Blacksmith of the Apocalypse

Seth now had to decide what to do next, between the pauldrons and the gorget. The parts were mostly finished. All that was left were assembly, adjustment, and enchantment for both of them.

After some pondering, he decided to first make the gorget and then make sure to pauldrons fit the cuirass and gorget. He started off by marking out the area for the demonic etching. Befitting the demon it was dedicated to, he wanted to arrange it as a decorative collar.

The demon in question was Phenex, a great demon of poetry. With how much the bard had found about this demon in the bard college's library, one could call this demon something like a patron saint of demonic bards.

Whenever a bard was stuck and needed the inspiration to write a song or poem, they would call upon Phenex and beg for advice. Seth had literally found thousands of pieces in the library. Of course, he didn't read all of them, only those fit for crafting until he decided on which to use.

The right setting, spacing, and aesthetic could not be underestimated when it came to demonic etchings, especially if they would also serve as a decorative ornament on the armor. During the channeling, the demon would see what the bard was doing and get an idea of what the plan was.

Depending on how much the demon like the work, it could lower the cost. It was quite similar to how during the Olympic enchantments, the gods would give better or worse blessings depending on whether they liked the item.

This was especially true with artistic demons like Ohenex, which was why Seth was especially meticulous. There were other demons with similar powers, but Seth liked Phenex for the same reason most other bards did. He could pay the demon up front and enjoy the effects without any further costs subscription costs.

A normal bard would sacrifice something depending on their deal with the demon. This could range from materials good to more incorporeal things. Obviously, Seth was paying in souls.

The poem he was etching was called literally just called The Phenex and was made up of a lot of praise for the demon. It was times when these greater beings took notice and looked over his shoulder when Seth really felt the difference between himself and the gods.

They were not like the self-proclaimed monsters from the beyond. Just their presence made clear that they existed on another plane. Now was one of those times, when he could feel the demon's eyes resting on his work, as he channeled its power and used <Soul Trade> to pay up.

A wave of relief washed over him when the presence finally vanished after finishing the etching. From what he could see, for now, it seemed to have been quite successful. He used a towel to wipe away some sweat and drank something.

The next steps were some complementary engravings and the complex engraving of willpower that would frame the poetic etching. He repeated the technique to use inlays from <Olympian Silver> and quickly finished the enchantment to start with the soul.

It was a shame that he was unable to find a fitting soul at Tano'Mol's Soul Emporium, which was why he almost bought a massive common soul until he saw the price. While the common and medium-sized ones were relatively cheap, the price jumped exponentially.

Seeing how a massive soul cost 20 gold, he rather opted to buy another 500 medium-sized souls for a fraction and fuse them together to get a massive common soul. Looking at the prices, if he ever had a problem with money, he could opt to simply refine souls and sell them.

After forging the common massive soul into a soul armament gorget, Seth got to the Olympian enchantment. It was called Mnemosyne's Gifts. Mnemosyne was the titan of memory and goddess of a river of the same name in the underworld.

Seth recently found out that she was also the mother of the Muses and one of the Elder Muses known as Song, Practice, and Memory. He was slightly ashamed that he seldom used the ring with her blessing.

Although her blessing had little to do with the fine arts, he hoped that her gifts would give something that fit the rest of the enchantment. Taking into account her standing as an elder muse, there was at least a chance.

The depiction of her Sigil gave him hope as it reminded him of a feather quill. As he engraved it rows of illegible text started covering the soul gorget, raising his hope. All that was left was infusing it and finishing the item.

<Ding! You have finished a legendary item! +1 to all attributes.>

<Ding! Several synergies of powers have changed your item.>

<Ding! Title: "Quick Hands" gained. "Your Dexterity has reached 200 Points" +2 Universal Attribute Points.>

No special notification about the synergies, but he had gained a new title. This was also good. He decided to store the two points for the time being, just like he did with the points he gained from the Trignis gloves.

Now it was time to check his gains.

