blacksmithoftheapocalypse

130. Crawling the Dungeon

Seth talked with Tored about his plans to test out his new skills and asked for a break.

“Sure, I won’t stop you. Actually, I am also quite interested in the power of this flame in combat. Show me your equipment.”

Seth was a little baffled at the sudden command, but he brought out the set of serpent armor and his padded jacket from Nädel. It was then that Seth realized, that he was actually quite lacking in the item department now despite being a blacksmith. And a good one ...

129. Ding! Ding! Ding! Headache

After finally reaching adept in all his occupational skills, the growth slowed down. Compared to his experience with <Blacksmith> he was still a lot faster thanks to Tored’s tutelage and help. The items, design, and enchantments he made Seth do were the most efficient way to level up the skill.

Still, even Tored was surprised with Seth’s growth at first. Even without his cheatsy <Soul Smithy>, he was growing much faster than an ordinary apprentice. It was until the dwarf...

128. New Shop

Seth urged Bertram to hurry. This was one of the few cherished breaks and he still wanted to get a good meal, after dealing with business. The dwarf had a hard time keeping up with the blacksmith´s speed and under Seth´s constant nagging they arrived at the shop in a record time of 10 minutes. Bertram had a hard time catching his breath as he tried to explain the features of the shop.

The building was smaller than the shop he had underground, but the showroom was about the same size, ...

127. Surprising Encounter

The others had to go and visit the guild, while Marn went to pack the stuff at their old store. Seth did not know, whether Tored would let him leave the next day that was why he wanted to deal with everything today. His destination was the merchant association, maybe Bertram had already looked for locations. No matter how medieval this world looked, many things were surprisingly modern and fast thanks to magic.

The merchant association had its seat in a big and imposing building close t...

126. Reunion

There were Fin, Mina, and the rest of “Yulecat´s Fur”. It looked like they had just returned from a quest as they still wore their dirty and slightly damaged armors and travel cloaks. It was Fin and Mina that had called out to him, the rest all looked skeptical at him as if doubting his identity.

That was when he gave himself a once-over and did a little self-introspection. They had not met for over a month, which he spent alone with a dwarf in his workshop. His attire looked no be...

125. Training

Although he had never blamed Seth for ruining his perfectly fine spear tips, the old dwarf's smile became a lot more genuine when he saw Seth´s quick growth, which meant he could stop scrapping down perfectly fine spear tips.

During the second week, it finally happened!

<Ding! Skill: Enchantment (Apprentice) lv.9 has become Enchantment (Apprentice) lv.10!>

<Ding! Skill: Enchantment (Apprentice) lv.10 has become Enchantment (Adept) lv.1>

He had finally rank...

124. The Training Begins

Seth sat in Master Tored’s workshop. The dwarf stood before him with a blackboard and piece of chalk. Seth looks questioningly at the motivated dwarf.

“Since your training officially starts today; we will do it right. Since you never had a formal education as an ori huma, I will start from the basics,” he said and wrote down 7 words.

“As you probably already know, or not, the system knows 7 ratings:

Common, Uncommon, Rare, Epic, Legendary, Myth, and the outlier Uniqu...

123. Santa Seth

Seth returned to the Inn to look for Mike and Mina. He had not left the Halls of Stone for a week and was happy to find Fin and the catgirl at the inn’s eatery. He had not known how much he had missed her until Mina suddenly caught him in a tight hug; pressing her soft body against him. He had not much time to enjoy it before a sobbing fairy tightly gripped-embraced his face and blocked his sight.

“Seth! I already thought you wouldn´t come out anymore!” she whined, rubbing snot a...

122. Keeping Promises(2)

Starting from this week began Seth time under the tutelage of Master Tored. Under the master’s watchful eyes, he summoned the spirit smithy and started working on the equipment for “Yulecat’s Fur” and the armors for the lord of Zhiqe.

The Armors for the latter were nothing too special. He used the snake leather that had been clogging up his inventors as a basis. The scales made from <High-Quality Steel> were stitched to the leather in a way that the next row overlapped and...

121.Fulfilling Promises

Seth could already hear the sound of a hammer hitting an anvil even before he entered the master´s shop. The rhythmic ding of metal hitting metal chimed not just from Master Tored’s shop. It was heard all around like the blacksmith's choir.

