The four hunters were far from amateurs. Vivi spotted Henric Barrowbow—a hunter who she had dueled and lost nearly instantly, though that was over a month ago. His allies wore the same uniform with auras equally as scary, though Vivi didn't recognize their faces. Their spirit blades were bright white with golden streaks lashing around the blade like sharp threads.

"That's a technique for decreasing leaks," Lucius explained. "The weird tendril threads redirect ether back to the sword."

Vivi looked closer to see what Lucius was talking about. The threads didn't seem to prevent wisps leaking from the spirit blades. Rather, the threads controlled wisps' trajectory, coating the air around the sword with escaping wisps. The swords looked like burning glow sticks of golden ether.

Against the three spirit wielders, the lone man in a black suit appeared rather insignificant. "That's Melloris Greenwitch," Lucius said. "A third elevation hunter if I remember correctly. He's decent, and he's cocky, and definitely crazy. He's infamous for abusing a beast transformation ascension skill. Although, he doesn't seem to be using it right now."

Melloris's footwork was great—as was the case with all of the four hunters in the arena. Everyone seemed to be of the third elevation—Melloris's aura felt the weakest, since he lacked a spirit blade.

Yet, the four spirit wielders stood no chance against the onslaught of swings from Melloris's blade. With each contact, the threads around the spirit blades broke, wisps clouding the air, the air itself shaking. A heavy swing landed—Henric's spirit blade snapped, and the hunter flew backwards. His allies protected him as he got up.

For a second, Melloris paused his relentless attacks. His sword was still, letting Vivi have a clearer look at its insides.

It was a crystal mithril runesword, dark-blue by color with a complex silver crossguard that likely took as long to make as the sword itself. The blade was filled to the brim with veins. Vivi couldn't see the runes on the sword's hilt, but the sword had four different sets of veins. Four runes.

The veins had tight loops—not the tightest Vivi had seen, but beautiful nonetheless. Each set of veins was formed with the same familiar patterns Vivi always saw back on the surface. This wasn't Jonah's work. As good as Jonah was, he wasn't this precise.

This was Grandpa's work. Nobody else could craft a sword like that.

A far more concerning thought came to Vivi's head. That sword is new.

"It does look good," Lucius said. "Has it been polished?"

No, Lucius, you don't get it, Vivi repeated. That's not an old sword from one of Grandpa's customers from the surface. Grandpa has only created three crystal mithril swords. I remember them all. Two of them were three-runed longswords. The only four-runed sword was a cutlass.

"What are you getting at?" Lucius asked.

Vivi wasn't certain. Her thoughts were a mix of concern and disbelief. Grandpa never crafted that sword on the surface. I know that for a fact. That sword is new.

Lucius seemed to finally understand. "Oh."

Vivi continued watching, her heart racing by the implications of what was in front of her. Melloris dominated the competition with Grandpa's runesword. The four-runed sword flowed as swiftly as wind, each hit coming with such tremendous force that even levelstone would be afraid. More of the spirit blades were close to snapping.

In the audience opposite from her, a few levels down, Vivi spotted more black suits. The Greenwitches were watching intently. Amongst them was the man himself: Andre, studying Melloris from the front row.

Vivi gritted her teeth. She turned around and took the lateral rotating platform around the globe, hopping off near the Greenwitch's seats. She took breaths, trying her best to stay calm, though she was beyond caring about formalities. She pushed her way past occupied seats and confused members of the hunting group, straight to Andre at the front rows.

Andre eyed her dress and makeup for a moment. He blinked, then smiled and said, "Hello, Vivi. You look good today."

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"How do you have that sword?" she asked.

Andre leaned back, grinning at the fight. "It's your grandpa's sword. An old one we found from his shop. Quite the beauty."

"Don't screw with me," Vivi said. "That's a new sword. I remember every sword Grandpa crafted." A lie, but Vivi did remember most of his more expensive swords. Crystal mithril was rare on the surface.

Andre kept his eyes on the fight, though his grin faded.

"How do you have that sword?" Vivi repeated more sternly. She was starting to shake.

"I don't know what to tell you," Andre said. "Maybe he crafted this in prison."

"You lied to me!" Vivi shouted. "He isn't dead at all! You've enslaved him!"

Andre thought about his words. "Enslaved is not the correct word. He has signed a contract with the Greenwitches for his service. We are lucky, but Thomas survived Frievania's disaster."

