That is kind of the point of an Imperial Seal, bud,” Yuu replied, causing Gunter to look embarrassed.

“The method itself is simple in theory but hell in practice. Alex has only ever succeeded once. I myself succeed about one in every ten attempts,” Yuu explained.

“And you’re going to teach me this method?”

“Yeppers. Ok, first you need to get two sheets of metal,” Yuu explained, taking out two long pieces of metal that would be used to forge a blade of some kind.

“Next, you carve your desired runic enchantments,” Yuu explained as she proceeded to carve a strange long strain of runes.

“Does it need to be this long?” Gunter asked, pointing to what she had carved.

“No, this is how we get our rules into what we make. Many just stick a spell directly to the object. We found you can program behaviours. A good example is Daisy’s old sword. That had a phase field that would activate when interacting with an exemption.”

“So that’s how you did it?”

“Yep, we create executable orders,” Yuu replied as she finished carving the last line of runes.

“The next bit, you carve the same runes of the other piece of metal, but you mirror it,” Yuu explained.

“Mirror?”

“Yep, write it in reverse, like this,” Yuu demonstrated by carving one of the more simple runes in reverse and holding the two strips next to each other.

“See, if it put these together now, the rune would have a hollow cavity.”

“So that’s why it’s called the mirrored cavity.”

“Yep, as clever as we are, we aren’t imaginative when it comes to names. Alex cheats and gets his kindergarteners to name his stuff. Then again, that can backfire in a different way.”

“Now, when you finish the runic carving, there is something you add to make it even more potent,” Yuu explained, walking away from the table she was carving on and retrieving a vial of crimson liquid.

“This is Chimera blood. Nowhere near as toxic as Basilisk blood, and it won’t dry, so it is perfect for what we want,” Yuu explained as she took a dropper and slowly filled the cavities of the runes.”

“Now we add borax,” Yuu explained, adding the white powder.

“So then we put the pieces together?”

“Yep, but we need them perfectly aligned. This is why it has such a small success rate,” Yuu explained as she clamped the two halves together and gently placed it into a now open forge.

“We need to forge-weld the pieces together. The problem can arise if we hammer too hard, as it can cause the enchantments to run wild and go boom.”

“Boom?”

“Very big boom. Like the kind Alex would probably enjoy.”

Gunter watched as Yuu slowly took the blade out and, using a small hammer, began hammering away, trying to fuse the pieces. It was slow progress, but eventually, the sword began to take shape. Faster than Gunter imagined would be possible for any average blacksmith Yuu finished the sword and eyed the edge of the blade.

Looking at the sword practically glowing, Gunter did not doubt that this one was a success. His every fibre told him it was already a masterpiece that she could sell at an absurdly high price. He was certain that if his family sold everything they owned, he would not be able to afford it.

“Failure,” Yuu muttered as she threw the blade into a pile of what Gunter now realised were a stack of other magnificent blades.

“Failure?”

“Yes, the runic energy had misaligned. That blade would’ve exploded if anyone channelled mana through it.”

“Really?”

“Yep. Want to see what a success should look like?” Gunter eagerly nodded as Yuu went to the corner of her workshop and retrieved a shield.

“This shield has both the absorb and repel enchantments locked into its structure.”

“Absorb and Repel? I’m sorry Big Chief, but I’ve never heard of those before.”

“Yeah, not often used because many objects would disintegrate after one use. This method actually lets the objects endure it. I’ll show you, grab that hammer and hit the shield,” Yuu said, gesturing to a hammer bigger than she was.

“You sure?” Yuu just nodded. Reluctantly Gunter walked over and hefted the hammer up. It was about the same weight as his warhammer, so he should be able to use this well.

“Swing away!”

Obeying the command, Gunter swung with all his might and was shocked to see Yuu only get shifted back about a foot. Peeking around the kite shield, Yuu shot him a big grin.

“That all you got?!” Gunter obliged and swung again and again and again. Eventually, he realised he wasn’t getting anywhere.

“This shield absorbed nearly all the energy of your swings. It does have a limit which is why I was still pushed back.”

“So that absorbs… What about repel?” Yuu got a truly mischievous grin spread across her face. Had her friends been there, they’d recognised the sign of an imminent attack. Gunter sadly did not yet know the meaning of this look.

“I will show you,” Yuu walked up to Gunter and gently tapped the shield boss against him. The little tap unleashed a force Gunter was unprepared for and was sent flying backwards into the wall behind him.

“See repel. That was all the energy you gave this shield!!”

Pulling himself off the floor, Gunter brushed off the dust and grime and walked back, so he was standing in front of Yuu.

“My plan for your duel is we will gear you out with armour that can do this. We are support specialists, so we need ways to respond to any threats and what better way than to throw their own attacks back at them?” Gunter wordlessly nodded as he took a free apron off the wall and tied it on.

“Let’s make me a suit of immovable armour!!”