Blacksmith of the Apocalypse

"Let's make our instrument of freedom."

~ You are going to make an instrument?! How would that help? ~ Puffles asked confused.

~ It's a metaphor, fudge roll ~ Al commented

Seth ignored their bickering.

His idea was inspired by quite a few games he had played in the past which held an item called a Skeleton Key. An item that could open any lock or tremendously increased the probability of lockpicking.

The material he wanted to use might seem surprising, but it was <Volatile Zink>. The uncommon material with constantly changing properties. Seth had looked into the material together with Alison... Well, he left it to Alison and got her results.

It was unfit for weapons or armor as it was much too soft and pliable. But and this was a big but, it was a very suitable item for magic engineering. The properties were naturally random but could be manipulated by the flow of magic or energy.

The metal could change its shape in a way that reminded Seth of the videos of magnetic fluids. They were called ferrofluids or something like that. This was the key point in this built.

Seth had the idea and now planned it together with Al'Salzar. Using the Wanderer's Souls which had a property akin to finding one's way and the ballad of unlife already had a good chance of working. On top of that, he had a trump card.

The <Blessing of Hermes> the divine messenger. Besides being the patron of travelers or traders, he was also the patron of thieves and was well known for his pranks and schemes. Seth fathomed this was among the Olympian Enchantments because he was also the god who would guide the souls of the dead to Hades.

It had been either Hekate or Hermes that fit the purpose of a universal master key, but this was less of a key and more of an everchanging lockpick. The god of thieves seemed to fit this bill better and he wanted Hekate's magic buffs.

The lockpick itself was not hard to make as Seth made the base of a key which ended in a lockpick. Next was forging the Wanderer's soul into a copy of the item. Everything went well until he started to engrave the sigil that looked like a winged lyre.

He immediately felt the presence behind him, but unlike before where the others just watched, he suddenly felt a hand on his shoulder. When Seth turned his head he found himself eye to eye with a beautiful youth.

Clear blue eyes and golden locks. Their noses almost touched. He wore a small ha with a big feather.

"That's the wrong soul for this."

"huh?"

"The Wrong Soul." the youth said slowly and grinned mischievously.

"Here, look! Look! This is the soul you wanted to use! I'm very sure."

He rummaged in the small leather pouch on his hip and shoved his arm in it up to the elbow even though it should have been way too small for that.

Deliberately he pulled a soul from the pouch and put it on the table.

"Here, see! I knew you just misplaced it and accidentally used the wrong one." he winked at Seth and pretended as if he didn't just pull out an unknown soul.

Seth had a hard time following what was happening. This was Hermes, right? The god Hermes was standing before him wearing a white tunic and his winged sandals and he was giving him a soul?!

"Is this really-"

A serious gaze from Hermes made him stop. He decided to play along.

"Ah, yes. Sure. Thank you, how could something like this happen? I must be really tired..."

He took the soul and looked at it.

<Soul of Polypemon, Ego

The soul of the demi-god criminal Polypemon. A sinister smith who made his guests fit his iron beds by either stretching them when they were too small or cutting off their legs if they were too tall.>

Seth stared had Hermes who kept standing beside him with a big, sweet smile, waiting for him to continue his work. Slightly disturbed he got to work. He had no idea what was going on, but he didn't want to get on the bad side of a trickster god.

He forged the criminal's soul into the shape of the lockpick. Although it was called an ego soul, it didn't keep pestering him as the lich did. Maybe the guy didn't know telepathy before his death?

As he started engraving, he kept an eye on Hermes. The youth was sitting on one of the worktables, swinging his leg and watching Seth work. He engraved the winged Lyra on the round key head and when he finished it a wave of power flowed through the lockpick.

Unlike the other gods who would usually leave after the blessing was finished, Hermes stayed. Seeing the blacksmith's questioning look the god smiled impishly.

"Does my presence bother you?"

"Ah! Erm, no! No..." Seth answered, sweating profusely.

He infused the soul key into the item and dunked it into the waters of Styx. He only heard a chuckle in the back. When he turned around Hermes had vanished.

<

Key of Hekate

Unique, Ego Item

Durability:500

1. Skeleton Key

2. Grant Passage

An artifact that can turn anyone into a legendary thief who fulfills the Key's requirements. Created by Craftsmen Smith with the help of a divine being.

Usage Conditions: Polypemon's Consent, Thief Class, 300 Dexterity

>

Hekate? But didn't he use the <Blessing of Hermes>? Seth was slightly confused but maybe it was because of a synergy with his trait or something. This was his best explanation.

The effects were everything he wanted. Skeleton Key could unlock any key lock. Grant Passage could open even doors without a lock. Who needs magic words like "Open Sesame!"? He could just tap the master lockpick at the stone and make it open.

The abilities were everything he wanted; the conditions were not. He didn't have a thief class. His plan seemed to crumble despite having created such an outstanding item.

~ Let me talk to it, it's an ego item after all, right?~

Al came as a savior to bring the plan back on track. As she said, it was possible to negotiate with an item, if it had an Ego. Seth didn't know telepathy, so he had to rely on Al or Puffles for this.

It took a while of tense waiting before Al spoke to him again. Seth had no idea what these two items had talked about except that the key seemed to have shuddered once or twice while he was holding it.

~The Negotiations are finished. The old Coot can allow you to use the Skeleton Key once a day for 5000 mana. I tried everything to haggle him down or increase the number of uses, but he's a real robber and I couldn't push him any further. It really seems to be the limit of his influence. ~

Although he got some mixed signals from what Al had said... was he hard to bargain with or was this the limit of what he could do? Seth accepted this outcome. He just needed to get out of the cell without causing a big commotion.

Since he had the <Helm of Hades> nobody would be able to detect him afterward. Everything was ready for his escape. At this point, Seth was glad he was a blacksmith. Otherwise, they would not have underestimated him as "just" a crafting class.

There were still two days before they would come looking for their weapons and find him missing. These were two days he could use to roam the place freely without anyone so much as looking for him.

He could be a ghost in their halls. Listen in on their conversations and hopefully find a way to ... save everyone? He didn't even know what he could do yet.

Seth simply hoped to be like a specific halfling snooping around in an elven kingdom and he would find a way to end this situation.