Blacksmith of the Apocalypse

A rain of light hammered down onto the elite beast, punching holes through the tough body armor.

"As expected of the Warrior Nun!"

"Wow!"

The rest of the raiding party was gushing in awe. The person in question still felt awkward hearing people react like this, but she couldn't say that it was unpleasant. A little more than two months ago, she had to face a decision.

She had denied a chance of a comfortable lazy life and even left behind an easy way to grow stronger. She had chosen to try and stand on her own two legs.

When Seth gave her the choice, she chose to leave. She was living with Sarina, a young noble lady the blacksmith had met at the start of his journey. The girl's father was the lord of a not-so-small city on the eastern coast of Namia.

A raid of almost 30 adventurers had been sieging three elite armor beasts in the plaza. They were at the front of the 25th level's boss room of a newly discovered dungeon.

Starting off as an adventurer in a foreign land was not the easiest thing she had done in her life, but also not the hardest. She had some financial backing from Sarina's father who took her in upon Seth's recommendation.

Her class, Priestess of the Fount had also opened a few doors for her, but she had not only relied on her rare class. The priestess of the Fount had healing skills on par with a high priest, but she also trained hard to master staff arts and often fought in the frontline.

Her resolute personality and discipline she showed during hunts had earned her the title of Warrior Nun. As a promising rookie, she had managed to quickly make a name for herself. As impressive as it may sound, she was still a rookie, some levels off lv. 30.

Another reason was that she would often be seen kneeling on the battlefield to activate her skills, with motions resembling devout prayer. With support, melee, and ranged magic skills, she was a balanced member of any party.

However, she never joined any party for long. Sarina's father guessed that the reason was her goal. After all, she wanted to become great enough to prove herself worthy of the system god's blessing and return to Urth.

He couldn't know that this guess was actually far from true. Lynri really wanted to find a party and start traveling the continent. She wanted to see what Seth saw and visit Ora at some point. She knew that her time in this city was limited. If she wanted to grow, she would have to leave.

However, it was not because of some vague fear of separation that she had not joined any party yet. She wasn't some loner heroine that wanted to avoid personal connections because farewells were painful.

There simply had not been a party worth investing in yet. The priestess was not interested in doing things half-heartedly.

Lynri wasn't just looking to join just any group to gain fame and power, but a party that was ready to come with her back to Urth and was fit to join Minas Mar. This was on one hand her way of repaying Seth's favor, although this was her own selfish wish.

On the other hand, it was her way to honor his promise. To enable her to live a free life and make her own choices. She wanted to gain happiness with her own friends and return to Minas Mar as a reliable addition to the place. This was her choice.

Regrettably, she had not found any likable people, yet. Those who approached her did so mostly for their own interest. These relationships worked out for a few dungeon dives, but they were nothing reliable. Not the thing she was looking for.

The priestess had internalized one of the foundations of Minas Mar. Strength could be augmented with items and hard work. Trustworthiness was the most important. The young woman had not taken into account, that it became hard to find trustworthy people once one became the center of attention.

In the end, she resigned to bow her had to the lord and ask for help. If she couldn't find a good party, she would have to make one herself. How would she find good adventurers? Well, obviously she needed information.

Now she could have bought that, but unlike Mr. Moneybags Seth Smith she lacked the necessary funds or connections to do so. Lynri could only fall back on borrowed relationships and ask the Lord for his help in the matter.

It was getting time for the Warrior Nun to assemble her own Party.

--------------------Delta---------------------

The freezing cold could not yet reach the depth where Minas Mar was standing, but the city above was covered in thick snow and an unnatural cold.

Delta was used to lower temperatures and harsh winters before the apocalypse. It was the activity of the volcano that had given them an almost summerly temperature all year round. The prices of warm clothes were on the rise.

On that note, Minas Mar's investment in Neeco Boos bore unprecedented fruits as he and Wedan could use much of the stored monster furs to fashion winter clothes.

Monique was a lot more comfortable being the substitute tower master when she didn't have to deal with a terrible disaster. Still, she was suffering as she sat in her office plagued by paperwork.

"Monique, I have to talk with you about something." suddenly entered the office.

Evee's arrival was like the sun on a cloudy day, a chance to put away the cumbersome work.

"I might have an explanation for the drop in temperature!" she said proudly.

Many were looking for an explanation for the sudden winter. The most obvious explanation would have been that something was wrong with the volcano, which created the warm climate in the first place. But it wasn't the volcano suddenly calming down.

The staff of the empire had checked, and the fire mountain was as active as ever. All other explanations also fell short as nothing could be checked or proven.

Evee had been in charge of the tower's operations, how would she know what caused the cold?

"Look here!" the immortal witch said and put a stack of papers in her face.

Monique grunted. "Ugh, more paper..." she lamented in her mind.

"It's the output from our mana gathering formations. We have been gathering more mana, despite not increasing the performance." Evee explained.

"What are you on about?" Monique asked cluelessly.

"It means the mana density in the air has increased. Do you remember when Drosi explained about mana collecting? It can also change the climate and lower the temperature of a place. I think this is happening."

Monique rubbed her eyes.

"But why would that happen? Are you sure? The people from the empire would have definitely found something if it was something like that."

"It might be too little for them to notice right now. We have huge mana collectors. It's easier to find a small change gradual change like this. I have been observing the change over the last few days and checked the data of the last weeks. The mana in the air is very slowly rising. " the young woman showed Monique the statistics as proof.

"Okay, but what causes the rise in mana?" the substitute tower master asked.

"I don't know." Evee shrugged. "We should inform the empire and see if they have an answer."

"No need. I have an answer." a third person suddenly interrupted.

Still with some snowflakes on her shoulder, in clothes that became even more revealing from the cold, Al'Zalsar stepped into the office. It seemed that she had just ported back to Minas Mar from outside. Her face was locked in a displeased scowl.

"A-Al! You know what is going on?"

"Yeah, some scoundrel set up something like a mana gather formation at one of the higher peaks of the mountain range. I can see it from the flow of mana and with Evee data I have proof, that it's crazily condensing huge amounts of energy."

"Why do you think there is someone behind this?" Monique asked disturbed.

"A change like this is not natural, not in such a short amount of time."

"Then we have to tell the empire as soon as possible!" Evee insisted.

"It might be too late. Until those dweebs checked our assumption and take action, we might the city above might be buried below a glacier. My little cuties are already freezing and wearing thick clothes. How am I to enjoy my off time like this? I can't accept such provocation. I will personally bring justice to the one responsible."

Evee and Monique felt a little awkward. So this was the reason the great sorceress suddenly moved. Someone had messed with her "business" in the red-light district.

"Errm, how about this...? While you go and deal with the offender, Evee will inform the empire officials about what is going on. Sounds good?"

"Do whatever you want. I just came to inform you of my departure. I might be gone for a few days."

With that, the sorceress left the office followed by the stumped looks of the other two.