*Bing-Bong!*

We interrupt this chapter to inform the reader that we will now be returning to Dozing Salamander right when Zhen Liu and his crew arrives to—

BOP!

Ah! What the hell?

Metallic canister on the floor noises.

Uncorking noises.

Unfurling noises.

Wait? Seriously? But they already showed up earlier, why are they...oh...yeah, that makes sense.

Okay then...

*Ahem*

We interrupt this chapter to inform the reader that we will be doing one last point of view shift to a group of people that had arrived to Rainbowden a little bit before Zhen Liu and his crew.

Don't worry, we will be focusing back on him after this chapter.

We now return to your regularly scheduled reading, thank you.

...

Once again, I need to ask, what the fuck?

|Oh, yeah. The [CENSORED] requested I set up an inbox tube for instant messages. Something about needing to provide immediate input.|

Okay, but isn't this the exact reason why texting exists? Also. didn't we have an intern or something for that?

|Oh, yeah. That guy was given a full-time position elsewhere. Something involving superheroes.|

Aren't...aren't you also writing a...never mind.

*Bing-Bong*

___________________________________

Rainbowden, the city of craftsmen.

Many cities around the world, across every continent, have made attempts to claim this name for their own, but very few ever actually succeed in doing so.

There were cities that hyperfocused on specific crafts, like aether puppets in Puppetton, the city of glassmakers known as Moltenshard, the clockwork kingdom of Sprocketbend, and even the sculptor's paradise that was simply known as Clay.

However, Rainbowden earned the moniker as the City of Craftsmen due to just how many craftspeople came to pay homage to one of their biggest idols: the Rainbowsmith.

Any craftsman worth their salt, any clan or sect that dedicated their livelihood to a particular craft, knew that one of the main ways to gain a foothold in the wider world was to establish a base in the city that the Rainbowsmith called home.

Unfortunately, that was easier said than done.

Unlike other cities, where one could simply drop a fuckton of cash and ask the local city lord for a possible lead on a location, Rainbowden's properties weren't available for purchase through normal means.

Hell, one couldn't even trade rare aether arts or treasures in exchange for a spot in the city...except in private transactions, but nobody has agreed to such a sale since the city's early days.

One also couldn't simply use brute force to claim property in this city due to a gentleman's agreement between all of the residents.

The agreement was very simple: any outsider who attempts to steal someone's workspace will be met with swift and brutal action.

No quarter, no survivors.

However, there was one surefire way to secure a space in the city: crafting competitions.

Every district and quarter of Rainbowden was dedicated to a particular style of craft, and every artisan who called the place home wanted nothing more than to be recognized by their peers and respected by the masses.

However, in order to reach such heights, artisans require the right work environment.

As such, the administrators of the city would regularly hold competitions for each of these districts, where the prize would usually be storefronts, studios, and in some rare cases, entire estates.

In conjunction with these official competition prizes, though, many artisans would also gamble against each other for ownership of their respective workshops.

Either way, the only way to get a foothold in Rainbowden was to be a "better artist".

Although, such criteria, in comparison to being an aether warrior, was very...vague.

Of course, that didn't stop many young hopefuls from trying.

Especially those who also happened to be of merchant descent.

...

"Okay, I'll admit, this city is much prettier than I anticipated," Bellona commented as she looked over a stone sculpture that was incredibly colorful and resembled a series of stacked bowls. "But are you sure we're going to find that forge master here of all places? It seems a bit too...colorful for someone like him."

"As sure as my name is Goldshire," Alicia reassured her friend. "Master Lowblade considers himself an artist first and a weapons maker second. Hence why he live here as opposed to elsewhere."

"If you say so."

"Hey, as long as he can fix my scythe, I don't care if the man has tentacles instead of arms," Alice joked.

"Ironically, I think we just passed an octopus bloodliner making paintings with their own ink..." Harriet added.

"Huh..."

