Realising this fact, she then pressed her fingers against the tablet and intruded their systems. As she was asking the receptionist about ways she could potentially send a message to the city lord without anyone knowing the details, she soon found a link to the city lords computer.

"Since there's no other way, I suppose I'll give up then. Thank you for your time." Shiro shook her head.

Bidding farewell with the receptionist, she gestured for Lisandra to follow her.

"I'm guessing you found a way to contact the city lord?" Lisandra raised her eyebrows.

"Yup." Shiro grinned.

Sitting down at one of the cafés, she ordered a few snacks and pulled out a tablet. Of course, the tablet was something she made discreetly with her nanobots but she made sure it looked like she pulled it out from her inventory.

"Let's see, how should I do this." Shiro muttered while connecting herself to the city lord's computer.

She could see that he was currently working on some doc.u.ments that have to do with relocating some of the experienced blacksmiths around the city so that it can give the new blacksmiths a chance at commissions.

Thinking about it for a moment, she eventually settled with just sending him a notification of a commission for now.

###

"Hm… the older blacksmiths are taking most of the commissions nowadays. I've seen more and more apprentices leaving the city. This won't do. We need them to have a chance as well since this is supposed to be a blacksmithing city. Both the experienced and inexperienced should have a chance." The city lord muttered with a frown.

As he was testing out some new allocations, he saw an email pop up in his inbox with the subject of commission.

Raising an eyebrow, he decided to open it since he made sure that the receptionists know not to send him an email about commissions unless it's something that's worth it.

Reading the email, he immediately narrowed his eyes as it turns out that this email was not from the receptionists but rather a mysterious person who was asking for a commission to upgrade a powerful sword from him.

"Hmm… strange. There's no identification nor the details of the swords." He muttered in suspicion.

[That's because this is quite a private matter city lord. I heard that you and two close aides will keep the details of an upgrade silent. Since my sword is rather special, I don't want anyone else to know of its details except for the people who are upgrading it. If you cannot keep a secret, then I shall bother you no more.]

Widening his eyes, he looked around with a serious expression.

[No need to look around city lord as I am no longer in the hall. But tell me, are you able to keep a secret should the commission be interesting enough?]

"Hmm… I am rather displeased about you hacking into my systems but if the commission is interesting, I will do it." The city lord replied. While he was the city lord, he is also a blacksmith looking for ways to improve himself. The only reason he limited the commissions to something powerful and interesting was because weaker weapons don't give him any more proficiencies nor EXP.

So unless it was something that interested him greatly, he would not bother.

[Great. In that case then what do you think of this sword? It's rather brittle at the moment due to its self repair passive but other than that, it's a good sword.]

Sending over a picture, Shiro waited for the man's reply.

"I can see why you wouldn't want anyone else to see this now. A sword that is fitted with heavenly runes, can self repair and even make copies of itself. I don't even think the downside of the runes matter anymore due to this self repair. But you're right. In terms of durability, it is rather weak. I'm guessing you had it broken in battle a few times?" The city lord replied with interest since it was the first time he saw a sword like this.

If it was him, he wouldn't want other people to know as well so he could somewhat forgive the fact that this mysterious person had hacked into his systems to send him this commission.

[Indeed. So are you able to upgrade it? Without telling anyone else of course.]

"Depends on what kind of materials that you have and how much you can afford. After all, even though it interests me, I still need to do business haha. But I'll give you a discount, don't worry." The city lord grinned while Shiro clicked her tongue.

'Tch, what is it with dwarfs and their business. Aren't they supposed to be crazy for the equipment?' Shiro furrowed her brows.

[In that case then we can meet up somewhere. I'll show you the materials I have and if it doesn't fit your requirements, I'll just trade them in for the needed parts.]

"Sure, where are we going then?"

[I was thinking, your office since it wouldn't be good if the city lord was to just leave the building and talk to a stranger now would it? At least I can still stay that I'm a middle man from a faction.]

"Hmm… very well. I'll notify the receptionist then."

[No need. I'm coming now, they won't even know I'm there.]

Seeing her last message, the city lord frowned in confusion.

"What does this person mean?" He muttered.

However, his question was soon answered as the rift opened up in his ceiling. Seeing two figures drop down, he adjusted himself.

"I suppose you're the person who messaged me about the commission?" He asked with a smile.

"Yup. Since we're going to be doing business, I suppose having a mask would make it awkward now wouldn't it?" Shiro smiled and removed her mask. Of course, she had her Nytri disguise on so that he wouldn't know who she was. Looking at the city lord in front of her, she realised that he too had a disguise since she couldn't see his level nor class, only name.

[Thargrem LVL??? ???]

"To think a young girl could just hack into the systems and send me messages. I suppose I'll have to increase the cyber safety eh?" Thargrem laughed softly.

He was a rather tall and muscular dwarf who looked to be around 1.6 meters tall. His beard and hair were well kept as he poised himself in a refined way.

"Well just think of it as a special occasion. Anyways, here is the sword and the materials. I also have a second set of heavenly runes if you're able to upgrade the current existing set." Shiro said while handing him the items.

"Hou… colour me impressed. To have two sets of heavenly runes. Sure, I can do that. So how do you want it to be upgraded? Anything specific in mind?" He asked.

"Just increase it's durability and sharpness. Those two are the main things. As for any additional bonuses, it's entirely up to you.

"Interesting. Ok, just give me a second then."

With that, he pulled out a pair of glasses and immediately started to bring up some doc.u.ments on his computer. Comparing some files and the swords back to back, he worked away at an upgrade blueprint.

While this was happening, Shiro decided to look around the room to see if there was anything of interest for her.

From what she could see, most of the items in the room were very utility based as there were very little decorative items. Filled with books, pieces of weapons and armour, the office was quite 'serious'.

'Seems like he's a master of his craft. I suppose that might be one of the requirements to become the city lord of a blacksmithing city. He knows what the blacksmiths want.' Shiro mused to herself.

After a few moments, the city lord stopped what he was doing and looked back at the two who were examining his office.

"So I've managed to get a prototype up for now. From what you've given me and what we have in stock, I am able to fulfil your base requirements and some more depending on what you want."

"Oh? May I see the options?" Shiro replied with interest.

"Of course. You see, there are three stable choices for now as the others have a lower chance of success. The first is the bonus ability of switch. With this, you may trade places with your sword as long as it's within a 200 meters of you. This ability will have 5 charges and each charge will be regenerated after 1 hour. The second is just a general enhancement of the elemental properties. As for the third, and in my opinion is one of the more interesting ones, you can choose to merge one of your swords with the enemy and make them vulnerable to the element. Of course, this isn't permanent but the effects should last for a decent amount of time and your sword will naturally repair itself and come back to you. So which one will you choose?"

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