Blacksmith of the Apocalypse

"Now that you know, can we come to the important business?" Leana said a little annoyed. Seth had categorically avoided them and any kind of responsibility for the past two weeks, as he was either traveling with Mina and Fin or hiding with them playing.

“Rayki and Luf are waiting in a valley close to Delta.”

“Who?” slipped from Seth's lips before he remembered Rayki, one of the Faer that decided to leave and take care of business from when they were alive. The blacksmith dimly remembered that he had appeared to help Tearlach and Uno

“They are the-” “Yeah, yeah, I know, I remembered the moment I asked.”

“They have been waiting for a few days already,” she reminded him.

“Okay, I will go and meet them tomorrow. What else?” He readily agreed to visit them. He remembered that he promised to meet them if they got to Delta since he didn't want to get close to the two horned ones.

“Neeco Boos wanted to see you, he said he made a revolutionary breakthrough or something.”

“I see..., guess I will look for him after this,” Seth agreed with a note. Not everyone took a two-week vacation. It looked like the master tailor had been doing his own project.

“Mike had something he wanted to tell us. Mike?” Mary gave him the word.

“I was given a quest by Maahes, to create the special material for my new armor and weapon,” the cat boy announced. Hearing that Maahes was giving him materials, Seth pricked his ears.

“You are getting special materials from Maahes?” the blacksmith asked interested.

“Not directly. I have to get something called <Storm Ore> from the perpetual storm in the southwest of the central range. Maahes can't just give me that many materials, but he can bless the <Storm Ore> to create enough metal for my armor and weapon.”

“<Storm Ore>?” Seth asked, surprised. “Did anybody hear of that beforehand? Why didn't I know there was such a material in circulation?”

“I knew you would ask that. When Mike informed me, we ran a small investigation. Seems like someone was secretly mining it as a byproduct of trying to cross the storm. However, the company doing it went bankrupt when all contact with their base camp close to the storm broke off.

We also tried to look into the place where they tried to cross the storm, but all our informants got were weird rumors of monsters in the storm that killed anyone coming close to the raging winds.

Before you ask us to get all the <Storm Ore> still on the market, I tried. All the <Storm Ore> mined until then was processed by blacksmiths and became unusable,” Mary gave a short summary of the result of their investigation.

“Once it’s processed it becomes illegible for the blessing of Maahes,” Mike added readily, choking off Seth’s next question. It seemed like there was no other way than to send someone there to have a look at the situation.

“So, your quest is to go there and mine the ore yourself?” Seth concluded.

“Do you have to do it alone, or can you bring someone along?” the blacksmith asked after the beastman nodded. Mike currently only had Oathguard Standard equipment, except for his legendary helmet and accessories.

“I have to go alone, but I also have a sample of Neeco’s new suit to wear under the epic armor,” Mike added.

“... new “suit”? Don’t tell me he went back to his old ways and the new thing he made is a superhero suit?” Seth asked threateningly.

“No! No, it isn’t, it is called a power suit and specifically meant to be worn UNDER the armor as padding,” Alison suddenly spoke up, putting special emphasis on the fact that the suit was not meant to be worn alone, like the spandex pajamas Neeco used to make. Seth squinted at her.

“Fine, I will decide after seeing it. As for you, Mike, you aren’t leaving before I at least give you a proper temporary weapon and you should ask Bulko for the frost resistance armor. You will need it more and I don’t want to rush to make a second one when you are getting a new armor anyway.”

“Alright.”

There were a few other more broad points they talked about, which could be summed up as Urth not knowing when to take a break. However, none of the topics needed there, or Seth’s immediate attention.

“If there is nothing else, I think should go and take a look at my lost child and the woman he brought back;” he joked and concluded the meeting.

“Here, let me mark their position on your <Map>,” Mary suddenly said, demanding his hand. This was a new skill she had unlocked through leveling up her secretary class. She was now able to mark coordinates on the map of those with a corresponding skill.

