blacksmithoftheapocalypse

365. The Picture, the Heart

Seth spent the second day carving enchantments into these mechanic bones. Channels for power, arrays for movements. It had been a long time since he spent this much attention purely on carving circuits at his enchantment table.

Lately, Demonic ballads and inscriptions had become the focus of his works thanks to his second class. Now he realized that there were special things that could not be accomplished with those skills.

Demonic skills were rather organic and varied greatly in ...

364. The Canvas

After Seth had understood the process of producing the vessel in all its details, he was ready to start the actual work. He was quite confident to be able to pull it off with a normal material.

The problem was Al’s insistence on using the body of Lehaliphon, the throne she had hunted, as the materials for her body. Like the body of the angel he had forged, it was not a material recognized by the system.

This made it much harder for him to use it, as he had gotten used to knowing...

363. Golem Artisan

“What did you say?!” Lydia exclaimed and Seth had to hug her tightly to avoid getting a full view of her body.

Originally, the Field service was made up of 2 teams, Yulecat’s Fur and his party now led by Monique. However, it was always the plan to expand these teams, once the Oathguard was founded.

They were the high-level teams that would farm difficult dungeons for loot.

Seth had seen Lydia getting along quite well with Azul and Archer, two of probably the most power...

362. Captain of Team 3

“C-Contracts?” Azul stuttered. The Chimera had a hard time keeping up with the flood of information and new things she encountered since coming to the magic tower. However, the people treated her nicely, and there were none of those poisonous stares she had feared prior to coming here.

She acted tough and confident, but for someone with almost no recollection of their past, the glances of people could hurt quite a lot, even if they did not say anything.

“Yes, so you can beco...

361.The Vessel

The moment Seth opened the book an enormous amount of knowledge kept pouring into his mind. The principles behind making a Golem, the theories behind Automatons. He learned dozens of foreign circuits, formations, and enchantments.

Finally, based on all this, came Al’Salzar’s blueprint for her new body. Where Golems had a core that their body was formed around and Automatons an Energysource and a control unit, the sorceress combined these concepts with his ability to infuse souls. 2022-01-03 16:13:46 +0000 UTC View Post

360. Coming Home

Having dealt with all the riff-raff in the vicinity, Seth could finally concentrate on laying out the formation and carving them into the stone. In the meantime, Puffles the voracious was gorging on the ores in the valley.

Fin seemed rather satisfied to just spend time with Seth as they made small talk while he was chiseling the formations into the ground using the resharpened pickaxe.

“Fin, can you go and get Puffles? I am done here in a minute, then we have to go and get the o...

359. Class Advancement

<Ding! The Quest “Next Level 7" has been fulfilled!>

<Ding! You have Unlocked your primary Class Advancement! Check your status window for further information.>

A class advancement? Before he checked his status, he looked at the soul in his hands. The damages were visible as dark spots and streaks across the little glowing ball of light.

< Harvested Chrysopras’ Soul (big/damaged/ degraded), Crafting Material, Rare

Severely damaged soul of a stone gia...

358. Stone Giant Chrysopras

“Where did the court magician run off to!?”

“Do you think he ran and left us behind?”

A hand full of figures were frantically running and jumping across the steep cliffs of a broad valley. They were pursued by a giant mass of emerald-colored stone in a vaguely humanoid shape. Taking turns, they would attack and kite the beast to buy time.

These men were warriors around lv. 70 but they stood no chance in a direct confrontation with the titanic field boss. Currently, t...

357. Northern Mountains

Seth, with Fin on his head, sat on Puffled who started running off into the distance. The ivicer stayed on the ground to save mana since they were unsure whether they would have to fight or not.

They were traveling in silence for roughly an hour which gave Seth time to go over the knowledge had gained once more. Consciously remembering this knowledge was different than just having it shoved in his brain the first time.

This time he really understood the theories and steps one by o...

356. More than just a way home

After the meeting was finally over and their intentions were conveyed, the member and future members of Minas Mar got ready to return to Delta.

Although the princess had asked whether they could take the refugees, Seth had denied it. On one hand, were the technical difficulties. On the other hand, he simply did not like them enough to let them visit their secret base for even just a moment.

He had spoken with the chimeras about staying with the caravan and they accepted when Seth ...

