blacksmithoftheapocalypse

985. Not the face!

---Emerald City---

An angry swarm of bats rushed through the streets and decimated groups of goons, while an anthropomorphic wolf was jumping between the tall buildings, firing arrows at a woman who was hot on her heels. The woman in question was wearing exotic clothing and using a weird pair of gloves with sword-like claws to attack her mid-air.

“Who would have thought that the people of the Voracious Cloud Continent had already reached the unclaimed mountains,” Lydia snarled...

984. Why aren't we using these...?

“Why aren't we using these instead of the Alpeka?” Evan asked at the sight of the crowd of golem knights, seated on golem horses. The underground vault Seth and the Chosen of Hermes entered was filled with a full-blown Golem Cavalry.

While Seth was on tenterhooks waiting for the fabric to be finished, he decided to inspect how things were going in other places. His first destination was to have a look at the new batch of golems. He had left the operation of the Golem Forge and mater...

983. Fire takes shape

“Neeco, are you ready?” Seth asked as he walked into his workshop, where the tailor was already waiting for him. “Do I really have to wear this?” the tailor asked unwillingly. He was clad in a fiery red armor set, visibly uncomfortable wearing the plate armor. This was one of the relic-rated sets from Bulko, the fire resistance set.

The reason why he forced Neeco, who vehemently denied wearing armor, to wear armor today was for his own good. They were going to make another batch...

982. After a month

---Minas Mar, Delta---

With a sigh of relief, Mary put together a stack of papers and laid it to the side. Some of her most pressing worries had been resolved over the past month. The construction for the Pythian Games was finally finished. Although there had been some problems with Cade and some of the people of Gamma, they blew over without greater implications after Gamma Resistance's Garwell offered to act as a mediator.

After a month, the food prices had stabilized across the...

981. Cyborgs?

Deftly, Mike avoided the grab of a mechanical claw, as a weird creature fell from the ceiling above. His silver sword was clad in bright flames that brightly illuminated the new opponent. The being in front of him was roughly humanoid, very roughly.

It had a slim, languid torso covered in overlapping sheets of metal, two strong digitigrade legs, articulate, mechanical arms, and a long, slender neck. Staring at Mike was a massive, red eye in the middle of a bulbous head at the end of the...

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!

I'm gonna release some chapters today^^ 

Holiday Break

First of all, Merry Christmas Everyone.
Sorry, for the late notice, but i was preoccupied with holidays and still am.
I'm taking a little break until New Years.

980. Beginning termination

---Unclaimed Mountains, about 1 Month Later---

A giant body crashed into the mountainside, setting off a snowstorm and a small avalanche as it slid into the valley. Buckled wings, broken bones, cut tubes, bent metal, this bundle of broken parts of the corpse of the hashing bird.

The cat beastman that had been riding the corpse on its slide down, sat on it, fatigued. It was the eight hashing birds Mike met since they separated from Lydia and Ray, and the second he defeated alone. 2023-12-21 22:29:48 +0000 UTC View Post

979. Climbing Dwarf

Like a piece of art, yet exuding terrible danger like a massive beast, the full set of the Scorpio Armor was Presented to Tored and Nädel.

Before Seth could try to explain anything, the dwarf's hand started wandering across his body. From somewhere a jeweler's loupe had appeared in his hands and he started closely inspecting the armor.

“T-Tored, wait!?” Seth tried to protest when the dwarf started to climb on his shoulder to get a closer look at his helmet Laraweg.

“T...

978. Worsening Reputation

The next day, the situation in Chrona had changed to an unexpected degree. Right after the terrorist attack on the granaries and the other attempts,  a church building burning to the ground like this was expected to be a public outcry.

Usually, people would turn to blame their government. However, there was no government. And for the first time since Chrona got involved with Urth three years ago, public sentiment turned against them. The happenings of the past months were too much,...

977. Iiiincredibly boring

A pale silver sword pierced into the center of the basin, clear for everyone still alive to see. Even the presence of the goddess herself, that inhabit her statue, had no idea what killed her priests or where the sword had come from.

Gatris had even less explanation for what happened after the weapon got stuck in the basin. The pool of blood came into motion. Turning quicker and quicker it formed a powerful whirl surrounding the innocent-looking sword in the center.

