“Is this really worth our time?” Lucius asked. “Smithing weapons for that guys?”

Vivi ignored him. In her opinion, smithing was always worth it, if only for the peace of mind of creating a weapon. The rhythm of her hammer made her forget the cruelty around her. Each swing came with force, shaping the piece of metal ever closer to the shape of a sword.

Grandpa had always said Vivi’s swings held far more strength than any little girl was supposed to carry. Vivi still wasn’t certain whether that was a compliment or not. The demons around her certainly seemed to be interested in her work. Did they pay attention to her work because she was a girl and a human, or did they truly think her swings were respectable?

She didn’t know. But she never let others’ opinions hold her back. She swung with practiced effort. Hard, but not too hard to exhaust herself before her weapon was done.

Axback’s forge was nothing like the one at home. The forge’s temperature was controlled with emberstone—a rare coal found only on the lower levels. Emberstone was said to be the future of blacksmithing. When imbued with ether, it heated to ridiculous levels and with insane precision, all without generating smoke.

Grandpa had bought a batch of emberstones once after hearing about their durability and reusability. He spent a great deal of ether, expecting to spend the same stones for months. Quickly, however, he found out that emberstones were far more expensive to operate, as heating them up required ether in itself. Ever since then, Grandpa had called the stones a scam, and his smithery returned to their old bloomer furnace.

When freely available, however, the emberstones sped up the process considerably. Lucius merely had to spend a fraction of an ether to light up a forge: a price which he complained about, but agreed to spend after persuasion.

I’m rusty, Vivi thought. She was growing out of breath. This is why you shouldn’t take breaks. Take a day off, and you’ll need three to recover.

“Do you want me to help?” Lucius asked. “I can strengthen your muscles.”

No, Vivi thought. A boost in strength will throw off my rhythm.

She continued smithing despite the weakness within her. She was exhausted. That much was obvious. Blacksmithing was far more tiring than runesmithing. Vivi had practiced both since birth.

Runesmithing had very little in common with blacksmithing. Most historical runesmiths hadn’t touched a forge at all, letting a blacksmith perform the physical aspects of the job. The same was true today. Grandpa, however, liked to complete his pieces on his own. He claimed that blacksmiths were too incompetent at their jobs to work on runeswords. And thus, he made Vivi practice both.

Just as Vivi had practiced runesmithing for fifteen years, she had also hit metal with a hammer for the first time at the age of two.

***

Some hours later, Vivi wiped sweat off of her forehead. Her sword was done, grip firmly attached. She’d smithed a basic longsword. Those always sold well. Ordinary steel wasn’t the most impressive of metals, but a good sword was a good sword.

Vivi took the sword to an empty spot within the smithery, where she couldn’t accidentally hurt anyone. Then, she went into stance, and performed a test swing.

“And she knows how to swing as well,” a voice said. Vivi turned to see Axback approaching. He looked slightly more amused than before, though he wasn’t smiling. “Human, who are you?”

“Just a smith from the surface,” Vivi said.

“Sure, girl,” Axback said. “Let me see the sword.”

Vivi handed it over. The dwarf examined it closely, nodding to himself. “Phenomenal,” he said. “Your work is art. It has been a while since I’ve seen someone hit with such passion.”

“Passion is cheap,” Vivi said. “What matters is whether the sword will sell or not.”

Axback laughed. “Oh, your sword will please the shops. It will indeed.” He handed the sword over to one of his apprentices, who quickly took it out of Vivi’s sight.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

The vendors? Vivi thought. Did I just smith a sword for them?

“Who else,” Lucius asked. “Weapons are the number one commerce down here. Did you not see how many weapon shops there were?”

Right… Vivi thought.

“Then,” Axback said. “My side of the promise. Although, I don’t recall promising much. I will allow you to work in my smithery. That I can promise. And I’ll tell you what you want to know. For all the good a blacksmith’s knowledge will lead you. I can’t do much more than that. Ah, and food. Wait a moment.”

Axback disappeared into the back before arriving with a large bowl of soup. The soup had bits of meat, but it mostly consisted of water weight. Vivi sniffed it discreetly. It smelled off, but it wasn’t vile. She began eating.

