Next day, in the afternoon, I went out to the back of the tower. I found Professor Hargrave bent over an almost finished array. I saw him arrange this one enough times to know that he was about to place down the last mineral in his array. He settled it down connected to the web of connectors.

  Before he could activate the array or see me, I backed away. I out myself behind the curve of the wall, just enough to be out of sight yet still be able to peek. He poured aether into the array. The expected blast didn’t occur. I was surprised to see a feeble aetheric membrane wiggling and trembling, ready to collapse, yet the phenomenon was stable enough to not explode or break right away.

  I came out of my ‘hiding’ spot and stepped forward again.

  "Cato. What brings you here?" Hargrave saw me and stopped pouring aether in the array

  "Congratulations on your recent success! I need help finding materials. Monster parts, specifically."

  "For your weapon project?"

  "Yes."

  "What kind of monster parts are you looking for?"

  "I’m not sure. That's why I'm asking." I placed the schematics of the assembly down, on a free corner of the makeshift table composed of cinder stone blocks.

  He came closer, analyzing the drawing and the details it laid out. "I have to say that I’ve never seen anything quite like the artifact you’re making. But if I am to give some options I’d say you’ll need some living wood. I’m not sure how the entire mechanism would work however."

  "Where would I find any of that?"

  "The market, probably. Though with winter..." He trailed off, frowning. "Most quality materials won't be available until spring. The hunting season is over, and merchants don't stock much this time of year. Living wood is also a material that requires special harvesting depending on the beast tree it was gotten from."

  "Shouldn’t we check anyway?"

  He studied me for a moment, then looked at his array. He sighed and turned away from it. "Alright. I suppose my recent success deserves some celebration. We'll take a look, yet I’d have preferred if Vex came along. For your needs his expertise on aether-body interaction is more beneficial."

  The market proved to be exactly as disappointing as Hargrave had predicted.

  We walked through rows of stalls, most of them half-empty. The few vendors who were present had sparse offerings—common firewood, basic lumber, all at jarring rates, nothing suitable for what I needed.

  "See?" Hargrave said as we passed yet another disappointing stall. "Winter market. Most hunters are holed up waiting for spring. The only ones still bringing in materials are amateurs or profiteers, and their quality shows."

  I stopped at a stall displaying what looked like treated wood. The vendor, an older man with a weathered face, glanced up.

  "Looking for something specific?" he asked.

  "Living wood." I said.

  His nose scrunched up. "Got none of that, but we have some other aetheric woods here for you to browse."

  Hargrave picked up a piece, examining it. "This won't hold up. Too porous. The aether will leak through the grain within a week."

  The vendor shrugged. "It's what I've got."

  We moved on.

  The pattern repeated itself at stall after stall. Low quality materials, high prices, nothing remotely close to what I needed. Hargrave's expression grew more apologetic with each stop.

  "We could try the proper shops," he suggested after the tenth disappointing vendor. "They cater to academy students and crafters. Their prices are higher, but the quality might be better."

  "Lead the way."

  The shops were clustered near the academy district—permanent buildings instead of market stalls, with proper signage and organized displays. We entered the first one, a place called "Grimwald's Materials."

  Inside, the shop was warm and well-lit. Shelves lined the walls, filled with various woods, metals, and what looked like preserved monster parts. A clerk approached us almost immediately.

  "Can I help you find something?"

  "Living wood suitable for weapon construction," Hargrave said. "Something that can handle extended aether reinforcement, heat and impacts."

  The clerk nodded. "We have a few options. Ashwood, some ironwood—though that's quite expensive."

  "Can we see the ironwood?"

  The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

  He led us to a shelf near the back. The wood there was dark, reflective, almost black, with a grain so tight it looked almost like metal. I picked up a piece. It was heavy, dense, cold, yet held a strange amount of elasticity while aether was drawn to it.

  "This would work," Hargrave said, examining it. "Ironwood has natural aether conductivity and excellent structural integrity. It won't warp or crack under reinforcement."

  "How much?" I asked the clerk.

  "Twelve silver per board."

  I nearly dropped the piece. "Twelve silver?"

  "It's ironwood," the clerk said, as if that explained everything. "Rare, durable. Most smiths use it for high-quality weapon handles."

  I took out a small piece of spider silk and connected it to the wood piece. As I poured aether in the thread, electricity started to flow unimpeded through the piece of wood. I set it back on the shelf. I had money from selling weapons, but not enough to blow twelve silver on a single piece of wood that did not meet all my requirements.

  I'd need multiple pieces for the casing. It would blow through most of my savings and wouldn’t provide a satisfactory result.

  "What about the ashwood?" Hargrave asked.

  "Six silver per board."

  Still expensive, but more manageable. "Can I see it?"

  The ashwood was lighter, with a pale grain. Hargrave examined a piece, frowning slightly.

  "It'll work," he said. "Not as durable as ironwood, but if you reinforce it properly and treat it with the right arrays, it should hold up. You'd need to replace it eventually, but for a tournament weapon? It should last."