“Master Tored?” Seth called him after stepping into the store. The sound of the hammer from inside the smithy went silent. The dwarf that stepped into the room was a lot different from the Tored he knew. He wore a clean set of clothes and an u...

120. Visiting Nädel

His mood was already good when he was eating together with Fin at the inn. Today he wanted to go to Master Tored and give him the final report on the shop. But before he could leave, he met a messenger in the lobby. Nädel had sent him a message that he was done with his orders!

He asked the fairy to stay here since he wanted to surprise her with the robe once he had enchanted it with <Soul Infusion>. He was also looking forward to what Nädel was able to make from the wyvern leat...

119. Running business

The mithril stiletto was the final straw. Their shop had a good reputation from the poison weapons and the consistent quality of the other Weapons he and Marn made. Seh's action during the quest also brought in a lot of potential patrons. With the news of a rare dagger making the round they got a lot more influx in their shop and also more wealthy figures.

One had to admit, that the location of their shop was bad, so much it could not be worse. Having people come to this place to look f...

118. Celestial Bronze

Marn and Fin had already returned when they came back to the workshop. One of the advantages of a world where everyone has an inventory was that one did not need to wait for deliveries. As long as it was judged as one object, it could be stored. It was as if you could buy a washing machine and bring it back home in your pocket.

The whole smithy was already completely upgraded. A new forge, a power hammer, exchangeable grinding wheels. Everything a blacksmith would need to make high-end ...

117. Puffles’ Appetite

“Is this really alright?” the half-elf tucked below his arm asked, as Seth left the lowest layer of the commercial district. Even with <Map> and after having walked this way three times it was hard to orient in his anthill-like maze of tunnels.

“Oh, sure. I think? Maybe you should not leave the shop when you are alone.” Seth sighed.

“It´s probably too late to order that new forge today, right?”

Marn blinked a few times until he understood what his employer...

116. Running the Shop

Fin was happy that Seth would stay for another 2 weeks, instead of suddenly vanishing in those dark rabbit holes the dwarves called their home. Seth had talked to her about the idea that she could join Mina´s party on quests while he was training under Tored.

Fin actually agreed to this idea, she like Mina, but it was not because of that. The fairy had set her Min on following Seth, even if he returned to his homeworld. For this, she needed to be stronger to level up further.  She...

115. The Task

“So, you want me to be your tutor.” he glared at Seth and Vathon, these two rude invaders that had interrupted his beauty sleep. They had just explained the reason for their visit. The old blacksmith looked Seth up and down with scrutinizing eyes.

“Oh yeah! I almost forgot.” Seth said and held out the scroll he had gotten from Venturi, the vice-master of the adventurer guild. Leery of Seth the dwarf took the scroll and read it. It had the official seal of the guild and Venturi's...

114. Vathon Stonechiseler

114. Vathon Stonechiseler

He had a Déjà-vu. A warm and soft catgirl was sleeping in his arms and his eyes fell on a room with clothes randomly spread all around. But this time he could roughly remember what had happened the last night. <Poison Resistance> was no joke, if it had not leveled up, he might not remember again.

They had visited the bar where he had gone after Fin suddenly left. The barkeeper was still as stoic as before. The bar was so dirty, even Mina who regul...

113. City of eternal Night

Most descriptions of subterranean cities Seth knew from fiction described them as being built in some giant underground cavern, an underground space like hollow Urth, inside the cone of a dormant volcano, or maybe built at the bottom and into the sides of a deep crevice. All of it was things Seth had somewhat expected. But not the total lack thereof. The real meaning of “Hall of Stones” came to him, when the pillars in the distance were not pillars, but skyscrapers.

What Seth saw ha...

112. Halls of Stone (2)

After the meal, the group of four left the inn. When Seth said auction house, he meant the system institution where he had sold many of his weapons during his journey. He had actually gotten a grey membership card thanks to the numerous products he sold. They didn´t have to wait long for an appointment with an appraiser. "Appraiser" was literally a job that focused solely on the appraisal skill.

Seth put down the scales, the leather, the fangs, and the horns on the table between them. ...

111. Halls of Stone

He had not known where the fairy had been, but Fin joined the meal as Seth came to the end of his feast. They finally had some quiet time together and they had a lot of things to talk about. They could not before on the journey. Like Puffles new name and Seth´s plans in Ora.

The Ivicer's in question actually stood behind at the Inn. It has leveled up a lot in the recent weeks and now needed time for itself to examine the changes it went through. Puffles did not yet want to tell Seth an...

