Blacksmith of the Apocalypse

"M-My name is Albert. I'm the head researcher on topics concerning the Theocracy of Chains" the old man introduced himself shyly after Seth entered the research institute, following the princess.

"Seth Smith" the blacksmith introduced himself concisely and kept looking around.

This laboratory was squeaky clean. The walls were lined with big cupboards and apothecary cabinets with hundreds of drawers. the middle of the long room was filled with several worktables for different kinds of disciplines like alchemy or enchantments.

On a well-crafted stand in the center of one of them rested the staff Seth had lent them for research. Like that sword, the staff was made from one of the arms. Whereby the sword had the hand of the angel incorporated into the hilt, on the staff it was at the tip.

The body was a clean metal rod and it ended in a grotesque hand, tightly clenching an eyeball. It was one of the angel's violet glowing eyes Seth had turned into the wizard staff's nucleus.

Albert proudly explained their research results to him and the princess.

"First of all, the staff has no negative impacts on the user. The powers we were able to confirm were as follows:

A 35% increase in the power of magic, which rises to 65% in the case of crowd control spells. In addition, it grants the magics of metalification, Levitation, Skill inhibition, Berserk, and Enslavement with variating chances of success. Here we wrote it all down for you." he said friendly and gave Seth a few documents.

"Can I take it back now?" Seth asked the excited-looking older man.

"Of course, of course It's your item after all. If it's not too much to ask, are you may be planning to leave another item like this with us?" he asked almost enthusiastic.

He looked a little disturbed at the man. Was it really okay to leave this thing here? The people seemed to be a little too into their work. Still, he brought out the mask made from the angel's distorted face.

"Be careful with this one. The mask still holds the being's consciousness. There is no telling what it might do to someone that dares to wear it." Seth handed it over with a warning after pocketing the staff.

All the other items had already gone through a field test and the blacksmith was sure that his own people could help complete the system's info sheet. The mask was the only thing he did not want to risk anything on.

When it ended up being a cursed item with a detrimental effect, he would rather have someone else suffer the consequences.

They finally left after Seth answered some of the researcher's questions pertaining to the process of smithing it. In the hallway outside Leana took up the word.

"Do you have anything planned for tomorrow? It will still take some time until we have processed the aftermath. I would like to invite you and Mina and Fin to a meal in the city."

Seth thought for a moment. He really had nothing planned. There were still a few things he had to deal with in Chrona but they could probably wait until later.

"Sure, I will speak with Mina and Fin."

"Thank you. Okay, I still have things to do, you don't need me to find your room, right?"

"I can find it on my own, go take care of your business," he answered and quickly stood alone in the hallways.

He and Mina had made up some of the lost time, he had a huge meal, now he wanted to go and meet his friends. Since the other members of Minas Mar that came along to Chrona should be at the guest mansions, he walked in that direction.

About halfway out he suddenly met Yvette walking towards him. She seemed a little stuffy and out of breath. He halted and waited for her to reach him.

"Hah hah! I finally found you! D-did you forget already? I have to reapply the blessing! Did you already forget?" she asked him.

"Shi- I almost did, let's hurry."

The blacksmith and the beauty looked for the next best open room where they could be alone to talk.

"Hurry, take it out," she said hushed.

An observer might have thought they were up to something nefarious, but the items Seth took out were actually the dragon scales from Keväti Kuinen. A corrosive dark smoke was released by the 7 scales he brought with him.

"Just in time. Quick now." Seth urged.

"What a pain. Just don't forget our deal," she complained.

The deal she was talking about had been the only way for him to take the scale along. It was in the treasury of the Dragon Tower. He had been wracking his brain to come up with a way to take along the dragon scales when he remembered Yvette's ritual in the misty city.

After some back and forth with the saintess, he found out that although she couldn't lift the curse she was able to use Samhach's Blessing to keep it dormant. This way he was at least able to touch them and take them along in the inventory.

There was only one drawback. Yvette needed to use a great deal of her power to bless the dragon scales, but the blessing only helped for slightly more than a day. Which meant she had to reapply it daily.

And this only allowed him to touch and store them, he could not process them into an item like this. In the end, her blessing was a way to buy time until he found a way to lift the curse completely. Until then, he would need the help of the saintess.

It was not free, however. In exchange, he promised to help Yvette in the future. The blacksmith promised her new equipment, a Sky Robe, and new staff. In addition, he promised to use Minas Mar's influence to help her in setting up a church for Samhach in Delta. Especially this seemed very important to the priestess.

It was not necessarily cheap, but nobody knew how long it would take to find a way to lift the curse. Until then she would have to reapply the blessing daily for him. On top of that, she even gave him her share of the mithril gates.

Nobody contested him for the ownership of the hoard, since they couldn't have so much as touched it, if he wasn't there. This left the <Dragon Gold> and <Dragon Silver> mostly in his hands, except for Polter's share he deserved as his helper at the furnace.

It was different for the mithril gates. They had not been cursed, so they would be shared among the party. Seth was currently holding onto them, but he would have to split them up later. At that time, Seth was thinking of renegotiating everything.

Yvette already left her part for him. Ellie also had little interest in a giant hunk of metal. Brock and Marcel, he could probably reimburse with equipment in exchange, and he hoped he could do the same with some of the others.

Although mithril was "only" a rare material, how often would one get the chance to acquire such a huge mass of it? Especially since his demand for material had grown since he started working on golems.

Yvette took the dragon scales and started arduously chanting for several minutes. A pale gray light descended onto the scales, slowly suppressing the dark mist until the scales became dormant again.

"Maybe I should simply leave the scales with you until I found a way to lift the curse," he uttered his sudden idea.

"Are you sure you want to leave those with me?" she asked unsurely.

"Of course. It's not like you have any reason to run away with it." Seth wiped away her reservations. He was honest here. The Saintess had no use of her own for the scales, and she probably wouldn't find someone who gave her a better price. He also trusted her character. She was wrestling with herself before she came to a decision.

"Fine... I will return them whenever you want," she said confidently.

Seth nodded and left the room. Mina and Fin were probably already waiting for him at the mansion. His steps quickened and he hurried to meet his friends after almost a month.