The mold makers resided in an underground foundry near the science lab. A small reception on Shivenar’s surface led Vivi down a wide set of stairs. They descended a hundred feet or so before reaching impenetrable levelstone, which served as the foundry’s floor.

The foundry itself was combined with a large open warehouse. A vast range of industrial scents and loud sounds welcomed Vivi. Hissing from the galvanizer at the back, clanks from various machines metal being handled with force. The whole place smelled like burnt metal—like a smithy, but much stronger, and louder.

Storage shelves reached the ceiling, each one full of anything to do with metal and smithing—crucibles, steel bars, molds, unused equipment, even barrels of ether roots. A worker in a black leather apron pushed a lift on wheels with another demon atop. The lift rose, and the demon up top grabbed a barrel of some rough ore from the shelves, his muscles strengthened by ether.

The place was so chaotic, with at least a hundred demons at work, that Vivi struggled to identify who was working on which project. She couldn’t even see the mold makers within the mess of metal workers.

“Vivian Runeblessed?” a dwarf said, looking up at her as he approached. He was fully covered in protective overalls and an apron on top. Vivi suddenly felt underdressed in her raincoat. And Lortel had suggested a dress…

“I’m Ayrtin Greyfare,” the dwarf said. “The overseer, or supervisor, of the Luminary’s all things metallurgy. I have heard a lot about you.” He lowered his head.

“I’m looking for Freyven and Patryn,” Vivi said. “And your mold makers.”

“Yes, the project is moving along. Follow me, and coat yourself with ether, since you’ve got no overalls.” Ayrtin walked deeper into the foundry, following a path in the middle, marked with white paint. “It’s an interesting project. I am honored to be involved.”

“How is progress?” Vivi asked.

“A permanent reusable mold is being made for the design,” Ayrtin said. “Its construction will require three to five weeks. In the meantime, a temporary mold has been shaped with gleamstone, as testing the design, and creating the missile, is a top priority. The first run should be completed soon.”

Vivi followed him deeper. Workstations were busy and chaotic as she passed, though many paused their work to glance at Vivi. There were whispers about her name. A general sense of awe and curiosity as she passed.

Lortel had actually been correct. Vivi, even in her raincoat, drew attention. She didn’t know if it was mysterious attention, and she was fairly certain people would have been more awed if she wore a dress, but even in her raincoat she was immediately recognized.

Ayrtin stopped before the foundry and looked up at the project. Vivi took a moment to identify what she was looking at.

The mold itself was green, made of gleamstone—a material Vivi hadn’t actually heard of before. Wisps of ether oozed out of its rough surface, as if the material was an outside-carved runesword. A large ether distributor pushed a constant stream of ether into the mold. The gleamstone itself appeared unstable, as if it would break the moment ether stopped being poured in.

The mold was held up by firm chains, and surrounded by protective glass. The bottom of the mold was dipped in cool water. Metal had already been poured in. Demons observed from behind glass, as if the gleamstone mold could explode at any moment. Patryn was amongst the observers, staring at it with a seriously focused look. Vivi walked up to him.

“It’s almost ready?” Vivi asked.

Patryn flinched. He blinked a few times in bafflement. He looked around, until he found a handkerchief. He rubbed his eyes with it. “Ah, sorry, I spaced out. Haven’t been sleeping much.”

He squinted at a mirror above the mold, which pointed at the contents. He no longer looked focused at all, but he nodded. “Yeah, that’s about done. Let’s see what we got. Break the mold!”

Another demon took the order, pulling a lever connected to the ether distributor. The machine cut off, and no more ether made it into the gleamstone. The last bits of ether oozed out of the material. Everything escaped into the air quickly, and the cloud of mist grew thicker. A cracking sound came from the gleamstone.

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Then the mold shattered into bits. A few shards exploded, hitting the protective glass, though for the most part, the gleamstone crumbled into the water. A tube of cooled-down asmite was revealed inside, falling into the water alongside the crumbling gleamstone.

A lift on wheels was pushed in, and a demon was raised above the water tank. He pointed his palm at the tank, and activated a skill. The asmite bar lifted from the tank, slowly to his hand, as if he’s activated a magnet. Or perhaps it was just a levitation skill. The lift descended, and he showed the results of the casting to Patryn.