<Girtab

Legendary

Scorpio Set 1/X

Phys. Def.:2500

Mag: Def:2400

Durability: 6666

1. 80% Damage Negation

2. Complete Weapon Damage Negation

3. +35% Spell Damage

4. +20% Damage in the Dark

5. +25 Agility

6. +5% Movement Speed

7. +40% Damage Reflection

8. +65 Willpower

9. Active Skill: Quick Tongue

10. Passive Skill: Persuasive Voice

11. Passive Skill: Apollo's Poetry

12. Passive Skill: Memorable Speech

13. Passive Skill: Inspiration of Phenex

Set Effects: To be updated.

Fourth part of a celestial set, planned and crafted by the gifted hands of Craftsman Smith.

Using divine and legendary materials, coupled with godly and demonic powers he created a piece

that is seeking its equal. An item any poet and spokesperson would desire, though a gorget would be a weird item for them to wear.

Requirements: Seth Smith>

There were several passive skills that would improve the practical usage of speechcraft. Persuasive Voice has a similar effect to <Voice of Seth>, making it easier to convince people based on the Personality attribute.

Memorable Speech struck a similar cord. The description was vague, but it talked about giving inspiration during speeches and making them linger longer in the mind of the listener. This seemed like a tame effect at first, but if one thought about it, it was a very powerful skill.

The longer a speech stayed in someone's mind, the easier it was for the word to convince them, given time.

Apollo's Poetry improved all lyrical skills like songwriting and poetry by 2 levels. It was a mirror to the Inspiration of Phenex which made writing artistic texts easier by giving random inspirations.

For a relatively small part of the armor, it featured some great effects pertaining his bardic class.

Equipping the cuirass, gorget, and vambraces to check that everything so far fit, he marveled at his image in the mirror. The dark armor with a red hue had a wicked charm with its sleek design. Despite the scorpion carapace making up the biggest part of the materials and being the main inspiration for the design, it still gave of the impression of a reptile.

The aura of the dragon scales was still so overpowering, that the armor reminded him of a part of a dragon, but it was so big, that the human brain cannot quite fathom what part of the giant creature it was looking at.

Very satisfied with his current progress, Seth decided to finish for the day. He was in quite a good mood when he left his workshop. After a moment he felt something was not right. He didn't quite know what. Was it one of his precognitive skills warning him?

No. it took another moment for him to realize what it was. The hallway was silent. Usually, it would be filled by the sounds of hammers this time around. Wedan and Hoen, the two dwarfs, were not working despite it only being early evening.

Slightly concerned he took a look at their workshops. He found the two sitting in Wedan's workshop with several bottles of booze and two giant tankards in their hands. What was going on?

"Are you two okay? Did something happen?" the blacksmith asked concernedly.

"Don't act like you actschually care...hick, about us." Wedan slurred in a drunken voice.

"Tower Master is susch a meanie..." Hoen added his important opinion just as drunk.

Seth had a hard time processing what they were talking about. Hoen sighed a woeful sigh and took a big swig of booze.

"Looka t this awesome armor and we weren't there to see it.." Wedan lamented. Seth was still wearing the armor.

"Those fine scalesch..."

"We will never shee it-Hick!" Wedan agreed with his drinking buddy.

They kept soaking in their own misery until Seth finally realized what they were on about. His heart fell when he finally remembered his promise. After bragging about his awesome dragon's scales to the two dwarfs, he had promised them to let them watch him when he processes them.

However, he had forgotten over planning out the armor and getting all the pieces needed. Seth had been working on the armor for a few days now, while the dwarfs had been marinating in sorrow that he had forgotten about them.

He felt bad, but what was he supposed to say to make them feel better? He went with the easiest way and told them the truth.

"I'm sorry, guys. I got too focused on the work and forgot my promise."

Seth knew that a simple apology wouldn't make everything okay again. His thoughts kept racing when a random inspiration hit.

"How about instead of watching me work on it, I let you guys help? How about some hands-on experience with legendary items?"

Once the pauldrons were done he would have to forge more composite material for the armor. Instead of using Cerberus as his assistant, he offered the dwarfs to help in. The blacksmith maniacs' eyes lit up in excitement when he explained it to them.