Blacksmith of the Apocalypse

Laying in his bed, Seth sorted his thoughts about this journey. After a good night's sleep, he was too lazy to get out of bed, but his mind was clear and kept wandering back to it, so he decided to consider the result of this quest.

The blacksmith still felt like crying when he thought of all the common souls he had to pay for the final step of his plan to work. The worst was that this fight had not even ended the problem, as Sigma was still connected to the Beyond. Who knew what those things would be up to in the future?

Sigma was not the only problem. Gamma was turning into a land of the dead and they didn't even manage to take a look at Omega, the district furthest north. Taking into account that this place also immediately wiped out Starta villages, he couldn't be any better than Sigma.

There was a lot to worry about in the north and the refugees from Sigma were a whole other matter. All of that and the Age of God could be added on top of it.

However, he tried to look at it from the positive side. All of this was not necessarily something he had to solve, right? He decided to leave this troublesome stuff to someone made for it. Leana was definitely able to deal with this.

On a brighter note, what did he gain?

Obviously, there were the seven Dragon Scales. The whole reason for this debacle. There was also the unexpected gain of the carapace of Scorpio and the additional blessings of the gods he met.

Speaking of materials, he had also managed to get his hands on the bodies of some special flying beasts, some special, and a good amount of rare souls from the 24th Ethnarch.

He also gained a bunch of stats and mana through Ravenous Sog and quite a few of is skills improved. The bard also gained a better understanding of his current prowess.

As he finally had the chance, he checked his skills. Skill sometimes came with perks when they leveled up and one especially caught his attention. When he first got his class, this was one of the skills he looked forward to the most, but he had almost forgotten about it, because it took so long and cost a lot to level it.

<Soul Trade lv. 3>

Why did this skill catch his attention now again? Because the perk that was activated on level three was like sending charcoal in snowy weather.

Soul Trader: You are able to seal souls into soul contracts and trade them with other Soul Traders.

It was one of the perks he had expected from <Soul Trade> from the very beginning. Now paying souls to high-ranking demon entities to improve skill effects was not his only option anymore. With Soul Trader he would be able to source and sell souls locally with other soul traders if he found some.

The knowledge pertaining these soul contracts was naturally injected into him through the skill. It gave him the ability to use leather and ink to create a soul contract, that could act as a physical medium to store souls.

But most importantly it also gave him the ability to extract these souls from the soul contracts in his possession. If he could buy soul contracts from other soul traders, he would have a stable source of souls, without having to collect them himself.

He had items, he had gold. How great would it be if he didn't have to go to the field himself anymore and just trade with some demon to get his hands on souls?

If he looked at this sentence objectively, this didn't sound quite right, but he was too excited to really care about the acquisition methods of his business associates, for now.

In a good mood, Seth faced one of the biggest questions: What was he going to make out of the Dragon Scale and the Scorpion Carapace?

After his recent fight in Sigma, Seth had to admit that his current equipment did not make the cut anymore. The carapace was more than enough to make a full, sleek-looking set of plate armor and Seth could add the dragon scales in important places.

The blacksmith thought about the question of which items he would want to exchange. He started with those he would definitely keep, like The Gloves of the Firespirit, the Golden Fleece, and sky clothes. Technically everything else was up for an overhaul.

The only thing that made him feel apprehensive was the one effect he was unable to replicate. Curse: Reflect, the result of a very lucky and dangerous crafting process where he unknowingly used the cursed hide of the White Bull.

No matter how good the Wyvern Cuirass's effects were, it was lacking. Even as the Wyvern set. Despite the divine enchantment, the armor had come close to breaking. He didn't know where on the scale the 13th Ethnarch was, but with the Age of Gods more strong enemies would come.

He couldn't risk losing his life because he was unwilling to let go. The Wyvern set and other items had served him well. They had accompanied him for a long time, but he had to get used to the fact that it was time for a change.

Before he started designing his new armor, he got up and ready for the day. Although he really wanted to have a break before he jumped back into working, Seth couldn't help himself.

At this point, he had really become a blacksmith with heart and soul. To him, creating something new WAS something relaxing, even when it was taxing. Since Mina, Fin and the others weren't here, taking a real break didn't seem as enticing as it would have usually been.

"Seth, you are finally back?" Link greeted him happily.

The blacksmith greeted him back. They chatted a little, but the gourmet hunter already knew the gist of what happened from the other who returned before him. This time Seth didn't leave the monster corpses he brought back with the hunter.

From the flying beasts he brought with him he wanted to make golems in a similar way he made the Minotaur. Especially the griffins were enticing to him. But his armor came first.

After a meal, he went to the workshop, where he was greeted by Wedan and Hoen. The two dwarves were already working hard. Seeing the row of foundries Hoen had made, Seth remembered that he forgot to ask Mary how that idea of his was going.

But it could wait, the blacksmith had more interesting matters.

"Hey, you guys wanna see something really cool?" Seth asked with a mischievous smile.

"Did you bring back an interesting material?" Wedan asked with glittering eyes.

Hoen stayed silent but also looked interested. What dwarven craftsman could resist a new material? Seth brought out the chest Apollo had given him. It had already lost its luster, looking dark and old. He could read from their faces that the two dwarfs were not really impressed by the rusty chest.

However, their eyes ripped wide open and their jaws fell to the floor when he lifted the lid. Seth revealed a stack of pristine dragon scales neatly stored in the chest. The container had completely sucked up the curse that plagued them.

"A-Are those real?" Hoen asked with a shaking voice.

"It can be..." Wedan whispered bewildered.

"Yes, gentlemen. These are real legendary dragon scales. You can't imagine the ordeal I went through to get my hands on these." the bard bragged smugly.

"D-Did you come to make something using these?" Hoen couldn't help but stutter.

"Yeah, I plan to incorporate them in my new armor. I came to work on the blueprints."

""Can we watch?"" the two asked in sync with sparkling eyes.

Seth looked at them a little embarrassed. He really was only going to make the blueprints now, there was nothing much to see.

"How about this: I will call you when I start working on the armor and let you watch?" he suggested.

The two still seemed unwilling to leave but finally agreed and left his workshop after much persuasion. With the two gone, Seth could finally sit down and rack his brain on how exactly to continue from here.