Blacksmith of the Apocalypse

With Fin watching from the back, the blacksmith began engraving the complicated enchantment onto the whole sword. Unlike before, he was able to recognize some familiar strokes among the complicated lines.

He found traces to the fire circuits in several places along the blade and hilt. Seth couldn’t quite tell why, but this kind of expansive enchantment really sapped his energy quicker than the normal ones and he soon started sweating profusely.

“Ungh-“

He suddenly heard Fin’s voice behind him, breaking his focus. He looked up to see the stone floor around him glowing red hot with the air around him shimmering. Fin was sitting on the ground some distance away, drenched in sweat and close to losing consciousness.

“Fin! Are you okay?!”

What had even happened?

“I-I’m fine, but I think I need to take a break from watching,” she answered, forgetting to talk cutely.

“Are your sure?” he asked worried.

“Yes, yes, just get back to your work, I will be okay,” she said with an embarrassed smile.

“That won’t do. Let’s go look for Link and get some ice to cool you down. A heatstroke is nothing to joke about.”

“But I said-” “I heard you.”

Ignoring her protests, he picked her up and brought her to the kitchen, where he found Link busy with cooking, as always. Seth could help but wonder about the man’s passion for food, watching the dozens of pots and pans simmering.

He was running back and forth between preparing ingredients, instructing helpers, and managing the stoves, like a conductor leading an orchestra. Sometimes Seth wondered, why Link didn’t just change his class to a Chef completely. But he also understood the world they lived in.

Who would give up their ability to protect themselves and grow stronger when the world could come crumbling down at any moment?

“Link, could we have some ice for Fin? ” Seth asked after waiting for the right timing, when the chef seemed like he had a moment to spare.

“You came at just the right time, I have developed some new ice cream using the milk of a Muhtilk, a kind of mutated monster cow. Here, try these.” Link spoke quickly, as if without much thinking. With what almost looked like a slight of hand, two tubs of ice cream appeared on the counter before them. Before the blacksmith could speak up, the gourmet hunter had already rushed back to his pots, pans, and ovens.

He still looked at the man’s back when he fell his hand lighten. The fairy had taken the chance and dove into the creamy cold sea of her ice cream tub. Steam was coming off her, as she sang into the creamy goodness.

“You seriously have to stop bathing in your food…” Seth commented, picking the other tub and a spoon to taste it.

“You are just jealous because you are too big to bathe in your favorite food!” Fin scolded, slurping the treat with glee.

The ice cream tasted good, a little like vanilla with a tinge of honey and cinnamon. It felt refreshing and Seth noticed that his mana and stamina were regenerating more quickly. He smiled wryly, even a simple ice cream now had effects similar to a potion. Link’s skills had really grown. It was when Seth decided, that even when link couldn’t choose to become a chef by class, he would support his dreams in the kitchen even further.

Once the fairy had eaten or rather absorbed the ice cream, she seemed to do a lot better and stickier. Seth also finished his tub and returned to the workshop, while Fin was banished to the bathroom. She really needed to wash up.

By the time he returned, the workshop and already cooled down to the normal levels of heat. It had been the first time something like this had happened, so he really had no expected it. But it was also his first time that he had messed with the enchantment of a god…

he was just glad he had not tried to make an ice sword. If working on the enchantment had frozen him solid, he would have had no resistance to it at all. Looking at the silver blade covered in complex and beautiful engravings, its orange sheen had something endearing.

He put the blade back onto the enchantment table and continued his work. It was not much more to go, to finish it. Fortunately, he had not messed anything up, when his concentration broke. By the time he did the last stroke and the enchantment glowed up as a sign of success, the floor around him was once again close to liquefying. He was just glad, that his crafting stations were unharmed by the heat.

With the sword’s body finished, he began working on its soul. Edward had been unlucky with ego souls, Tano’Mol had no shortage of other souls. Since Seth had given up on making a sword focused on fire at that point, his attention went somewhere else.

Looking at the souls with the skills of knights, he found something nostalgic. The soul he held in his hands was that of a Dullahan, but it had a rare trait; Loyalty. Although he was surprised at first to see such a trait in an undead, the goat made him quickly realize that it wasn’t unusual.

Dullahans were often great heroes or soldiers that had lost their lives. It was no wonder that they would often feature a trait like loyalty. The trait was different from the Loyal Soul that was currently powering his golden fleece, as it had specific effects within the system instead of being a descriptor of the soul itself.

While it was a knightly soul, the divine enchantment he chose for it was fiery in nature. Ixion’s Punishment seemed like a rather clear one, compared to the others. Ixion was a man who had thrown his father-in-law into a fire pit when he was his guest and later insulted the gods by abusing their hospitality. His punishment in Tartarus was to be strapped to a burning wheel for eternity.

Its Sigil showed a simplified human bound to a wheel. It seemed like quite the horrible punishment, though Seth wouldn’t know. He had lost all fear of fire. The sword soul was covered in patterns of flames and thorny chains when he finished the sigil.

The moment Seth pulled the sword out of the bubble of Styx it flared up with a blazing white flame. The heat in the workshop rose sharply, making the Blacksmith frown. Before he could check the options, he had to be able to see the item at all.

~Sword Ego?~ he tried to contact the automaton ego.

~Name has been registered as White Hilt: of Restraint. Awaiting Orders.~ ~Can you turn off the flaming blade?~ ~Affirmative~

Immediately the blinding white flames receded and allowed him to inspect the blade. The legendary was glowing cherry red from the heat, with the engravings glowing in bright contrast to the darker rest of the blade.

Seth found that the circumstances during the enchanting were not the only drawback of the White Hilt enchantment. There would be no problems to use it on because it was refined using pure fire energy, but if used on a weapon of another material, it was an almost guaranteed self-destruction.

Legendary, Ego

Phys.Damage: 2650

Fire Damage: 1500

Durability: 9000

1. Blessing of Wind

2. +200% Power on Skills and Spells

3. Nergal’s Burning Heat

4. Flaming Sword

5. Loyalty

6. Ixion’s Bind

7. Passive Skill: Nergal’s Swordsmanship

8. Active Skill: Burning Strike

9. Active Skill: Ember Rain

The resurfacing of a forgotten legend. Created by the collaboration of Craftsman Smith and Master Smith, the first master enchanter of Urth. A mixture of skills and a daring interference with divine knowledge have led to an unexpected result.

Requirements: Maker’s Approval >