Hot Springs Brigade!

Vic and Itsuki walked down the paved road of Greenwick's crowded midday thoroughfare. Merchant wagons moved about in every direction but north, guild members with the freshly minted insignia of the Silver Hippogryph can be seen helping fellow citizens, even the beggars were in a joyous mood.

"Where exactly are we going?" Itsuki asked, stuffing his face with a steak kebab he bought from a street vendor.

Vic had already finished hers and was picking her teeth with the skewer. "To Gregory's."

"Wait, THAT dwarf?"

"You're already familiar with him?"

"He charged a small fortune when all I needed was a new scabbard!"

She chuckled. That was Gregory alright. The dwarf was originally from Grennadier, and came to work in Cassun during the Demon Wars as the united army's blacksmith. Because all of his equipment and apprentices came with him, he decided to settle in Cassun following the end of the war. He and his connections were the only people she trusted given her complex commision.

"He does quality work but yeah. What he's charging is essentially legal larceny."

"So Gregory. He really that good a blacksmith?"

"The best."

As they approached the Artisan's District of Greenwick, the billowing smoke of the forges informed them that they had arrived. Among the smithies were seamstresses, pottery barns, leatherworkers and tanners, and an alchemist's den for public use.

There were less people here, as the district was dedicated more to craft than trading. The ones about were curious onlookers from other parts of town and workers going about their day making deliveries. 

Unlike the other forges, Gregory's was an outdoor smithy. He had a small shack behind it where he slept. Everything he worked on, including commissions and equipment, were left out in the open— a habit carried over from the war. 

"Aye, Vic. That you?" A crimson-haired dwarf wearing blackened safety goggles emerged from the decrepit shack. He was holding a stein in one hand and a hammer in the other.

"Take your goggles off, Greg. I know you can't see a thing."

Greg's head danced between the hammer and stein, proceeded to chug the ale, tossed the empty cup over his shoulder, and then finally pulled his glasses off with the free hand.

"Ye brought the greenhorn with ye? How's yer sheath, laddie?"

"Well, my coin pouch is definitely lighter." Itsuki joked.

Vic noticed behind the forge there was a whimpering dwarf. He didn't look like one of Greg's apprentices. She couldn't make out the features from here, but recognized a gold-brimmed cocked hat on his head.

"Who's that?" She asked.

"Just a lost sea dog. I've takin' him in 'cos we shared the same womb." Greg spat on the floor of his workshop and sighed. "Forget about him, I'm'summing yer here fer th'axe, aye?"

"You guessed, right. I'm also here for my two scabbards if they're done."

"They ain't. May take a wee bit more work with Migo figurin' out th'hole open sheath nonsense. Can't do leather, the fuckin' serrated blade'll rip'er right up. Wood'll get yer blade stuck. Who in their right mind wields jagged swords nowadays anywee?"

"Whatever it takes. I'm paying good coin for it."

"Aye, aye. Let's get yer blasted axe outta me smithy. Y'know a couple o' thieves came by last night trying to make off wit'it? Saw dragon scale and thought, ooh pretty!"

Vic started, "Did they?"

"No, they fuckin' did not. Nearly made off with a cart if I din't shoo 'em awee. Got me a good laugh, them's trying to lift the damn bugger."

"Wait…" Itsuki squinted at the gleam of the scale. "This is Draxis' scale. I thought you said it was impossible to carve him up."

"Didn't want you getting any funny ideas, so I didn't tell you everything. There's a brief window after a dragon's core implodes where you can pull its body apart."

"And you cut it up unscathed?"

"Half-demons have resistance to magic and fire. I only managed to rip out one scale and part of his rib before everything else melted away."

"Oh…" A disappointed sigh escaped him.

Vic lightly punched his chest and said, "I know you wanted to get something for Deena. It was you who gave me the idea anyway, so let's just tell her it was both our ideas."

"Alright, I need to take lessons from the Vic School of Cool because that was smooth as heck." 

She smirked and then leaned over the axe to admire its craftsmanship. "How heavy is it?"

"Eh… say 'bout thirty-five to forty kilos?  Why don'tcha give it a go, laddie?" Greg patted Itsuki on the back so hard he nearly fell forward.

The greataxe was a marvel. Almost every part of it was made out of Draxis himself. A loose rib torn from his chest served as the shaft, sanded down and reinforced with enchanted steel bandings. It connected to a large scale that Vic ripped from his backside— a feat that made her arms ache thinking about it.

Like bird bones, dragon bones were hollow and lightweight but had an extremely dense outer layer. Making use of the rib bone's flexibility was the perfect choice to balance the weight of the scale over other alternatives.

