Blacksmith of the Apocalypse

It was the day of the second auction held by Y-Cities Church. They changed the venue to accommodate the increase of participants. In exchange, the church flexed by ensuring security with their own troops clad in uniforms suits of high-quality armors. They needed to show a strong presence to calm their rich guests.

The soldiers of the church were blessed by the system church. As such they could rival any high-ranking native for the duration of the blessing.

The venue was filled with high society from all over the Y-City district. This included the richest people as well as the strongest figures. There were also those who were simply curious and had the necessary monetary foundation to take part.

Once again Seth was mingling among the people using Al as a talent detector. He was currently in the lobby where snacks and drinks were provided for the guests before the auction began. He had already narrowed down a list of vanguards for the party beforehand. But he used this chance to listen to the gossip and look for hidden gems.

"The church really pulled all the stops this time. Did you see the guard?"

"Yeah. Do you think they are stronger than the Zero Squad?"

"I don't know, but they are probably not weaker. Did you hear that the church was also sieged? They had no problem dealing with those things."

Seth took a glass of wine and a plate of appetizers and left.

"Is that?"

"Yeah, it is!"

"Who would have thought the Crimson Blade would also show interest in this auction?"

"The Bloody Cleaver is hmph!?"

"Not so loud. Do you want to offend him, or why are you shouting like that? Everyone knows he doesn't like that moniker."

"I'm sorry."

The crimson blade? That sounded interesting. Seth needed a damage dealer. The name sounded like a swordsman class. It was a shame they didn't sell any weapons today. His thoughts were interrupted by the signal that the auction would soon start. The crowd started moving in the direction of the auditorium.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, I welcome you to the second auction of the system church. I'm glad all of you came today, despite the current situation. I won't steal any of your time with useless talk and get straight to the point. Our first items are suits of armor...."

The curtain lifted and there were 9 armors on the stands. All of them were uncommon, but five were merely made from high-quality steel, while the other five were enchanted by Seth. The fifth enchanted armor was worn once again by a well-known tank who would demonstrate its effects.

Seth didn't bother to gives these armors any flashy effects. He had simply used the demonic ballad of reflection, which gave all the pieces the effect to reflect 15% of the damage and engraves the option of automatic sizing. They should look for an enchanter if they wanted more effects.

Although uncommon items were slowly becoming more on the market, none of those could be compared to the items a journeyman-level blacksmith casually made. The difference in skill and the difference of additional performance that came with it was almost like an enchantment in and of itself.

Seth did not really pay attention to the performance on the stage. He was occupied with checking the crowd and listening to Al's analysis of people.

"Seth Smith." a person said and sat down on the seat beside him. Seth recognized the person but had a hard time remembering the name until Al told him.

--------------

"Mark Baker." said the young man after Mark sat down beside him. He wore an elegant outfit that was more in the style of an otherworlder than what was usually seen in Y-city.

Mark was surprised that the handsome youth still knew his name, although they had only met once. The auction was only his secondary objective of coming here today. He actually wanted to meet Seth, who had kept hidden inside the church for the past two weeks.

Some kind of mana-tracking artifacts were found among the belongings of the invaders. They found out their use but could not activate them without the corresponding spell. But this did not mean they could not investigate who those people were looking for.

Baker already had his suspicions before, but after checking the incident with those fair folk closer, he felt vindicated. All locations could be traced back to Seth and members of his party. Even that small gathering at the Hunters HQ, as Squad 1 interacted with him shortly before the attack.

One or two locations might have been coincidences, but for all of them being places his party members had visited recently or had stayed for a long time was too much of a coincidence.

Seth was a great mystery. He appeared with a way to get high-performance items and vanished into the church. Shortly after the church started auctioning items far above the standard available in Y-City.

Their investigators were able to confirm, that his whole party was decked in above uncommon gear and had raided a high-level dungeon. And now it seemed that this incident was connected to this man, too.

"Please tell me the truth. Did you really buy your items at the auction house, or did you make them yourself?"

"Yep." the other answered with an easy-going smile.

"Wait, is that a yes to making them yourself?" Baker asked a little confused. Seth's smile grew wider.

"Who knows?"

Mark took a deep breath.

"Okay. Let me ask like this: Did you make those armor and the weapons from the last auction? Are you... Journeyman Smith?"

The young man looked surprised for a moment and answered with an amused smile.

"No. I'm Seth Smith. Pff, journeyman, what a stupid name." he looked to the stage and chuckled.

On the stage was currently a monster called a "Bladed Madness". It had had a dark humanoid body bod the two sickle arms of a mantis. It got its name the furious speed of its slashed and the overall fighting style.

On the other side stood a tall tank wearing one of the armors. He defended against the vicious slashed with the armor and his skills only. But while the armor barely got a scratch, the bladed madness kept spewing blood from cuts that came out of nowhere.

Although they were feared for their reckless fighting style, these monsters were also known for being glass canons. Soon the monster fell under the repercussion of its own attacks. The timing of his chuckle could have been either because of his pun or because of the creature tragically dying on stage.

Mark was unsure whether Seth was serious or joking with him. He had found out that he had identified himself as a blacksmith upon entering the Y-City district. But Mark had a hard time believing that there was a native from Urth already at this skill level.

Even the blacksmiths of their crafting branch, that were supported with all the materials their teams farmed and shops bought, had yet to reach the point where they could use rare materials or even make rare items.

Other branches with classes closer to existing technologies showed better results. Their biggest deficit was knowledge corresponding to enchanting and magical materials. There was no basis they could start off to develop these skills.

This made it very hard for blacksmiths or crafters, in general, to make items with a rating above the level of the material.

Seth didn't know the hardships of these people. He could make epic items, even with rare materials. But it was not just the fact that he could enchant them. He had managed to keep his <Enchantment> close to <Blacksmithing> and <Goldsmithing> and never had the chance to see the alternative.

Just having <Enchantment> did not just strengthen enchantments, but also the effects the materials themself had. If he used <Dark steel> for something the material could give up to 10% resistance to darkness and mana regeneration in the dark. For a blacksmith without the <Enchantment> skill, it might only reach up to 4 or 5%.

"Please be serious. Tell me the truth, are you the maker of these items?"

The young man looked him in the eyes for a moment. They were deep eyes Mark could lose himself in.

"Yeah, I made them. Why do you ask?" he said in a relaxed manner with a smug smile on his face.