Blacksmith of the Apocalypse

They had cut across the strait between the continent and the island of Bazilark to escape the Koor Worm's pursuit. After the ship landed to recharge the energy storage, she offered to scout the city of Abad.

She enjoyed the quiet after leaving the group. Once she was out of sight, she pulled out some jerky and started eating in relish.

She had spent so much time alone now, that the chaos of constantly being in a group became a burden to her. But that wasn't all.

It was hard to find moments for her much-needed snack time. She had fully come to terms with the horrible fact that she had to consume human meat. Cade couldn't change this aspect of her class and compared to the strength and power she gained it was a minor price to pay.

Necromancers even resurrected corpses and played them like puppets, why would eating some human jerky be so bad? Although she came to terms with herself, she knew that it would not be as easy to accept for other people.

The princess seemed to have guessed her class and didn't show any particular aversion. Well, she was one of those fantasy people, she probably dealt with vampires who drank blood all the time.

Cade didn't dare to pull out her dried human meat strips in the presence of other people. No matter how terrible the hunger became. What if they could appraise it? Or even asked for a share. It was already a pain to come out about it of her own accord.

If others found out they would jump to conclusions and not give her any time to explain. She shuddered at the thought of that evil foreigner who had hunted her with his burning energy. Just like him, how would she be able with these people?

Ben Harker definitely seemed like someone who would strike her down, without letting her explain anything, thinking she was some horrible monster that ate people for her own benefit.

She couldn't deny that she benefitted from eating human meat. Aside from the fact that her class literally forced her to do it for survival. The skill <Corpse Eater> allowed her to absorb skill proficiency and sometimes even stats from the person she ate.

Cade didn't eat meat for this effect, but would people believe her? Maybe some of them, but they would still be appalled. Even her brother-in-law never looked at her the same way, after she came clean to them about it. Only her sister had really not cared and accepted her.

Her fists clenched had, when she thought of the time when she lost her sister. The one person she had left, taken away by the ignorant masses. It even made the jerky in her mouth taste bad. Cade shook her head furiously to get the thoughts out of her head.

This was not the time to be caught up in the past. Cloaked in illusion magic that gave her near invisibility and stealth skill as a hunter of the night, she passed through a sparse forest. She even cast silence. When the porous ground under her feet crumpled it made no sounds. The darkness of the night further assisted in perfectly concealing her presence.

Despite all her efforts, it was useless.

Because there was nothing to hide from. The forest was completely empty. No sounds of animals, no signs of presence. Even her heightened senses could not make out a single shred of evidence for life in the vicinity.

Cade became only more vigilant as she carefully snuck through the forest. As the shrubbery became even scarcer, she came across a field of empty basins that looked almost naturally formed. It reminded her of hot springs.

She was still puzzled about the basins as she kept walking towards the city on the other side of the island. The crumbled city walls were already touched by the rays of dawn when she reached

At first glance, the city seemed just as empty as the forest. Was the whole island devoid of life? Just what happened. Her golden eyes scanned the silhouettes of the city as she slowly walked closer. She stopped in place when she finally saw movement among the rubble.

Although the wall had fallen, there were guards patrolling the premises. She could clearly recognize the guards in worn-out armor and carrying spears as humans.

Yes, humans. She got closer to take a look at the city. It was not hard to find a gap among the guard and climb onto what was left of the city wall. The picture was quite similar to Akhaz. A big medieval-style town, marred by scars of battle.

Broken houses, ruined streets, craters of magic, and marks from claws and weapon skills bore witness to the hard fight that had gone on in the city. Among the few figures moving in the ruins, she couldn't see any abominations or even amalgamations.

It was really a city that had managed to survive, even without making a deal with a demon. After observing a while, Cade decided to enter the settlement. Except for the guards, the city was almost empty.

Only a few people walked the streets, but none of them seemed to have suffered a lot. Although their clothes were worn and dirty, they seemed well-fed and almost in a good mood. It was a great difference, compared to Akhaz.

Since she wanted to know, she decided to follow one of the commoners. They walked to a house and left soon after with some simple household items. Cade followed the person back and watched them entering the well in the middle of a marketplace.

The rakshasa deliberated for a moment before following into the well. Inside the well was a ladder leading down into the darkness. At the bottom, she entered a small cave tunnel. The walls had tool marks and seemed to have been carved out by people.

Before and behind her the tunnel led into darkness. Cade had no idea which direction the person had gone so she listened to the silence. Steps, breathing, the murmur of a crowd. She followed the noises through the tunnel system.

Soon she reached a big cavern filled with bustling life. Brightly lit and with many people selling their wares, it felt almost like a night market. With so many people nobody would notice if there was another commoner among them.

She had checked the guard and people but there seemed nobody overly strong. It seemed safe to approach these people and ask for information. In the shadows of a tunnel, an unassuming young girl suddenly appeared and joined the bustling crowd.

However, she had never done any kind of information gathering and the last months had left her social skills in a desolate condition. Faced with this problem, she had only one way to go. She could only use her rakshasa mind tricks.

Sprinkling some illusion spells to make people talk, she found her way around the markets and the living quarters in other areas of the cave system. She found out the whole island was undermined by was caves washed out of the rock over thousands of years.

The people had used these caves for a long time as cellars, shelters, and even for their farm animals. That was why they were able to move into these caves with relative ease after they dried out following the days of the sun.

Cade found some of the now jobless sailors and merchants to ask about the citadel. The lord of Akhaz didn't know anything and they didn't have the time to ask the people of the city. Here she found a few people who knew of ruins at the shores of the northern continent of Trybh'z.

This was a great find. At least they knew this was the correct path. She had just started a conversation with a merchant in a bar when everything started shaking. An earthquake?!

...

"Who are you? Identify yourselves!"

Just a little earlier, the group at the vessel had their own run-in with the natives. A group of guards had found the vessel parked some distance away from the shore.

Seth left the ship and took a quick glance. He didn't use <Observation>, but he didn't need to. All of their equipment was at least rare rated, which indicated that these guys were not weak. Nobody would spend so much money on regular guards.

The hero was already talking to them. It seemed to be going well, so Seth did not interfere. The hero had given themself the role of travelers looking for survivors and information, instead of world traveling heroes on a mission, or whatever.

"You have news from Akhaz?" the guard captain asked Harker interested.

According to the guards, the island had been completely isolated from the mainland after the first rise of the blood sun. Harker told them about the fate of the continent. Although he had trouble improvising, he more or less truthfully told them about their escape from Akhaz.

"It seems we were quite lucky compared to the continent." the guard lamented.

It seemed that they had managed to overcome the first blood sun with heavy casualties. Afterward, they took drastic measures and killed every living thing on the island, outside of the cave systems to prevent the creation of abominations.

They killed any roaming monsters that entered through the pathworks and strictly managed the dungeons. As they were talking, the island suddenly quaked.