The next few weeks go by in a feverish haze for Bolten. Reserving a workshop on the Society campus, putting up hiring notices for smiths and tinkerers, gathering the materials for both the legs and the sword... The current shortage of mithril is especially problematic. Bolten normally hates taking on assistants for his projects, not being a fan of negotiations or the clash of egos that sometimes come with coworkers, but it is amazing how cooperative people can be when you pay them a fair wage for their work. If anything, it is the projects themselves that prove more difficult than handling other people, contrary to Bolten's expectations.

Getting the mithril and copper to alloy together is much more difficult than Bolten had expected. He does eventually get the metal into a workable state after what feels like recasting it several times; the mixture needs severe coaxing to meld properly. Fortunately, the measurements provided by Shandara allow him to plan for the expected gem holes in the hilt. At the end of it, Bolten should feel satisfied with his work, but he's honestly more happy to be done than anything. He adds one final detail to the end product: his family sigil, subtly inscribed on one edge of the blade. It is a relatively complex mark with a dwarf's head composed of cogwork: goggles, scalp, beard, and all. Mother had always impressed upon him the importance of putting his "signature" on his commissioned products. It was not only for advertising purposes, but also a sign that the craftsdwarf was also confident enough in their work to stake their reputation on it. Bolten tries not to think about what would happen should the blade prove unsatisfactory against its target...

After delivering the final forged blade to Shandara, Bolten can fully focus on the clockwork leg apparatus. His initial schematic seems promising, but he keeps running into tiny little problems that just stop the design from working. Aware that the festival deadline is rapidly approaching, Bolten takes an uncharacteristic gamble and orders his team to begin production while he finishes the design. While he had meant what he said to Eduard, Bolten knows that the young man desperately wants his father to be able to walk at the festival. Fortunately, Bolten works out the final details quickly enough that he and the other clocksmiths can accommodate the changes. It is an exhausting process, but Bolten finally gets to look upon his work with proper pride. He can only hope that Eduard doesn't have unrealistic expectations...

Bolten sends a letter to the estate asking for a carriage or wagon to pick him and the apparatus up. At first, Bolten had wanted to walk the legs to the estate in style, but it turns out that directing another pair of legs in addition to your own can get really complicated when dealing with two different sets of obstacles at the same time. Deciding against making a fool out of himself, Bolten boxes the legs for transport. No sense in accidentally damaging the product during the final... leg of the trip. That one gets a small chuckle out of him. Bolten takes a moment to admire the little Ghost Crystal cogs that Shandara had cut. As difficult as the sword had been, it was a very worthwhile trade to get his power source all figured out. He waits for his ride with forced patience, excited to see his invention walk so that an old man could run.