So far, in Vivi’s opinion, it didn’t look fantastic. The surface was rough like the peel of an orange. Gleamstone bits were stuck to its surface. The holes inside, the pathways for the ether roots, were rough as well. The metal itself appeared solid, however.

“It’s rough, as expected from a gleamstone mold,” Patryn said. “The metal will require sanding.” He turned the shaft and stared at the pathways inside. “And as expected, this part is rough as well, and gleamstone is stuck inside.”

“The inner pathways can be rough,” Vivi said. “The imperfections are small enough that the ether roots won’t explode the metal to bits.”

“Good, because cleaning them out would be a huge pain,” Patryn said. “The permanent molds should show smoother results, once they’re completed. For now, do you think this will work?”

“If you can get the gleamstone bits out of the hole, and if the rough surface is sanded, yes,” VIvi said. “How long will that take?”

“An hour at most,” Patryn said. “Let’s get to work!”

From there, they moved to a different station, one with a spinning ether-powered wheel designed to sand down metals. The process took a while, as the demon operating the device moved down from rough sanding to smoother grits. After half an hour, the shaft was smooth enough to run a finger across its surface without feeling bumps.

The demons then shot the holes inside with some odd ether fueled gun. The gun hit the gleamstone stuck inside, breaking it into smaller pieces which fell off with gravity. To get smaller bits out, the demons cleaned the holes with pressurized water.

“That’s as good as this quick attempt will get,” Patryn said, handing the shaft to Vivi. “A sharper product will require a better mold, which will take some weeks to complete.”

“This should be good enough,” Vivi said. “We can work with this.”

“How long will it take you to complete your part?” Patryn asked. “A few days?”

“Actually, it will take fifteen minutes, and you won’t need me to do it,” Vivi said. “This part is easy enough that anyone can do it as long as they know how the process works. We’re not actually shaping veins; we’re just initiating an ether root and letting it grow itself.”

“Interesting,” Patryn said. “My crew will watch, then, to perform the job for later missiles if this succeeds. You fine with that?”

“Yes, and it looks like you have ether roots here,” Vivi said. “We require two for each shaft. Any roots will work. Even plant roots. Though if we choose optimal roots, we will pick one with large capacity for ether, such as iron or adamantite, and one root that conducts ether quickly, such as white obsidian or locium. I recommend using whatever is cheapest. There’s a good chance the missile will break during impact, so spending too much is unnecessary.”

Ten or so demons were listening intently next to and behind Patryn. Nobody said anything.

“You heard her,” Patryn said. “En and Alono, grab the roots.” He turned back to Vivi. “And anything else?”

“A vise,” she said. “That’s all we’ll need.”

The two demons used a lift to find ether roots from the massive storage containers. They took a short while, with the roots tucked away in the back behind more important materials. They eyed each root they found, as if unsure what they were looking at. Eventually, they returned to the vise with an adamantite root and a white obsidian root.

Lucius was frowning at them from Vivi’s core. “Slow idiots. Are we really working with these guys?”

They’re nervous, Vivi thought. And inexperienced. Only inside-carving runesmiths or artists use ether roots regularly. It’s impressive that they’re educated about ether roots at all. Most blacksmiths don’t know anything about ether roots. They’ll learn quickly enough.

With everything ready, Vivi sat by the vise and explained what she was doing. She tied the first root to the vise. Then, exactly as she did with the rings of multi-runed swords, she pressed the hole in the shaft against the tip of the ether root. She initiated the root, and held the shaft firmly in place until the root’s growth stabilized.

“From there, feed the root with ether and wait for it to grow,” Vivi said. “It will cauterize itself once it hits the end of the pathway. After that’s done, simply cut the root off of the growing stalk, and repeat the same with the other hole.”

“And the runes?” Patryn asked.

“Ah, right,” Vivi said. “We’ll carve a single rune at the end of each shaft. You can hire a runesmith to carve a mass and swiftness rune. Just make sure that the runesmith carves the mass rune on the high capacity ether root, and the swiftness rune on the conductive root.”

The demons didn’t look like they fully understood, which made sense, considering none of them were runesmiths. Vivi showed them how it was done, carving the runes, and completing the first missile, while demons gathered to listen in and watch her.

Lastly, Vivi summoned the tip from spatial storage and worked with Patryn to connect it to the shaft. With that, the missile was completed and ready to be tested.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep