Soul Merger

Alissa found herself shifting nervously as she waited in the lobby of the Engraver's Guild. It had been two weeks, and now her weapon was done. And as usual she was worried that it wouldn't live up to expectations. This happened whenever she gave out commission work, and she'd really like her subconscious to fucking stop, but it consistently refused.

She decided to try to focus on something else. "Akari, did you manage to talk your oni into getting any armor? Or are you just here to enjoy tormenting Rosalina?"

"Actually I did get her approval for something," Akari replied, ears flicking. "She'll let me get an iron headband to 'keep my brain from rattling around too much.' I'll need to work out the specifics though. As well as get the money to fund such a purchase."

Rosalina grinned. "We might be able to farm the materials ourselves with our new gear. We've proven we can hunt all the way down to the fourth layer as a team."

Alissa shook her head, while Clara pointed out the obvious. "Can and should are two different things in this case. Let's stick to jobs that have better survival rates."

"At least until after I've developed and tested some giant killer spells," Fili added.

That was a good point Alissa thought. "What are your plans for testing the new gear?" Alissa asked. "I can stab trees if needed, but I imagine you can't just fire off spells in the city."

"Oh!" Fili's eyes widened. "I forgot to ask! Um, there's space open at the Malamute Tower Campus for testing techniques and spells. I figured we could go there as a group afterwards to practice. If that's okay?"

"That sounds good!" Alissa smiled. Not only would it give them time to help each other out, they'd get an idea of their comrades new skills

Rosalina perked up as well. "I've heard good things about those training grounds. I'd be willing to join."

"They have those shooting ranges with pop up targets right?" Clara asked. "I'd shell out extra to practice on one of those."

"Well, you'd probably have to," Fili replied. "But that is available. I'm a graduate so I get full access to me and my teammates."

Akari hesitated. "Should I let Ibaraki give commentary as well? I doubt she'll practice but-"

"It'd be useful to hear her thoughts if she cares enough to give them," Alissa replied. Given how uninterested the oni was in anything outside of certain fields, if it bothered to speak up there was a decent chance it was worth listening to.

At least so long as Akari was editing out the terrible flirting and vague insults towards humanity at large, she mentally added. The oni wasn't evil, but it sure enjoyed pretending to be a menace to all that was good and reasonable.

"Ah excellent. You're all here." Alissa looked over to see Master Engraver George had shown up to bring them in personally. "I believe you will all be quite pleased with our work. If you'll follow me, we can properly show you everything we've accomplished."

"Of course," Rosalina said. They proceeded down the halls to the workshop they'd visited last time.

As the group filed in Alissa couldn't help but notice that the two journeyman crafters were standing behind their work with a mix of pride and nervousness. It seemed she wasn't the only one who got jittery around commission work. Of course they had much bigger reasons to worry. A bad reaction might set their careers back years.

George on the other hand was relaxed as he walked over to the two crafters. "I'll let Ann go first as she's the one who made the biggest improvements to the original design. If you please?"

As the woman stepped forwards Alissa tried to peer past the group to get an eye on her blade, but all she could see was a garnet capped pommel. She'd have to wait to see the final piece. For now she settled for watching Rosalina get her weapon.

The rod was a little longer than the dragon woman's forearm, and had a dark red brown color. The etchings covered it with thin silver lines whirling in patterns that never really coalesced into something recognizable. Only the area where the spell chips could be inserted and the orb on the head were plain.

"We used heavy lacquering techniques to get the rod durable enough to use as a weapon without putting too much metal on the outside. I didn't want to cause problems with your lightning techniques." Ann pressed down on a button on the side and twisted the rod a third of the way around. "I also put the rotary banks on the inside instead of the outside so that they wouldn't get misaligned in a fight. You can tell which bank is in use based on where the button is locked in."

"Oh that does sound useful." Rosalina accepted the rod and tried swapping banks. "Nice! Hm, and did you put something in the head? It feels heavier than wood."

Ann nodded. "It's got a steel core. The mithril is etched into that as well, so you can hit people without worrying about damage."

"Excellent!" Rosalina gave it a few casual swings. "Can I test the spell banks?"

"Please do," Ann said, taking Rosalina aside. "It should be just as good if not better than your current weapon."

"Next the mage's staff. Bruce if you'd please?"

Bruce stepped up and placed the staff on the workbench. "We've added in the core as you requested, but it's still incomplete because the limiters aren't installed." He racked the lever revealing an area for the magic cartridge. "The bolt action you requested is in as well and should last a long while. We left the screws accessible for maintenance, both around this system as well as the limiter access point. Also we've placed braille markings along the bank so you can confirm you're accessing the right chip without looking."

"Oh! That's useful. Guess I should learn some braille." Fili looked over the staff closely. "I assume we have some time to come back for alterations?"

"Two weeks is standard, though we can't be held responsible if you drop them in acid or otherwise damage them outside of normal use," Master George replied.

Alissa nodded. She'd have preferred more time for work like this, but given they were buying weapons to take on delves, unnatural damage was very likely.

Fili fiddled with the staff a bit more before stepping aside. "I'll have to test it out with my old limiters and the new ones, but this looks good for now!" Bruce smiled and stepped aside.

"And now your weapon, miss." George pulled out the sword from behind his bench.

Alissa stepped forwards. The scabbard was black leather with simple steel bands, but it matched the hilt well. As promised the grip was black stained manta skin, with a smooth red garnet at the base. The crossguard was etched with batlike wings, but left simple so she wouldn't get bladelocked or poke her hands in a struggle.

George drew the blade and Alissa marveled at all the etchings along it. The mithril should have blended into the steel, but there was a red glow to them that made it easy to determine the magical invocations and circles along the length.

After a hesitant moment she had to ask, "The glow will fade right? It's a bit obvious right now."

"It will. I figured you'd want to see the work so we pumped some magic into the engravings, but until you use the techniques it'll be just like any other metal. So no need to worry about glowing in the dark." The engraver placed the sword down next to the sheath. "Anyway lass, pick it up and tell me what you think."

Alissa carefully took the handle and lifted the blade. It felt excited, nervous energy flowing back into her arm. Some of that was probably the extra magic, but the fact that she could already sense that was a good sign. It'd taken her much longer to get used to 'Evil's Regret' and that dagger had active enchantments.

Taking a combat stance she tried to get a feel for the balance. It was still off, but she could tell the little alterations to her attacks she'd need to make. Nothing too major, just the usual differences between two blades.

She picked up the sheath and put the blade away. "It's amazing. Thank you."

The master engraver smiled widely. "Was a pleasure to do the work. I hope it works well for you."

"Now the boring stuff," the man said, pulling out 5 extra sized quivers. "Your order Clara."

"Great." Clara picked up the set casually. "That'll keep me from falling behind."

Alissa carefully placed her new blade on her swordbelt, then looked over at Rosalina and Fili. "Well. Shall we start practicing?"

"Yep!" Rosalina planted her hands 'heroically' on her hips. "Got to show off while I can so you can get a good look. In the labyrinth those stupid monsters keep getting in the way."

"I've got to test out my limiters and uptuned spells as well," Fili said, wisely ignoring the dragon woman's posturing.

Alissa smiled. "Then let's go. This should be a fun day."