Nobody knew wh...

976. Church of Gatris

Oh yeah, this was closer to the place he was looking for. Following the priests through the maintenance route, they arrived at a subterranean facility built in what used to be the park house below the mall.

They had built new walls to create rooms in the garage, making it hard to navigate. Seth wanted to check the door they came past, but he didn't want to lose the priests down here. They didn't look like cells and <Life Detection> of his Terra Topaz Earring also found no signs, s...

975. Becoming more Proactive

“This is really good!” Tored complimented, shoving ice cream in his gob.

“This is Puffles' most favorite Ice cream Shop,” Seth commented with a smile. It was one of the few places still worth visiting in Delta. A lot had changed since the blacksmith had arrived here with his party and many of the good things in Delta and moved to the cities along the Tree Route.

Still, Fin, Mina, and the bard did their best to show Tored around, visiting notable sights and restaurants. Who...

974. Arrival

--- 7 Days Later, Minas Mar---

<Ding! Your Carpentry (craftsman) lv.4 had become Carpentry (craftsman) lv.5!>

Seth had worked hard for the past week, making bows, crossbows, clubs, and spears, anything that required and benefited from the <Carpentry> skill. The resulting items had also slightly increased his <Blacksmithing> by a whopping 10%. They also clogged up the Enchantment Laboratory’s storage room, since Grant May couldn’t keep up with Seth’s product...

973. Oh yeah, Loot!

With a stab and a crack, she started taking off metal plates and made a way into the interior of the beast’s skull. Although she had boasted of having studied computers, it didn’t mean she was very successful with it. As the daughter of a rich family, she had to admit that she was not too serious about her studies.

In addition to that came the fact that this was a fusion of technology and biology she had never heard of before the apocalypse. All kinds of incredible and horrible expe...

972. A little over the top(2)

As she said it, Holly's steps became quicker and she started running. The two noticed a liberated smile bloom on her face.

“Self-destruct? Since when can guild branches do that? How big is the radius?” Mike asked, as Lydia and he easily kept up with her.

“Pssht! It's top secret. All branches in far-away places have these as a last resort. That is why those assholes also didn't know. As for the radius... it should be enough to rip a hole through the walls of the th-third and ...

971. I set it to...

---Unclaimed Mountains---

“A giant mechanical owl, huh? In that case, abort the mission. Although it is a shame to give the girl bad news, I doubt there is a big chance that her aunt is still alive, if it is true what that man told you...” Seth's voice rang from the communication orb.

They had returned from the Lord’s residence. Back in their accommodation, they immediately shared the bad news with Minas Mar. They also gave a detailed report on the lord, Morranto and their e...

970. Grant May

Seth had recently learned that a comprehensive build-up of experience and knowledge could majorly improve the power of items, even without relying on the inherent rating of the material, he didn't have the time or capacity to do so at the moment.

There were still many things he didn't know in smithing and enchantment, that he had yet to learn and comprehend. Skipping this step by using the material rating of special skills to make high-rated items without the foundation was a cheat not ...

969. Do you want to grind a potion?

Seth's insistence paid well. After a cup of tea, the pair of dark elves not only scraped together 30 gold, but 60, asking for two golem knight squads to be sent. The blacksmith was not someone who said no to free money and accepted their payment readily. After all, this was not a down payment, but rent for 60 golem knights for one week. They would still have to pay the price later on.

Since he couldn't just squeeze out the full amount and there was nothing more he could do in this place...

968. On Credit

After a night of excess, Seth struggled to get out of bed. He was tightly bound by the two girls hugging him. The floor was covered in empty bottles of booze. It took quite a lot for them to get drunk...

They didn't just drink away the night. The three had talked for a long time and their support helped Seth overcome many of his doubts. He had a hard time remembering what exactly they talked about, but he felt much better and more motivated today.

If he was honest with himself, he...

967. Who wants to go?

Once again, everyone of note within Minas Mar was sitting in the same room. This time, the Tower Master had asked for presence. It was not often that Seth asked everyone to come to a meeting, so everyone thought it had to be important. Even Simon was invited. The only ones missing were Mike, Lydia, and Ray. Since nobody knew for how much longer they would be gone, they would be informed of the decision later.

