Blacksmith of the Apocalypse

The blacksmith came to Little Gamma yesterday since there were only two days left before the Entrance Ceremony of the Pythian Games started. he had come up here because they had gotten news from the patrols that kept an eye on the surrounding mountains.

Approaching the central mountains was a massive fleet of flying ships. They had little resemblance with the vessels Seth knew from Ora or Chrona, or the flying shuttles and barches that cultivators used. Over the past weeks, the sight of their flying vessel had become more common on Urth.

Their appearance was closer to space shuttles he knew from science fiction. But not the sleek, clean, chromium beasts, but ones that were covered in greebles, like someone built them on a scrap yard, or forgot to mount a cover to hide the internals. They came in many different sizes, but they all paled in comparison to the central mammoth, like a shoal of fish following a whale.

Seth didn't quite know how to categorize these new arrivals. Were they people from Urth? Spatia? Or some completely other new phenomenon? Most importantly, he had no idea whether they were friend or foe.

At the foothills, the fleet stopped moving forward, instead, a smaller vessel was launched from the mother ship, which aimed straight for Little Gamma. The smaller vessel looked much more polished, than the rest of the fleet and approached with a quick pace.

“How is it?” Mina asked, stepping up beside him.

“The fleet stopped at the edge of the mountains. A small shuttle is approaching the Tree Station. Maybe they are just here to join the Pythian Games.”

Seeing that they actually dispatched a smaller vessel, instead of approaching with the whole fleet, raised his hope that they were not an additional danger.

...

Standing at the bridge of their envoy's vessel, She looked forward to Little Gamma. Since the Scouting Vessel Beetle had caught onto the broadcasting announcement, she had found hope that they were not the last remains of the people on Urth.

Finding actual proof that there were others out there, and seeing how they were managing fine, was a huge relief. Others called her a genius, but she was still just 17 years old. No matter how composed and determined she acted, the responsibility of leading her people, maybe the last people on the planet, was a huge burden.

Arriving at New Hope, after fleeing Epsilon and weeks of living on board a ship with waning resources, had just added to her burden, not diminished it. After Beetle returned with the transmission, she kept sending small vessels to search for the path to Delta and collect more information on Minas Mar.

Despite wishing for it to be true, that there was someone, a place that could lessen her burden, she had a hard time believing the fairy tale of Minas Mar. Even when her own scouts reported it. That was until she saw the giant tree for herself.

She had a hard time, keeping her stoic expression at the sight of the massive tree, sprouting between the snowy mountains. There were a lot of emotions bubbling up. Suspicion, doubt, worry, elation, nervousness, relief, she suppressed these emotions, as she had to beep a calm and collected mind as the commander.

If she made the wrong decision, because she was too impatient or overwhelmed by feelings, all the things they had overcome so far would have been for nothing.

“Commander, a man riding a giant ...centipede appeared from the direction of the tree and is blocking our way,” the helmsman reported to her. She looked at the screen which displayed the picture of a humongous centipede-like creature with a white ceramic carapace and golden accents.

Sitting right behind the creature's golden neck shield was a man completely dressed in dark medieval armor. After a moment of thought, she commanded for the vessel to come to a halt.

“Activate the loudspeakers. This is commander Joannia Taggart, of Epsilon's Survivor Fleet speaking. Identify yourself. Why did you block our path?” she asked in a commanding tone. When the answer came, everyone hurriedly threw off their headphones.

“I am the Tower Master of Minas Mar. What is your purpose of approaching Little Gamma?” a mighty, booming voice shook the mountains and had the mountings on the bridge rattle. The transmission from the outside microphones almost blew their ears out.

Despite the ringing in her ears, her heart was racing. If they really were the Tower Master... How high were the chances to immediately meet the Tower Master of Minas Mar, before even fully arriving at Little Gamma? Whether he was honest or not, the person was definitely powerful, they wouldn't lose anything from being honest here.

“We received the transmission about the Pythian Games and wished to take part. We also would like a chance to negotiate with the Tower Master and Minas Mar.” she suppressed the pain in her ears and answered seriously. A moment of silence followed after her answer.

“Follow me closely!” the rider instructed them and took the lead, guiding the Envoy Vessel toward the Tree Station. They followed the flying centipede along the outside of the barrier that covered the whole city.

It was truly a sight to behold. Not just the giant tree that blotted out the sun, or the barrier that covered it, but the literal forest of buildings under its crown. It was such a familiar, yet exotic sight at the same time. Nonetheless, seeing a flourishing city like that touched the heart of anyone on the bridge.

None of them had expected to ever see something so close to “home” ever again. Not after they were forced to destroy their own district and flee into the No Man's Land, littered with dangers.

On the opposite side, on the west side of the barrier was a smaller barrier docked onto the main one, protecting another, smaller city as well as a huge stadium. Despite sending scouts to Delta, the information they were able to bring back was mostly rumors, just enough to make this expedition viable.

They had no idea about the structure of Little Gamma beforehand, but they were able to guess, that this was probably the location for the Pythian games and an additional settlement for visitors. Following the Tower Master, their Envoy Vessel lowered altitude beside the barrier of this outcrop, however, they did not land.

“I will go down to meet him. Prepare the armors.”

...

The sudden arrival of the Tower Master and the shuttle lured many prying eyes, but Seth ignored the curious audience of Urthans, players, demons, and cultivators. Unexpectedly, the shuttle did not prepare to land. Instead, several seamless hatches at the bottom of the vessel opened and six hunks of metal fell to the ground.

Seth's eyebrow jumped up when he recognized the humanoid lumps of metal, that had just demonstrated a superhero landing.

<Z-01 Mk. III Power Armor-Helmet

Epic

Z-01 Mk.III Power Armor-Set

Phys. Def: 2600

Mag Def: 1800

...>

<Z-01 Mk. III Power Armor-Torso

Epic

Z-01 Mk.III Power Armor-Set

Phys. Def: 3600

Mag Def: 2500

...

The torso of a technological milestone created by Craftsman Turner using the blueprints of the hex-engineering genius Joannia Taggart. The height of development of Epsilon and a must-have for any traveler in the wastelands.

Requirements: 250 Endurance, 150 Agility, 150 Strength>

All six newcomers wore a full set of these Power Armors, making them look like bulky juggernauts. It was not Seth's aesthetics, but he had to acknowledge that they looked very imposing. It wasn't just the looks, he could clearly see the stats of the armors.

His guess was that these suits were made as similar to the mix of magic and technology that was developing in Y-City. They had clear advantages and disadvantages, but overall very few magical effects.

As one would expect, the thick armor had an impressive defense. Apart from that the full set raised strength and endurance by 300 each and lowered agility and dexterity by 150 each. In addition, it protected against various types of energy attacks like fire, poison, lightning, etc.

The armor had a few more features like negated fall damage or limited water breathing in exchange for not being able to swim. Overall, it was a powerful tool to become an absolute cockroach.

Unless the wearer met an overwhelming opponent, such as a giant monster, Seth doubted there was a lot below lv.100 that could pose a danger to the wearer of such an armor. Just fulfilling the requirements to wear it showed that the wearer couldn't be weak from the start.

With heavy steps, that shook the ground, the six approached Seth in his dark armor. The blacksmith was not short with his height around 190cm, but the new arrivals in their massive power armors still had him looking up to them. The at their helm stopped in front of him and raised his arms, taking off the helmet.

They revealed a youthful face, framed by a cascade of dark blonde or light brown hair.

“Hello, I'm Joannia Taggart.”