Smyth the Smith
Picking up from outside of the Mirage Tower, we start to walk back to the airship, and we encounter a Tyrannosaur, which catches me off guard because they don't feel overly 'desert'-y. Though I guess this is more the 'hard enemies area' if we're on our way to what I presume is the end.
It did pack a wallop too, Kaili is probably glad it wasn't super tough or they could have been in bother.
Once we've reached the airship, it's a hop and a skip over to Mt Duergar, where we enter the smithy, and place the adamantite in front of Smyth. He's amazed, and promises to make us the finest sword we'll ever wield! A few bashes and a flash of light later, he seems happy with his work and hands us Excalibur!
Excalibur is a huge boost of damage for Rukus - going from 49 to 62, and with a slight boost to Accuracy too. As a bonus it's also "effective against all types of enemies". That sounds like as good a reason as any to head over to the Chaos Shrine, and maybe put that to the test.
On the way over, I stop in Cornelia for a night's sleep at the inn, and looking at our near 500,000 gil, I decide to flash the cash a bit and max purchase all item in the store. That should get the Cornelian economy going a bit.