Vivi was strangely nervous as she headed up the street, toward the mines. It had been a while since she checked up on Eem. Multiple days. Enough that Eem was probably panicking, wondering if she’d been abandoned again.

  She had hoped to visit more often. But with storm season as hectic as it was, she just didn’t have time. So far, however, she hadn’t received any complaints from upset miners. Eem must have, at the very least, been manageable. Hopefully useful as well.

  Approaching the mine entrance, Vivi realized she had forgotten to give any sort of notice. Everything had just been too hectic lately. Hopefully the miners wouldn’t mind. She spotted a man standby at the entrance, wearing the miners’ overalls. He wasn’t a guard, and he had no runesword, but was smoking a pipe instead.

  Spotting Vivi, he coughed, smoke exiting his lungs as he hastily placed the pipe away and bowed.

  She moved to him and asked, “Is the mine overseer present?” What was his name again… “Ealan?”

  “Yes, of course, I will fetch him this instant!” the man said. He ran into the mine with ether in his legs, bolting into motion nearly fast enough to make the hem of Vivi’s dress flutter.

  Am I really this scary… Vivi thought with a sigh.

  Lucius laughed, amused. “It’s your authority, Vivi. They fear offending you. If you complain about that man to his boss, he’s not just going to lose his job, but probably his whole life.”

  That’s insane, Vivi thought. She hadn’t gotten offended at a single person in the city yet. She had slowly started to consider herself as more influential. If she wanted something done, it would be done.

  But to see she was this influential? Just the sight of her caused panic in those around her. All because she crafted some runeswords and killed a few monsters.

  I guess being scary has its uses as well, Vivi thought. If that guy runs inside, we get to meet Eem faster.

  “Exactly,” Lucius said with a grin. “You’re getting used to this. That is very good. We can start commanding this city soon.”

  We are not going to command a city, Lucius, Vivi thought, rolling her eyes.

  Ealan arrived from the mines a few minutes later. He wore his work-clothes, skin coated in a light layer of sweat. “Vivian, welcome,” he said with a bow. “An honor to see you once again.”

  “I’m here to see Eem,” Vivi said. “And to receive an update on how she’s doing.”

  “I’m glad you’ve come!” Ealan said. “There’s a lot to show you. Little Emmy has been a delight. Do follow.”

  A delight? Vivi thought as she entered the mines. Ealan spoke with suspicious enthusiasm, as if trying to please Vivi.

  “The fiend’s ability to smell, or sense, metals has been confirmed to be true,” Ealan said, while they walked past the entrance hall, down toward the levelstone mines. “We’re not entirely certain how her nose works. It seems to be an innate ability, as her core does not contain skills. But she fits into small spaces, and she is exceptional at finding metals, and ether roots.”

  “Has she been happy here?” Vivi asked.

  The question seemed to surprise Ealan. “I would say she has… Though she is hard to read.”

  “Do the miners like her?” Vivi asked. “Has she caused trouble?”

  Ealan was about to speak, but Vivi added, “Answer me honestly, please. My goal is to find a home for Eem. A place where she can feel like she belongs, and where others can love her as much as I do.”

  His eyes sombered slightly. “She works very hard, and tries everything she can to please us and become a real miner. Excluding following commands—she’s not very good at doing what she’s told to do, which seems to be a given, considering her personality. She does cause trouble, and she is a lot to keep up with, but it’s nothing we can’t handle. My men like her a lot, and they smile when she is around.”

  Vivi nodded. “That’s good.”

  If she were to guess, the miners here treated Eem like a cute pet that found metals. It was hard to form a human connection with someone who had so much trouble speaking. But pets could be loved just like humans. She’d need to see Eem for herself to know if this was a fitting home.

  “Take me to her,” Vivi said. “I’d like to talk to her directly.”

  Ealan looked doubtful when Vivi mentioned the word talk, but he agreed to her request, of course. Vivi was brought deeper into the caves. Descending through a hole, the walls and ceiling became fully levelstone. “Did you mine this hole?” Vivi asked.

  “No,” Ealan said with a laugh. “Levelstone is impenetrable. These caves formed millions of years ago. We’re simply making use of what the gods cracked for us. Now, the fiend was sent off around these parts. She is typically missing for two to three hours before returning with her findings. She’s been there for just over an hour now.”

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

  “Does she come back when you call?” Vivi asked.

  “Rarely,” Ealan said. “If she’s nearby, she might. Most of the time, she follows her own schedule.”

  “Let me try and call for her,” Vivi said.

  She took a breath and called ether into her body. She pushed her aura outward, not to cause fear around her, but to push her presence around herself, as if casting a flare. Ealan took a step back, watching her cautiously.

  Vivi wasn’t even sure if Eem could sense her, but it wouldn’t hurt to try. She called, “Eem, it’s me, Vivi!”

  She waited, keeping her aura active, and she closed her eyes, trying to feel if she could sense anything around her.

  Immediately, she felt the levelstone itself. The feeling was similar to back when she traversed from between the blight to the desert. Without void ether, the sensations of ether around her weren’t as vibrant, but she still felt the abundant wisps glimmering within the cave around her.

  Inside one of the tunnels, as something entered the aura she was extruding, she felt movement, as if something had entered a web she was casting. A voice followed.

  “Ivwi!”

  Eem’s white-haired figure hopped down from a small crawl-space above them. The fiend ran to Vivi’s leg and clung onto it, pressing her face tight against her foot.

  Vivi chuckled, grinning. Eem still wore the cloak Lortel had made, and her helmet had disappeared. The bath Vivi had given had now turned to hard work, with cave grime sticking to Eem’s skin and hair. The cloak was dirty as well, though it was still without rips.

