Blacksmith of the Apocalypse

Seth and Fin were exchanging glances as he listened to the vice-guild master's explanation. The first answer didn´t come from the people of the caravan, but one of the adventurers who had fought until recently.

"Vice-master, are you sure we are fit to continue this quest? We managed to fight without casualties, but all our equipment is heavily damaged after just this fight. The remains of the caravan also don´t look that fresh anymore. Some might even be a burden and slow us down." the man gave the merchants a side-glance.

Venturi inspected looked at the adventurer.

"It is our quest to collect and protect all travelers on their way to Tora. Not to simply reach Tora. If you don´t like it you can leave. It´s two days to get out of the wyvern territory on foot. And another 5 to get back to Ora. I won't stop anyone who wishes to leave."

The man shrunk back a little, but everyone had the same concerns. The quest didn´t give enough money to pay for their items if they really broke. Everyone here had to ponder about the pros and cons of continuing on this path.

Seth sighed. "I´m a blacksmith. I could repair your items before we continue." he announced with a heavy heart. This was a big sacrifice from his side.

Why? Once he summoned the <Soul Smithy> here, it would vanish back in his Workshop and Cerberus would either stop working or outright de-spawn without the necessary number of crafting stations. It meant he lost a week´s worth of scales Cerberus could have produced.

But as he was in the position to be able to help, he felt obligated to step forward. It was surely NOT because it was a good chance to get into the good books of a bunch of B-Ranks. The exam already went haywire, so if he didn´t get the B-Rank himself they might be of help. And even if everything worked out, being known to your future clients was never hurt.

"You are a blacksmith?" Venturi and the A-Rank leader asked in synch. While the leader was a little shocked, the vice-master was positively surprised. The people of the rescue party looked skeptical at Seth who suddenly revealed himself to be a blacksmith.

"Are you really a blacksmith? Why should we trust you with our items?" it was the same guy who suggested leaving the merchants behind.

"Seth is a great blacksmith!" it was the high-pitched voice of a little fairy who was violently threatening the guy with her fists.

"Well, I really don't mind not helping you. It´s actually less of a hassle for me." Seth shrugged and signaled Fin to calm down.

"Now, now. Everyone, please calm down! Young friend, would you be willing to show us your skill?"

"I don´t really want to show you. It´s kind of a secret. You could just give me a damaged item and I will go over there into the cave and repair it. I´m confident to be able to repair anything below epic rating."

There was a short silence, but finally, one of the proctors of the exam stepped forward and handed Seth a set of armor parts that were covered in breaks and cuts from claws.

"Here, these are close to breaking anyways. No one will doubt you if you manage to actually repair this. And it´s not too bad a loss for me if you fail." he gave Seth a smile. He belonged to the people that had kept observing them. Seth being a talented blacksmith explained the quality of the items he wore.

Seth awkwardly smiled back. He was still unsure whether he preferred them taking up his offer or decline it. It could not be helped now. These people more or less saved his life. He was able to rest for a few hours thanks to them and felt ok now. He had used the break to shove a lot of rations into his belly and had significantly increased his mood.

He grabbed the armor pieces and went into the demolished cave. Not. It ruined the mood of the moment a little, but first, he turned toward Venturi.

"Of course, the guild will take care of the maintenance fee for the equipment separately, right?" he asked with an innocent smile. The vice-master barely managed to prevent his face from cringing. It was the first time the old mage had slightly lost his composure.

"Yes. Yes, of course, the guild will pay your remuneration as a blacksmith separately from your work as an adventurer."

After making sure he would be paid for his work, he entered the cave. Some of the horses and Wagons had actually survived the drake raid. Less could be said about the skillful dwarven masonry. Most walls had turned into rough entrances to a network of tunnels.

Seth summoned the <Spirit Smith> and brought the armor to the anvil. The armor he was given was a rare-rated plate armor made from an alloy of mithril and dark iron. Instead of heating it up and actually forging the armor back into shape, he felt it was easier to simply use his hammer's special ability. Even though it cost mana, it was easier to fix breaks and cuts in the material this way.

It had three simple enchantments to increase defense, endurance, and strength. Seth had seen this combination of enchantments before. Seth´s level in <Enchantment> was not high enough yet to apply several enchantments himself, but it was enough to repair it at the damaged places.

<Ding! You have successfully restored a rare item! Proficiency gained.>

Until now he only repaired his own items, so he was surprised when he got this notification. Both his <Enchantment> and his <Blacksmith> rose by 3%. He had only repaired an item but still got a good amount of proficiency. That was when he realized, it wasn´t just increasing his reputation with the B-ranks, but that repairing the items itself was a really good deal for himself!

When he came back out after 25 minutes with a set of armor that looked as good as new, he could see the adventurers' jaws drop. Was it really that impressive that he was able to repair it?

"Did you really fix that broken armor in just half an hour?!" the B-Rank exclaimed as Seth gave back his armor. They had expected such a young blacksmith to maybe be able to barely patch up a rare-rated item. They expected the items to be usable, but not completely restored!

Looking at their unbelieving expressions made Seth get the idea, that the increased crafting speed of his smithy might be an even bigger advantage than he had thought before. The better it looked, the better it was. Have them idolize him as the fastest smith in the west! Oh, maybe not. Girls might misunderstand what was meant. The fastest blacksmith. That should do it!

As he was marveling in his own legend the groups of adventurers kept piling up an assortment of common, uncommon, and rare items before him. The collected equipment of over 20 adventurers was more than he had guessed. He squinted at Venturi who also looked a little surprised.

"I will be paid per item I repair, not the time I take." Seth stated and collected all the items. He left the old mage who seemed like he wanted to say something behind and entered the cave. Looking at all the different items he found a few he didn´t know and had no blueprint of.

Seth used the chance to test the perk <Blacksmith´s Eyes> and disassemble the items he didn´t know and gain their blueprint before reassembling and repairing them. They were his first few rare blueprints, but they all had high material requirements.

<Ding! Skill: Blueprint lv.2 has become Blueprint lv.3!>

Suddenly his <Blueprint> leveled up. So, this was also a way to level up his blueprint skill. Except for the really damaged things he did not even need the forge. Weapons mostly needed to be resharpened and he was able to save time by leaving the grinding to Cerberus.

In the meantime, the search parties had returned- They had actually found some survivors who had fled last night. They looked even worse off than the proctors who had fought all night long. Their armors and weapons were broken and they wore their simple spare clothes, just not to be naked.

With them returning, Seth's work increased again. It became early afternoon before Seth was finished touching up the equipment. Not all items were rare and brought him several percent of proficiency, but there were many items and he ended up leveling <Enchantment> and <Blacksmith>. All the Adventurers had sparkling eyes when they got back their repaired equipment that sparkled like it did the first day, they bought it.

Seth also repaired the carts that were still left. After everyone was fully equipped and had a meal, they packed as much as they could on the carts that were now usable. The strong horses were used to pull the carts while the rest of the adventurers, that did not fit on the carts, rode the normal horses. Like this, the Caravan was about twice as fast as before and they estimated to reach the next checkpoint in the evening.