After Yavi and Thomas had sweated away in the smithy, Yavi finally forged the mithril and dimeritium into swords the day before classes began. He took a deep breath and gently brushed his fingertips along the spines of both blades.
He raised the mithril sword gently and examined it closely. It felt as light as flowing water in his hand, its silvery-white blade reflecting the faint glow of the forge, as though starlight flowed deep within the metal. He gave it a casual swing. The blade passed silently through the air, moving so fast its path was almost invisible, leaving only a pale silver afterimage.
The corners of Yavi's mouth lifted slightly. Holding the sword in his right hand, he gave it a gentle shake. The energy of the Aard Sign flowed through the hilt, and an extremely faint silver-blue halo immediately appeared along the mithril sword's edge-not ordinary sword qi, but highly compressed vibrations in the air, like countless tiny wind blades winding around the sword, distorting even the light.
Witchers could cast Signs with either hand, but because their right hand needed to wield a sword, they could only cast Signs with their free left hand.
Thomas grinned and casually tossed a discarded iron ingot into the air. The instant it tumbled, Yavi flicked his wrist. Before the edge even touched the metal, that layer of invisible sword qi had already swept silently past-
"Shhk."
There was a very soft, crisp sound, like silk being sliced by shears. The ingot abruptly split into two halves in midair, its cut surfaces as smooth as mirrors, without so much as a spark. Only when the pieces clanged to the floor could the path of the strike be seen-it had not chopped through, but "brushed past." Wherever the sword qi reached, even the metal's molecular structure was instantly sliced apart by the vibrational force of the Aard Sign.
At the sight, Yavi could no longer contain his joy.
"Woohoo, we have liftoff!"
He shook Thomas's hand firmly, and together they savored their hard-earned joy.
"Let's hurry and try the other sword!"
Thomas was a little excited too, eager to see what surprises the next sword would bring them.
At those words, Yavi sheathed the mithril sword and picked up the dimeritium sword, which felt somewhat heavy in his hand.
The instant Yavi closed one hand around its hilt, a solid, reassuring weight settled into his palm-the sword weighed thirty percent more than an ordinary steel sword, yet somehow remained just within the limit of what human arm strength could wield nimbly. The entire blade was a muted dark gray, like bronze steeped in the passage of time, yet where the firelight shifted across it, it gave off a cold gleam unique to metal. There were no elaborate patterns, only two straight grooves along the spine extending from the guard to the tip, like marks left by a giant beast's claws, so austere they were almost rough.
He flicked his wrist, and the edge immediately sliced through the air with a low whistle. With every swing, he could feel the blade's own inertia-not the mithril sword's weightless responsiveness, but something like swinging a black dragon with a will of its own. It added force of its own accord when chopping, then dragged its wielder into a flowing change of moves when drawn back.
"Heavy, but not clumsy."
That was the conclusion Yavi reached after swinging it. Before this sword, magic and armor alike were as fragile as thin paper.
Yavi was very pleased with both swords' performance. Just then, Thomas suddenly spoke. "Aren't you going to give two such fine swords some impressive names?"
"Right, names."
Thomas's suggestion was a good one, but it left Yavi stumped. After all, finding a name that was both fitting and pleasing to the ear was no easy task.
After pondering for a long while, neither had come up with any good names. Just as Yavi was turning it over in his mind, Thomas suddenly had a flash of inspiration. "How about we call this dimeritium sword Demon Breaker? After all, isn't dimeritium's greatest feature its ability to nullify magic?"
Yavi clapped his hands. Right, why didn't I think of that? With the two of them in agreement, the dimeritium sword was given the name Demon Breaker.
"Then what about this mithril sword? Its blade is silvery-white all over, and it can conduct magic..."
Thomas rubbed his chin and sank into thought.
But Thomas's words gave Yavi inspiration. Yavi suddenly slapped his thigh, making Thomas jump.
"I know what to name this sword!"
"What?"
"Moonlight Cursed Blade!"
The name Yavi chose made Thomas's eyes light up. It was not only beautiful, but particularly fitting as well.
In the end, with Yavi and Thomas naming the two swords, one became Moonlight Cursed Blade, and the other Demon Breaker...
After everything had been put in order, Yavi went to the smithy's entrance to say goodbye to Thomas.
"Thank you so much, Thomas. Without your help all this time, I'm not sure I could have successfully forged such outstanding weapons on my own." Yavi gave Thomas's shoulder a firm pat.
"You're welcome, Mr. Yavi. Without you, I probably wouldn't have had the chance to work with such high-grade materials either. I hope we'll have another chance to work together!"
"We certainly will. Where are you planning to go in the future? If I get any more good materials that need forging, I'll know where to find you."
"I'll probably be in Novigrad. After all, I'm from a village nearby, so I won't be going too far."
"All right! When we get the chance, we'll meet again in Novigrad!"
He then shared a manly hug with Thomas and waved goodbye.
Just as he arrived at the boys' dormitory building and was about to return to his room, the student on duty on the ground floor suddenly stopped Yavi and handed him a letter. Yavi glanced at it with some puzzlement. Upon discovering it was from Elena, he thanked the student, returned to his room, and opened it. The gist of the letter was that Elena and her parents wanted to invite him to dinner whenever he had time. It was already afternoon, so after washing up, Yavi put on the Oxenfurt uniform issued by the school and went to the girls' dormitory building, where he asked the girl on duty on the ground floor to call Elena down.
Elena was delighted the moment she saw Yavi. His failure to reply or come looking for her all these days had left her somewhat disappointed, but fortunately, he had come in the end.
"I'm sorry, Miss Elena. I had some business to attend to these past few days and wasn't in my room, so I couldn't reply in time. I only got back this afternoon and saw your letter, then hurried straight over." Yavi apologized for not responding all these days.
"It's all right, Mr. Yavi. As long as you could come, that's what matters. Tomorrow is the opening ceremony, and my parents are planning to head home after attending it, so we've been hoping to find a chance these past few days to invite you to a meal and express our gratitude. Would you happen to have time this evening?" Elena asked Yavi somewhat cautiously.
Upon learning that Yavi had time to attend dinner and did not mind what they ate, Elena immediately chose a restaurant for that evening. After she told him the time, Yavi said goodbye to her and prepared to return to the dormitory. With a little time still left, he wanted to go back and carry out certain tests.