The guardhouse was almost silent at this time of night. The few guards who were there were reluctant to let Ethan in, but they eventually relented. On the same paths he had taken before, the scribe tried to temper his expectations as they approached the armory. The surly guard, whose race was undeterminable from under so much armor, simply gestured to the door and shrugged without a word.

  "Do you mind if I take the sword after I've fixed it?" Ethan stood by the door, looking hopefully to the visor of the guard.

  "I don't care if you take it now. That thing has been nothing but a problem."

  Putting aside ethical concerns, Ethan entered the room and withdrew the celestial pen from his chest. He felt the nib practically vibrating with excitement, eager to get the repair underway. As with every other anomaly he had dealt with, he took a seat, followed by a steadying breath, and studied the sword. This time, he felt much more connected to it. Just latching on to that small list of runes he had committed to memory was enough for him to connect with the M-228 system.

  [Anomalous M-228 System Variant Emulated]

  ERROR: You have emulated an anomalous system. This variant of the M-228 system is incomplete and mostly non-functional. Your interaction with this system will be limited more than normal. Please use your Celestial Pen to resolve enough errors to stabilize the anomaly.

  Runesmith Enchantment Anomaly

  Difficult Rank: Effortless (Rank 0)

  Known Errors: INCOMPLETE

  System Alignment: M-223

  Anomaly Designation: Mental Deterioration, Erroneous Enchantment Designation

  Current Status: Unstable.

  Touching the sword before it had been scoured clean of the anomaly was not an option, but now he had emulated the anomalous system and was ready to get to work. This was the part where Ethan sat for hours on end, mapping out the effects of the magic on the item. Immediately, he figured out that dealing with an enchanted item was different from a naturally occurring anomaly. The errors seemed to be embedded in the sword itself, interwoven with the fabric of its existence.

  For hours, he mapped the various system sigils within the sword. They were five in total and all worked in a straight line. The scribe had given each of them designations, from the first being a power collection to absorb ambient mana, to the last injecting fonts into the mind of anyone who held it. The guard knocked on the door, breaking him from his concentration.

  "Are you still working? The shift change is coming soon."

  Ethan shook his head. "I'm almost done. Pretty close at least."

  The guard shrugged. “I’ll let the next shift know you’re working here. Gotta wipe the slate clean, I suppose."

  Ethan gawked at the door as it closed. The guard certainly didn't mean anything by his last statement. He was talking about bringing in fresh guards so that the ones on duty weren't tired. He looked back to the system sigils he had sketched in the air and clicked his tongue. He held his hand over the last anomalous sigil and tried to interact with it after a fair amount of trial and error. He figured out that erasing a sigil was difficult.

  Although he didn't yet have the skill to completely wipe it out, he could at least mess up the final sigil enough so that it would never affect a person. He broke the sigil down into parts. This time, when he approached constructing a system sigil to represent the anomaly, he made sure he sketched out a complex symbol representing each part of what it did. He had a line for the mind, another for the user, and so on. So, he took the sigil that injected information into the user's mind and removed all parts but the concept of the user.

  This rendered the anomaly completely safe, but it wasn't enough. It wasn't enough to complete the task given to him by the grand system. Ethan smiled to himself as he thought about how he was doing quests for the system. Getting to work on the other sigils, he did everything he could to turn the complex series of instructions into a simple mana siphoning sword. Instead of producing an effect, he wanted the mana to go back into the blade, where it would power the inscribed dwarven runes.

  It was a real pain, but somewhere near dawn, and with enough trial and error to make his fingers hurt, Ethan found a solution. The message appeared the instant he changed the root of the sigils, which influenced how much mana was drawn from the air.

  [Nightmare Sword Anomaly Repaired]

  You have repaired an anomaly known to the Grand System. Please continue to resolve anomalies.

  Reward:

  This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

  Increased breadth and depth of one Attribute Ring of your choice.

  50 coins.

  Ethan fell back, blowing out a big breath and shaking his head. The disorienting effect of working on the problem for so long left him feeling dizzy. It was also somewhere near dawn, and he had a class to attend at noon. He reached into the chest and withdrew the sword, feeling its weight in his hands. It was too heavy for him to swing properly, even with his enhanced strength. When he turned to exit, the door popped open, and the guard and a new guard stood there.

  "Oh, I was told a student was working on that sword. Looks like you're done, seeing as you are screaming and bleeding from the eyes."

  Ethan realized that the effects of the sword were completely unknown to the guards. He wouldn't blame them for not experimenting with it, but still allowed himself a gentle smile. "All done. Now it's just a normal sword. You don't mind if I take it, do you?"

  "A normal sword with some kind of enchantment. Well, I suppose you need payment for taking care of that thing for us." The guard placed his hands on his hips and shook his head. "But we don't really have a budget for that kind of thing, so I guess the sword will have to do."

