Blacksmith of the Apocalypse

---Northeastern Mountain Range---

Xiong Peng was impressed. Although riding an insect scratched at his dignity, he had to admit that they were superior to most common mounts he knew. These dragonflies had easily carried him and the others for three days straight, never slowing down, except for passenger breaks.

With their incredible speed and stamina, it had only taken four days to reach the place his granddaughter was headed to. They had crossed Arget Nore directly and reached here quicker than expected. They landed at a camp that was set up by a troop of his inner disciples of the Snow Falcon Sect.

“I didn’t expect these creatures to dare fly over the land filled with the Qi of death,” Xiong Pen commented when they were finally on the ground and talking normally.

“We are not afraid of such things, as they are not truly alive ourselves. Also, Minas Mar has a deal with the inhabitants of that land, so there is no need to worry,” the Golem Knight explained elaborately. Although his speech was slightly hacked off, there was no hindrance to understanding it.

“Master, what are these…things?” one of the disciples staying at camp asked unsure what he was seeing.

“Our new allies that will hopefully help us find your senior sister. We shouldn’t waste any time, show us where you and the others have already searched, and then we can concentrate on the place you have not yet checked,” Xiong Peng spoke exited.

During the flight, the golem had done several impressive things, to show him that these Aerial Strikers were not just demons of the battlefield, but possessed incredible eyesight and dynamic vision.

If these beings were unable to locate her, he would really have to accept, that his granddaughter was probably no longer in this place. But he acknowledged that this array of helpers was well worth the box of <Meteoric Iron> he sent to the embassy.

“Don’t worry Qiao Ya, your granddad will find you.”

...

---Minas Mar, 3 Weeks before the Pythian Games-----

In the meantime, Seth was able to have a quiet week, during which nobody came to disturb his work. With the cooperation of Tored, Sivri, and Hoen, the team of experts finished and validated the new prints. With the blueprints finished, the blacksmith only needed Hoen to re-smelt some of the boxes to create new scales for their formations.

Once everyone except Sivri had left the Workshop, Seth brought out a new box. It was meticulously crafted and covered in exotic carvings of landscapes and scenes with animals and flowers. One of the disciples of the Snow Falcon Sect had brought it to the doorsteps of the embassy two days ago.

The inside was filled with <Meteoric Iron>, about enough for 12 brick-sized bars of metal. Since he had to wait for Hoen to finish, Seth could go ahead and refine the precious metal into something even more valuable. Finally, his preparation would come to fruition.

Seth had always been stocking up on supplies for the ritual for the <Bones of Seth>, the only thing he had been lacking was the fitting iron to refine. At the bard’s order, the members had collected gallons of jackal and donkey-type blood from monsters in the dungeon. All of it was at least epic-rated in the eyes of an alchemist.

With this and the formation he had carved all the way back when he set up the workshop, the only thing he needed to do was wait for the right time of the day, to perform the ritual and bless the meteoric iron with the power of Seth, the god of storms and chaos.

All he had to do now was wait for the right time of day. He decided to refine the <Olympian Silver> until then. Unlike <Bones of Seth>, who needed a special ritual at a special time, Seth was able to refine <Olympian Silver> at any time thanks to the magma forge he had created especially for its production.

Hubert had brought an ore different from last time. While the former had the Blessing of Wind, raising Attack Speed by 75% and Movement Speed by 15%, This one was said to have a calming effect and could give resistance to certain status ailments. The blacksmith was looking forward to how this would translate once it was refined.

Seth was especially intrigued by it, because the calming effect might be of use to counteract the negative side-effects of the Lunacy and Madness effects, that Urth’s <Ithildin> brought with it. In that case, Seth was deliberating on making a jewelry set made of this new material mandatory for anyone with a set of lunacy.

Though, these projects would probably have to wait since Seth had more pressing matters that drew his attention. With idle thoughts of what was to come, the blacksmith finished the first bars of the new material.

<Olympian Silver, Crafting Material

Legendary

Olympian Silver refined from <Tranquil Silver> found in the Resting Planes of Ishital. The refinement has further condensed the calming effect on the mind to a great degree>

This didn't sound bad at all. Seeing how the calming effect was said to have been strengthened, Seth had high hopes for the effect it would have on the items later.

