Blacksmith of the Apocalypse

The sorceress had acted with their good in mind and Seth felt his heart warm with gratitude. Not too much though, since she kept him here primarily to study him. The sorceress had unimaginable methods to treat her enemies, stuff Seth couldn't dare to imagine. And he didn't feel like finding out, so he didn't ask to see the man.

"I understand. Thank you, Al. A legend, hmm? You still can't explain to me about legends, right?"

The sorceress opened her supple mouth but grimaced before she could speak up.

"Nope, your level is still too low. But I might be able to tell you about what I found out about their power system," she proposed.

According to the sorceress, people of that world found a method to convert mana into something they call Qi and absorb it into their bodies. By condensing this energy within their body and amassing it, they were able to create techniques to improve their bodies and use something akin to magic.

"Their equivalent of a legend is called becoming an immortal. It's very similar to becoming a legend as it entails a huge jump in power, an extended life span, and rejuvenation. However, the path is completely different. Hmm, as I thought. The system did not act up to stop me from telling you this way." she mused.

An immortal, now that sounded a lot different from a legend. Seth still had little to no concept of what it meant, however, Al'Zalsar was not a legend and was already this powerful...

"Is it really alright to keep someone this dangerous alive?" Seth asked a little worried. Their last fight crushed mountains, what if he somehow got out and started rampaging in the city?

"Oh, don't worry about that. Although their system is very ingenious, it is also fragile. You should have seen him completely dissolve into a hysteric mess when I broke the condensed energy nucleus in his abdomen." she said with an almost smug face.

"So, what are you currently working on? If their system is fragile, is there a meaning in adapting it?" Seth asked out of curiosity. He wouldn't reject ways to gain strength but had enough on his plate already. If it was really that fragile, was it worth the time?

Someone who had almost reached the peak lost all his power after losing just one fight. This might be a worse fate than simply being killed in combat.

"No, it's not possible to adapt it in the first place. That was one of the things I looked into first. The system rejects Qi, however, the knowledge I gained from him allowed me to make an advancement in understanding and adapting the books Master Mountain left with us. Although we can't use Qi, the concepts should be adaptable to the system, but I am still at the very start of this research..." she explained.

Silence reigned for a moment.

"Anyway, we roughly covered what I did, now it's your turn. What happened during the evaluation?" the sorceress finally spoke up.

Seth had some practice with telling his story, having just yesterday repeated it a few times during the welcome party.

"A zombie dragon?" her eyes glinted when Seth finally reached the grand finale.

She had shown no great interest in the deeds of a crazy sun god and only mild interest when he mentioned the Koor Worm. Senior White Snake had the sorceress lift her eyebrows, but only the zombie Dragon really got her attention.

The corpse of an ancient dragon, even this former ancient lich would have coveted such a subordinate. The bard had brought along the recording of their journey and the final fight, a courtesy by Shawn.

The cursed dragon treasure on the other hand left the sorceress cold. She was not very interested in riches. He mentioned the cursed dragon scales but Al seemed unfazed by the fact that he managed to sneak out some legendary material,

Along with Natina's escape, Seth also purposefully mentioned that she might come at them for revenge, which had the lusty witch's eyes shine like searchlights. It was a not-so-subtle hint that she might get the chance to acquire that dragon some day in the future.

If Al'Zalsar was really able to strike it down, Seth was willing to concede the corpse to her, as long as she protected Minas Mar.

Lastly, they talked a little about what came afterward. Him looking for a way to uncurse the dragon scales, the award ceremony, the emperor's advice, and the weapons he finally chose in the end.

"Hmm, that emperor is quite crafty." the sorceress commented.

"What do you mean?" Of course, Seth was sure the emperor was very crafty but didn't know his goals.

"One could say, that setting you on the tracks to inherit your predecessor's skills and history, is also a way to help you onto the path to becoming a legend." she cringed during the last part as if she was hit by a sudden headache.

"How bothersome. You should hurry and increase your level, so we can talk freely about these topics," she said with annoyance.

"I was going to do that, anyway. To improve the <Spirit Smithy> and to prepare for my divine quest." he agreed with her.

"Although I might have been able to help you with the curse, it's better if you can solve your trouble with Apollo that way. Although gods do a lot for entertainment, there might be some better reason for why they chose this route for you.

And it means I don't have to waste my time on your business. I'm still occupied researching this foreign energy."

"hmm, since you have time, there is actually something I wanted to request from you," Seth admitted.

It was a thought he had after talking with Polter and his grandfather about <Ithildin>. Technically, it should be possible to create the material from <Mithril> on any world that had a moon. The properties would slightly change depending on the moon and method.

Although Seth now had a steady source for <Ithildin>, the material he got from Polter was different from the one Forgebrand used for his items and it was different from the <Faulty Ithildin> he had looted from the Theocracy of Chains' stronghold.

"I hope you could help me find the method to refine <Ithildin> on Urth. I am almost certain the <Faulty Ithildin> was made here, so it might help you quicken the research," he concluded after explaining his thoughts.

The prospect of not starting from zero did not improve her expression. Al'zalsar was looking at him with a dark face. However, he had already known that the sorceress would not be too happy about his proposal.

That was why the blacksmith purposefully left out the creation of <Dragon Gold> and <Dragon Silver> when telling about the dragon hoard.

Now, he brought forward a bar of each and put them on the table between them.

"What is that?" she asked displeased.

"Try appraising it," he answered smugly.

Al'Zalsar's eyes widened when she saw that it was not simply ordinary gold and silver he had put on the table.

"Where did you get this?" she asked surprised.

"I made it. I smelted the dragon's whole hoard and this was the result of purifying it in the furnace. I don't ask you to do it for free. I offer you a quarter of all the <Dragon Gold> and <Dragon Silver> I managed to bring back."

Seth was sure that he didn't have to explain to the Sorceress, who was a dragon expert. A material dragons would show great interest in would be a great bait to lure one into her trap. After all, her ultimate goal was to slay a dragon.

Thanks to her goal it was not only a good bait for dragons but also a great bait for the sorceress herself. Even if the method to create the magical silver was quite the high price.

"Half." she took the bait was intent to haggle, despite not knowing how much it would be in the end.

Now, Seth had come back with a boatload of these materials, after converting the Hoard of an ancient dragon into metal ingots. He had more than enough of the silver and gold that he could have comfortably agreed to give her half. Still, he couldn't just give it to her. Otherwise, she might have thought it was cheap.

"A third of the gold and silver in exchange for the method to create <Ithildin> on Urth." he finally offered after acting as if he had to think hard about it.

"... Deal." the sorceress agreed begrudgingly. Having to set aside the things she wanted to study and waste time on researching something she had no interest in was a high price, but it seemed that she found it worth it, in the end.