  Ethan smiled all the way home, the flat of the blade resting on his shoulder as he walked. He got a few looks from people who were just waking up. The dark bags under his eyes revealed how he had foregone sleep. But he had a class to attend at noon, Mana Control Foundation's, the one with Professor Sally. He didn't want to miss that one. It was probably the most important of all his classes, aside from Anomalous Materials.

  The door to the shack swung open after he placed his badge upon the brass plate. Barry was standing in the middle of the room, just having finished putting on his pants and stretching out. "Nice sword."

  Ethan hoisted the sword up and pumped it in the air a few times. "Yeah, I'm a fighter now."

  Barry's laugh was booming. "Well, make sure you get enough rest before class. You don't want to have a cranky warrior in the seat next to me."

  Leaning the sword against the wall, point-side down, Ethan fell into his bedroll. "I'm going to buy some beds today. Do you want one?"

  "Are you buying?"

  "Yep."

  "Then, yep!"

  ***

  "Would you care to explain why you've brought a sword to my classroom?" Professor Sally stood at the head of the opaque pearl building classroom, her arms crossed in confusion.

  Ethan had his feet kicked up, a broad smile on his face as he cradled the sword. The edge was completely dull, and there was even a chip at the point. But that wasn't the reason he had brought it to class. Yes, he was gloating to himself that he had managed to take care of such an annoying anomaly, but he also planned to sell it after class.

  "I need to sell it after class, and I didn't want to make a trip back home."

  Professor Sally seemed to digest the information at half the normal speed. Eventually, she shrugged and turned back to address the class. That was apparently good enough for her. Today's lecture was more on mana control, as expected. Projecting mana was a very important part of any mage's life, and she continued to drill the foundational elements of that. But today she was more focused on broad control, which was Ethan's specialty.

  “Well, this is gonna be easy for you.” Barry grumbled, eying the sword. “Can I swing that a few times after class?”

  “Of course you can swing it around. Oh, maybe you can slap it against my barrier spell.”

  Amelia rolled her eyes. “That’s where your mind goes?”

  Professor Sally cleared her throat, silencing the group. The rest of the class went as expected. The assignment for the week wasn't going to be anything Ethan couldn't handle on his own. The professor had an item that they had to fill up with a certain amount of mana in a certain amount of time. When the scribe went to check his aptitude, he was basically there with a little bit of work on his Mind Ring. He was certain he could have it. Of course, Amelia filled it on the first try, and Barry's attempt was frankly pathetic.

  Ethan was excited to get outside and have somebody smack his barrier with a physical object, but they had a duty to the other students. Ethan actually learned a lot about his mana control when he stayed and helped instruct the other students. Amelia had some very good analogies about visualization and imagining the mana rushing through his channels like a river cutting through the bank. Doing this exercise over and over widened that river, allowing more mana to flow at a time. Once everyone had at least the vaguest of grasps on the technique, the scribe and Barry headed outside to test the sword.

  Ethan felt the pressure of the strike against his hexagonal barrier plates. The moment Barry swung, the power behind the strike sent a minor shockwave outward, and flecks of blue energy fell to the ground and shattered. The scribe stood there, brows knit as he was dumbfounded. "Is this because you eat meat every meal?"

  "Actually, I have an attribute called 'power,' and it started me with a lot of it. I guess that's so I could forge things better. Who cares? Put up a new barrier."

  "The sword is also enchanted." Amelia stood nearby, taking her normal academic stance on everything. "It could be adding to the power, but as it's from another system, I'm unsure how to inspect the properties."

  Ethan grunted as another blow struck his plates. He didn't feel anything from the strike, but he winced at the thought of it breaking through. It wasn't just fun to watch Barry put his full force into the strikes, but maintaining the barriers using his Affinity Ring increased the strength of that ring. It also helped the scribe get used to using barrier magic. Since it was adapted as an ability attached to his ring, it was more a matter of attuning himself to that ring rather than the spell. That was confusing and, of course, academically interesting.

  Amelia took this as an opportunity to lecture. “If you’re looking for supportive magic, I suggest starting with the most useful ones. There are defensive spells and offensive spells within the support category. That is to say, spells that increase a person’s defense and a person’s offense. Barkskin is a good one to start with, as well as Minor Haste. I can write up a list if you want.”

  Turning to Amelia, Ethan nodded. "You know what would be really cool?" He asked. “If I could take a few of those spells and combine them together. How many sigils do they each have?

  "Shouldn't be more than two. Why? Do you think that's something you can do?"

  “Not yet.” Ethan pointed his pen skyward. “But there’s no reason I can’t try! Right after we sell this sword… Come on, Barry. Don’t chip it too much. I need a good price.”

  “Just one more swing!” Barry said, covered in a sheen of sweat. “This is just too much fun.”

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