Blacksmith of the Apocalypse

After having sketched how to place the connected engravings, Seth could immediately start engraving when he entered the workshop the next day. After finishing the combined circuit, the blacksmith started adding the individual enchantments.

These enchantments themselves were nothing wild or exotic. So they wouldn't get in the way of the armor's magic. Taking into account the Encroachment of Lunacy, most of these additional circuits were meant to reinforce willpower. This strengthened the effect but also protected the wearer from actually becoming a lunatic.

Apart from Willpower, he also included enchantments to raise intelligence and mana regeneration. The only items that slightly fell out of the norm were the circlet and the cuirass. There was another advantage to these enchantments, as they didn't need a lot of mana to be powered.

On the circlet, Seth engraved the Mind barrier as well as etched the poem for the <Strategist's Mind> of the demon Eligos. Also in hope that it would help the wearer to keep a clear mind despite the Encroachment of Lunacy.

For the cuirass, Seth used something similar to the demonic magic of Anima Well, Mana Well. While Anima Well could create a basin for the life force absorbed from an opponent. Mana Well did the same but with mana from a spell or skill like <Mana Drain>. It was in preparation for the next step, the infusion of a soul. On the cuirass, the many moonstones he set on it would act as the receptacle of the Mana Well.

Seth didn't intend to give each piece an individual soul but use one soul to further bind the armor together as a set. It was also easier to use this method for the effects he wished to imbue with the soul.

The soul he used was the result of the Soul Refinery and the soul he bought from Tanos'Mol. It was a massive rare soul with a talent for magic. The spirit blacksmith had deliberately not tried to use an especially unique soul, since he wished for the final armor to be reproducible.

Seth added exactly two enchantments to the soul armor. One was an extensive text that called upon a similar effect as his damaged reflection forging ballad. The other was Mana Absorption. This enchantment could transform mana from a spell it was hit with, into mana for the user. Not only would it help recover mana but also to fill the Mana Well with power.

This way he managed to not only negate one of the weaknesses of his connected circuit but even turn it into strength. His enchantment alone was able to channel off spells that hit the armor and distribute them evenly across the armor. Depending on the power of the spell, the armor could be damaged or overloaded.

By tweaking it a little and adding the Mana Well and Mana Absorption, spells that hit the armor would be distributed across the armor and absorbed, channeling the absorbed magic to the Mana Well of the cuirass and lessening the overall burden on the items. Effectively it would allow the user to generate mana by being hit with spells.

Still, if the Well and the User's mana pool were full and the magic had nowhere to go, the armor could still be overloaded and damage could make its way through. It also didn't account for physical damage, which was why Seth also made the decision to add Damage Reflection to the shared soul. It was a workaround to not using the forging ballad on each piece individually.

Even though the idea didn't sound complex at all, it had cost Seth a few sleepless nights to come up with a way to really make it work. Now all he needed to to was infused the pieces of the soul into the armor set and finish the whole project in one fell swoop.

<Ding! You have created a relic-rated item! Proficiency gained.> x10

<Ding! You have finished a relic-rated set with a high chance to become a legend.>

<Ding! You have created a magnum opus! +10 to all attributes. Your title "World's Best Blacksmith" has slightly improved.>

<Ding! Title: "Chilon" gained. "Your intelligence has reached 300 points." You gained the skill <Acolyte>!>

Hearing the sudden rush of notifications, Seth had to sit down for a moment. The blacksmith was stumped, when he heard that the Armor of Lunacy would be counted as a Magnum Opus, the same way the Scorpio Armor was.

He had not expected this at all, but he actually felt seen a lot more than when the message appeared for the Scorpio armor. He had gone through a lot to get the materials for the Scorpio Armor, but he felt that he had put a lot more brainpower and skill as a craftsman into the creation and planning of the Armor of Lunacy.

It also mentioned that it had a high chance to become legendary. This was the first time he had made a relic with a high chance to achieve the legend status. Incredulous, he checked his status, ti was true that he had gained 10 points in every attribute, which had also brought his intelligence to 303.

<Acolyte> was a passive skill, similar to most of the other skills he gained through these titles. However, its effects were surprisingly convenient. It reduced the proficiency needed to level up, acquire, or learn a skill or spell by 5%. It didn't sound like a lot, but those were a flat 5% even for high-level skills. Its importance only improved the better his skills became.

Calming down a little, he finally found the courage to look at his second magnum opus.

<Magic Imbibing Cuirass

Lunacy Relic Set 1/10

Relic

Phys. Def. :1700

Mag. Def. :2500

Durability:2700

1.+30% To all stats in the Moonlight

2.+65% Power of Spells

3. Encroachment of Lunacy

4.+15% To all stats in any Light

5. +10% Chant Reduction

6. +30% Damage Reflection

7. Mana Absorption

8. Mana Well

9. +70 Intelligence

10. +1000 Mana

Lunacy Set Effect:

Passive Skill: Lunar Charge

Active Skill: Lunacy Unleashed

Set Effect 10/10:

Passive Skill: Smith's Spell Recycler

A delicate cuirass made of rare Ithildin. It is the center part of the Lunacy Set, a Magnum Opus of Master Smith, the first Master Enchanter, Master Blacksmith, and Master Goldsmith of Urth. Superior craftsmanship and mysterious means have made every piece of the set a desirable item, but their true power show only when fully assembled.

Once this cuirass becomes widely known, the item has a great chance to become legendary.>

It was exactly as he planned it. All items looked similar to this, except that Mana Well was unique to the cuirass. The other items offered +35% Mana Regeneration and would switch between added Intelligence and willpower.

Overall, only the options of the individual pieces already added 280 intelligence, 420 willpower, 280% Mana Regeneration, 100% additional casting reduction, halving the casting time of the user, +650% to the power of spells, +10000 Mana, +150% to all stats in a lit environment and +300% in the moonlight. Just the last two already made someone over five times stronger on a moonlit night.

The only thing he did not like was the initial name the System gave some of the items. Since this was his magnum opus, Seth decided to use his privilege as a master and rename the cuirass to Well of Lunacy. It was more fitting with the other names such as Hand of Lunacy for the gauntlets or the Path to Lunacy for the boots.

Although Lap of Lunacy for the cuisses was not the worst, Seth rather renamed them to Surge of Lunacy, since they were the connection between the Well and the Path. He saw no reason to rename anything else since had had no good metaphor that could replace Pauldrons of Lunacy. What he especially liked was the Lunatic Mind, as the system called the circlet.

After tweaking the names, he polished the armor and finally assembled it on a rack. Sitting down, he simply stared at it as his smile grew wider. He enjoyed the feeling of having accomplished something he worked so hard on. It was no immediate feeling of success, but a slow burning fire of satisfaction and excitement for continuing.