“I’m glad all of you had the time to come to this spontaneous meeting, but...

966. Oh, yeah. It's Minas Mar again.

--- Delta, Minas Mar, 2 days later---

“... and so, to take responsibility for the recent incidents, I will step down as temporary chancellor,” he ended his speech.

It had actually happened. After the hideous terrorist attacks on Delta's Granaries and the many more failed attempts that would have completely broken their infrastructure, the incompetency of Delta's Leadership had become jarringly obvious.

Finally, it peaked in this speech. Ichabot Longpottom and his staff u...

965. Morranto(4)

--- Unclaimed Mountains, Morranto---

The party managed to make an appointment with the lord as Ray's coins didn't seem to run out. Despite some heavy bribery, they were still forced to stay in the city of bandits for another two days because that was the earliest date the lord had a free spot.

It didn't mean they suffered during their stay. Ray had rented out a whole residence in the second ring for them. Afterward, the saint of Sol'Fiam would often leave over the day and return w...

964. Garment of Styx

The one to suffer immediately was Neeco Boos, as he suddenly vanished from his warm and soft bed, where he had slept beside Alison. The tailor appeared in his workshop, only wearing his pair of boxer shorts. The cold floor against his back immediately had him wide awake

“KYAA!”

A high-pitched screech escaped his throat when woke up in a dark room, and saw a towering dark figure, looming over him.

“Neeco, you need to appraise this,” the Tower Master ordered him with m...

963. Cantori Moderni

After making an improvement on his own, <Soul Infusion> finally improved to level nine. And not a moment too early, as he was going to face the end boss next. But first, he checked out the pair of gauntlets that gently floated towards him from the center of the Waters of Styx.

<Cantori's Left

Relic

Death Set 1/X

Phys. Damage: 900

Mag. Damage: 0

Phys. Def.: 1700

Mag: Def: 1250

1. Death Domination

2. +75% Defense

3. +2 to all ...

962. Crown of Death

Seth stayed in bed a while longer, together with Fin and Mina. Considering the heavy discussion yesterday they all welcomed the distraction. The blacksmith showed up in his workshop sometime around midday.

Feeling much calmer, Seth was ready to start the last stretch, which had just become that much more important. With a lining of death fabric, the headpiece had the least fabric, and such was the first he wanted to start with.

The lining of death fabric was not the only thing spe...

961. Bottom of the Barrel

The immortal looked into their eyes, and a tense silence filled the room.

“But why all of a sudden? From what I understood, they didn't show any great interest so far...” Jane finally asked.

“That is true, the scum you have met so far, apart from me, has been the bottom of the barrel. None of them can really compare to what is about to happen,” Yu affirmed. Hearing that their experiences with cultivators were only the tip of the iceberg or rather the bottom of the barrel, ...

960. Cuirass of Death

Seth had already decided on the soul for the core piece of the armor. He chose one of the souls he had further refined that combined a strong affinity with heavy armor and pugilism. It seemed like a good match for the cuirass.

After the short respite of forging the soul armament, he faced the consequences of his choices. The enchantment he prepared for the cuirass was the generic automaton core circuit of Hephaestus. An enchantment that was even more difficult than the master-tier circu...

959. Suicide?

"You managed to finish the Gambeson?" Seth asked as he visited Neeco in his room the next day. The tailor had thoroughly exhausted himself but he was already looking better after having a meal and a visit from Lynri. It seemed like Alison had also tended to him, during the night.

"Yes, here it is!" he said and pulled it out. Like the gloves and lining, it was made of ink black fabrics. It swallowed the light, making it hard to see any details apart from the contours. Unable to make out ...

958. Trainee Dungeon

---Minas Mar---

Slowly, Seth walked through the dungeon in the style of an ancient ruin. Hieroglyphs and reliefs nobody could understand covered the walls, giving the place an aura of mysticism and danger.  He unwittingly stepped on a pressure plate and a volley of poison arrows rained on him, only to be deflected by his armor, dealing no damage whatsoever. The party behind him gasped in awe.

“I stepped on it on purpose, to show you what can happen if you are not careful in...