A thousand and five hundred ether.
That was how much the materials of Vivi’s current project would have cost on the surface. The price was enough to single-handedly bankrupt their whole business. A tenth of Vivi’s debts could have been cleared if she just sold the roots and metals. Down on the fourth level, the roots were more common,...
Vivi had no time for warm-ups. She stretched her fingers and closed her eyes to clear her thoughts. Too many worries and doubts lingered like a plague in her head. Concentrating would be impossible if she was worrying about fighting and time for the whole process.
Trying to clear her head only made her more nervous. Let’s just start ...
2025-03-18 09:14:52 +0000 UTC View Post“We tested Vivi's adamantite katana on a thick slab of black hardstone,” Ven said. “Solace slashed it cleanly in half. We can create a hole in the wall in less than ten seconds.”
Vivi was surprised. “The katana really cuts hardstone?”
“It slashes through as easily as steel cuts flesh,” Ven said. “You...
“The guards found the hole in the wall,” Ven said.
The room went silent but for the sizzling of Gaven’s cookpot. The Hollows stopped eating. Eem sat on top of a chair’s backrest with a curious expression. Even Gaven paused stirring. He turned to Ven with a surprised look.
“The hole?” Alisa asked. “In the hardstone wall?...
2025-03-16 09:40:41 +0000 UTC View PostAfter eventually convincing Eem to clear her ether reserves and after hiding Vivi’s skill in spatial storage, the group joined Aang’s Union in line for collection day.
The daylight gems were in full bloom, lighting the hub and all its desperate beggars. More and more nimrods with slash marks pleaded passersby for ether. Vivi even saw a...
2025-03-15 10:35:56 +0000 UTC View PostVivi faced Andre with her dark mithril greatsword, thorn sword active. Her runesword was strengthened from the inside as well as from the outside. An aura of red ether coated the sword, matching against Andre’s blue. The coating was inefficient, leaking ether, but its presence certainly made Vivi feel powerful.
She wasn’t supp...
2025-03-14 07:11:24 +0000 UTC View PostVivi paused. Someone wanted to talk to her in Paradise? An ether hunter, of course. Nobody else could enter. “Is it Andre or Serena?”
“I’m not certain,” Lucius said. “I just know that someone sent us a request to talk. They’re present right now.”
Vivi sat down to think.
“Should we go?” Lucius asked....
2025-03-13 07:21:13 +0000 UTC View PostThe final loop.
Vivi’s hands were starting to get irritated. She’d been shaping veins for hours now. She'd lost track of how many. This was her third attempt after the second attempt failed even earlier than the first. The progress now was promising.
The stalks of the second ether root reached the tip of where the blade would be....
2025-03-12 07:30:51 +0000 UTC View PostThe next day, the Hollows cleared two more bosses. The Ember Golem, and the Fang Tanker.
Both bosses survived being fed potions. The Ember Golem’s skulls grew rampant, gaining an ability to shoot projectiles out of their mouths. The Fang Tanker gained a summoning skill of sorts. It pulled little fanglings from the ground as additional wa...
2025-03-11 08:29:54 +0000 UTC View PostGrenall stirred a spoon in his drink, then took a sip. “I tried to figure out how to access the negotiation chambers. It’s nearly impossible. You’ll need one hell of a plan if you want to sneak any messages to Ingfried.”
“We’re not going to sneak anything at all,” Ven said. “We’re doing the opposite. You’re going to bar...
2025-03-10 07:14:06 +0000 UTC View PostThe Hollows climbed to home base and immediately got to work. Lydi placed Feni into bed and gave her a few potions. She said Feni should be waking up by the end of the day. Aang postponed any discussions and meetings until everyone had a clear head. He looked like he had a lot to say about the boss fight, and it clearly wasn’t all positive. Th...
2025-03-09 09:03:58 +0000 UTC View PostThe gnoll faced Vivi.
The others were too far to help. Aang grimaced as he reached for his sword, pushing himself up. Ven was only now opening his eyes, recovering from the first interaction. Rohan growled, desperately trying to push himself up. The demons were hit badly and running out of ether.
Vivi was alone. The gnoll’s murdero...
2025-03-08 10:16:44 +0000 UTC View PostFeni was blown backward with force. The crystal mithril sword fell from her hands, clanking against the ground. She flew straight into Aang’s arms. He had to brace his feet to catch her without falling over.
Rohan cried out, prompting the monster to immediately dash for him. It was a black-furred gnoll with long white hair and devilish t...
2025-03-07 07:21:25 +0000 UTC View PostThe charging gnoll exploded to bits. Wisps of ether sprayed to the wall, as if caught by a powerful gust of wind. The crush rune ripped through the gnoll with force, utterly destroying the upper body into a mess of ether. The first gnoll died instantly.
“Vivi, watch out!” Lucius yelled.
I know, Vivi tho...
2025-03-06 07:45:51 +0000 UTC View PostRohan’s lectures moved from practice swings to real time combat against respawning monsters. Vivi was instructed to fight only with the techniques and methods taught. Her footwork had to be perfect, and her swings had to be calculated. Each mishap in a fight earned her thirty more minutes of practicing her stances.
Vivi felt hindered by ...
2025-03-05 07:27:27 +0000 UTC View Post“Finally,” Lucius said. He appeared from Vivi’s core with a grin on his face. “Let’s launch the hunt right now! The boss is ours!”
