Blacksmith of the Apocalypse

Having dealt with all the riff-raff in the vicinity, Seth could finally concentrate on laying out the formation and carving them into the stone. In the meantime, Puffles the voracious was gorging on the ores in the valley.

Fin seemed rather satisfied to just spend time with Seth as they made small talk while he was chiseling the formations into the ground using the resharpened pickaxe.

"Fin, can you go and get Puffles? I am done here in a minute, then we have to go and get the others," he ask fin after he was finished transferring the complicated patterns and formulas onto the ground.

When the two returned, the ivicer had gone through an obvious change. The sleek and terrifying centipede had turned back into a fat caterpillar. Puffles kept making weird insectoid noises that reminded him of a fat man's burps after overeating. Simon, to mention a name.

"Can you even fly properly in this state?"

~ D-Don't look down on Puffles, the Mighty! It won't be any slower when we walk. Don't complain! ~

"I didn't mean to offend you; you bundle of joy." Seth avoided mentioning the bloated state of the caterpillar again and came onboard the zeppelin-shaped and sized insect.

They returned to camp, where they spent some awkward moments explaining the terrifying noise that had unsettled the people. He visited the commando central to bid farewell before they set off.

Yulecat's Fur chose their own mounts, while Evan, Pip, and the Children rode a giant snake. Duhu, Lynri, Wedan, Azul, and Fin boarded the many-legged zeppelin bug. A surprising addition to their little entourage was the mysterious Archer.

His name was Ahorn, and he expressed his wish to join Minas Mar. The bundle of arrows Seth had given him during the battle on the plains, together with his overall conduct had won him over.

Maybe it also had something to do with the fact, that Mike had explained to him all the benefits he could get as a member of the field service. Who knew what had convinced him in the end? At least Seth was confident that it was his brilliant leadership on their journey.

With everyone mounted on various pets and beasts, they set off and arrived at their teleport location a few hours later. It was already late at night, but that was no problem, as Seth shared some of the improvised night vision equipment he had made for the caravan.

The members of the party marveled at the sight of the giant formation, carved into the flat rock surface. Clean and sharp lines were hewn into the rock, like a fine wood carving. People from Delta, like the Archer and Evan, thought of the work of a CNC machine.

"Okay, everyone scatter within the outer circle and don't enter the inner on!" Seth warned them before he stepped to a recess in the center of the formation. It was a perfect square shape and the golden plate sent by Evee fit in perfectly.

Now came the most important part, he would insert the plate into the formation and then link the Soul of the Champion to it, to supply it with power. Once the power source was in place, the beacon would send a signal through space.

If everything was like Al'Zalsar had deduced, Evee would monitor the tower systems and look for the beacon's frequency. Then Minas Mar could lock onto their location and open a wormhole at their location.

The formation would stabilize this wormhole, so they could travel through it safely.

The blacksmith took the living soul, sealed by his Whimsical Curse, from the pouch on his belt and carefully placed it onto the plate. At least this part was simple. Complicated formations like this had a makeup similar to modern circuit boards.

Seth just needed to connect the soul to the power input to activate it. Then he hurriedly stepped back as the magic unfolded. Or was supposed to unfold.

Nothing happened.

~Give it some time. ~ Al reassured.

They waited.

It took a while but finally, the formation started glowing. From the twelve tips of the formation's dodecagram, tethers of light emerged and latched onto something in midair. Between the tethers opened an almost round portal in the shape of a twelve-sided polygon.

~See, i told you. ~ the lich commented smugly as everyone watched at what was happening in surprise.

The portal was "reeled" in by the tethers and came to a halt in the center of the formation.

~ What are you people doing, just staring at it!? It's stable now, hurry through before the formation deteriorates! ~ Al warned the crowd.

The lines carved into the stone surface were glowing red-hot from the energy they were channeling. Once something became liquid it could destabilize the passage.

Hurriedly they started sending through the people who could not use the system teleport to return home. First were Pip and the children, then Lynri, Wedan, Azul, and Evan. Since the space tunnel was still stable, Yulecat's Fur, Seth, the archer, and Duhu went through together.

Returning to the familiar entrance hall of the magic tower, a huge weight fell off Seth's shoulder. He saw the bunch of children, Wedan and Lynri standing there, looking around in wonder. Evan, Azul, Duhu, and the archer were not much better than the children.

He did it. It was over. He had finally returned home and kept his promises. Whether it was the sheer relief or the fatigue from his fight earlier, Seth didn't know, but suddenly the world went dark before him.

The blacksmith collapsed right after returning home.

...

Soft warmth enveloped his body. How long had it been since he slept in a proper bed? When he opened his eyes, he saw a familiar room. Seth was in his bed in the Tower Master's Quarters. Was it all just a bad dream?

He wished it was like that, but his status told him otherwise. He was lv.60 and there was a small button in the corner called "Advancement Options". He had thrown this in the back of his mind when he leveled up.

The situation at the time was a little too chaotic, but now he had finally time to think. Although he had returned home, his work did not end here. He had to take care of Lynri, Wedan, his duties as the tower master, and most importantly the vessel for Al'Zalsar.

Seth decided to start off by doing something he could do without leaving the bed. The class advancement. He clicked on the button and was shown the options for class advancement for <Spirit Blacksmith>.

To his surprise, there was nothing like changing to an advanced class like there were for magicians or swordsmen. For him, there were optional traits he could choose from to strengthen the specialization of his class.

<Blood of the Blacksmith, Trait>

<Blood of the Craftsman, Trait>

<Blood of the Necromancer, Trait>

<Blood of the Inventor, Trait>

The descriptions for these were short and vague, but at least they had some unlike <Kin of Fire>. In summary, they gave boosts the different fields his class was related to.

The trait of the Blacksmith would further strengthen the power of his blacksmith skills and the performance of items he made, that counted as armors or weapons.

The trait of the Craftsman was less specific and could boost all crafting skills, but at a lesser rate than the blacksmith. In exchange, his skills like <Enchantment> or <Sewing> would also gain a boost.

The trait of a necromancer had to do with working with souls. The description was the vaguest, but Seth guessed that it would increase the power of his soul related skills like <Spirit Capture>

Lastly, the trait of the inventor was slightly ambiguous as it did not affect skills of a certain field, but the power of skills that were used to invent things. Following that it also increased the performance of devices, instead of weapons or armor.

Seth was not sure where that trait came from, did he have skills to "invent things"?

~ Urgh, you really are dense like lead. You have <Blueprints>, don't you? And part of your smithy is that golem you call Cerberus. The person you inherited that class from was obviously adept in more than just making weapons. Why else would I have given you that manual? ~ the lich ranted.

It made sense. Until now, Seth had unconsciously avoided this part of his abilities. He never was one of those boys that dreamed of riding a mech. Seth wouldn't have chosen the class of a blacksmith, to begin with.

~You have time now; you should read the manual. I am sure you will understand why that is the trait you should choose! ~

"Are you sure it isn't because it would mean that your vessel would be more powerful? "

~...~

The lich only answered with which on convinced him even more that he was right. However, he would not dismiss her advice so easily.

Following what the sorceress said, Seth brought out the thick tome that was the manual of how to create her vessel

Ps. Happy New Year ^^