"Had to call in a few favors to help wit'it. Ain't ever done a beauty like this a'fore now."

Itsuki studied the weapon with an incredulous expression. He planted his hands down on it and tried lifting, but it wouldn't budge from its resting place. No matter how much he struggled, the greataxe remained atop the anvil. "Deena is supposed to wield this?"

"Heh. Wasn't designed fer no human to swing." Greg pointed his chin at Vic.

"Guess it's my turn." She grabbed it with two hands and raised it from the anvil with ease. The black scale glistened under the sunlight. As she swung it, the blade seemed to sing a dull tune.

The weapon stood just a foot shy of Vic's height. The edges of the scale were eroded down with Dracobane, courtesy of Sarrul. It has a finer edge now, but it's true power lies with its weight. It was enormous, unwieldy, but devastatingly powerful.

"Holy crap. I'm witnessing a weapon straight out of Dark Souls or Monster Hunter." Itsuki was in awe.

"Don't s'pose the lassie yer giftin' it to needs a harness fer it?"

"It'd only get in her way." Vic dropped the greataxe on its head, indenting the ground beneath it. She untied her coin pouch and tossed it to the dwarf. "As promised, the other half. Thirty platinum.

Itsuki choked and spat out his half-chewed kebab. "It was sixty in total?!"

The dwarf shook the pouch next to his ears and grinned. "Pleasure doing business with ya."

"Come on, Itsuki. Time for a test hunt." She said, propping the weapon on her shoulder.

"Yeah, sure. Okay. Showoff."

⚔ ⚔ ⚔

The two of them made their way out of town and headed east. The sun was beginning to set, but their little excursion shouldn't take too long. 

Vic glanced at Itsuki's insignia and noticed it was a different color compared to the others she had seen. "Is there a ranking system in the guild I'm unaware of?"

Itsuki grabbed his insignia, admiring the deep blue color that surrounded the silver hippogryph. "The ranks were about the only thing that resembled the isekai animes with guilds and such. Guild Master Aura wanted to develop a way to distinguish exceptional members of the guild.."

"What rank is yours?"

He puffed up his chest before continuing. "It's according to minerals. From the bottom is copper, iron, silver, gold, emerald, sapphire, ruby, and the highest is citrine. As you can see, my rank is the sapphire."

"Ranked sixth, huh? Third from the highest." She found herself genuinely impressed by his accomplishment. "Has anyone attained citrine?"

"No, but who knows with so many other applicants joining now. By the way, Maya and Eve are sapphire like me. Sarrul is ruby ranked."

"Ruby— Oh."

"What is it?"

"Alchemist's Guild in Grennadier orders their rank with the title 'of the Crimson' as its highest status. I can't imagine how he must feel, seeing as he was excommunicated before attaining that rank."

"I see." Itsuki continued to stare at his own insignia. "Probably explains why he's cooped up in the lab."

They continued the rest of the way in silence until a pack of cockatrice shrieked at their approach. Vic dropped the greataxe and clenched her hands expecting Rend and Flay, and mentally berated herself for forgetting. She picked up the greataxe and steadied the weapon.

"Hmm. It's unusual to see cockatrices in Cassun…" She said, shifting her grip along the shaft.

"Maya said the same thing. Their numbers have been increasing drastically for a month and a half now…"

"They're an invasive species here. Letting them roam free could destroy the entire food chain. Why aren't there any extermination requests for the Guild?"

"Hell would I know? Aura only just came back today— Vic, your left!"

Vic didn't need him to tell her. She spun the greataxe and cleaved the charging cockatrice in two.

"Are you serious?! It's not fair how strong you are."

"Really? My father can do this to a pure-blood demon."

The pack charges in at once, shrieking and lunging with snapping beaks. Itsuki dove out of the way to take on a straggling cockatrice. His longsword no longer cackled with volatile energy, instead it shimmered in a controlled glow. He slid between the cockatrice's legs and plunged his weapon deep into its abdomen.

Since he was safe, Vic could focus on the rest. She slammed the greataxe into the ground, opening a fissure underneath the beasts' legs. One of them trips to the ground as three others continue the charge.

She lifted the weapon and swung wide, splitting the cockatrices into a bloody mess. One left, might as well test the flat of the axe. The poor thing couldn't right itself up between the fissure. She raised the flat end and slammed down, flattening it into the ground.

Itsuki ran up to her, disgusted and appalled. It was the same look he'd given her after dealing with the ogres. "Yeah, if you joined the Guild they'd need a whole new rank for you."

"Let's go home, Sapphire."

"Hearing that from you, my rank suddenly doesn't feel special anymore."