The Herbalist Garden Workshop's basement doubled as a storage room for the kids. Their crazy inventions were all packed in two bags that rested in one corner, along with the giant fork and knife that Rodrin had helped them craft.

Now, all that remained was to go through all the materials the two friends had spent weeks gathering, sort and select the best-looking ones and bag them for the festival.

To this end, they had emptied their bags. The floor was covered in piles of scraps, and various items were scattered haphazardly throughout the room, with a pile of broken metal scraps in one corner and a tangled mess of ropes and cords near the door.

Several piles of cloth were stacked high in another corner and surrounded by a dozen bright red and brown bags with a patchwork design. The tailor and his wife had gifted the pieces to Syn in hopes of nurturing her into an apprentice, but Nyk wasn't so sure that would ever happen, not after their conversation earlier in the day.

Nyk noticed Syn had just finished sorting through the leather scraps the shoemaker had gifted them weeks ago, along with the remains of ropes and threads of various thicknesses. And was again inspecting a candle the nervous individual had gifted them. He claimed it was made from fish oil and bee wax but had given no explanation for its purpose, giving only a cryptic answer: "People in the city will know."

The candle had no wick, was much harder than any others they had seen, had no smell, and was undeniably ugly with its dirt-like brown and dark blue color.

The previous week, Nyk had watched Syn with a mixture of amusement as she tried to understand the candle's purpose for at least fifteen minutes.

As he sorted herbs, Nyk couldn't stop wondering why she was so fixated on the ugly candle. He watched as Syn muttered to herself, furrowing her eyebrows and constantly shaking her head, clearly frustrated with the mystery. Nyk shrugged and returned to sorting herbs, clearly uninterested in the candle's purpose.

A while later, finally, Syn seemed to give up and looked at a pile nearby. "Hey, Nyk," she said, looking at the pile of metal. "Are we done with the scraps from the smithy yet?"

"Not yet," he said, continuing sorting through the herbs, separating them into piles based on their freshness and potential uses.

"We can sell these to the wares shop tomorrow for a good price," said Syn, placing the metal scraps in the cart and moving behind him.

Nyk thought he noticed a slight grin on Syn's face, but when he looked again, she was focused on loading the cart.

A moment later, Nyk noticed the loud noise of metal on metal had stopped. He was about to turn around when he felt a sting.

"Hey!" he exclaimed, quickly spinning.

His eyes opened wide as he saw Syn holding a scrubby thread that stood horizontally, as if held up by an invisible force.

"What is... that?"

With a proud grin, she playfully brandished her new toy, "Hahaha, this? Just my trusty new whip sword!"

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

Nyk dodged a few strikes but in the end, she managed to smack him with the side, which bent and stung him anyway.

"Ouch!" yelled Nyk rubbing his side. "What in the sea is that?" he asked.

"I'm as surprised as you. This is just a thread," she answered, grinning. "It looked like it would dissolve in my hands at any moment, but when I applied the wax to it, it turned into a stiff and flexible whip!" She said as she straightened the thread with her hand and swung it a few times.

When still, the thread maintained its form, but when Syn slapped it against the side of the pile of leather, the waxed thread twisted around the pile like a snake, stabbing it with its tip.

"Isn't it great?"

Nyk backed away as Syn got ready to swing the strange-looking thread again.

"Eh! Careful with that thing!" Nyk exclaimed, turning away. "Point that thing in another direction! We don't have much time before dark, and I don't want you to stab me by mistake!"

Syn's smile slowly straightened. Finally, she shrugged and put the thread aside. "Okay, just remind me to price it highly tomorrow," she grinned, happy after finally solving the puzzle.

Nyk continued to work hard, separating herbs and materials into different piles based on their size and quality, using the knowledge he had learned from his Nana.

"The bones don't need much sorting," he told Syn. "It's up to you where you want to put them, but be careful. They can easily poke through the cloth bags."

"Noted," said Syn while she moved on to work in the next pile.

Nyk was grateful that his focus on sorting herbs prevented him from being hit by the strange thread. Not wanting to push his luck, he moved to face Syn, with the pile of bones they had collected from the butcher and Syn's father between them.

Always watching Syn, Nyk couldn't help but steal furtive glances at the thread, wondering about its properties. The thread was lighter, more malleable than his sticks, and less stiff. He'd have to inspect it later, but not while it was in Syn's possession. So he resisted the urge to examine it further, knowing it was best not to draw attention to it now, lest she resumed testing her newly found toy.

"What are we going to do with this?" asked Syn, holding up some broken ceramic pieces.

Nyk was a frequent visitor to the baker, a good friend of his Nana. He brought messages and herbs occasionally, but it was a little help in terms of scraps. Despite this, his visits were often rewarded with extra sweets and cookies that wouldn't fit on the stand. Nyk was happy to help the baker, who they seemed delighted to see him daily.

Nyk picked up a broken piece of ceramic and held it up. "We're breaking it into smaller pieces and selling it as sharpening stones."

Syn looked skeptical. "It is just a broken vase."

"You're gonna love it," Nyk assured her, selecting two metal slates and starting to brush them together.

"What are you planning on doing with those stones over there?" he said, pointing to the pile that Syn was now working on.

"I've got some ideas," Syn replied, holding a handful of gravel. "You know my mom was an Artificer, so I know a thing or two about item enchanting, and these are going to be super useful for attracting customers," she said with a sly grin spreading across her face.

"So, what's the plan for tomorrow?" Nyk asked, switching the pieces of metal and brushing them on the other side.

"Well, we're going to try and sell most of these bags to the shops around the festival tomorrow, and then we'll set up our tent with the remains and auction them."

"An auction? Are you planning on auctioning the remains? What if no one bids on them?"

"We just need to make it look like a game," Syn said, pulling a white stone from the pouch she always tied to her trousers. "I'm sure we'll gather a decent crowd if we offer this as a reward for the highest bidder," she said, holding up the stone in her hand for Nyk to see.

Nyk looked at the stone, confused. "What is it?"

"Remember that I told you I found something this morning?" Syn said with a smile. "This is it. I was lucky to come across it." She said as she blew on the stone, which glowed dimly in her hand.

Nyk jerked in surprise and turned to look at Syn, who met his gaze with a smile. It was clear that the prospects for a successful sale at the festival had just gotten much better.