Blacksmith of the Apocalypse

That day he only finished five weapons, which was still quick, but slow for his own rate. He quickly found out, that his first success was not easily repeatable. The other four weapons, a mace, a spear, and two daggers were epic.

They had similarly high base stats, but they lacked something to become a relic. Maybe Seth's concentration had waned a little after the sword. If this was true, Seth might start making only one weapon a day, as the epic-rated ones did not do a lot for his proficiency.

Didn't Mary say that scarcity increased the demand?

Instead, he could spend his days practicing music. After all, this was the skill he would have to rely on. The advice of the beggar had finally pushed him to go with this hunch.

When he researched about Apollo, he found that they had a lot in common, except that he was a blacksmith, the only skill that was blocked for him on this quest.

Apollo used a lyre, like him. Apollo used a bow, like him. Apollo fought a giant snake, like him (technically). Apollo appreciated the free arts, which Seth somewhat counted to. This had to be the reason why his sponsors had backed this quest.

Maybe he could gain Apollo's blessing if he pandered to him enough. There was another reason why Seth wanted to solve it with music. He started noticing it during this quest when he was focusing on the music.

Although he had intermittently made a song for forging, he had never seen himself as a musician. This had started to change. Not just during the weeks he spend in Keväti Kuinen, but in the months prior when he practiced music with Oz.

If he wanted to impress Apollo, it would not be enough to just cover songs of other people. The bard had to write his own songs but for that, he would have to explore his own music. Although he was able to sing demonic ballads and now even normal songs, none of them were music he would ever listen to in his free time.

Since everyone was in the dungeons, Seth was alone in the evening. He did something that he couldn't remember when he did it the last time. He sat in the living room and simply listened to music.

It had actually taken him quite a bit of time and money to find his stuff without the internet. While most electronics work in Delta and the basic functions of phones worked, the internet was unavailable which made a lot of things he was used to hard to get by.

After testing around a little in the following days, Seth restricted himself to making only two to three weapons a day and spent the rest of his free time working on his music. He also started to visit the bard college again.

This time it was not to scour the library for useful songs but to further master his <Demon Language>. Although he did not meet any resistance from the demons or faculty, the only people that interacted with him regularly were the mantis-like music teacher and Ember, the demon girl he befriended.

Seth couldn't really blame them, as the blacksmith also didn't really put any effort into connecting with the demons. He only visited the few classes of interest or went straight to the library to look for things.

This was also because he was not really interested in the musical part beforehand. It was the music teacher that suggested he should also visit other classes that helped with lyric composition and songwriting.

If he wanted to grow as a musician, despite not knowing much of the basics, it was a good idea to start by visiting these classes and deepen his knowledge.

Since he never visited a lot of classes despite being a student here, many people had forgotten that there was a human at their college. His showing up at classes more often reminded people again and he was the center of attention, though nobody approached him with hostility.

Time had passed but the lesson he taught last time was still a reminder for them to keep their distance.

Besides training his skills, he also wanted to raise his levels, to improve <Spirit Smithy>. However, things were not as easy as they once were. More people reached higher levels and more guilds had grown in Delta.

He and the Turquoise Anvil were not innocent of the growth of adventurers in Delta. The tournament had brought in quite a few people that grew to become household names in the city's current Adventurer scene.

And obviously, their supply of weapons to the paying customers also played a part in it. The inevitable outcome was that people the demand for the dungeons rose and dungeon runs had to be booked in advance.

Seth could not randomly show up at the dungeon of his choice and kill his way through it. Minas Mar had some exclusive rights because of their standing and the role they played in the emergency relief after the tournament.

Even those, were mostly booked by Minas Mars regular teams from the Oathguard. As Seth planned to visit the dungeons with his golems, and not with any of the teams, he had to deal with limited access.

Although Seth's progress was slightly hampered, everything else was going well. The new tokens were well received by the customers and the potion strategy was also gaining track. The blacksmith had already drunk his first potion, gaining five points in Strength, Dexterity, Agility, and Endurance.

Seth's sanguine silver weapons did not immediately find their way into the shop. Instead, they were, similar to the potions, used as incentives for loyal members of Minas Mar. Bit by bit, the Oathguard's old weapons would be phased out and sold in the store.

In the same sense as the potions, these blooddrinker weapons could greatly help the members grow, independently from their level. The impact of strength above one's level was not to be underestimated. Although they had no enemies for now, who knew when they would have to fight other players?

It was not outside their expectations, that people would covet their wealth or the new trade route they were establishing. This made their plans to make it truly exclusive even more important.

The planning for the hangingtree's involvement was mostly done. Soon an expedition team would set off. Team Three would set off with Karina and meet up with the chimeras in the city of Nas'Korn.

The plan was for the dryad to lead the roots along the trade route and grow offshoots along the route in places for potential camping sites. Who would be able to content for it, when they controlled and protected all waypoints in this manner?

It was another reason Seth wanted to quickly level up and improve the <Spirit Smithy>. He had offered the Golems as a way to protect the trade route in addition to the trees. That was why he wanted the golem forge as soon as possible.

It sounded like a way to quickly produce strong golems, instead of tediously crafting them by hand. He had a specific vision in regards to the Trade Route Protectors but the gods knew, that he didn't want to do them all one by one by hand.

If what Ceres told him was true, he would be able to use blueprints in conjunction with the golem forge and would only have to provide the materials for production.

Concerning the elemental, Seth had put Ceres on standby until he actually affirmed that its information was true. Before he was sure that the elemental had spoken the truth he didn't want to give it a body.

For now, he held more interest in improving his basic skills. With a sturdy foundation, he would be able to reach greater heights in the future.