Vivi's hands shook. Her breath felt heavy. She couldn't form words; she just stared at Andre as if he was the devil himself. The audience around her was a mix of concerned and annoyed.

"His swords are quite magnificent," Andre said. "You runesmiths have been right all along. Inside-carving is powerful."

Vivi wanted to scream. "Let me see him."

"He is currently working," Andre said. "And besides, he cannot enter Paradise. A meeting would require both of you to be present in the real world."

Vivi grabbed Andre from his collar. Two men around her stood up, unsheathing their weapons. They, too, wielded inside-carved runeswords.

Andre grinned at Vivi. This vile, cruel liar, he grinned at her! "Thomas Warren's Son is perfectly healthy, and a very happy man living his dream. To craft swords for the hunters. Now, if you please, we have a match to watch."

Vivi's body filled with ether, anger escaping alongside the wisps. She summoned Abyss Destroyer and tapped into her void core.

Before she could, her vision went black, and the connection to Paradise was lost.

***

Vivi sprung up from bed. Her arms shook, body filled with a mix of strong emotions—anger, confusion, hopelessness—all fueled to extremes through adrenaline.

"Lucius, take me back!"

Lucius floated above her, scowling directly at her eyes. "You were about to do something very stupid."

"Take me back," Vivi said. "Andre needs to pay."

"Not before you calm down," Lucius said. He crossed his paws.

Vivi stared at her spirit. He was the one who cut her connection. Just as Vivi was about to start burning ether for an ascension, Lucius stopped her.

Grandpa was alive.

Andre had lied to her. Just so he could have Grandpa all to himself.

Vivi yelled out. She punched the wall with all her strength. Pain flared through her fist. Why? Why? Why had Andre done this! Just as everything was going well, she learns of this!?

"Vivi?" a panicked voice sounded from the door. Lucas and Senith rushed inside. Lucas ran to her first. "Vivi? Did something happen?"

"They took him!" Vivi said. "They tricked him into a contract!"

Lucas glanced at the wall, where a crack had formed. Gods, Vivi thought. Did I really do that? With my fist?

"They took who?" Lucas asked.

"Grandpa!" Vivi said. "He's not dead! He's been tricked to work for murderers! They—"

"Vivi, let's think calmly!" Lucius said, cutting Vivi off and floating beside her. "Your grandpa is alive. That's a good thing. He is crafting runeswords. Good ones. That means he probably isn't being abused. Mistreated, maybe, but not abused."

"They lied to me," Vivi said, clenching her fist.

"I know," Lucius said. "Andre is not a good person. You're not wrong for hating him. But, um…"

"We have a lot to work with now," Lucius said, switching to her thoughts. "I know what you want to do. You're about to run up to Andre alone, and you're going to get yourself captured as well. Let's not be stupid."

You want to leave him there? Vivi thought. For Andre to lock him up in some cave?

"Vivi, please," Lucius said. "Humans are supposed to be good at using their heads. Think for a moment. Of course I don't want to leave him there. But do you really think charging in is the best solution?"

Vivi bit her lip.

"This Andre," Lucas asked, "who is he?"

"He's an ether hunter," Vivi said. "I thought he was an ally. Apparently, he's not."

"He did something to your family?"

Vivi sat down and pressed her face against her palms. How would she even explain this? Andre technically hadn't done anything wrong. A month ago, he incorrectly informed Vivi that Grandpa was dead, which could have been a misunderstanding on his part. Then he formed a contract with Grandpa, the details of which could have been fair enough that Grandpa willingly signed it.

A fair deal, in Vivi's opinion, was as unlikely as a rainless day on the surface. Vivi had seen how Andre and his allies behaved.

Where is Andre's base? Vivi asked.

"Surchester," Lucius said. "The capital city. The Greenwitches are one of the many hunting families residing in the capital."

We can take a teleporter straight to the capital from the third level, right? Vivi asked.

"Uh, I might need some time to operate the teleporter," Lucius said. "But yes, that's technically possible."

"Lucas," Vivi said. "I need another favor."

Concern remained on Lucas's face. "Of course."

"I…" Vivi thought about her words. "I need to hold a meeting with the strongest fighters of Shivenar. Trustworthy ones. Can you get that arranged? Tell them that I am offering runeswords to anyone above the third elevation willing to help me."

Lucas watched as Vivi stood up. He asked. "And what is the nature of this meeting?"

"I'm visiting old friends," Vivi said. "On the surface. I need a raid party."

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