Blacksmith of the Apocalypse

Seth took the freedom to oversleep the next morning. Although the work in the smithy was fun, it was still hard work. There was no need for him to hurry or anything. He had no plans to off on adventures before the diviner arrived.

Who knew with what kind of situation Seth would have to deal with, once they found the girl? One possibility to end the quest Seth could think of was that he would need to retrieve the girl's corpse from the demolished and merpeople-infested city ruins.

There was nothing out of the ordinary this morning, so gee got back and finished the second shield after laying siege to the canteen. Like he had decided the other day, the second shield was not cursed, but did not lack behind in anything.

<Fang Shield

Rare

Damage: 225

Phys. Def: 532

Mag. Def: 320

Durability: 2200

1. +10% Mana regeneration in Darkness

2. +10% Darkness resistance

3. +25% Resistance to negative status effects (Mind)

4. 40% chance to cause mental disruption on hit (Effects: Stun/Confusion)

5. Creates Active Skill: Shield

6. 20% chance to cause Bleeding

7. 10% chance to inflict Deadly Poison- status effect

8. 20% of received damage is reflected.

An offensive shield made by the hands of Journeyman Smith imbued with a row of terrifying effects. It owes its name to the long spike protruding from its center like the fang of a monster>

Active Skill: Shield Cost: 100 mana Cooldown:5 minutes

Creates a shield with 500 durability around the user that lasts for 1 minute.

The shield skill was similar to the one on his Wyvern Shield, but was slightly worse and fueled by the wielder's mana. With these two shields, the tank would become a nightmare for their enemies. With this, it did not matter that the tank could not deal much damage or taunt the enemy.

He just needed to jump in and back people with the shield. With this many options, it would be a wonder if he did not inflict at least one negative status effect on the opponent. The worst thing that could hit an enemy was probably a mix of them.

Especially the "Deadly Poison"

Was a dreadful enchantment. Unlike the simple Poison enchantment, this poison would not stop until an antidote was applied or a priest purified the victim. Although the strength would lessen over time, if left unattended it could lead to death.

Even Tekar could win a fight of attrition using this. If he gained some points in luck, he might even be able to stun lock opponents.

Seth took a break for the rest of the day. Looking back, he had really managed to finish a lot since the meeting. He could still make that crossbow tomorrow.

Thinking about what to do with his break, Seth decided to take a stroll through the city. He was not opposed to just spending the day in bed, but it felt a little cramped after spending several days without going outside.

Since he came to Y-City he had never really taken his time to take a good look at the city. He invited Mary and Jane to accompany him on his stroll, but they declined. They had decided to join the church and took up a strict training regime with one of the priests.

Seth had no idea what had gotten into them, but he did not mind. The stronger his employees became, the harder it would be for people to rob his store.

All alone the young man left the church and entered the crowded streets of Y-City. Seth could feel that he had changed. Even so, he was alone in this mass of people, he did not mind it. He still remembered how stressed he had felt back in Starta with just a few townspeople on the streets.

Now it almost did not bother him. Looking around the city, it seemed almost normal.

Stores were open all along the streets, people were on break or on their way back to work. Some others were also just strolling and window shopping like him. It did not feel like the world had changed much.

Except for the obvious changes, of course. There were no cars on the streets, people wore all kinds of colorful fantasy equipment. The shops and stores had changed from displaying stylish fashion to stylish (but crappy) armors and items.

But the modern clothes had not vanished. There was still normal street ware and stylish clothes mixed in. Seth could see that these were made by skill holders and had a tiny bit of effect like increased durability.

The jobs of people had also adjusted and adapted to the new setting and classes. All in all, society did a good job of not devolving into a bunch of raiders fighting over the last scraps of civilization.

Seth's only regret was, that the shops and stores had no use for him. Materials sold to the public were just common stuff that was barely enough for the crafting professions to grind their skills. In his opinion, it confirmed his decision to go and learn the basics in a different world.

From what Seth could see, the apprentice tailor Alison had mentioned was probably among the top of crafters in Y-city. As an apprentice, he would be barely able to work with uncommon materials. But even if he could, it did not mean there was even a supply of uncommon materials for him.

As he aimlessly walked around the city he more and more often came across posters of adventurers in supposedly awesome-looking armors. They were advertisements of various guilds that recruited people to join them.

Since every citizen was a player, it meant anyone could take up the job of being an adventurer. Of course, this did not mean everyone wanted to.

Some also talked about the hunter association, which was established by the leadership. They even advertised that they would provide equipment befitting the players' level and class.

As Seth thought about it, not only did the government do its best to hoard good items and talented people, but they also collected quite a lot of materials via those shops. The best crafters in Y-City were probably public officials or hidden by other factions like the guilds that supplied them with items.

Having others provide him oodles and oodles of materials to grind his skills... It was a shame that it was not an option for Seth. These factions simply lacked the strength to provide Seth with the resources he needed. That's why he needed to do it himself.

It made more sense for Seth to just found his own faction since he probably was the biggest amalgamation of high-level skills and precious material currently walking around on Urth. Good thing nobody knew, that he would drop better stuff than a small dragon if he was killed.

Since there were tamed beasts for cargo transport here and there he guessed that it was ok to have your pets out. Seth decided to bring out Puffles and plunder the street stalls with him. It had been a while since they just spend time together. Seth actually ended up buying a lot of small souvenirs and knickknacks.

This had nothing to do with survival or making big money, but he felt like having some fun with these in the future.

On his way back they came across a big crowd of gawking people.

"They are coming out!"

"Is that really Squad 1!?"

"Wow, it's squad 1! Look at that armor. They say it's rare!"

"Are you for real?"

"Timothy, I want your child!" a middle-aged man in his late 40s screamed. Thinking of what he screamed, maybe it was a woman. Seth had a hard time judging.

When his mind finally recovered, he looked at the people that left the portal-type dungeon. Their items were a mismatched mix of mostly uncommon and one or two rare items. They were not pretty to look at, but the overall performance was outstanding in comparison to Y-City's standards.

"Squad 1?" he mused about what the people called them. His conclusion was, that these were likely people from the Hunter Association and the items were probably bought in the auction house. He was curious and brought out the token from his inventory.

"Hey, Al, can you take look at them, are they special?"

~ Oh, now you remember me!? When you need me, you bring me out and if you don't you just leave me in the inventory! I have feelings too, you know? ~

"I'm sorry, okay? I forgot. I definitely did not leave you in the inventory on purpose to enjoy the silence or anything like that."

~Grr. Just you wait. No, they are not too special. They have rare classes, but rather ordinary ones. They have potential, but I don't think they are a big loss. ~

Seth nodded. He trusted her judgment, even though she was a little grumpy at the moment. If she said, those guys were not a loss, then he did not care any further. He turned around and got on his way back to the church.

He had walked a few steps when he heard someone calling from behind.