Blacksmith of the Apocalypse

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, everyone had come to save those that were kidnapped by the Theocracy of Chains. Now, they had found these people and even more.

But they also had new information, such as the city of Hope in the middle of nowhere. The princes, the general, and the official from Y-City had come together earlier to discuss the stance of the rescue party before talking about it with the representatives of the refugees.

Unfortunately, Seth had to take part in this as the representative of the chimeras. It was the only duty he was unable to shirk. Since Azul, and consequently all the chimeras left, decided to follow him they had become his responsibility.

"Since we are now all together, I will share what we, the leaders of the combined rescue force, have discussed." The princess spoke up.

Their plan was to split off some of their forces to investigate Hope and the plain. This was mostly the interest of Y-City and the empire. They had little information on this part of the continent as if the prophecies of the System god had deliberately left out some information.

This was nothing unusual. After all, how would they struggle, if he gave them a full walkthrough? Even when their god gave them a lot of information, he would never share it all.

The rest would travel west, back into the direction of Gamma. At the Starta Village in Gamma, they were getting ready to ferry the refugees back to Delta anyway.

Thanks to the higher levels of magic in the mountain range, the wilderness, and mountains between Gamma and Delta were more dangerous than average. The refugees lacked the strength to survive there which was why strong escorts were a given.

At this point, the returning adventurers of Delta, with their strength, would make a good addition to these escorts. Teleportation was out of the question for them, because they would be split because of the randomization for ori huma.

As for the refugees who were not part of the system, they could undergo a baptism and teleport to Delta, or the empire if they wished to. The same was true for the chimeras. As a technically intelligent species, they would probably be able to take part in the baptism and teleport to Delta.

These were the plans they had come up with in the morning.

"Seth, we hoped you could- "

The mentioned blacksmith lifted his hand to stop her in the middle of her sentence.

"I will have to interrupt you here. Before you rely on me for any sort of mission, I have to inform you that I will be leaving soon."

"What?" everyone present called out or mumbled. Mina and Mike only had wry smiles.

-------Evening the other day -----------

"Oh, yeah, before I forget it. Evee asked us to hand this to you. She said Al would know what it is. And she hoped you would forgive her for taking some of the materials." Mike said when the evening calmed down a little.

The beastman brought out a plate made of <Arcane Gold> inscribed with all kinds of mystic formations and wards.

~hoh? This little girl really improved quickly! ~

"What is it?"

~ It's our ticket home. The core for a spatial beacon. That is if I understood the intentions of that girl correctly. ~

"A spatial beacon!? That means-" some exclaimed surprised.

~ Yeah. As long as we set up the corresponding formation and power it, we can create a signal for Minas Mar to pick us up. If Evee picks up the signal she can open a spatial tunnel for us, to travel back to Minas Mar. ~

"I-Is that really possible?" Lyxiss asked baffled. She was not the only one overwhelmed.

~ Of course, it's possible, theoretically. It is a little less stable than having a fully functional teleportation formation to connect to, like the one in Delta, but that can be made up with enough energy. It's no different from teleporting within the initial range of the tower itself. ~

Silence reigned for a moment. Everyone had their own thoughts when they heard that they could return this quickly. Or in the case of Lynri, Wedan, and Pip's group, hearing that safety was so close.

The latter were obviously happy. Yulecat's Fur on the other hand was a little conflicted as they felt responsible for the protection of the princess. On the other hand, they had only come for Seth and had not promised anything.

"So, what do we need to make this happen?" Seth finally decided for everyone. Well, it was no question, to begin with...

-----------Present-----------

"Yes, the members of Minas Mar will build the spatial beacon and return to Delta," he stated.

Leana looked at him in disbelief. Then back and forth between Mina and Mike behind her and Seth. Were they serious? But what about fin!? Wouldn't she be stuck with all these sweaty men and not even have this harbor of cuteness to rely on?

"I'm sorry. We decided yesterday." Mina apologized to the princess with a wry smile.

"Y-You can't! You should help us bring these people back home safely," she said in a panic.

"I have a promise to keep and I won't risk it. I did more than enough by bringing these people up to this point. It is your duty to bring them home safely, not mine."

If Seth had to be brutally honest, he had only stayed because of the few people he was unable to take back with him through <Home Call>. He had promised Lynri to bring her to Delta. Wedan, Evan, Azul, Pip, and her friends would have also been stuck here. Deep down, he just did not want to take the responsibility for more than he could chew. Still, he had stepped up to help multiple times, nobody could blame him for taking his people and going home, now that he had the opportunity.

The princess quickly realized that there was no point in arguing. She would have to let go of Fin. Mark and the General had not voiced any opposition but stayed silent.

"At least, let the Chimeras stay with us." Mark suddenly asked.

"We could really use their firepower on the way back."

The dark elven General nodded at that in agreement. Their journey from Gamma up to here was not without dangers. And now they had over 100 noncombatants to protect while they split off part of their fighting force to investigate Hope.

The powerful chimeras would be a great assurance.

"I will have to speak with them if they are willing." Seth gave a noncommitting answer. He was not even sure whether they could teleport all chimeras if they wanted to.

According to the lich's assessment, there was a limit. Even if they found a good place to set it up, each person to travel through it would deteriorate the formation. Otherwise, he would have already offered to teleport the refugees, too.

However, there were many things that could go wrong with Evee's makeshift beacon. Not to mention the instability and energy consumption of such a portal. It was questionable whether they had more than one try.

Still, whether he could take them, or whether they were willing to stay, there was another important question.

"You know, they are technically members of Minas Mar. I am sure I could persuade them but that's not free. After all, they risk their lives by staying here. Don't you think you should offer them some benefits to ease their decision?" Seth opened up the negotiations.

The rest of the meeting was rather awkward after Seth dropped the bombshell and haggled them out of some money and promises.

They had to decide on someone else who had to lead the people to hope and somehow work around the fact that the chimeras might be gone before they even started their journey back.

It did not end with any satisfying decisions but rather fizzled out and everyone was happy to get a break afterward.