Blacksmith of the Apocalypse

"My Name is Yvette Marlow; I'm coming along as a priestess," she spoke in a serene voice, after taking a seat.

Sitting at their table she complimented Seth on his earlier performance. As they spoke, her expression almost never changed. It was an almost bored look, with her eyes half-closed as if about to fall asleep, a light but attractive smile on her face.

Overall, she gave the impression of someone who was divorced from reality. She knew what kind of impression her appearance had on others, to the point she even apologized.

"Please excuse my lack of expression. Because of a certain condition concerning my class, I have a hard time feeling emotions as I used to." it was the only time when a slight melancholy shone in her eyes.

They made mostly Smalltalk and Yvette hurriedly left soon afterward, saying she just wanted to introduce herself. Seth knew that she probably wanted to leave a good impression on this chance, though he didn't know why she suddenly had to leave.

Maybe she felt awkward since everyone on the table were people already acquainted with each other. Seth could understand that she might feel awkward invading their conversation like this. He related to that. He would make sure to tell Jan to give her a discount if she visited the shop sometime later.

"Give me a moment, I have to go the bathroom" Mina announced and stood up. Promptly, Ellie, Elza, and Fin joined her on her toilet quest.

"Well, I will use this chance to visit the porcelain throne, too." Seth excused himself.

Bigger business waited for Seth, and he spent some time reigning on the porcelain throne, playing with his phone. When he finished up and left, he faced a dark figure standing in the corner beside the sink.

Washing his hands at a sink, one away from the shadow he suddenly spoke.

"You know this is the men's toilet, right? Could you go to the side, please? You are blocking the hand dryer. Thank you."

"Are you ..." she started in a dark female voice. Obviously, trying to sound more intimidating.

"The guy with the weapons? No." he finished and answered the question.

"What? But the princess-!" she suddenly exclaimed in a distinctively higher and more normal voice.

"Just joking. Being asked the same question the whole evening gets a little old. The princess shouldn't have informed you people about getting a discount. If you wanted to speak to me, you could have just approached me, instead of waiting on the toilet while I... do business."

"I couldn't. It's not about the equipment for the excursion..." she stated and brought out a rough, square piece of golden metal.

"Where did you get that?" Seth asked in surprise, seeing the space beacon core, Evee had made. It was still brimming with the energy of the champion's soul. However, the intricate formations engraved on it had become distorted and molten, making it unusable.

"From the princess. It's about the soul bound in this piece of metal. Did you make this?"

Hearing her talk about the soul, Seth stared into the shadow under the hood. It was a very unassuming female face. Not ugly, but also not beautiful, and easily forgettable. But after just a moment this face vanished, and he looked into a pair of golden eyes, a handsome woman's face with small vampire fangs sticking out over her lips.

It was the effect of Eyes of Argus, to see through illusions.

"Can you see it with those golden eyes?" he asked, passively admitting that he was responsible for it.

It was her turn to look up in surprise. She seemed to have judged that there was no point in hiding the fact.

"Yes, but not good enough to easily follow the tethers. Can you make me an item that allows me to hunt down the left-over Zarkists?"

It was the first time she looked him directly in the eyes and he could see a fire burning in those amber-like eyes. Seth pursed his lips and looked her up and down in suspicion. Under the robe she wore the alloy-Armor Seth had seen on the troops from y-city.

"I-I can pay!"

"...Fine. Give it. I will see what I can do."

"When do you think it will be done? I wanted to eradicate the leftovers, before the evaluation."

"I will see what I can do. What's your name?" he asked while tucking away the plate in his inventory.

"Cade. Cade Albright"

Looking at her serious expression and appearance shrouded in darkness, he found that name quite ironic.

"Okay, Cade. Next time, visit my shop or our guild building. We will have a problem if you ambush me in the men's room again. Oh and, don't try to disguise your voice. Not very impressive."

With that he stepped out of the toilette, intending for a cool exit, but encountered the group of Mina and the others outside. Through the door behind Seth, they could see Cade leaning against the wall.

"What's a girl doing in the men's toilet?" Elza asked surprised.

"Did Seth do something naughty?" Ellie asked jokingly.

Mina didn't say anything, instead, she stepped past Seth and stared into the shadow of Cade's hood before the girl could react. Then she scrutinized her curves expertly.

"Her face is a little plain, but she has a nice body. If you insist, I will approve of letting her join." the beastwoman gave her verdict.

"It's not like that!" Seth exclaimed, which was answered by Mina's bell-like laughter.

"I know, i know. Still..."

"Come on, stop it now."

"Fine."

After his cool exit was ruined, Seth could only do his best to endure the girls' teasing and bull them away from there. It was quite embarrassing, to have his cool act exposed, right after critiquing that of someone else.

...

"What just happened...?" Cade thought to herself as the door closed, leaving her standing alone in the dark man's toilet. She had spent a long time alone, but was this how people had usually acted? She could only hope the blacksmith would do his work.

Feeling unsure whether that was the right thing to do or not, she did not want to return to the party. Cade returned to her room that was provided by the princess. All people the princess had recruited in Gamma, and brought to Delta, were provided with a room to stay for the time being.

She just hoped not to meet the other residents on the way. She didn't like the annoying slavemancer and his crew, but the other guy was a whole other level of annoying.

Always going on and on about his weird responsibility and trying to talk others into stuff.

...

As the party came to its end, Brock and the old man approached them just before they left. It was just a brief introduction. The man introduced himself as Albert and his class was a Dimensional Merchant.

Essentially, he was like Seth, he had a non-combat class but was able to gain strength through his unique class, which gave him access to an inter-dimensional trading system.

As he himself had no problems getting his hands on equipment and supplies he needed, their talk was a simple exchange of pleasantries.

The blacksmith briefly thought about the option of buying exotic equipment or ores from the man, but he didn't really like the idea. Since Albert was the only one with access to and knowledge of the prices, he could ask whatever he wanted for stuff. Seth was rich, but it didn't been he would willingly get taken advantage of.

But if he was able to provide materials at a cheaper price than the auction house, there might be some worth, that's why Seth took part in vague talks about possible future collaborations.

In the end, Seth did not get the chance to meet the other last member that had stood in the corner of the ballroom before they left. Since they didn't approach him, they probably had no problems with their equipment.

He didn't really care. He had learned quite a bit on this evening and had a lot on his mind. He had gained a kind of enlightenment on music and had to sort his thought. On top of that, the soul of Zarkon's champion had found its way back to him.

Together with the person that it was destined for. Back then, he had an intuition that it was better not to keep the soul as if it was meant for someone else. Through the princess, it had found its way into the right hands.

A girl set on destroying all remnants of Zarkon?

Keeping the soul? He didn't want to. Despite the uniqueness of the soul, the possible effects and its original owner were too off-putting for him. The only thing he hoped to get back was the Whimsical Curse.

Cade was no champion. Seth was sure that she would destroy the soul once her work was done. At that point, he could get the necklace back. After all this time, it would have powered up tremendously.

His head full of thoughts, they finally returned home