Blacksmith of the Apocalypse

"Hey, didn't the dungeon cha-"

"Okay guys, that is enough. I think we should leave for today." Seth interrupted. He clapped his hands and took the lead on the way back. The place really had changed. Rott and mold covered the walls and a kind of sludge and mud took over the floor. Everything was filled with vines and growths.

This really didn't seem like the dungeon anymore...

There were also no monsters on the way back. Just an unsettling silence interrupted by their steps and the weird drips and crackles in the surroundings. An icy wind was blowing in the hallways, that was not there before. It made their hair rise and their nerves tense.

At this point, everyone was clear that something had happened and this was not the dungeon they entered anymore. Stepping out of the entrance they came before a desolate world. It looked like Y City on the surface but the people and any signs of their existence were gone. In the distance, they could only see the vague silhouettes of the building in the damp fog that filled the world.

"Guys, I don't think we are in Kansas anymore. - I mean Y City." Link quoted an iconic children's movie.

"You don't say..."

Suddenly Seth pushed Link out of the way. A weird projectile had shot down from the porch roof of the entrance aiming for the gourmet hunter head. As it shot towards Seth's neck, who had jumped into the trajectory, it was stopped by a bright magical shield the size of a big dish.

On the ceiling above them stuck a creature that looked like a chameleon that was partly turned inside out. It had four eyes around the head and its mouth split open in a cross-shape with 4 jaws. The projectile was a long whip-like tongue with a barbed armored tip.

The party got in formation, but the creature fled after its surprise attack failed.

"Phew, I'm glad it worked."

~ Of course, it worked. I helped after all. ~

"What was that shield?" asked Alison while intently staring at him.

"Tehe, trade secret."

The small shield that had blocked the tongue was still hovering around Seth. It was the effect of the new Soul helmet he had made and enchanted with the help of Al. He had used several medium souls to boost the Loyal Soul from medium to big. Since he did not want a helmet that took his vision and lacked the materials to make a good circlet, Seth decided on a soul helmet.

<Loyal Helmet

Rare

Mag. Def. 430

1.Auto Shield

A soul helmet that wishes to protect the owner. Can be infused into an item or used as-is. Usage Requirement: Seth Smith>

<Toggle Skill: Auto Shield, No Cost

The area in a radius of 1m around the wearer is constantly monitored. Creates a shield with 450 durability in case of an attack. The shield is maintained for 1 minute. Generates up to 7 shields.>

He made an enchantment with the help of Al that used the property of the soul, the "wish to protect". Coupled with the enchantments "Shield" and "Detection" the "Auto Shield" skill was created.

The enchantment needed all the soul's mana to operate which was why he did not get any bonus mana. But it was a great trade-off considering that he had the means to prevent surprise attacks.

Just that it did not help with their current situation. Everyone looked to Seth as he was the leader. They watched him talk to the voice in his head.

"Al, you were the one who warned me. Do you have any idea where we are?"

~ I only felt a spatial shift. I guess it's some kind of parallel dimension? ~

"And do you maybe know a way back? How did we get here in the first place...?"

~ Maybe I could find one if you summon me? Com' on, summon me. I promise I won't do anything naughty ~

Seth could totally hear, that she was going to pull something on him... but did he have a choice? He was just a simple blacksmith that could collect souls and bend fire. In absence of a better solution, Seth used the token's skill to summon the great sorceress.

The net moment he felt a tight embrace and a pair of soft lips pressing onto his. Seth sank to his knees gasping for breath when her tongue finally stopped ravishing him.

"Okay, I will be satisfied with this, for now."

The beauty turned towards the slack-jawed group that had watched the spectacle with bulging eyes. Alison had a beet-red face and covered her eyes with her hands, but still glimpsed through a gap in her fingers.

"I'm the great sorceress Al'Zalsa, the spiciest magician of- Nevermind!"

"You are so lucky, man. To simply summon such a babe!" Link complimented Seth who had barely recovered.

Tekar stayed silent. He was simply happy that nobody could see his face under the helmet. His face was boiling. He was a grown man with a daughter. It was embarrassing to react like a teen in puberty from seeing a kiss in public.

"You promised not to do anything n-naughty." Seth finally spoke indignantly.

"Calling such an innocent kiss naughty! I feel offended," she said with a smirk. There was nothing innocent about that kiss. Everyone here could testify.

"Anyway. Let's get to business," she said and ignored them.

The sorceress started chanting accompanied by complicated hand gestures. Complicates runes and sigils started lighting up in the air and on the ground surrounding her. It took almost 15 minutes before the light finally dimmed and her chanting stopped.

"Hmm very interesting. This is my first time seeing such a phenomenon," she mumbled.

"So, do you know where we are?" Seth interrupted her mumbling.

"It seems to be a copy of your Urth and then again it isn't."

"Is it another world?"

Al'Zalsa shook her head.

"No. It's literally like a carbon copy. Like if Urth was a sheet of carbon paper, this is a sheet right below it and many of the details have bled through. I will need to observe some more. It is more like a... ? There is no easy way to explain, but it's good we left the hospital. "

"Why?" all of them asked confused.

"Because the pathworks are not connected to this place. There are no dungeons. If you had kept acting as if it was a dungeon and died expecting to be revived at the guild... well, you would be dead for good."

"Wait, you said this had no connection to the pathworks... does this mean this weird space was part of our world, to begin with? This has always been here without us noticing?" Alison asked upset.

"Yep, your world is quite fascinating."

"But how did we get here?"

"If I had to guess, which I have to, something or someone from this side pulled you over here.

"That is all well and good, but do you know a way back?" Seth interrupted them.

"Nope. At least there is nothing I can do right now in the time left. I collected all the information and I can probably come up with a way to return."

"That's great!" Link celebrated.

"Not really. I can summon Al only once a week. This means we have to stay here for at least a week, even if she comes up with a way in the next hour. Isn't that right, Al?"

"Yep, there is nothing I can do about it immediately. So~ why don't we have some fun until my time runs out?"

She was drawing closer to Seth when she suddenly said.

"Don't you dare to cancel the summon. I won't help if you do! Then you will be stuck here for two weeks."

Seth had no other choice but to take one for the team. She cast a shield to keep the party safe and another, opaque, shield so they had some privacy for their business. Conveniently it also hindered Seth from escaping.

"A true hero..." Link said seriously, but the tears of envy kept flowing down his cheeks. Tekar stayed suspiciously silent, while Alison was red like a tomato and did not even dare to look in the direction of the little "love nest".

Half an hour later both barriers and Al'Zalsa disintegrated leaving a disheveled Seth and an embarrassed party behind.

"I'm just glad Fin isn't here to see this...." Seth mumbled as he tried to fix his attire.