Several months after the adventure through the [City of Mirrors], and several months of dealing with Phoenix Academy's strict syllabus, Alicia, Harriet, Alice, and Bellona were travelling together once again for somewhat official business.

During the interim of that aforementioned adventure and the present day, the girls had been busy dealing with their own collection of problems, people, and perils.

And it was actually a problem related to Alice that led to this current moment.

As the "young lady" of the Dunkelkrieg family, Alice was granted certain aether arts and treasures that were reserved for her use only and to be bestowed only when the time was right.

Unfortunately, while she managed to meet that requirement, it had been after these treasures were used in prior decades and had been damaged as a result.

One such treasure was a weapon known as the [Thunderblood Scythe], a vicious Gold tiered aether treasure weapon that was the rare combination of blood and thunder attributed aether.

Well, it was a Gold-tiered weapon.

During a battle called the "War of a Thousand Orphans", which happened about twenty years prior to current day, the weapon was damaged after it had been used to decapitate a warrior calling themselves the Orphan of Genocide.

It was a long and brutal conflict, but the important part was that the scythe had been knocked down to Bronze-tier after it had done its job.

Either way, now that it was in Alice's possession, she was going to go and find a way to restore it to its original glory.

Thankfully, she just so happened to be friends with a surprisingly well-connected merchant girl.

"And you're sure that this Master Lowblade is the real deal?" Alice asked Alicia for the umpteenth time on this trip. "I don't want this scythe of mine breaking on me after a single swing. I don't mind it looking weird, I mind if it's no longer functional."

"Trust me, Alice, trust me," Alicia repeated. "Master Lowblade has been regularly sending his works to not just my family but to all of the major auction houses up and down Stampeding Bison for years. While we only handle items up to Silver-tier, my father has seen the Gold-tiered items he sends to the bigger houses. Trust me, things will be fine."

"Mmmm."

Under any other circumstances, this statement would be trusted with less hesitation.

However, if there was one thing Alice had taken to be a lesson of reality is that nothing ever goes as easily as she hoped.

Especially when it involved people connected to a certain Kaijin Lord.

"Ah, we finally made it to Sword Street!" Alicia declared to the others as soon as they arrived to a district that reeked of metal, sulfur, and soot.

"Okay, this definitely seems like the type of place a weapon maker would definitely set up shop," Bellona commented as she watched a Terra aetherii make a set of axes with his barehands. "Think I could get something custom-made here?"

"Definitely," Harriet agreed as she watched a spindly-looking artisan polish a set of metallic feathers.

Then again, maybe she was overthinking.

"Come on, Master Lowblade should be this way," Alice informed the others.

Making their way through the district, the sound of ringing hammers and smithing songs brought a strange modicum of peace to the women.

And it wasn't just them affected by the sound either.

[Oooh, I like this rhythm,] Sprocket hummed with glee.

[It's making me sleepy,] Hypnos commented in a dreamy tone.

The aformentioned majin were currently in their accessory forms and hiding on Alicia and Bellona, respectively.

As beings made of [Chaos], the two little beans were affected by the same things as the Kaijin. As such, music, especially music infused with aether, caused them to react in certain ways.

Visually, this causes their accessory forms to develop eye-catching patterns and colors.

Harriet didn't notice this change, as she was distracted by the sights and sounds around her, but Alice definitely noticed since she could pick up the small fluctuations in [Chaos].

A part of her felt a little jealous...jealous enough to actively tease her friends about it.

"So...just to clarify here, you two received those majin accessories as an engagement gift or did you receive them as a gift for boinking Zhen Liu? Either or, am I more likely to get one if I do the former or the latter?"

"Pfft! What the fuck?!" Bellona couldn't help but to laugh.

"Alice!" Alicia proclaimed in alarm. "That is very—"

BOOM!

"WHAT THE FUCK?!"

But before Alicia could convey her offended feelings, an explosion not too far from them suddenly interrupted the conversation.