Blacksmith of the Apocalypse

Time seemed to fly by as the colossus swallowed up all the prey and turned it into power to develop the child. Only when all the food was gone did the magic waves weaken.

According to the sorceress, it was now concentrating on funneling the energy into the child. Although Seth planned on killing the pseudo-swamp dragon right after birth, he did give it privacy and did not watch the process of childbirth.

He did this out of respect. Not because he was glad to live without the memory of watching a giant snake give push a slimy sack with a smaller snake wriggling in it out of its butt. Seth was just respecting its privacy.

~It's over, you can look now. ~ Al informed him.

When Seth looked again the snake was limp lying on the ground, with a wriggly sack beside it on the ground.

"Puff, you know what to do," he said and left.

Equipped with the Helm of Hades he snuck up on the giant snake. When he was in position, he gave Puffles a sign through their connection. The charged beam of light struck the swamp dragon's head but despite the severe exhaustion, the attack was largely blocked by a shield.

The giant creature raised its head to look in the direction of the attack. Suddenly it started twitching in pain and throwing around its massive head.

When the creature was distracted, Seth had sunk the wyvern blade deep into the snake's nape. He had even used the sword's skill Lacerate but could not instantly finish the beast. Now, he was now holding on to the handle for dear life as it struggled from the pain.

The blacksmith kept being thrown around as the snake rocked back and forth. He almost lost hold when the snake started smashing its head into a building.

Originally, they had hoped he could end the snake in one strike. Being thrown around like this was not part of the plan! The full length of the sword's blade was buried in the snake's body, all the way up to the crossguard, but it was still not enough.

It helped him to realize one thing. He really was not made for direct faceoffs with giant beasts like this! Seth preferred being a glorified fly swatter and wiping out huge numbers from a safe distance!

He had an idea, but he had only one chance. Currently, the sword was stuck in the tough flesh of the dragon, but he would need to act quickly once he enacted his plan.

Seth grasped the hilt and used energy circulation. Like back then, during his training with Tored, he coupled his <Pyromancy> with this kind of sword energy. With a quick burst, he channeled a great amount of mental energy into the blade and created a pale blue jet flame that shot from the sword into the tough dragon flesh.

An overwhelming scream of anguish shook the city. Puffles saw the bright fire explode from the throat of the colossus. Using the chance when it finally held still, he shot another beam of light. Unblocked, it erased a big chunk of flesh some distance below the exit wound of the fire.

Finally, the giant snake gave in to the damage and exhaustion and fell limp.

"So much for "it's tired"," Seth complained as he tried to regain his breath.

He needed to push almost all his mental energy into this attack, otherwise, the flames would not have penetrated but exploded right back in his face. That's how tough the pseudo dragon's body was!

~Hey, it's still somewhat a dragon. If this worm was not completely exhausted, it would have wiped the floor with you in such a confrontation. ~ the sorceress scoffed.

Seth took off the Helm of Hades to wipe away his sweat when a notification distracted him.

<Ding! Conditions have been met and your weapon "Wyvern Blade" has evolved into "Draconic Blade" >

"What?" Seth exclaimed in surprise and checked his wyvern blade in a hurry.

<Draconic Blade

Epic Wyvern set 1/4

Relic

Damage:1800

Durability: 4000

1. Will absorb blood to heal itself

2. Will absorb part of the target's blood to heal and strengthen the user

3. Active Skill Lacerate

4.+300% damage against enemies that lost their motivation

5.+300% Damage against armors

6.+50% Damage against dragon species

A kriegsmesser forged by Journeyman Smith from rare materials. A plethora of special treatments and enchantments massively increased the weapon's performance above what just the materials could accomplish. Created from dragon materials it has been nurtured by draconic blood.

Once it tastes the blood of a Dragon, the item will evolve to become a legendary Dragon Slayer Blade.

Set Effect: collapsed

Usage Condition: Seth Smith, 150 strength>

It had become a Relic!

Looking at the effects, he understood what it meant with evolution. The weapon had reached the final stage of strengthening through blood. It was satiated and would not grow any further from sucking the blood of enemies.

But this was not the end. It seemed that the wyvern materials had a synergy with the snake's pseudo-dragon blood. Other than just the damage numbers, the effects had changed, too. It had become stronger overall with additional damage to dragon species.

Mentioning the blood strengthening reminded him, that he had heard some notifications when the snake was throwing him around. When he checked his status, he found that his strength had increased by seven points and his Endurance by an astounding 10 full points. These were huge gains! Very worth the effort.

The physical aspects of the set effects were also slightly strengthened.

The really surprising part was the last sentence of the flavor texts. If the weapon got a baptism with actual dragon blood, it could evolve further to become a Dragon Slayer blade. Seth had heard about these weapons from Al'Zalsa.

There were several ways they could be achieved, but the point was that once they were created, they were the bane of dragons. But the crux was, that one needed to get the blood of a dragon before getting one's hands on its greatest weakness.

~ It's not over yet! Look out! ~ Puffles suddenly sent him a message.

The swamp dragon's giant body was still twitching. In an attempt to eradicate its and its child's enemies the matriarch had collected her last reserves and whipped around to swallow the tiny foe whole.

In a panic, Seth managed to jump away thanks to the Ivicer's timely warning. He had evaded the giant maws and was now eye to eye with the snake's giant eye that was looking down at him. The intelligence and sorrow in its gaze were undeniable.

"What do you want to hear from me? Sorry?" he faced the blame in its stare. Then he had an idea and carefully approached the giant head. If it was intelligent, he could talk to it.

"You are dying. If you want to have a chance to meet that child again, don't resist."

He didn't know whether it simply lacked the energy to resist or really didn't resist but he was able to place his hand on the scaly cheek. <Soul Capture> went smoothly and the light in the giant snake's eyes finally dimmed.

<Ding! You have killed - Pseudo-Swamp Dragon Matriarch lv. 87 - You have earned Experience.>

<Ding! Your title "Giant Slayer" has slightly strengthened through the number of large enemies you have killed. +25% Damage increase to large opponents.>

<Ding! Title: "Root and Branch" gained. "You have killed a Patriarch, a Matriarch, and members of their offspring all the way down to the younglings.">

<Ding! You have leveled up! You are now lv.59!>

As awesome as the improvements on his status were, his biggest gain was the soul he now held in his hand.

<Pseudo-Dragon Soul (Massive, Ego), Epic+, Crafting Material

The soul of a Titanoboa Matriarch that managed to fulfill the requirements to become a dragon.>

Seth's eyes were shining. Except for its size, it was almost the same as Al'Zalsa's soul back then. Even though it stated "only" massive, it was in a totally different league compared to other massive souls he had seen, like the wyvern's or the hangingtree's.

The bigger the souls became; the greater became the differences within the same rank. It was worth drastically reducing the experience he gained, to be able to get his hands on such a high-quality soul.

He also found that he had picked up the souls of the apes the matriarch had fed on. Many common small and medium souls. but also some big uncommon ones that rivaled those of the snakes he killed.

The biggest surprise was that the giant ape had also dropped its soul. It was massive like the patriarch's, maybe bigger, but only rated uncommon.

It was such a windfall, that he could barely come up with something he could do with this. And this was not the only gain from this kill. The body of the matriarch was so massive that he could not stack it but could only store it in its own inventory slot. At least that was what Seth would have liked to believe, but it was simply counted as a different item.

And their business was not over, yet.

All of this took longer to describe, but just moments had actually passed since they had defeated the pseudo-dragon.

Seth turned towards the wriggling something that had just been born. It was still caught in a thin membrane and struggled to free itself.