355. I will excuse myself

Seth entered the big commando central and looked at the menagerie. There were Leana, Mark, and the gloomy general from Arget Nore who represented the rescue forces. Further, there were also Marcel and the old man from the worker camp present.

“Good morning, everyone. How’s it going?” he greeted them before sitting down at the table.

He winked at Mina and waved at Mike who was standing behind Leana.

Today they wanted to talk about what to do from here on out. After all,...

354. Catching up

Seth himself was unsure about using these weapons. They seemed lifeless but holding them gave him a disconcerting feeling. Add to that, that he could not appraise them, and it made them technically unusable.

He didn’t want to expose anyone close to him to potential dangers. Seeing how eager the princess was to take a look... Seth did not feel apprehensive in giving her a chance. Maybe she had a way to find the effects.

“Sure. Here,” he said and handed Leana the sword made fr...

353. Know your place

“Where are you, Hades!? This has your handwriting all over it! I want an explanation!” a voice hollered, and a huge, stocky figure crashed into the cinema dimension.

“Where is he that basta-!”

The newcomer fell silent when his gaze fell on the room full of deities. He was a huge burly man covered in wild unkempt hair. His bulging muscle did not really fit his bulging belly and made the tall figure look stocky overall.

“Zarkon. I understand that you are indignant be...

352. Smoke Signals

“What do you mean?”

~ Well, technically you turned this guy into a crippled phylactery. ~

From what could be observed, followers of Zarkon were equivalent to a living lich. Their Soul was bound to the mortal realm, through the binding of the god, similar to how a Lich would attach their souls to a phylactery.

This made the physical body unable to die. Even if destroyed, it would simply regenerate.

To kill them one needed to either cut the chains, that bound the sou...

351. Don’t kill? Fine.

It was harder than expected to get through the chaotic pile of bodies formed by the ordinary followers. Seth made very sure not to tough or shove anyone. Not just because he did not want to be found.

He was really yucky. Even without touching anything, he wanted to take a shower. No, a long bath. A hot one that really burned of anything. Maybe he would just jump in a pool of lava...maybe that would make him feel clean again.

Seth had left the caravan in the evening, and it was alr...

350. Champion of Zarkon

---3 hours earlier----

“What is up with these weird monsters?”

“Yeah, they are disgusting!”

To chimeras on a scouting mission had encountered several rabbit animals. Their distorted bodies were covered in fleshy growth. If they were not incredibly aggressive, they would have felt bad for the poor things.

One was a man covered in crocodile leather and the lower body of a spider, the other was covered in fish scales and had tentacle arms. To an objective observer...

349. Backstab

It was a late evening and only the moon and stars illuminated the world. The allied forced had stopped for the night to get some rest and look after their mounts.

Mina, Fin and some other women had found a tranquil little lake to take a bath. They had been weeks riding and had few chances to properly wash up.

“I really hope we get to hope soon. It’s the most likely place where he could be.”

“You miss him almost as much as Fin does, huh? Is it that hard to hold back?�...

348. Staying behind

Early in the morning, the Chimera leader approached him during breakfast.

“Oh, Leader. It’s rare for you to approach me on your own. What’s up?”

“I came with an important matter. Also, please call me by my name.”

“Name? You finally decided?” Seth asked in surprise.

Since the chimeras had no memories of their previous life, they obviously had no name. They chose their new names themselves, but their leader was one of the few that had still waited with th...

347. Worse than Children.

Seth wore the Helm of Hades and left the underground garage that only had the unconscious guards left on the floor. It would have been suspicious to use the elevator while invisible, so Seth saw himself forced to use the stairs.

When he reached the lobby, he hesitated for a moment but decided against leaving them a little present. Pip seemed sentimental about this rathole. She might get angry if he burned down the city accidentally.

Reaching their inn, he found the Chimera leader ...

346. Dealing with Evil(2)

“I was told that you wish to sell an item, A very precious item.” Dave cut right to the case.

“Yes. It is an epic-rated necklace. Unfortunately, there is no appraiser in this place that can back my information.” Seth sighed disappointedly.

“Of course, that is a problem. But it can be easily solved once someone wears it and confirms its effectiveness. What can it do, again?” Dave said understanding.

