Blacksmith of the Apocalypse

After the quick introduction, Una could not be held anymore and she went to look for Karina. Seth didn't know how, but the humanoid easily found her way to the dryad, like a dog following a trace of smell.

While the female had completely shifted gears and was freely moving around below the crown of the Hangingtree, Tearlach on the other hand kept looking up at the tree in worry.

He and Seth followed the excited Una slowly from behind. The blacksmith did not think they would do any harm, but he thought it would be better if he stayed with them and kept an eye on the situation.

From what he heard, he had concluded that these horned people and Karina probably fell into a similar class of creatures. Nobody could guarantee how they would react to Karina, a creature they had never seen.

Karina was important, he could risk them acting out. However, Seth's worries were unfounded. As they got closer to the tree, they found Karina, still meditating.

Sitting between the roots of the giant tree with her eyes closed, the dryad did not notice the arrival of visitors. Uno stopped at a distance and looked at Karina with widened eyes.

"Look, Look, Tearlach, she is really part of the tree!" she exclaimed as they caught up with her.

"..Yes, it's like an externalized Ego in its own body, fascinating. Did you call it a dryad? Urth had really changed if being like this can be born." the male said beside him.

The two kept looking at the silent Karina as if they saw more than him and talking about things Seth could not quite follow. He felt a little left out, but he didn't mind, as it seemed that they did not intend to do any harm.

Contrary, especially Tearlach seemed to have stopped worrying about the looming tree above them. Despite not understanding what they were thinking, Seth waited because Karina was supposed to finish soon.

As the day grew darker, someone from the Oathguard brought them food and Seth got into a conversation with the two newcomers. He simply answered non-committal questions about the current world. He still avoided finding out about them, in fear of a weird quest.

"So, you are telling me humans created a civilization without magic?" Tearlach asked in wonder. It seemed unfathomable to him.

"I would say humans are better off in a world without magic," Seth answered pondering.

He was thinking of the other world he had visited and those he heard of. There was no denying that Chrona was incredibly advanced, but before the system was implemented, many worlds were like medieval rural areas or had many of those.

Magic often hindered technological progress because there was always a spell that could do the same thing, so why bother? It even risked the standing of mages and nobles. The problem was that not everyone had the talent to use magic, so commoners were left behind in a world of magic.

Of course, this was the case for worlds functioning without the interference of the system god. The playing field is slightly leveled with the system, but even then old societal and hierarchical structures would stay and be supported by respective classes.

Or in the case of Spatia, the old class system was substituted by a new class system, literally based on the classes of players. That was what Seth heard from Leana and read about in the imperial library.

That was why the blacksmith thought, that humans were probably better off without magic. Was it perfect? No. But technology could help everyone the same. Knowledge was universal. Talent for magic wasn't.

Without magic, the world was also a lot safer. There were no terrifying monsters, no mass-murdering mages, and no fear of immortal tyrants.

He explained a little about it to the humanoids, who fell silent after he gave them his analysis. It was like a culture shock to them, that humans were better off if they didn't live the way the two were used to.

"Seth? What is going on?" a voice stirred the silence.

Karina had finally finished and opened her eyes. She looked at the two horned humanoid questioningly, as if asking the blacksmith for an introduction.

"Oh, right. These are Una and Tearlach, time travelers from the past. They were dungeon bosses, but -"

Seth was interrupted by Una suddenly taking Karina's hand and staring into her eyes with excitement.

"Please, help us have a child!" the horned female dropped a bomb.

Karina looked to Seth, seeking help. The blacksmith could only sigh.

…

It was night when they finally finished their explanation. The children of the horned one were children of earth and nature. They chose their partners for life, but falling in love among each other was uncommon and normally avoided.

The reason was that, although they could have offspring with those of other races, the horned ones were unable to conceive children among each other. However, Una and Tearlach did not accept this and kept trying, without success.

No matter how often they tried, Una could on give birth to stone, not life.

In the end, they chose to turn to stone and keep each other company for eternity in soothing slumber. Until they were reawakened by the dungeon, looking for a new boss after the chimeras cleared it. They only agreed because the dungeon offered the mysterious means to try and create children.

Methods and a magic system they had never heard of. They made an agreement with the dungeon to work as dungeon boss and master if it could help them have a child. But just like their own attempts, all of them were failures.

Twisted stone monsters that moved, but lacked life and souls. They were just animated by the dungeon's energy. It was more a mockery of their inability than a help. When Seth came along, they took the first chance to break the agreement and left.

They had realized that the world had changed and decided to look for a way to conceive a child in this new world. It was not apparent when they heard about a creature like a dryad, but when Una spotted Karina, she was immediately sure that the dryad could help or be used as a reference.

Seth didn't really understand their leap of logic, that the dryad born as a tree-consciousness would be able to help them ave a child... Karina also seemed unable to quite follow their logic.

Fortunately, the couple seemed to understand, that they couldn't quite get where they were coming from and stopped speaking gibberish.

"It doesn't matter, as long as you allow us to stay with and study you. We won't do anything to hurt her." Una told the last part to Seth.

The blacksmith looked a Karina, who was confused but didn't seem to be against it. At least there was no quest for him to explore some dark secrets of the ancient Urth. It was just them tagging along and observing Karina.

"I will allow it, just make sure you don't get in the way of the expedition and do your part in protecting it." he finally concluded.

There was no reason to deny the couple their wish for a child. Against his worries, the journey turned out to be calm. At least there were no problems caused by the two boss-tier humanoids. The couple actually quite helpful, as their physical prowess alone was enough to spot and decimate a lot of the beasts that had settled in the vicinity.

Quicker than the expedition, they didn't even need mounts. They simply kept running and jumping along the expedition, like frolicking mountain goats. Their presence made the journey easy on the members of Minas Mar and the two additions rose in popularity among them.

Una was quite beautiful and found many fans among the male singles in the Oathguard, calling her a tall queen. Tearlach had slightly fewer fans, which could only be blamed on the higher ratio of men in the Oathguard.

If this went on, Seth would be getting ideas. Like taking the couple back home and marketing the two as an idol couple in Delta. Although it did not work on Seth, the two seemed to have a charisma that made people like them.

If he used them to advertise for Minas Mar in Delta then... no, he couldn't be swayed by monetary baits. At least not yet. Yes, even if they triggered a quest, if it happened after he finished his search for Hyperboreas, he wouldn't mind.

The blacksmith squinted. The thought of not minding a quest had made him suspicious. Had he changed, or was he not as immune to their charisma as he thought? He made a mental note, that he would NOT get any further involved with the two.