Blacksmith of the Apocalypse

Looking at the description of the pair of boots, it was the first time during this build, that something unforeseen had happened. Seir's Travel had vanished. Other skills he expected, like the <Shattering Stomp> were there, but the demon's movement skill had vanished.

The leather's option to purify curses over time had also evolved into <Apollo Bless>. This skill could purify any curse once a day and grant immunity to status effects for 5 hours.

However, when he checked the set effects, he started to realize where the demon's power had vanished gone to. <Active Skill: Scorpio Star Escape lv.1 Mana Cost: 250, Cool Down: 20 seconds.

Short-range Teleport to a location set within the constellation Scorpio>

A skill that gave him actual short-range teleportation, though with some restrictions. What was more baffling was the fact that it had a level, which meant that he could collect proficiency and improve the skill by leveling it!

Since he couldn't understand the restrictions based on the description, he equipped the pair of boots and quickly stumbled before he could even test the skill. The moment he put them on, a convoluted overlay appeared in his field of vision.

A stream of knowledge flowed into his brain, helping him understand what he was seeing. This was <3d Maneuver Assistance>. Was this the skill of the Rabbit of Caerbannog? The overlay constantly showed him surfaces in the 3-dimensional room he could reach with his current agility and use to propel himself and attack from various angles.

<Passive Skill: 3d Maneuver Assistance, No Cost, No Cooldown.

Assists in 3d Maneuvers. During 3D Maneuvers 30% of your Agility Attribute will also add to your Attack Damage as if it were Strength.>

As 3d Maneuvers counted any attacks he performed in the air. It was quite funny that he had a skill that boosted his stamina and health regeneration when he stood firmly on the ground and another that improved his attack power when he did not.

The blacksmith was momentarily distracted by the sudden overlay, but he quickly remembered the original reason he wore the boots. He activated <Scorpio Star Escape>. The sight that followed made him instantly realize the origin of the weird names the system had given the set pieces.

As if drawn on the floor of his workshop appeared a constellation, the Scorpio Constellation as it had been visible during ancient times, he suspected. He stood on a glowing spot called Pipirima. Maybe two or three meters in front of him,, he saw a grayed-out point called Laraweg.

Even further in the front, he saw Alniyat twice and Graffias slightly to the right beyond the wall of his workshop. A little behind him and slightly to the left were Shaula and Lesath. All the names of the items he had finished so far.

Following an idea, he put all the armor pieces on and he found the points only lit up when he equipped the item with the according name. He could help but test it. Since some of the points were not within the room, he chose the closest one, Laraweg, to teleport to. For a moment he lost his vision, before appearing three meters ahead of the place he stood before. He felt dizzy and a little sore with a slight headache.

This was definitely something he had to get used to, other than these side effects, he was stoked. He actually gained a version of blink! He turned around and tried it again. The drawing of the constellation oriented itself with him, the tail of the scorpion was always behind him, and the "claws" at the front.

Although it was quite costly with 250 mana per use, it was not too expensive for a skill like this. He also understood why the description said, that the boots were technically useless without the rest of the armor. They were a requirement to unlock more teleportation destinations.

After playing around with the new boots for a moment, he also checked Alecto's Rush, which was surprisingly a passive skill. It improved the power of all charge attacks by half and decreased the stamina expenditure by the same amount.

Although Seth only had <Shattering Stomp> as a bonafide charging skill. Maybe it also had an effect on attacks with <3d Maneuver Assistance>?

Using the overlay he started running at a wall to the right, jumped at the wall, used the wall to propel himself towards the ceiling, and finally used the ceiling as a foothold to attack the air in the place he had stood before.

Seth would have never thought that he would be able to do such a thing. He could only blame the additional 275 agility the armor pieces granted him. Why did he do this? His thought was simple, now he would take off the boots and do the same movements again, to see if it would exhaust him more.

The blacksmith charged at the wall, and jumped at it trying to hit the exact same spot. He stepped at the wall, his foot slipped, and he propelled himself face first back on the ground.

Fortunately, he had worn the rest of the armor, or else he might have really hurt himself. He slowly picked himself up from the floor. He was just glad nobody saw that.

One thing was clear, without <3d Maneuver Assistance> he could forget about these kinds of stunts. What if he tried it again, using the <Lame One's Walk>? The bard was quite clear, that this would work either.

It was painfully obvious that he had no talent for this kind of fighting style, without the given assistance. He still remembered his fight in the Beyond. If the footholds he created had not literally done their best to appear where he stepped, he would have taken more damage from the falls, than his enemy.

Seeing that it was a fruitless endeavor, he gave up on trying to test whether <Alecto's Rush> influenced <3d Maneuver Assistance>.

When he set down to take a break, he finally realized how far he had come. He wore a full set of legendary armor. He was almost finished with his biggest personal project. Checking his skills, he found that <Blacksmith> and <Enchantment> had really come a long way.

He looked forward to how it all came together once he finished the last piece. The only thing missing now was the Shield. But he wouldn't do it today. The materials were already refined, all that was left for tomorrow was forging the actual shield. And once his personal safety was finished, he could throw himself into working on the safety of his friends and subordinates.

With a warm sense of accomplishment, he fell on the bed beside Mina and fell asleep.

…

--Somewhere in Delta--

After two knocks, a man wearing a tailor-made suit entered an office.

"We are unable to get in contact with the Boar Brothers since yesterday," he reported to the man sitting at the desk.

"Tsk. They keep acting high and mighty, but when push comes to shove they end up vanishing or being captured. The boss struck a deal with those weirdos, but so far only their drugs are up to par."

They had been spreading drugs, kidnapping people, and even organized the killing of the guard. Everything those weirdos wanted, they had accomplished flawlessly. The huge meal just waited for the last push.

But what did they do? Any time they asked them for some support, those arrogant pricks simply failed time and time again. If it wasn't for their drugs and materials, he was sure the boss would have never struck a deal with them.

"Nothing we can do about it. Just report it to them as is. We send them to find and kill core members of Minas Mar, but they didn't return." Why did these people have to be so tough? If it wasn't for their deal with he foreigners... He was tired of dealing with these people, but he couldn't deny that they were strong. They had terrifying and exotic means to make people...obedient. They had to hurry. If only those useless researchers would finally bring in results. " Any news from Gamma?"

"It seems like the serum will soon be finished. Our people are preparing for them the moment it's finished." "Great, at least some good news. You can leave now."

he waves his hand, but the shadow didn't leave.

"What else?" he asked when he saw his subordinate not leaving.

" Our contacts in the government have fallen silent," he reported.

"What?!"

"District Managers Din and Allen are not reacting to our messages anymore after they send the Information on a secret meeting concerning pitch for a top-secret project."

"What project?"

"According to their last contact, it was called Project Iego."