The Hollows looked like they wanted to roll their eyes. Aang let out a laugh. “Defeating the main dungeon is a long term goal. Three major obstacles block us from simply walking in and defeating i...
2025-03-04 07:46:15 +0000 UTC View PostVivi woke up with her forehead resting on her anvil.
She’d never been as groggy as she was now. Lifting her head, a wave of nausea nearly made her puke. She didn’t see straight. Her mind felt dried of all water, as if it’d been poked empty with a sharp stick.
“I did warn you…” Lucius said. Vivi saw something red flying be...
2025-03-03 07:04:17 +0000 UTC View PostIntended to be read after chapter 67
“What do you mean it shattered to pieces?” Andre asked with a frown on his face.
“I don’t fucking know,” Einord said. “Look.”
Einord’s little smithy was a total mess, even more so than usual. A broken crucible sat in the corner along with ten used ether roots....
2025-03-02 10:17:56 +0000 UTC View Post“Vivi, you’re scary when you get mad like that…” Lucius said.
Vivi frowned. She stepped into her smithy, which was still hot from the work earlier. Tools were left in place, and used ether roots were sprawled wherever they fit. Vivi really should have cleaned before leaving…
“Are we really getting back to wor...
2025-03-02 10:15:46 +0000 UTC View PostSurges were as deafening as Vivi remembered. The geyser-like surge coated almost the entirety of the fenced-off area with ether. A few contestants were caught inside. Small cuts appeared on their skin as wisps of ether aggressively grazed past.
With Vivi’s sixth sense more present, the surge felt even more terrifying. Thousands upon thou...
2025-03-01 10:55:09 +0000 UTC View PostThe group sneaked into Aang’s hub through the “Union exit.” The one that connected the gnoll mineshaft to Aang’s private hunting grounds. Eem moved on Vivi’s shoulders, having joined back with the gang after being gone for a day. Vivi was happy to hear Eem’s enthusiastic gushes of excitement again. The fiend’s presence made any sit...
2025-02-28 09:22:07 +0000 UTC View PostWhy do they look so shocked? Vivi thought. Are the swords not good enough, after all?
“Vivi, you idiot,” Lucius said with a laugh. “Do you really think these swords are subpar?”
Well, that’s only a two-runed katana, Vivi thought. I could have carved this when I was thirteen y...
2025-02-27 08:53:20 +0000 UTC View PostAn hour later, the main set of veins for the two-runed katana was completed. So far, the process was the same as when crafting a single-runed sword. With a two-runed sword, the first set of veins was the easiest part.
Vivi had chosen a white obsidian root to use as the core ether root. White obsidian was the opposite of iron in terms of it...
2025-02-26 09:11:04 +0000 UTC View PostVivi was rusty. She immediately noticed sluggishness in her movements. Her hands didn’t flow with the root’s stalk like they used to. Holding a crochet hook felt awkward. The last time she’d worked with one was on the surface back in Grandpa’s smithy.
Back there, just hours before being sent underground, Vivi had carved her first t...
2025-02-25 11:53:33 +0000 UTC View PostThe smithy was far smaller than Grandpa’s cramped old shack. Aang had filled the whole room with tools and equipment, making clever use of the lacking space. Hammers and tools were hanging from the ceiling with rope. The anvil had a hole between its feet, and Aang had crammed an ingot of adamantite in between. The smithy was more cramped than ...
2025-02-25 11:51:00 +0000 UTC View PostVivi returned to the hidden dungeon with her two teachers, Eem sitting on her shoulders.
The Stewards had cleared the dungeon thoroughly, leaving not a single wisp of ether uncollected. Host bones were spread out across chambers and tunnels. Structures were destroyed, and marks of battle were left on walls. Slash marks, and dents from proj...
2025-02-24 11:40:28 +0000 UTC View PostFor the next two weeks, the Hollow Phantoms locked the hidden dungeon. Members were forbidden from entering. Everyone had their own duties in Aang’s union. Ostensibly, everyone lived their lives as nimrods, while secretly preparing for the next cycle.
The Hollows called this the end cycle—the period of time after the squadron ...
2025-02-23 17:57:07 +0000 UTC View PostIntended to be read after chapter 58
The surge was supposed to hit on the sixteenth hour. Three minutes ago. As usual, the forecast was slightly off.
Scanners had sensed ether welling within the area three days prior. From there, the news of an oncoming surge spread, and defense duty was placed into auction. The hunti...
2025-02-22 18:42:51 +0000 UTC View PostAang’s private hunting grounds were connected to the Union’s dungeon with black curtains. There were no walls, no fences or gates or locks, just a pair of ordinary curtains. Ven pushed through.
The view on the other side made Vivi pause. Lucius gushed a sound of awe in Vivi’s thoughts.
In the middle of the open cavern, a silver...
2025-02-22 18:17:38 +0000 UTC View Post“We will start by learning how to unsheath a weapon correctly,” Rohan had said.
Vivi assumed that sentence had been a joke. Or at least, she didn’t think Rohan was serious. What was there really to practice in unsheathing a sword? Vivi didn’t even carry a scabbard for her weapons. Her swords were summoned right to her hand...
2025-02-22 17:56:18 +0000 UTC View Post