Looking at the clock, he realized that it was time. He set refining the rest of the silver aside and hurried to the adjacent room, where the magic circle for the ritual of Seth was waiting for him. Before he started, he brought out the Amulet of the Nightcrawler.

Although luck was a lot more important during the crafting process of an actual item when using <Bones of Seth>, it wouldn’t hurt during the ritual, and this was something he had wanted to test but had not had a chance to before.

He had already tested around with the ring's new power and precious things, as he needed all the luck he could get. He went from System Currency to credits, to common jewelry and items, to better stuff he and Sivri had made.

The general trend was that he got his money’s worth. Sacrificing something that could be sold for 1 gold, also had the effect of one gold. Monetary worth worked reliably, but Seth also found out a little more. Value was not only based on the hard currency.

However, there was also another definition for precious. Would something precious to him, something he cared for, have more effect? He had not dared to test it before, but this was a good chance.

This was why he brought one of his older items, the Amulet of the Nightcrawler.

It was one of his first items. He had gotten it when his journey had just begun, and it was the reason why he had always made sure to have a Nightvision effect on his equipment. It was not incredibly precious, it was actually quite cheap, but it had sentimental value.

Seth activated <Pot of Gold>, the power of the ring, and the necklace vanished in a rain of glowing specks. He was notified that his Luck was raised by 15 points, for 15 minutes. A lot more than a simple gold coin, despite selling for maybe a few silver coins.

It worked, but it was also a tug at his heart since he had just lost something, he was slightly attached to. This was a method to use the ring, Seth was probably going to avoid since there were not that many things he had left, that had a high sentimental value to him. Losing one to experimentation already hurt enough. He sacrificed another seven gold coins, raising his luck by 35.

With a clean bonus of 50, he started the ritual. Chanting the invocations, the blacksmith poured the epic blood of a Dune Jackal and the epic blood of a Dragon Donkey into the grooves that were carved into the floor. The iron was placed at the center of the circle.

When the sixth hour of the new day began, the blood in the grooves started to glow brightly as it evaporated and filled the pile of <Meteoric Iron> in the middle with power. This went on for maybe 15 minutes before the formation finally quieted down again.

<Bones of Seth, Crafting Material,

Special

Meteoric iron, possessing a mysterious will, blessed by the power of the God of Chaos and Destruction, Seth. It has reached the highest quality achievable, possessing a destructive Will. It possesses chaotic properties changing between Destruction, Desert, and Battle Strength.>

Surprised, Seth found that the improved Lucky Trinket was already at work Previously, the attributes were ranging between Destruction, Desert, and Storm. But the Storm was now substituted by Seth's Battle Strength.

Quite Satisfied with the outcome of his day, Seth finally returned to his bed sometime in the early morning. After staying up all night, refining legendary materials, nothing held him back from quickly falling into sleep.

…

It was late noon when he regained consciousness, what woke him was not the gentle shaking of the communication orb, but the blaring of his phone’s ringtone.

“H-Hoen? Why are you calling me on the phone?

“You wouldn’t pick up the orb, I tried every hour since afternoon. I’m done with the scales. Everything is ready. This seemed very important to you, so I thought I would inform you, as quickly as I could,” the dwarf added warmly.

“Everything is ready…?” he asked, still fighting the drowsiness.

“Yes!” “Everything is ready! I’ll be at the workshop in a moment, wait for me!”

Entangled in the blanket, the blacksmith tried to hurriedly stand up and get off the bed. Kicking and struggling, he finally got the persistence thing off his body. With a mighty step, he got out of bed, only to lose balance and keel over. Mid fall the Tower teleported him to the workshop, where he barely caught his step.

Tored, Sivri, and Hoen were already standing in position, ready to witness the fruits of their labor as Seth would bring everything together.

“Are you ready?” “”” Everything is Ready!””” the dwarfs said in an amused choir.

Hearing their answer, Seth gave them a nod and led them to the golem forge, to witness greatness.

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