Eight hours was definitely not a long time to create the strongest possible runic armament, but everyone gave their best nonetheless.
For the first step, Nial created a bunch of runic solutions, which he would need either way. Because he knew that he was not a good alchemist, Nial worked rather fast and focused on quantity rather than quality.
To create a single high-quality runic solution, he would require at least half an hour, and Nial planned to create four runic solutions. He couldn't afford to waste two hours just to create runic armaments, especially not if he had to forge as well.
Forging a high-quality saber would take way too long, which was why he reconsidered forging a small dagger. However, that would require just as much attention because there were many little details he would have to pay attention to.