  I considered. Six silver per board. I'd need maybe three boards for the casing, maybe four to account for mistakes. That was eighteen to twenty-four silver, or about two-two and a half gold.

  "What about beast materials?" I asked the clerk. "Anything that might work for impact absorption?"

  He brightened. "We have some beast hide. Tanned and treated. Good for padding or cushioning."

  He showed us several options. Most were ordinary—boar hide, deer hide, nothing special. But one caught my attention.

  "What's this?" I pointed at a piece of scaled hide, dark green with a faint shimmer.

  "River serpent hide. Fairly common beast, but the scales have natural shock absorption. Hunters use it for armor padding."

  I picked it up. It was flexible but tough, the scales overlapping in a way that would distribute impact.

  "How much?"

  "Four silver for this piece. It's large enough for most projects."

  I did the math. Ashwood, beast hide, metal bands I could forge myself... I could use the hide to cover the case. The total would be around twenty-five to thirty silver. Manageable, if I was careful.

  "I'll think about it," I said.

  The clerk nodded, not pushing. We thanked him and left.

  Outside, Hargrave looked at me. "Planning to buy?"

  "Eventually. I need to make sure the design works first. No point spending three gold on materials if the whole thing fails."

  "Smart." He paused. "You know, if you need help with the arrays for the wood treatment, let me know. I can show you how to reinforce the grain structure."

  "I'll take you up on that."

  We walked back toward the academy. The trip hadn't been entirely successful—no perfect materials, everything expensive—but at least I knew what was available.

  And what I'd need to save up for.

  Back at the tower that evening, I pulled out the monster core and wing bone I'd received as gifts a few days prior. The core was about the size of my fist, smooth and dark blue. The wing bone was longer, hollow, with a faint iridescence.

  I set them on the workbench and brought in the vibration recorder.

  Time to record their vibrations.

  I reeled in the weight, then let it go. I placed my hand on the core, channeling a small amount of aether into it. The core responded immediately, resonating with a deep, steady frequency. I watched the tuning fork start trembling as the vibration of the core spread through the aether.

  Interesting. The core's frequency was lower than I expected, almost thrumming. That suggested dense aether, tightly packed. Useful for storage formations or power sources. I took my hand of the core, feeling wetness beneath my palm. A small puddle had formed around the core.

  I recorded the pattern, then moved to the wing bone.

  The bone's resonance was completely different. Higher, more erratic, with sharp peaks and valleys in the frequency. It felt... unstable. Like it wanted to move, to fly, even though it was just a hollow tube of bone.

  I recorded that pattern as well, then sat back, studying both waves.

  The core could be useful for the weapon's power source. If I could integrate it into the electromagnet mechanism, it might provide a more stable aether supply than drawing directly from my own pool, or could work as a backup.

  The wing bone... I wasn't sure yet. The erratic frequency suggested motion-related properties. Maybe something for the chain mechanism? Or for the blade itself?

  I'd have to experiment, as for the formations I could derive from the frequencies... I’d first, I need to finish the aether-to-electricity formation within my pool.

  I took the recorder back out to the back of the tower and set it just like Hargrave left it earlier. I was not yet sure it was a good idea to reveal my interest in this sort of arrays to easily. Even if it didn’t cause suspicion now, if I broke through and my hunch was right, only a fool wouldn’t make the connections.

  Back to sketching for me it was. Unfortunately, none of the materials that I saw where quite what I needed. The hide was good, could be used to cover the surface of the weapon, but it wouldn’t do for the support. I needed something that could reliably isolate from electricity.

  Resin was a solution, but it melted to easily as it was, while I couldn’t be sure that the spider remains would protect me from the current. While I switched from copper thread to spider silk and obtained a good electromagnet, I wasn’t sure just how much aether the mechanism could take and how much it would take for all of it to work as intended.

  I rose from my desk after noting all of my concerns and some possible solutions I had thought of and went to my room upstairs. Sitting on the floor with my back against the bed, I sunk my consciousness within the aether pool.

  A series of tries and revolutions later, I felt a faint thrum in my core. My abdomen trembled as a shiver coursed through me and my muscles stiffened. My legs jerked out of my lotus position and my back straightened, painfully pressing against the bed frame.

  Then they relaxed and a feeling of warmth spread from my core outwards. I sucked in fresh air as felt my body. Everything felt… fresh. The reddish haze of the candle was brighter and the grains of the wood planks in the floor beneath my palms felt more numerous and the crevices deeper.

  I sat up feeling just a bit dizzy from the wave of sensations. I took another deep breath and sat on my bed, sinking my attention inward. The second array was barely working, keeping a feeling of potential yet to be unleashed in my body.

  I opened my eyes and looked at my palm. My eyes moved lower and I saw the hair on my hands. It was standing on its ends. ‘It seems I’m filled with static…’

  I carefully observed the current arrangement and lied down. I exhaled slowly, tempering the excitement bubbling up within. I succeeded so fast this time! Now I just needed to adjust and optimize the array before becoming a master of thunder.