Blacksmith of the Apocalypse

With the Field teams, Chimeras, and Oathguard called back, Seth left the guests to their own devices while he finished his golems. Even if someone was plotting against them, he saw no reason not to pursue the perfect souls for his necklace.

Or rather, to get his hands on the ingredients to make the perfect soul. Yet, his thoughts kept analyzing their current situation. The adventurers had aptly proven that they sucked when it came to facing an army.

They had split their forces for their own vain greed and were in exchange picked off by the combined forces of the enemy army. Even the chosen ones were overwhelmed by enemy numbers.

Thinking about this made him glad that he had given everyone legendary items. The field teams were not as strong as chosen ones, but with their items and numbers, they had lasted long enough to trigger divine interventions.

On the other hand, Seth couldn't be sure that Gin's was a perfect truth. Just as the Adventurer Guild was not necessarily the one behind this, there was no telling how many members of the guilds and chosen ones had managed to survive their encounters.

The blacksmith really disliked these types of situations. Instead of coming up with some intricate scheme to deal with the situation, he rather wasted some time assembling everyone, so they could decide on what to do together.

In the end, it did not necessarily matter that Home Call was not working. Aside from the Oathguard and the Chimeras, there was nobody from Minas Mar present, weak enough to be in mortal danger. Even if all insect generals ambushed one of the groups, with the recent changes it was uncertain who would be the one retreating.

Each field team was now leading 80 Faer. Each field team now had chosen and blessed ones. Each member of the field teams had at least one legendary item. As expected, nothing big enough to hurt any of them happened and they returned to camp the quickest.

As the others were trickling back in, Seth's new scout golems set off to explore.

…

"Did you wait long?"

"Pardo, you are back. You were the last ones to return."

A few days later, Seth greeted the chimera leader, as the orc-headed bear entered the room. Like the Oathguard, the chimeras had been busy pacifying smaller dungeon territories. Although those places were now unprotected, there was nothing they could do about it.

Facing the hive and the orc kingdom without home call, it was better to assemble in one play and defend. They wouldn't repeat the mistake of the guild and allow anyone to pick them off one by one.

After filling everyone in on the current situation, Seth turned to Pardo again.

"Pardo, are there any Chimeras that reached their max level?" the blacksmith asked the chimera.

The max-level. It was a growth ceiling, something very common for the people from system worlds. Only very talented people or those blessed by the system like ori humas had no growth limit. Although it was common knowledge for normal players, it didn't mean many people ever managed to reach their limit at all.

In that way, the Chimeras were lucky and unlucky at the same time. This was also the reason why half the Chimeras stayed back at Delta and Agra. As creations of the Theocracy of Chains, they were lucky enough to be recognized as players and not monsters. As players they had a growth limit and once it was reached dungeon diving wouldn't be effective for them.

Once they reached their max level, they could only use other methods such as potions, equipment, and skills to grow stronger. Experience didn't matter anymore. Pardo nodded with a depressed expression at the question.

"About a third met their limit in the early 80s. "

"Don't worry about it. I didn't try to sour the mood. We need a few volunteers to test if Home Call is really blocked." Seth didn't voice it out low as it may have sounded a little harsh, but if they found that it still works, they would be the smaller loss. After all, they had come to train their troops, once they reached the max level, the goal was technically fulfilled for the Chimeras.

Gin also was not present. He might have thought that Minas Mar didn't trust him if he saw them testing if the system function really was not working. When the chimera, a human with fish scales covering his body tried to activate Home Call, it was quickly confirmed that it really did not work.

"So? Any suggestions on how we should act from here on?" Seth asked into the round of friends and closest advisers.

….

Smoke was bellowing in the narrow valley. Signs of battle marred the fort that looked over the holy land. Nobody was left to stop the flames, only remnants covered the floors and blood was flowing in rivers.

"Why are you doing this?" Bement coughed.

The once glorious leader of the Adventurer Guilds detachment in the holy land was propped up against the wall. Both his legs were missing. His one remaining arm was busy covering the wound on his stomach and stopping his gut from spilling out.

How had this happened? The dying man stared at the single perpetrator. They confirmed he was a member of the guilds. He had returned a day ago through the Resurrection room, which meant he died in a dungeon. Why was he suddenly so strong? Why did he attack them?

"Tsk, tsk, tsk. It would have been better if you had not woken up. You could have saved both of us so much trouble," a man answered with a smooth, mocking voice.

"Look what happened to your nice little fort, just because you had to try and fight me."

"The guild won't let you get away with this," Bement groaned.

"The guild will never know what happened here. In the end, this will simply be a story of a bunch of adventurers that overestimated themselves," the man said confidently.

"Hah! We have our ways. They will know what happened here, no matter what you do."

"Maybe, but it will be too late by then. I will have already grown to the point that nobody can stop me," he answered with a chuckle.

"Arrogance," Bement spat out.

None of these people had ever experienced how vast the Pathworks were. The adventurer had a hunch about what this man's powers were and he knew that if the adventurer guild really went for it, there was no way for him to escape, or overcome the power difference.

"If you will excuse me now, I have things to tend to."

In a swift motion, the man's hand stabbed into his chest and pulled out a slightly mashed heart. Bement had no way to react and could only stare at the man as he lifted his heart to his mouth and started devouring it.

By the time he had finished his meal, the light was long gone from Bement's eyes. Humming to himself, the man wandered off. There were a few meals to harvest and he had to be quicker than the fire.

While walking he was musing to himself.

"When I'm done here, should I wait for the little birdies or should I go out to hunt them?"