Blacksmith of the Apocalypse

“How is it going, Sivri?” he asked as he returned to their room.

“Almost done!” the golden dwarf answered cheerfully, looking up from the decoration made of <Arcane Gold> and <Mithril> she was working on. The display of finished decorations, beads and pearls, carved from gems and fashioned from precious metals had grown considerably.

“Good work, we can start working on the Usekh once I'm done with scale the shirt,” the blacksmith answered with a smile, before got back to making scales. It had still managed to get through a lot the other day, so he quickly finished the scales, before continuing to the next step.

Cutting leather at a workbench, he followed the blueprint's templates for the shirt. Of course, the scales also needed a fitting base they would be attached to. Seth's growth in the sewing skill and the experience he collected with the tailors were now able to shine.

As the blueprints specified epic leather from a lion-type beast. Seth chose the leather of a juvenile Manticore. The leather of a Manticore came with the passive skill <Manticore's Power> which was similar to <Strength of the Minotaur>.

The juvenile's leather already raised all physical attributes by 10 and Poison Resistance by 25%. The blacksmith had tried everything to get his hands on the leather of an adult, but since adult leather was a relic- to legendary rated material it was not something that found its way to the Auction House.

Although the leather was usually bad for armors since it had a very low defense and mediocre durability even when strengthened with <Advanced Reinforce>, it was strongly sought after by tailors and enchanters because of its smooth texture and powerful skill. Despite not directly being suited for armor, it was good as the base for the scale shirt. The scales would make up for its shortcomings.

Once all the pieces were cut to shape, the blacksmith used Puffle's <Sky Silk> to stitch them together. Seth turned the pieces of leather into a simple leather tunic before proceeding to attach the scales with the same thread.

He could have used Charon's Obol and <Energy Manipulation 3> to fuse the scales onto the the tunic, but this way he increased the the effect of the <Sky Silk> as well as his <Composer of Fusion> skill, as <Sewing> became a bigger part of the work.

Two hours later, Sivri came to his side.

“I'm done with the parts you asked me for,” she reported dutifully.

“And I am, too,” Seth said between each stitch as he attached the last scale.

<Ding! You have finished a special item! +100p Power of Existence>

This was the third finished item of the set. “Slaughter's Scale Armor” followed the trend of the others, offering few, but massive improvements. His skill <Composer of Fusion> had also taken full effect this time.

<Slaughter's Scale Armor

Special

Slaughter's -Set 1/8

Durability: 4444

Phys.-Defense: 4000

Mag.-Defense: 3000

1.+200% Physical Defence

2.+100% Power of Maahes'Divine Skills

3.+130 Willpower

4.+130 Endurance

5. Protector

6. Active Skill: Sand Shell

7. 10% Overall Power up under the open Sky.

8. Manticore's Power

Set Effect:

…

Usekh, Scale Armor, Belt: 3/8

+50% Overall Defense

Passive Skill: Force Shield

...

A fine scale armor made of special materials and created by the hands of Master Smith, the first Master Blacksmith, Master Enchanter, and Master Goldsmith on Urth. A holy armament of Maahes and Part of the Slaughterer's Set, designed by Ptah, the Heliopolian God of Craftsmen.

Requirements: Chosen of Maahes>

Apart from the effect and the skill, the Scale Armor was also influenced by Puffle's silk, granting a power up under open sky and the leather, having <Manticore's Power>. As for the effect, it was simply called Protector and raised the defense by 75% when defending allies. Not very flashy or spectacular, but very practical.

The effect worked in synergy with the skill it offered, <Sand Shell>. This active skill covered the user with sand from the surroundings which formed a form shell. Its strength depended on the amount of sand used in the creation of the shell.

In addition, there was the set effect that became visible, not that one of the three was finished. This again raised the wearer's defense, but even more interesting was the Passive Skill: Force Field. Unlike Seth's armor which was able to negate 80% of any damage, in addition to reflecting damage, <Force Field> negated all damage below a certain threshold.

It was intriguing because the specific threshold was not mentioned in the skill description. Apparently, it was somehow based on the wearer's defense, but Mike would probably have to test around to find the limits of this skill. Nonetheless, it was a cool skill to have.

Satisfied, Seth nodded and put the shirt aside. Now, only the collar, the belt, and the crown were left to make. Looking at the clock, the blacksmith decided to continue for now.

Since Sivri was also finished, they could start working on the collar, or Usekh, together. In its nature, it was similar to chain, but instead of being made up of interwoven metal rings, it was made up of a connection of metal plates, metal beads, gem beads, and gem ornaments that all connected in a special way.

With all the high-quality gems and <Arcane Gold>, the Usekh was the source of power, that fed into the rest of the set. The better the materials for the collar, the less burden would be put on the user.

This was also a reason why Seth was actually deliberating about whether he should infuse souls, or not. It was not really needed since he used exclusively epic gemstones. On the other hand, Souls could get in the way of the set effect, the same way his forging ballads might have.

Since he didn't have any souls he could infuse without worry, he decided to put that aside for the time being. If he got his hands on the perfect soul at some point in the future, he would still be able to add it to Mike's gear.

“This is actually quite fun,” Sivri said from the aside. While Seth was making and engraving the plates of <Blood of Maahes>, the golden dwarf had started threading the finished beads and ornaments on <Sky Silk>.

The two craftsmen kept talking about the collar's design, as they worked side by side. Hours went by until finally-

Knock Knock! Someone knocked on the door of their room.

“Seth? They said you are in there,” they heard a familiar voice from outside. It was Wedan. Surprised, the blacksmith stood up and opened the door for the dwarf.

“Wedan? You are already here? That went quick.” he greeted the dwarf and pulled him into a manly hug.

“You can count on me! Here's the stuff you wanted,” the dwarf said proudly and handed him a bundle, packed in paper.

“Great, just in time. Thanks.” the blacksmith thanked him and put away the material he asked the dwarf to bring. Then he remembered what he said and checked the clock. Wedan was right, it was already quite late. Wedan had come just in time for dinner.

“Sivri, do you want to come along? Let's take a break and go meet the others for eating out,” Seth invited the golem to come along. At this point, they were only missing the crown and the belt of the set. They wouldn't finish either today, so it was okay to push them to tomorrow.

“Alright!”

…

Meeting the others in the city, the blacksmith, the dwarf, and the golden dwarf joined them for a merry get-together. It had been a while since Seth hung around with Wedan and the dwarf fit in well with the rest of the people from Yulecat's Fur.

Despite always expecting it, nothing bad happened today. They were simply out drinking and having fun. And he was right, nothing untoward happened that day within the boundaries of Little Gamma.

Yet, while the people of Minas Mar were enjoying their short respite from Chaos, dark clouds were brewing elsewhere.