“One of the options is the problem. Once someone equips it, it ...

345. Dealing with Evil

“Did you really make an epic item just like that?” Corvo asked in disbelief.

“You heard the appraiser, right? Are you sure Big Dave will get the info?”

“Of course, nothing of value happens without Big Dave knowing of it. Ar you sure you want to use an epic-rated item to bargain with him? You would have to fight the whole city if you try to get it back.”

“Oh, don’t worry. He can have this all to himself.” Seth told him with a smug smile.

The smile had ...

344. Snake Oiling

The barkeeper had chosen his own punishment. The man was only level 11. Considering the difference in level and stats Seth could easily give him simple commands when he focused on him.

The man did not even show an ounce of discontent as he lifted the glass and chugged his own urine. He acted as if this was his own choice.

“How about you give me your best drink, now? On the house, of course.” Seth said after the man was done forcing it down.

“Sure...” t...

343. Misleading Name

“Hey, that’s my magic!” the chimera exclaimed indignantly.

It was true. It seemed that the Imugi had learned the magic from watching it on the battlefield a few days ago. It was not called a genius in magic for nothing. Mastering high-level magic this easily. The only problem was its lack of mana.

That had already been s a headache when they were healing people the other day. Seth was glad it finally got the chance to level up. With more mana it could-

Why di...

342. Snake Magic

Except for their run-in with Master Mountain, there was no special occasion on the travel through the plains.

The monster encounters had decreased a lot since they left the forest. The plains seemed peaceful at first look, but that was because they were almost completely devoid of life.

It was so peaceful, that it was eerie. There had to be gates or even dungeons opening in this place, right? Where did they go? This question made them nervous and careful, even though they were tra...

341. To Hope

They stayed in the vicinity for several days during which they scavenged supplies and organize themself. They lost a lot in this encounter. People, supplies, mounts, and carts.

Most porters either died or ran. How were they supposed to find their item boxes in this chaos?

At the start of the journey, they would have had the option to evade Hope, the city in the no man’s land. Now, they needed to restock food and water if they wanted to make it to Delta, or at least Y-City.

340. Virtue

She tried hard not to cry. She was the oldest now. She had to be strong. But no matter how hard Pip tried she could feel the big hot tears welling up in her eyes. She stubbornly bit her lips and narrowed her eyes but, in the end, she joined the younger children in their sorrow.

So many of them had died. First when they were attacked in the forest and now when they were pulled into someone else's battle.

Just 10 children had survived. Only 10 people that could carry on the memory o...

339. When the Hammer falls

The giant flying insect dived down and then charged up toward the chanting angel. It got ready to dodge as it kept its chanting up and summoned the lower messengers for the ritual.

When the centipede drew nearer, there was an incomprehensible mumbling growing in volume. As the distance shrunk, the mumbling fused to a song, and it pulled the angel’s attention like an itch.

...

People chanting songs they shall never share  
And no one is to dare
Disturb the sound...

338. Not a Wizard after all

She had been lucky and was at the edge of the explosion when it struck. She only lost one of her lower arms. Afterward, she managed to regroup with a bunch of other chimeras and was also joined by the mysterious archer.

Their group was currently sieged by no less than three angels. On the ground beside them lay the corpses of two angels that had already lost their lives. It had cost half their group just to defeat those two but then another three appeared.

One was held in check by...

337. A Blacksmith can be late sometimes

A giant meteor of light struck the caravan, hitting friend and foe alike. The leader of the angels had never planned to offer any of them salvation. The only reward for disobedience was death and nothing less.

The plain was enveloped in a huge cloud of dust and smoke.

Pip had a hard time breathing. She was stuck under the rubble of their protective dome and could only look out into the dust. There was no way of knowing what happened to the others. Every labored gasp filled her lun...

336. Clouds at the Horizon

~ You have finally left come out! Rebels! System Dogs! Unruly Scum! I have given you the freedom of obedience and you chose to throw it away! Now, you shall be punished! ~

Just a day after the caravan finally left the woods they ran into complications.

~Resistance is futile! ~

Big complications.

A cloud of terrifying messengers of the Theocracy of Chains and their much more talkative leader had surrounded the group of escapees.

Whereas the former s...