Blacksmith of the Apocalypse

"Does that mean I get equipment for free?"

"Once you signed the contract, you can get a set of oath armor. As for other stuff, you can get a discount, but it's not free."

There were only two people in the evaluation team he felt comfortable gifting some stuff. Marcel and Elza had really helped him a lot when they took responsibility as leaders in the caravan,

He was thankful and felt a little guilty about pushing all that work onto them.

"So, I get some free stuff. That's cool. Don't forget my minigol, too!"

"Yeah, yeah."

"Oh, right! Will you play something for us now?" Ellie suddenly pinned him down by reminding him of his promise.

"Yes! Fin wants to dance to Seth's music!"

"Are you sure? I don't want to disturb the party by high jacking the stage."

"Leave it to Fin!"

A moment later the fairy returned with the Princess on her heels.

"Fin said you wanted to play a song. I already informed the DJ. Please hurry and get on the stage, so I can dance with Fin." Leana urged the bard.

He looked at fin in shock, but the little brute only answered with a big grin from ear to ear. There was no way he could get out of this now, so he accepted his fate and climbed on the stage.

~ Oh! Our first actual audience! What do you want to play?~

Seth smirked when he spotted Fin in the crowd below.

~Let's go with Fairies wear Gauntlets. ~ this was one of the songs Oz had taught him.

"Hey, guys. I'm Seth an aspiring bard. I promised to play a little bit, so please be lenient with your judgment."

Using his voice amplified by <Voice of Seth> he greeted the audience before placing his hands on the strings of his instrument.

The song started with a slow solo of the lyre. The otherworldly tunes of the skull lyre filled the hall. It was vastly different from the pop music that had been playing until now and anything most people knew for that fact. Dark tones, suffused with magic made it hard to look away or stay still.

Like a dark substance that sneakily soaked into their bodies. It was the unique effect of a demon bard's music. It was a good song, to get the people used to the influence of the demonic vibes.

"... and surprise what

I saw a Fairy with gauntlets beating a dwarf~ "

Seth started to sing, his chant amplified by <Orpheus Voice> and <Voice of Seth> did the same to their minds. Although few in the audience understood demon language, the text would enter their head and paint the picture of the lyrics in their mind.

<Ding! You have enraptured 50 people with your music. Pers +1>

Seth heard the announcement in surprise. He didn't know there were such achievements for Musicians. But he didn't care, he looked at the audience and they just stood there and listened.

This wasn't what he wanted. Fin wanted to dance. Let them dance.

The music changed with the next song, as the notes he played became darker and faster. With his intention, changed the effect and the crowd started to move.

Oz gave him the lines and Seth threw them in the crowd, watching the crowd of people in fine evening dresses devolve in a mess of raving bodies, dancing wildly to his hypnotic tunes.

It was Seth's first glimpse at the power of music. He had entered a trance where he kept singing and playing, without really thinking about it.

...

She watched the man; the princess had told her about, suddenly entering the stage. "He was a bard? I thought he was a blacksmith?" she thought to herself.

When he started playing, unworldly music filled the hall. She could feel the music creeping in her mind and heart but there was no harm. She immersed herself in this alien feeling and listened in silence.

Soon the song slowly came to an end, and she looked up to the stage. The bard seemed not satisfied and suddenly, from the end of the first song, there was a fluid transition into the next.

The change was tremendous. Compared to now, the power before was calm. The seeping tentacles of sound now compelled her to move. To follow her instincts and move to the rhythm. She already felt her fangs and nails growing as a golden glow shone from her eyes, when <Heart of Steel> shooed away the power of music.

She gasped for air when the effects were gone. "Just what was that?" She looked around and the only others resisting the music was the guy leaning in the opposite corner, the pale lady, and the old man with the impressive mustache.

Though some seemed to willingly go along with the music, instead of being forced.

The whole crowd wildly danced in euphoria. And they were compelled to dance until the bard finally ended his performance.

...

~This guy is special~

~I mean, the music is strong, but ...~

~Not that. He had the smell of several different gods but not the aura of a champion. ~

~What does that mean? ~

~ That is the question. You should try to approach him.

~Hah... I was going to anyway. I think he's the blacksmith who can give us items. ~

~Good, good. I will go back to rest. ~

She let out a long sigh and stared listlessly in the distance with a bored expression. It had been a year since she had to endure this voice in her head.

Of course, she was grateful that her class enabled her to survive but... why did it have to be the god of Repose and Stagnation? Taking on the fragments of the fallen god had a radical influence on her mood.

Which meant she was bored most of the time. It was a heavy loss for someone who used to be loud and energetic. Now, not even the powerful music could move her heart against the power of the god.

She would often think back to that day.

When she was chased by monsters outside the city and suddenly broke through the floor into an ancient ruin. There she had met her new god and became his saintess.

~Once I have regained some of my power, I can regain my ethereal body. Then you won't bear this burden. ~

Was what Samhach had promised her back then. Now, as his saintess, she had to somehow spread his religion, which was hard, when you're bored and unmotivated all the time.

...

He kept going until his throat was sore.

<Ding! You made over 50 people dance to exhaustion. +1 Pers>

The message broke the trance. Only then did he realize what he had done and hurriedly stopped playing. The whole time, people had kept "dancing" in the hall. They were drenched in sweat, and some were completely exhausted. Only a small number of people were okay or had resisted his music.

"What just happened...?" he mumbled, trying to understand.

~ You, my friend, found enlightenment! ~

"Enlighten...?"

It was true, he felt like his mind had cleared back there and he had gotten a deeper understanding of music. Looking at his skills, his <Singing> had become Adept Lv.7. <Orpheus Voice> and <Voice of Seth> had leveled up too, lv.7 and lv.5 respectively. And his <Instrument Mastery> shot straight to lv.9 on the cusp of upgrading to adept.

Aside from his skill, he had a lot to think about. But first, he had to resolve the situation. He sneakily equipped the Golden Fleece below his suit, to have it cast a healing spell for his throat.

"Errm, this concludes my performance. Thanks for listening." Seth put away Oz and got off the stage.

Seth felt a little guilty. He had not wanted to cause this kind of incident. He just wanted to give Fin and the princess to dance some more. However, his guilty conscience vanished when he heard the claps of the crowd.

Despite their exhaustion, they started clapping.

"I have never danced like this."

"it's been ages since Music touched me like this.

"It was new and strange."

Mina caught his elbow and hugged his arm. She was a little sweaty, but far from exhausted.

"You never sang like that in Minas Mar. It was really fun."

The princess approached him with Fin on her shoulder. It seemed that they had more than enough chances to dance with each other.

"I had my doubts when you said, that you would join as a bard. But if this is the kind of effect you can cause with pure music, I'm looking forward to your performance."

"Thanks, I guess?" Seth said unsure, but with a smile.

They met up with Lydia, Mike, Marcel, and Elza and sat together at a table. Like Mina, they were sweaty, but not exhausted. They had fun, going along with his music and dance unfettered by traditional dances.

"May I sit here?" an ethereal voice asked, not much louder than a whisper. It was the sickly pale blonde; they had seen when entering. She was one of the few, who had not budged when the music played.