“Uhm, first question, are you staff?” Vivi asked.

Axback blinked. “Ah. You’re this clueless.”

“Please just answer honestly.”

“We’re all nimrods here,” Axback said. “I’m renting this place for a thousand ether a month. One hell of a price, but it’s better than working in the dungeons. Most nimrods you see are not fighters. They’d rather work on anything else. But they’re forced to fight.”

Vivi looked down, biting her lip.

“You must have arrived recently,” Axback said. “You’re still uncomfortable discussing life.”

“I’m not happy about being here,” Vivi said.

“Nobody is,” Axback said. “But that’s life.”

“Is there anything a newcomer should know?” Vivi asked. “There are a lot of rules and tricks I’m missing.”

“There is always more to learn,” Axback said. “Information is currency in Zand. However, if you plan on staying in the smithery, you can largely ignore the games outside, as long as you stay neutral and sell to everyone. How knowledgeable are you about gangs here?”

“Not at all,” Vivi admitted.

“People are divided into three major factions,” Axback said. “You’ve got Bwern’s bunch. His goons are usually hanging out in the dungeons, causing trouble, fighting people for ether. If someone is being an asshole for no reason, they’re probably Bwern’s people. His people are bullies, essentially. You’ll deal with them best by bullying them back. Bwern doesn’t support his people much, from what I hear.

“Then there’s Aang’s union. This is the group where most regular folk fall into, if regular folk still exist here. The union is not necessarily a gang. More so, it’s an insurance of protection. After paying the fee to join the union, you’re free to trot the streets with his pledge, knowing that if someone messes with you, Aang will avenge those who are wronged. Although, I hear the union has fallen lately. Aang is active, but he has too much on his hands. He doesn’t protect lesser members from beatings like he used to.

“Lastly, you’ve got the neutrals. People like me, who don’t belong to any gang. This bunch is the most diverse. Most beggars are neutrals, since no gang wants them, but some of us simply don’t want to get involved. Not with the main gangs, not with the lesser gangs.”

“I see,” Vivi said. “Do you know anything about a blue-cloaked gang?”

Axback’s expression immediately dropped. “Black eyes?”

“Yes,” Vivi said.

“Why do you ask?” Axback asked. “Are you involved with them?”

“No,” Vivi lied.

“Good.” Axback looked uncomfortable. “That’s Andre’s bunch. That fucking human’s gang. They sent him here not one year ago, when his mining operation was discovered. He’s been causing havoc ever since.”

Vivi’s heart dropped. The blue-cloaks, the demons that tried to abuse her, were led by a human?

No. That was not possible. How?

“Calm down, Vivi,” Lucius said. “No need to get worked up. We’ll discover their secrets on our own time.”

Right… Vivi thought. She pushed her anger out with a breath. She was in a smithery. This wasn’t a place to act up.

“One more question,” Vivi said. “Is runesmithing allowed in Zand?”

Axback raised his eyebrows. “Runesmithing isn’t banned officially. But nobody who knows the craft would be sent to Zand. Runesmiths are far too valuable to waste away in a facility. One time, a nimrod tried to steal a guard’s runesword. He was executed on the spot. Damn powerful, those weapons.”

Vivi blinked in surprise. She took a moment to register what she’d heard. If what Axback said was right, Vivi wasn’t laughed at during examinations because runesmithing was a laughable profession. She was laughed at because the examiner thought she was lying.

Could runesmithing truly be so special down here?

“Thank you,” Vivi said. “I think that’s all I needed to hear for now.”

Axback nodded. “I do hope you’ll stay to work with me. I feed and pay my smiths. Exactly a hundred ether a week. You can stay so long as you make me a profit. Your swords definitely will.”

Vivi considered the offer. She seriously did. A life in a smithery wouldn’t be too bad. Hitting a hammer endlessly would certainly beat meeting any more blue-cloaks.

But Vivi was in debt. If she stayed here, she would die. “I need a sword,” Vivi said. “Can I make a proposal?”

Axback frowned, but waited for her to speak.

“I’ll craft you three swords,” she said. “In exchange for labor, I’ll take the fourth with me.”

Axback’s frown only deepened. “Five. Forge me five blades, and I’ll let you take one.”