Blacksmith of the Apocalypse

Seth used 3 bars of <Crimson Steel> for Mike's sword because it was the material with the highest affinity for demonic ballads. It was also because it was the most numerous and reliable epic material he curreantly possessed.

He sang a song in demon tongue. Of warriors that went to battle, not in valor, but to kill. Lacking honor but not skill, each of them would get their fill. Mercenaries to the bone, they fought not for ideals but money alone.

As he welded the bars of blood-red steel together, the dark runic notes formed by his chanting would fall onto the metal and further darken it.

Seth could feel the connection to the Addict of Battle and Violence even stronger through the channeling. He could feel a gaze full of insanity and bloodlust on his shoulders. His heart pumped hard and felt like in the midst of a battle.

The rare ballad was good, but it was the combination of his skills that managed to please the demon. His content could be felt in between the raging emotions that came through their connection.

It didn't make Seth's job any easier, that he felt the rush of battle as he tried to forge a technically difficult sword.

Especially since he was using <Soul Infusion>, too. He didn't know how well the ballad would end up working so Seth infused one of the souls from the mist dimension to help Mike deal with the mind corruption.

At first glance, the long sword looked simple, and that it was. The crux of the design laid in the refinement of the item. It didn't depend on material properties to patch its weaknesses. Good material only improved its strengths.

It was a challenge for his craftsmanship, and he took a lot more time on purpose to check the blade geometry, balancing, and tapering of the blade. All the while singing his song to please his demonic audience.

The effect was visible. By the time he finished the blade, Seth was drenched in sweat and the previously crimson steel had turned black with a dark red sheen. In a similar fashion, he forged the guard and pommel.

Seth didn't have a lot of wood and he still needed some for the staffs of Bulko and Lixiss, so he used the rare-rated wood that came with the materials. It had no effects except being very durable.

With a big sigh of relief, Seth plopped on the shoddy little bed in the room. The influence of the demon had receded with the end of the performance.

Shocked he looked up to the small, barred window and found that it had already become dark outside. He had totally forgotten the time as he composed the song and forged the blade. He had spent the whole day on Mike's weapon and was not even finished yet...

Seth chugged a recovery potion and stood up again. He had only 10 days ...more like 9 now. There was no time to waste. He still needed to enchant the sword.

Mike was fast and strong. Instead of crowd control effects, Seth added fire damage and strength to the sword. As a cat person Mike was more inclined to agility, so he added strength to balance it out. And the fire enchantment would simply pump up the damage he dealt.

He knew what had gone into the weapon, but Seth was still surprised when he finally checked the finished item.

<Flaming Fury

Relic

Damage: 1350

Durability: 3220

1. Passive Skill: Blessing of Violence

2. +15% Resistance to negative status effects (Mind)

3. 40% chance to cause mental disruption on hit (Effects: Stun/Confusion)

4.+20% additional Damage as Fire Damage

5.+ 40 Strength

6.+15% Mana Regeneration

Another cursed weapon from the hands of Journeyman Smith. Those of weak will should never attempt to wield this weapon. The formidable workmanship and refinement of the piece led to a passive increase in damage and speed of 10% when wielded.

Usage Requirement: 200 Willpower >

At first glance, Seth was not sure whether his attempt to weaken the negative effects worked. The description did not really raise his hopes and one even needed 200 Willpower just to wield it. The resistance to the negative status effect of the mind was lower than expected. Something must have happened.

His worries subsided when he saw the effects of the Blessing of Violence.

<Passive Skill: Blessing of Violence, No Cost, No Cooldown

1. When wielding Flaming Fury all base stats will be increased by 30.

2. Each kill during battle will increase base stats by 20% for 1 minute. This effect can stack up to 5 times.

3. A random permanent attribute point will be granted every time the maximum number of boosts is achieved. Cooldown: 2minutes

Malus: The longer a kill streak is maintained, the stronger the mental corruption will become. >

The Skill alone had another three options and from what Seth understood, there was no great danger as long as Mike fulfilled the usage requirements and was careful.

Still, this was a terrifying sword and Seth would not dare to touch it without his various equipment buffs that boosted his willpower past 200.

As for the Mana Regeneration, Seth guessed that the effect of Charon's Obol triggered and added a random enchantment.

The about 5% he had gotten in <Blacksmithing> and the7% proficiency in <Enchantment> put a smile on his face. As long as he didn't compose new ballads for everything he wanted to make; he should be able to rank up his skills within the next days.

But now he really needed to rest. Using <Lifestyle> magic to get rid of the sticky feeling all over his body he finally sunk on the bed and fell asleep.

Even though the bed was hard and rough, he slept a lot better than during the nights at the barracks.

~ Wake up! Seth! The sun is up. ~

"Just 5 more minutes..."

~ You asked me to wake you so get up already. ~

The blacksmith opened his crusty eyes and shrunk back like a vampire when the bright daylight from the window fell into them. Even with the stamina potion, it seemed like he had been a lot more tired than he thought.

The days as a slave were not exactly restful. There was a lot of sleep he had to make up for but now was not the time.

Seth directly continued with Mike's armor. For the swordsman's armor, Seth decided on a mix of chain mail and hardened leather.

~ Let the great me help compensate for your mediocre skills! ~ he suddenly heard when he was about to assemble the breastplate made of reinforced troll leather parts. The next moment a roll of fine silk fell out from the pet space. The silk was silver with a sky blue sheen.

"What is this?" Seth asked confused.

~Be thankful! This is the new thread I can make. It's called sky silk! ~

The Ivicer explained. Sky Silk? Seth couldn't appraise it with his <Blacksmith's Eyes> which meant that it had to be a pure tailor's material. Taking into account that the <Celestial Bronze> was already epic rated material, just what was the rating of this <Sky Silk>?

When Seth tested the durability of the thread, he could almost feel it cut into his glove like a piano wire! It was definitely strong but there was a problem. A big one.

"How am I supposed to use it? I'm barely an adept in sewing."

He could hear a grumpy murmur from Puffles.

~ Fine, let me try.~ and a small entrance to the pet space opened.

Suddenly the thread in Seth's hand started moving on its own as if it was alive.

~ This great me will help and fill in for your lacking skill. ~

It was a slight back and forth but soon they managed to smoothly work together and Puffles stitched together the parts of the leather armor under Seth's guidance.

While Seth and Puffles worked on the leather parts, Cerberus worked on the chain mail that would be worn under the leather. Even in a world with magic, chain mail was a very time-intensive work and Seth was glad he could leave it to the golem.

Cerberus could fashion the small rings in fast order with machine-like precision. The material used was <Bones of Seth>. The reason was as simple as it was genius. Because of the weird property of the rare material, each ring would have its own set of effects.

But this was not a problem, but the intention. Seth used the fact that different magics got into each other's way. Similar to the problem with wearing a ring on each finger or putting too many enchantments on an item.

The many thousand rings with their own effects each would theoretically cancel out each other's effect, making it result in a simple chain mail shirt with a high durability. At least this was their theory.

At noon Seth and Puffles finished the leather parts. A leather brigandine, bracers, gloves, high boots, and leg guards. Instead of fusing a soul into each of them, Seth decided to turn the bracers, leg guards, and brigandine into a set.