110. Leaving Tora

The great iron gates of Tora were closed. The road and mountain surround the city were empty.  There was only the howling of the icy winds over the sharp stones and silent snow. Seth didn´t know what a fantasy city in a medieval setting was supposed to sound like from afar, but the silence was unsettling. And he was not the only one judging by the expression of some of the other adventurers.

Venturi and the A-Ranks went ahead of the caravan and knocked at the smaller door embedded...

109. Reaching Tora

The night was quiet. They travel during the next day, too. Were the wyverns tired from the fight against the bloodslave drakes? No matter what the reason was, Seth and the rest were glad not having to fight. Of course, this did not mean their journey became comfortable. The climate of the region became rougher and rougher the closer they came to Tora.

Snow covered the environment and the harsh cold creep into their armors. Wind kept pulling on their clothes and the wagons’ covers. Thi...

108. Small Break

“Seth! Fin had returned!” Fin found him and the party on their cart. The fairy sat down on his familiar shoulder and hugged his face.

“Fin! Guys, this is Fin. She´s a great friend, that has often helped me on my journey.” he introduced the fairy to the party. One by one he also introduced the party members to Fin and they greeted her friendly and respectfully. It felt awkward seeing someone who viciously beat up a wyvern act cute in front of them

“I´m really glad you a...

107. Additional Income

Seth and Fin were exchanging glances as he listened to the vice-guild master's explanation. The first answer didn´t come from the people of the caravan, but one of the adventurers who had fought until recently.

“Vice-master, are you sure we are fit to continue this quest? We managed to fight without casualties, but all our equipment is heavily damaged after just this fight. The remains of the caravan also don´t look that fresh anymore. Some might even be a burden and slow us down.�...

106. What they did not say(3)

In their battle against the bloodslaves they had forgotten their primary enemy, the wyverns. The wyverns also started diving into the remaining herd of drakes, but not just the drakes. Seth and his party had forgotten someone important.

The giant claws of the old wyvern barely missed Mike who was blocking a drake. The grudge had not been forgotten. The old one and his 3 friends had noticed the party and focused on them. This was the worst situation possible. They were still some distanc...

105.What they did not say (2)

The scene before his eyes was as fantastic as could be. In the darkness of the night, only broken by the intermittent light of a spell, was brewing an epic battle. The valley had filled with an army of transformed drakes and the remnants of the caravan desperately fighting for their lives.

And the air above the valley was filled with an uncountable number of wyverns. He could only see a mass of leathery wings covering the sky. Over and over wyverns dived out of their flock to grab a dra...

104. What they did not tell

The floor started vibrating and Seth woke up. The hall was dark and the only light came from the burned-down campfires. What happened to the magic lanterns? He saw two glinting eyes beside him. Mina was also awake. A cat-type beastman assassin had an impressive perception. Mike was also awake.

“What´s going on?” Seth whispered to Mina.

“I have no idea. I woke up when the lights suddenly went off. Then the ground started vibrating and you woke up.”

They woke the rest...

103. The Checkpoint

In Ora-----------

I company of 27 B-Rank Adventurers was ready to set off. They were 4 Party and 6 individual adventurers that had answered the call and took on the rescue mission. The one primary employer was not actually the city, but the Palace Merchant Guild. The cities of Tora and Ora were only the secondary sponsors of the quest.

Leading the party was the old magician Venturi. He was the vice-guild master and former A-Rank adventurer. Clad in a blue robe glinting with magic ...

102. The Exam (4)

All of them looked at the crippled wyvern. Limping, blinded, and with a broken wing it clearly lost its mobility. But it was still a massively armored tank. How were they supposed to kill it?

Seth´s first thought was Charon´s Obol. He was sure that the hammer would be able to smash even the wyvern's skull, but he had his sneaking suspicions about the hammer, which was why he excluded it from his considerations.

As he was thinking his attention wandered to the rest of the caravan...

101. Somewhere else

Debris flying around, Wall breaking apart. Everything gave way before the projectile shaped like a male fairy with a light beard and a battered crown on his balding head.

Following the first projectile was a second. It was shaped like a female fairy with platinum blond hair.

“How dare you!?” the second projectile roared as it hit the first, giving it another boost.

“Please understand sweetie! You are also not the youngest anym- urgh!” a fist dug into the first projec...