This was very nifty since that meant Seth would need somebody to show him the way to where Luf and Rayki were currently staying. It was similar to a quest marker and he just needed to keep an eye on his map to find the place.

~Are we going to look at the huge aura of death?~ Puffles asked almost excitedly.

It seemed that he had long felt the presence of Luf, Rayki’s woman whose aura of death and decay was so strong that even the low-ranking immortals couldn’t resist it. He heard even Rayki, a powerful Faer, was stuck in a state of half-living and half-metal skeleton.

To be able to rot a Faer right down to the bones with just her presence was impressive. The old bard was lucky, that her decay stopped at organic materials. From what he was told, she only corroded material things that lived or used to live.

If Seth was honest, he got a little worried about his armor, since it was made of dragon scales and Scorpio’s carapace. Who knew whether the legendary materials could withstand her corrosion? The dark aura could already be felt from miles away.

When Puffles got close to their destination, they literally entered a valley of death. Everything in the valley was dead and surrounded the bizarre scene of a woman as pale as a white sheet of paper, wearing a wedding dress made of black lace, in the loving embrace of a metal skeleton, as they sat flat bolder in the middle of the valley.

~I'm not getting any closer than this.~ Puffles suddenly said, floating roughly 40 meters above the valley floor.

~Is Puffles, the great, afraid?~ Seth teased him.

~ I am NOT! The great me would never fear something as simple as decay... But there is no need for me to suffer unnecessarily. I will wait for you outside the valley.”

The nightmare centipede did a sudden barrel roll in midair and threw Seth off before the blacksmith could hold an. With a thunk, the armored man landed in the valley.

“You will pay for this! No allowance for you this month!” the Tower master put his foot down, savagely punishing the disobedient fiend.

~You wouldn't dare~” the Ivicer called out in shock.

“Don't tempt me! I can make it two months, too!”

The Ivicer said no other word and went to the edge of the valley to wait for Seth, who turned to Rayki and Luf. The bride and the bard that had finally found together again united after death. As touching as it was, Seth was just glad his armor was not affected by the decay.

“Master,” the skeleton said in a hollow voice and stood up, greeting him with a bow.

“Rayki, it's been a while. I think you looked better the last time we met,” Of course, Seth didn't necessarily remember all 400+ Faer he created, it was just that he knew for a fact, that the Faer that left, left with their flesh intact. It was a matter of fact, that Rayki would have looked better when he left for his journey.

“This is Luf, we were married when we were alive, but not fated to be together. Thanks to you, I was given another chance to be with her,” he said love-stricken.

“That's, errm, great to hear? So, what brings you here?”

If they had finally found their fortune, why would he come back and ask to see him? Of course, the fact that his woman had a toxic aura that stripped his very flesh from his bones was inconvenient for an ordinary life, but neither of the two was ordinary, to begin with.

The metal frame was scratching its head as if unsure how to explain when Luf, suddenly and wordlessly sank on her knees and kowtowed to him.

“Luf spoke of you in the highest praises. Please, help me! I don't wish to be separated from Rayki ever again, but it pains my heart to watch him in pain as his skin and flesh burn away with every light touch. I do not wish to be a walking calamity, even if Rayki doesn't mind.”

“...Hmm, I don't have a lot of experience in sealing stuff. I don't know whether I could make something to suppress your power,” Seth pondered.

“Then, could you make me a body like Rayki's?” they plead desperately.

Seth wanted to explain to her the drawbacks of doing that to her. After all, he would have to kill her and harvest her soul. No matter how good the skill was, it was irreversibly damaged her soul. However, these thoughts halted, actually Seth's brain short-circuited for a moment when he used <Theia's Discerning Eyes> on Luf.

<Soul of the Corpse Bride (Relic, EX, Soul Body, Ego) Crafting Material

The soul of a woman who looked forward to leading a married life with her love but met a dark fate because of her own brilliance. Skill: Dance(Craftsman), Dark Magic (Master), Grief(Max), Happiness(lv.1)...

Traits: Quick Wit, Automobile, Soul Body, Daughter of Decay.>

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