  “How have you been, Eem?” Vivi asked. “Are the miners treating you well?”

  Eem nodded three times rapidly. Right after, she lifted her hands and showcased something.

  “Ivwi!” she said, grinning. “Emiwium!”

  On her hands was a piece of rough ore. Stone surrounded it, with something white glimmering inside. It didn’t seem to be white obsidian, like the usual enirium scam.

  “Thank you, Eem,” Vivi said, accepting it regardless. She eyed it curiously. With her limited knowledge, she wasn’t sure it was. So she turned to Ealan, showing it to him.

  “It will have to be examined,” Ealan said. “So far, Eem has found plenty of adamantite, a lot of high tier mithrils, and a surprising amount of othnite.”

  “Othnite?” Vivi asked. “I’ve never seen that on the surface.” In fact, Grandpa had never even mentioned that metal. “What type of metal is it?”

  “It’s one of the rarer metals of the lower levels,” Ealan explained. “It’s almost identical to asmite by weight and strength, with a slightly better affinity with ether. Its rarity comes from one oddity unique to it only. Othnite naturally contains a light amount of active void ether inside, making it one of the strongest metals overall.”

  Oh, Vivi thought.

  Monster Vivi would have loved a sword made out of that metal. It sounded even more violent than venerium.

  “We’re gathering enough of the metal to make a sword out of it,” Ealan said. “It’s rare enough that we can’t simply sell it freely. As for this ore, though…” He eyed the metal. “It will have to be inspected. She hasn’t brought anything like this before.”

  “Emiwium!” Eem said excitedly, jumping up and down and waving her arms.

  Vivi couldn’t help but smile. “You little devil, Eem. You’ve been working hard. I’m proud of you.”

  That made her pause. In an instant, Eem moved from excited to teary as she hugged Vivi’s leg, making incoherent cries.

  Vivi patted her on the head with a laugh. “You funny little idiot. Let’s go examine your metal, Eem. How does that sound?”

  “Mm!” Eem said, nodding.

  Then she ran up to the next intersection and waved for Vivi to follow. From there, she ran to the next spot impatiently, while Vivi and Ealan walked after her.

  “Looks like she already knows the layout,” Vivi said.

  “I wouldn’t be surprised if she has mapped out the entire network,” Ealan said with a sigh.

  Eem took them to the inspectors office atop the levelstone. They were still underground, but for once, the room looked like it belonged to a house instead of a cave. Wallpapers had been installed, and the floor was paved.

  The head inspector introduced himself as Hildun. He was a tall man, who looked more like a scientist than a miner, promising he could identify most metals with just his eyes after twenty years of experience at the job.

  When offered Eem’s metal, however, he squinted, and a puzzled look appeared on his face. “One second,” he said, and moved to a device. It was shaped like a box with a lid to the side. He opened it and slid Eem’s ore inside. The ore sat on top of a large collection of everything runes.

  The device, it seemed, worked just like an etherprint scanner, but for metals. The runes began taking in ether from the ore.

  “This usually takes at least ten minutes,” Hildun said. “The idle ether within ores isn’t nearly as potent as it is within demons. Ether is transferred to the runes by touch, but the process is slow. If you’d like, we’ll have the results ready in—”

  The device blinked, which prompted the inspector to blink as well. He turned back to it, studying the results displayed at the top of the box. It had no text. Rather, a combination of lights.

  “Huh?” Hildun said. “That’s odd.”

  All three inspectors in the room gathered around it to take a look at the results. Their reactions were a mix of surprise and confusion.

  “What is it?” Ealan asked.

  “It’s… not a metal recognized by our records,” Hildun said. “This combination does not exist.”

  “Emiwium!” Eem called excitedly.

  “Emmy found this again?” the inspector asked.

  Ealan nodded.

  “Emiwium!” Eem said again, jumping up and down and grabbing onto Vivi’s dress.

  Everyone was silent for a moment. They looked at each other. “There’s no way she actually found enirium, right?” one of them asked.

  “Emiwium, emiwium!”

  More silence.

  “Well…” Hildun said. “It seems we’ll have work to do tonight. The ore’s properties will be examined. This could be a false alarm. If it happens to be a new metal discovered today, however…”

  “It did fill up the runes in under a minute,” one of the inspectors said. “What other metal does that?”

  Hildun was silent. The reaction reminded Vivi of Civar and the ballista makers when Vivi proved skill wisps could be replicated. The results looked promising, but they weren’t yet sure whether they could celebrate. Further tests would need to be performed first.

  Vivi turned to Eem with a wide grin. “You little treasure hunter. Have you discovered a new legendary metal?”

  “Emiwium!” the fiend repeated, her sharp row of teeth sharing the grin.

  “Is there more?” Vivi asked. “Can you gather enough for me to make a sword out of this metal?”

  Eem nodded three times excitedly. “Iwvi, emiwiummm!”

  “We have a lot of work to do, Eem,” Vivi said. “This storm season is dangerous. We need strong weapons. If you can find more of this metal, I will create the most powerful sword there is.”

  Or maybe… If Grandpa manages to complete his six-runed attempt, what if…?

  What if it was also made of enirium?

  While that thought crossed her head, Eem suddenly looked determined, ready to mine for more.

  “I think that decides it,” Vivi said. “Eem, you’ve been promoted to a full miner. From today onward, you will work here. Ealan will start paying you a wage.” She glanced at Ealan to see if the man agreed. After a pause, he nodded.

  Eem was frozen in shock.

  “Make me proud and work hard,” Vivi said. “And once this storm season is over, I’ll feed you a bucket of fish.”

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