Blacksmith of the Apocalypse

It had really become a legendary item... and it had the right to be called that in Seth's opinion. At this point, Forgeright did not only augment all his basic blacksmith skills, but also the more magical like Enchantment and his demonic ones like forging ballads.

Ögunn's influence had further improved it in a direction where it fit better with a demonic bard who specialized in forging weapons like himself. With Wraithguard and Forgeright, he now has a pair of gauntlets that augmented all his major crafting skills.

"Seth are you in?"

The blacksmith was still marveling at his second legendary item when someone's calling broke the moment. He looked over and found Evee standing at the door.

"What's up?"

"Al'Zalsar sent a message that she "finished" what you asked her to do."

The blacksmith's eyes lit up. Although she kept it vague, this had to be about the way to refine <Ithildin> on Urth. Although he had an ungodly amount, for now, Seth was still interested in refining some native to his home world.

Since the moon silver could have slightly varying properties based on the moon of the world it comes from, Seth wanted to see what difference there would be between imported and locally produced materials.

Unfortunately, he had already used the <Ithildin> of the Spear of Bitter Mercy earlier and didn't have the chance to compare it to the stuff Polter had sent. But now, if Al found a way to make some on Urth, he could have two options when using <Ithildin>.

It was like having four kinds of epic metal he could constantly produce himself. What blacksmith wouldn't want that? He hesitated for a moment, looking at the glove in his hand. Seth really wanted to try it and continue with the Gloves of the Fire Spirit, but he ultimately decided that they could wait.

"I will go to Delta and visit Al," he informed Evee.

"Ah, before you go, do you have any idea what is going on with these two..?" Evee hurriedly asked before he could teleport away.

She pointed to the hallway outside. Following the direction she was pointing, he could hear the two sounds of hammers striking metal from outside. He realized that she was talking about the dwarfs. Stepping outside he took a look.

In his workshop, Hoen was wildly hammering a blade on his anvil into shape. Wedan on the other hand seemed to be sculpting a whole armor suit in his workshop. Both had crazed and absolutely focused looks on their faces.

"They should be in a state of inspiration. Just leave them alone and they lose their steam, it won't harm them," the blacksmith reassured the immortal witch.

"...I see."

Evee didn't really seem to understand what he said, but it was enough to calm her. With that, Seth teleported to the hub in the System Church. The place was not as lively as before but still packed with people.

Minding his own business, Seth weaved through the crowd and out to the streets. His legs carried him quickly towards the red light district in anticipation. That sounded wrong, but he couldn't help that Al'Zalsar had built her base there.

…

When he rang the doorbell the door immediately opened. He caught the sorceress in one of the attentive moments. Who knew how long he would have had to wait in front of the door if she had been occupied by one of her experiments?

"You are really fast when it's about something you want," she greeted him without looking up.

He had instinctively walked to her lab, where she was standing bent over a desk full of plans and blueprints. In this position, her usually revealing attire revealed even more. Despite knowing her body quite well and the consequences that came with the act, he couldn't help but gulp.

"Did you bring my payment?"

"Did you really finish the method to create <Ithildin> ?"

"hmm? Oh, that. Yeah, weeks ago. I already improved on it and even found a way to kill two birds with one stone. But first, show me the goods."

With a nod, he handed her an inconspicuous black suitcase. When she opened it, her face was enveloped in a bright golden glow from the <Dragon Gold> inside. For a moment, the eyes of the sorceress seemed to glow even brighter than the gold, but it was probably just a reflection.

"Now give me the refinement method."

She threw a small scroll at him. He didn't wait around and immediately read it. Like with <Olympian Silver> and <Bones of Seth>, the method to refine <Ithildin> became part of the material description.

"What is this? How am I supposed to do this?" he exclaimed frustrated.

The method to create <Ithildin> was extremely complicated. It was not as easy as asking a god to bless some iron at the cost of some materials. It needed an extremely complex formation, in a special auspicious place. To make it worse, it would take several months to form only a small amount of the material.

"Stop whining. Didn't I say I already came up with a way to improve it? Come here and take a look," she said and stepped to the side.

She prompted him to take a look at the blueprints on the desk. They were detailed sketches of the Floating Isles above Delta and plans for many kinds of formations on their surface.

"What is this?" Seth asked concerned. Just what was this crazy lich planning?

"Didn't I say it's a way to kill two birds with one stone? Mary kept going on and on about the officials of Delta asking for an explanation concerning the flying islands. Since your stupid government managed to pull itself together lately, they are asking me to "take responsibility"."

She put the last part in air quotes and scoffed. When she was looking to improve the yield of the formation to create <Ithildin>, she found that the only way was to increase the size and power. At that point, she added one and one together.

The plans on the desk were the detailed plan for a defense work based on the using the floating isles, their positioning, and course.

"We can sell this to them as a way to "take responsibility" for blowing up their precious mountains, But underneath the surface is the formation to create <Ithildin> with the power collected through the Floating Archipelago Formation, as I call it. With thee we can create at least one ton of <Ithildin> every month," she explained proudly.

Seth stared at her. He stared at the plans. He stayed silent for a full minute and took a deep breath.

"You know what? Go for it. If we can really get them to agree to this, all the better."

"As for the money and materials..." Al'Zalsar mumbled.

"Speak with Mary. I'm sure we can make Delta pay at least a part for this. After all, it is something that will be able to protect the city without relying on the technology of the empire."

Seth was sure they could fleece the city and not just the city, maybe even the empire. Since Chrona followed the policy of self-reliance, Leana might be tempted to invest in a local defense work. It could relieve some pressure from the empire's facilities here.

"Of course, you did put some fail safes in, right?" Seth ascertained.

"Who are you talking to? Of course."

Neither spoke out what they thought, but they were in silent agreement. In these matters, they were on the same wavelengths, which was probably one of the reasons Al'Zalsa still stuck around. Everyone needed a comfy home with people they liked.

"Oh right, what happened to the guy you captured? How's your research in that regard?"

"I'm mostly done with him. I didn't have much time because of your request, so it stagnated."

"So no funny new method to become strong any time soon?"

"Nope, you will have to give me a few months."

"Good, good, just make sure he doesn't die. I have a hunch it might be important in the long run."

"A hunch, huh?"

"Yeah..."

They talked for a while before Seth returned to Minas Mar. The day was getting late, but Seth didn't feel like waiting for tomorrow. He got something to eat from the canteen and got on his way to the workshops where he found two completely exhausted dwarfs slouched over their anvils.

Even though they lost consciousness from fatigue, they could be proud of the items laying beside them. He put them both on the ground and draped some blankets over them. They would probably sleep all the way till morning.